A Hippogriff for Christmas - Zoe Chant Page 0,44

tail, no paws – he was definitely completely human now that he was no longer a wolf.

But then again, I spent a decent amount of time looking at pretty much every inch of Beau, and he definitely didn’t have any hippogriff features in his human form either, Annie thought, swallowing heavily at the memory.

She didn’t have any more time to think about it, though, since at that moment Beau wrapped up his quiet conversation on the phone and crossed the room to her.

“Done – I’ve called it in,” he said. “Since he’s a shifter, I needed to report this to my agency. They’re sending someone over.” His expression hardened as he turned his head to look at the handcuffed man on the chair. “In the meantime, though, I think I’d like some answers of my own. Starting with your name.”

“You said I could get some witness protection or some shit,” the man said, glaring at them from beneath his brows.

Beau’s expression darkened further. “I didn’t promise anything. And first, you need to tell me something actually useful. Like what your name is, and why you were trying to burn down this building.”

Annie’s breath hitched in her throat.

She had to admit that although she didn’t know anything about Beau’s line of work or the world of shifters in general, she was starting to have a few suspicions of her own about what was going on here.

Like Scott acting so weird this morning, being so desperate to get money out of the register. He’s always been a bit slimy, but that was the first time he’s acted like that.

But she’d overheard this man saying that Scott had missed his payments – whatever they were payments for, exactly – and so it wasn’t exactly some Sherlock Holmes level of deduction to figure out why he’d been behaving so strangely this morning.

Clearly, he’d needed money quickly. And he hadn’t been too fussy about how he got it.

She was certain Beau must’ve figured out at least that much for himself too. So now the question was why Scott owed the money, and to who.

The wolf-man huffed out a sulky sigh, his eyes shifting back and forth warily between Annie and Beau.

“Okay – fine. Whatever. If I tell you, you’ll leave me alone, right? I was getting bored working for the boss anyway. It’s not all it’s cracked up to be.”

Annie frowned. The boss?

“I got sent over here because that Scott what’s-his-name, he turned up again this morning saying he couldn’t get the money he owed the boss,” the wolf-man said. “It was the third time in a row. The boss’d been pretty easy-going about it, but enough’s enough, right?” He looked up at them, as if seeking their agreement.

“Money for what?” asked Beau.

The wolf-man laughed. “Jeez, you’re really out of the loop around here, aren’t you? What d’you think? Gambling debts, obviously. He owes at least ten thousand. Stupid idiot got in over his head, and now he thinks he can bargain his way out.”

Annie glanced at Beau, wondering what he made of being told he was out of the loop. Beau wasn’t from around here, of course, but it made Annie wonder just what had been going on right under her nose this whole time.

Is there some secret society of shifters here in the mountains that everyone knows about except me? Shifters running illegal gambling dens?

Beau’s expression hadn’t changed, though. He was still looking at the wolf-man with the same flinty glare.

“So why burn down the bakery, then?” he asked, voice hard.

Annie thought she had an inkling why, but she guessed Beau wanted to hear this guy say it out loud.

The man shrugged, a sneer crossing his face. “Scott turned up this morning, all apologetic, saying he didn’t have the money but he would soon, he was sure of it – that his dad would be handing the bakery over to him soon, he just knew it, and then he’d have access to the whole amount.”

Annie couldn’t stop her short, shocked inhalation. Had Mr. Dearborn really decided to give his business to Scott so soon?

I’m sure he wouldn’t have, Annie thought desperately. Or if he had, he would have told me so I’d have time to find another job…

Her thoughts were cut off as the wolf-man continued.

“But the boss wasn’t having it – I mean, he’s been saying this shit for months. So the boss said that if Scott was so sure he’d be able to get his hands on the money when his