As he rounded the corner, he caught sight of Tony engaged in an intimate conversation with Kalli. What the hell? She nodded her head in agreement to whatever he’d just said to her. Her baby blue eyes, rimmed in red from crying, were focused on the detective.
Without a doubt, Detective Tony Bianchi, Sydney’s former homicide partner, was one of the best cops in the city. Tenacious but good natured, the good-looking Italian detective never left a clue unturned. But Tristan could tell by the looks of him, that tonight he’d seen Toby’s body. His dark, olive-skinned face appeared to be drawn and his cropped raven hair was no longer carefully coiffed. Like a bloodhound knowing where to find his bone buried deep in the yard, Tony was busy digging for his next lead.
Tristan ground his teeth as Tony put a comforting hand on Kalli’s shoulder. She began to cry once again, and he could see that she was hurting too. Tristan wanted to be the man holding her, telling her everything would be all right. Deep down, he also knew that part of the reason she was coming unglued was because of him. Instead of mauling her on the balcony like a sex-starved maniac, he should have let her finish telling him the truth. He’d told her she could trust him, but the minute she’d confessed, he’d laid into her and ordered her to stay with another man. He felt like an asshole, but he could only deal with so many things at once. Coughing loudly, Tristan cautiously approached them.
Kalli scowled at Tristan before turning her back. She couldn’t look at him without hysterically crying, and she hated being that woman. The woman who was so weak, she’d put all her trust and feelings into a man and now couldn’t control her own emotion. She hated being a woman who a man would use sexually and then toss to one of his friends. She hated that she was the woman who’d created the drug that had eventually got Toby killed. Kalli refused to let him see how badly she hurt inside. If he didn’t want her, she had to at least salvage what was left of her dignity.
“Kalli,” Tristan offered, unsure of what to say to her. He wasn’t ready to apologize but at the same time, he needed her. He needed her comfort as much as she needed his.
“I’m getting coffee,” she snapped, unable to take another tongue-lashing. She’d spent the last hour telling the detective everything she knew about her past, the people who she worked with, every detail about CLI and how it worked and the names of every wolf she could recall. She didn’t know the full names of the wolves she’d helped the artist sketch. She guessed the one was Sato and the other Morris, but wasn’t sure. She could, however, remember the name of her old Alpha, Gerald. She’d even told him about everything that had happened to her including the fire, the kidnapping, and her rescue. She’d described in detail what she’d been doing at Tristan’s, which involved a brief mention of what had happened on the balcony. Of course she left out the play by play, but she wanted to make sure he understood how she lamented her decision to trust Tristan enough.
Oddly, the detective empathized with her decision, given her past history of abuse. He said he’d too often seen battered women and children and could understand the deep-seeded fear that had been planted in her psyche long ago. Simply telling her to share information that could expose her to her abusers again was not enough to get her to open up about her past. She found it ironic that the one person who seemed to understand her plight was human.
Seeing Tristan as he rounded the corner, she fought back her first instinct which was to run into his arms. Despite his angry words, she didn’t want to give up on their budding relationship, which definitely was well rooted into the ‘it’s complicated’ category. At the same time, her healthy sense of self-preservation overrode the need to pursue a man who clearly didn’t want her, no matter how incredible he was.
Tony nodded at Tristan. The pain rolled off him like an overflowing river. Even though Tony wasn’t wolf, he swore he could feel it. He’d known Tristan for a long time, having been introduced to him by Sydney. Tony regarded him with admiration, as a leader who cared about his wolves and what happened in his city.
“Sorry for your loss, Alpha.”
“Thanks Tony. You talk to Kalli?” Tristan inquired, already knowing he had. He just wasn’t sure of the extent of their conversation.
“Yeah, she filled me in on everything. It’s amazing given all the trauma she’s been through,” Tony remarked.
“Yeah, I guess she mentioned that Alexandra took her.”
“Yeah, she mentioned that, but when I say trauma, I guess I’m referring to the abuse she suffered growing up. She’s terrified, but she comes off so composed.”
“Detached?” Tristan countered.
“In a sense. If you’d been beat down, told you were going to be tortured for the rest of your natural life, you’d build some walls too. We’re talking about survival. Anyway, from her childhood to Ryan’s examination, I feel confident that she’s told me everything. You, uh, might want to go easy on her.” Tony gave Tristan a concerned look.
Tristan inwardly cringed. Just how much had she told him? About what happened between them on the balcony? How he’d yelled at her? How he’d sent her to stay at Logan’s?
“Anyway, it’s a good thing she’s still under your protection. She’s sure gonna need it. I understand she was staying with you but now she’s staying with Logan?” Tony questioned him, reading between the lines.
Yes, it appeared that she had, indeed, told him everything. Damn.
“Yeah, she’s stayin’ with Logan tonight.” He tried to sound indifferent, but the words tasted like poison as he spoke them aloud. “My entire pack has moved into the new building except for a few wolves. Some have moved to the mountains.”
“All right then. Well, I’ve got some names of males from her old pack. I’ll run them tonight. A bulletin was issued of the sketches you sent me. The priority will be upped now that we’re looking at murder. Anything else you want to tell me?” He gave him a small smile. “You know, while bearing in mind that I’m an officer of the law.”
“Ryan mentioned that he was at a party with a girl named, Lindsay. Could be a coincidence, but Kalli’s got an assistant by the same name. She works over at UVH, and she’s a college student. Can you check her out?”
“Sure, I mean, we don’t know how they even knew she had the CLI. Best guess is that someone at the hospital found out about her research. It’s possible the wolves went there looking for Kalli and somehow got mixed up with this, Lindsay. If Lindsay knew about the drug’s existence, she could have spilled.”
“Yeah, I don’t know. It’s a long shot but I agree, someone at the hospital must have found out about her research. According to Kalli, she doesn’t have much of a social life outside of the hospital and her shelter.”
“Anything else?”
“Tomorrow night is the mayor’s ball. The following evening we have a summit with Jax Chandler, the New York Alpha. Hoping that it’ll be a fruitful meeting. Other than that, there’s nothing more I can tell you…officer of the law and all that.”
A silent understanding settled between the two men. Tristan was lethal when crossed, as were most supernaturals. Whatever their brand of justice, Tony didn’t want to know the details. It wasn’t his place to judge their ways; his purpose was to find a murderer. And if Tristan just happened to find the guy before he did, well, then that was all the better in his book.
“Listen, man, we’ll do our best to find these sons of bitches. I’ve made Toby’s autopsy a priority. The coroner will start tomorrow morning. I’ll be honest, I’m not sure what else she’ll find, but the killers may have left a trace. Unofficially, exsanguination from gunshot and stab wounds is listed as COD,” Tony speculated.