“Interesting.” Andreas was at his most arrogant. “Why would we invent such a tale?”
“To throw us off the track. To cover what’s really going on.”
“Which is what?” Andreas’s brows lowered. “What do you believe is going on?”
Ryan gritted his teeth. “You and Molyneux are hiding something.”
“So,” the vampire leaned forward, “you think I’m conspiring with the Canadians. What gave you that ridiculous notion?”
“Is it so ridiculous? I know and trust everyone who participated in that bungled raid. Except you and your friends. Somebody warned Molyneux’s pack that we were on the way.”
“I agree. They were most certainly warned. But not by me.” Andreas focused on Ryan’s face. “Nor am I working with or for the wolves. And Gordon’s story is his own. Tell me, Lieutenant, if your wild accusations had any truth to them, why would I help Arianna to confirm Rita’s story? And why wait until the last minute to warn the Canadians? After all, I had all night. They could have safely dispersed, taking or disposing of Marcus and Gordon, and you would know nothing. If you want to ignore those discrepancies, prove I did this. And tell me what I would gain.” Andreas’s voice was controlled, but the muscles across his shoulders were strung tight.
“If I had the answers, you’d be safely behind bars.”
“And that is exactly what you want, is it not?” Andreas emphasized the last three words in a voice grown soft and cold.
“I wouldn’t lose any sleep over it.”
Ari tensed. If they kept on like this, the joint investigation would be down the tubes and somebody might get hurt.
Andreas placed his forearms on the table and leaned toward the cop. “Is this about me, Lieutenant? Or a bias against vampires? You closed the case from the bar without solving it. It makes no sense that two previously inoffensive vampires turned murderous. But perhaps the truth doesn’t matter when it comes to vampires.”
“Wrong on both counts,” Ryan fired back, leaping to his feet. “I don’t trust you.”
Chapter Twenty
Deadly silence. The two men stared at one another, and Ari held her breath. Trust was the heart of the matter.
“At least that is honest. Personal animosity, I can handle.” Andreas spoke in a normal voice and leaned back, lowering the tension.
Ryan ran a hand through his hair and sat down. “I don’t have to explain anything to you. But just to set the record straight, I was opposed to closing the Second Chance case. I was overruled by my superiors.” He took a deep breath before he went on. “I’m just trying to do my job, Andreas. Right now, I want to know who helped the wolves get away. I admit some of what you say makes sense. But if it wasn’t you, then who? We have a leak somewhere.”
“Indeed. That would appear to be the case. I am making inquiries on my end of this. Rechecking every staff member that could have known. I trust you are doing the same.”
Ryan’s face flushed, then he acknowledged the logic. He gave a reluctant nod. “I will, but I know my men. It wasn’t my side.”
Sides? Uh-uh, Ari had had enough. “Is this about over? There are other possibilities neither of you mentioned. Steffan doesn’t think his wolves were seen, but maybe they were. Or it was police scanners. An intercepted cell phone call. We don’t know what kind of sophisticated surveillance equipment they might have. Or maybe someone was watching the PD and followed us. I know someone’s been tailing me. Until we—”
“Someone’s been tailing you? Why haven’t you said anything?” Ryan interrupted. Both men stared at her.
“I haven’t seen anyone. I smelled wolf, but it might be a coincidence.”
Ryan looked at Andreas. “Do you believe that?”
“Not for a moment. These wolves are aggressive.”
“Hey, I can handle the tail.” Ari wished she’d never brought it up. “Let’s get back to the point. If we keep the details of our investigation among the three of us, there shouldn’t be another leak. If there is, then we start pointing fingers. In the meantime, we declare a truce. How about it?”
No one spoke. When she looked at Andreas, he shrugged.
“Ryan?”
He scowled but said, “I’ll go along.”
“Good. So let’s talk about what happened to Gordon. He heard the name Pavlov. Isn’t that out of a science book? Experiments on dogs, not rats.”
“Conditional reflex,” Andreas said. “Pavlov was studying the reactions to stimuli.”
Well, that was kind of specific information. Ari wondered if it was book learning or firsthand knowledge.