deep frown line appearing on his forehead.
Yep, he thought I was five cans short of a six-pack. I shrugged. “It is what it is. I still have to tell you in case what I think I heard is right.”
He sighed. “Shoot then.”
“While Blake was lying on the floor in pain from the wolfsbane, probably thinking he was going to die, I heard him call out for help inside his mind. At the time, I only felt this awful pressure in my temples, but last night, my subconscious was able to interpret the message he was sending out.”
“Oh, my God,” Rosalina said. “I’m on pins and needles. What did he say?”
“He called out for Stephen Erickson’s help.”
“What?!” Rosalina asked in a breathy voice.
“Stephen might have been there in the warehouse,” I added. “He might have been the one that helped Blake attack Jake and the one who helped Blake get away.”
I waited for Tom to say something, but he just sat there, his dark eyes roving over all the items on the table.
“I want to be wrong,” I said. “I don’t want it to be him.”
Tom still said nothing.
“I’m mad as a hatter, right? I keep thinking Jake would have recognized Stephen. He must know his wolf. They’re friends. Unless Stephen did something to disguise his wolf at the warehouse, which is entirely possible with a mage helping him.”
Tom pulled out his wallet, fished out several twenty dollar bills, and set them on the table. “This should cover the check and tip.” He pushed his chair back, getting ready to leave.
“Where are you going?” I asked.
“To the station. I need to go over the case files with this new perspective in mind.”
“Why? Is there something...?” I didn’t know what to ask, so I let the question hang.
“There are a few things that don’t add up about Stephen’s kidnapping,” he said. “I can’t discuss details, but this may shed new light on the case. I should go now. If you learn anything else, don’t hesitate to let me know.”
I nodded and watched him leave, feeling my heart sink like lead.
“If... Stephen faked his own kidnapping,” Rosalina started tentatively, “does that mean he sent those people to kidnap you?”
Tears pooled in my eyes as I played with my napkin, my entire being shrinking away from that idea.
“I guess,” I said after a few beats. I almost choked on the words. I had risked my life for him, had fought a huge shifter and two vampires, faced Bernadetta Fiore, had even killed someone because I thought he was in danger. All for what? A fake kidnapping?
“Why would he do that?”
This was an important question that in my confused state of mind I had barely considered. Rosalina and I exchanged a glance, both frowning as we thought about the possibilities.
“He knew I would try to find him,” I said, thinking out loud. “So maybe he wanted to make sure I didn’t ruin his plans, but why not just kill me?”
“Because he likes you,” she said.
I frowned and shook my head.
“He does. But why fake his kidnapping in the first place?”
“Maybe he did it to get rid of his father?” I said, thinking back at how mad Stephen had always seemed toward Ulfen.
“Yeah,” she agreed. “And it worked. Ulfen is in jail now and accused of kidnapping and attempted murder, too.”
That would mean that Stephen had also sent that mage, Jenson Boyle, to fake an attack at the pizzeria. I nodded slowly as several pieces seemed to fall into place.
When I had talked to Ulfen about tracking Stephen, he had seemed genuinely concerned. And after we found him, Ulfen had been relieved, glad that nothing had happened to his son and heir. It hadn’t been a sham.
“If he did kidnap himself, he would’ve had to cut his own finger off,” Rosalina said, cringing.
I shivered at the thought. It would take a truly cold and deranged man to do that, and that was not the Stephen I knew. He was lighthearted, gentle, and carefree. Whoever was behind the cunning scheme, causing unrest in the city would have to be greedy and power hungry, two qualities Ulfen had been trying to instill in his son but that Stephen had adamantly resisted. Or at least, that was the way it had always seemed.
“It makes no sense.” I shook my head.
“Are you going to tell Jake?”
“I don’t know.”
That was another thing I had tried not to think about. I didn’t want to see Jake—not ever again. But he needed to