Reaching Answers (Artemis University #8) - Erin R Flynn Page 0,2

rest of us simply looked puffy. His dark blond hair was damp from the snowflakes we’d had earlier… And his emerald green eyes shined with the promise of battle.

What was he up to now?

“Sure, Dr. Craftsman,” Captain Reddy replied, nodding to another officer who gave the date and time. “That’s when we got the last signal. The texts came in to the Holmeses right before then from around that location. The same with the other families. That’s the last contact.”

“Ms. Vale was at dinner until about then but after, we were working on a project until late. I believe almost midnight, but I cannot be sure. It was well past when we should have as we got lost in the subject.”

Captain Reddy studied him, slowly seeming to accept that. “And you’d be willing to go on the record and say that?”

“Wait, why are we getting to my alibi when—” I tried to cut in.

“I would. And with all due respect, Captain, everyone knows her attorney is Adrian Geiger. She’s not under arrest and—”

“He was contacted before we portaled over,” Captain Reddy interjected. “I believe he and his associate went directly for the vampire council knowing Ms. Vale could more than handle things here. Or she had other defenders here that wouldn’t allow her to be taken into custody. I’m not bringing her in, Dr. Craftsman, so you can back down your magic.”

“What?” Mr. Holmes roared. “Take that slut in now! I want my son and—”

“There is a witness that covers Ms. Vale for the time of the disappearance,” Captain Reddy snapped. “And I agree with Ms. Vale that this is the trap your son and his friends set up.” He gestured between us. “Now, I want to know what this is all about?”

One of the officers cleared his throat. “Sir, you were handling that huge issue with the Underground so you missed it, but it was all over the news and everywhere. Jordan Holmes and his friends tricked and drugged a vampire freshman to glamour herself to look like Ms. Vale and then they brutalized her, recorded it all to make it seem like Ms. Vale got drunk and it was a sex tape.”

I liked Captain Reddy a lot better when he turned up his lip at the Holmeses. “An upstanding student, huh? That was your son and his friends? You lied to me that he was never in any—”

“Not any real trouble,” Mr. Holmes snapped.

Captain Reddy broke his calm, cool cop demeanor as he took a threatening step towards the vampire. “That’s real fucking trouble to me, asshole. I would destroy any guy who did that to my daughters, and there were several of them.” He looked at me then. “You did something to them?”

I didn’t know how to answer that. Yes, I’d done lots, but I didn’t want to lie given I didn’t know how powerful this guy was and what else could get me caught.

“She bought Cherrywood Resorts with the dragon royals and kicked all their parents out on their butts from their cushy jobs lording over humans and getting tons of blood for the community,” that same officer explained, doing a double take when he saw my reaction. “You didn’t know that?”

“No. They did a good job of covering it up. We only knew about the rabid sexual harassment and assault in the workplace. We had hundreds of claims filed after we interviewed all of the human employees. So apparently they wiped memories of treating the employees like food, but not sex toys. And to be fair, it was women too, so all the wealthy vampires were doing whatever to humans.”

“Disgusting,” Captain Reddy bit out. “We’re done here.”

“No, you are not letting her walk when—”

“The only crime here has been committed by your son,” Captain Reddy snarled. “And I’m placing a warrant out for his arrest, along with his friends. This is a case of clear harassment to entrap Ms. Vale for profit. It’s fraud, and you could be on the hook for falsifying police reports. For now though, I’m adding you to the harassment and verbal assault, plus you tried to put your hands on her. Cuff him.”

I was not the only one shocked at the turn of events.

Mrs. Holmes ended up in handcuffs too when she scratched the shit out of the officer who tried to arrest her mate. Loyalty was one thing, but that was too far and… How could anyone be loyal to such a slime? Too many of the women in