and “I treasure you” with every move.
Liam turned toward him to deepen the kiss, and brought one hand up to tangle in Russ’s dark hair. Russ licked at Liam’s lips, and Liam opened to him.
A car pulled into the driveway. Russ ignored it, figuring Drew could pretend he didn’t see them. Then someone knocked at the door, and Russ drew back from Liam reluctantly.
“Either Drew forgot his keys, or we have a visitor. Don’t forget where we left off,” Russ added with a wink.
The cabin wasn’t on the way to anywhere, so few people ever just “stopped in.” Russ glanced out the window, wary. He relaxed when he saw the sheriff’s SUV in the driveway.
“It’s Armel,” he called to Liam as he opened the door.
“Hi, Russ. Is Liam with you?” Torben Armel asked. His big frame filled the doorway.
“I just brought him back from the hospital,” Russ said. “What do you need?” His wolf bristled, ready to protect against any intrusion.
“I just thought you might want to know what we found after you left,” Armel replied.
“Come on in,” Russ stood aside, resigned to the interruption.
“Good to see you up and around,” Armel said with a nod to Liam. Russ sat on the couch beside his boyfriend, and Armel eyed the armchairs, then must have decided they might not hold his bulk, since he remained standing.
Liam just nodded, and Russ sensed the tension ratcheting back up in his mate. He slipped an arm around Liam’s shoulder for support.
“It’s been a long day, Sheriff,” Russ said. “We’re both pretty beat. I’m afraid we’re not going to be much for small talk.”
Armel nodded. “Let me cut to the chase. We found the kidnapper’s truck and hauler, down on the old access road. According to the wallet in the truck, his name is Jerome Campbell. Sound familiar?”
Both Russ and Liam shook their heads. “Never heard of him,” Russ said, and Liam echoed his comment.
“I didn’t figure you had, but I needed to ask. I’ve put the word out to shifter law enforcement to see if we can link him to other disappearances. But we did find a logbook. Looks like he didn’t trust computers or the internet. We need to go over it thoroughly, but I think there’s enough material to make a convincing case to the Tribunal,” the sheriff said.
“Good to hear,” Russ replied.
“We also found something surprising when we looked at his phone,” Armel went on. “There were several calls to a local number. Turns out, he and Eric Roberts are acquainted.”
Russ couldn’t place the name, but Liam sat up straight. “From the Fox Institute? The Scholar-in-Residence?” He turned to Russ. “He’s the one who fought with Dr. Jeffries about hiring me because he wanted the job for his nephew.”
“We picked up Roberts for questioning,” Armel said. “Turns out that the Institute isn’t a fan of his, now that they’ve seen him up close. There’s apparently some concern that he overstated—or falsified—his credentials, including any ability as a ‘psychic.’ And there’s a plagiarism claim against his books. But here’s another interesting ‘coincidence’…were you aware he taught at Cornell?”
Liam’s eyes widened. “Shit. Kelson—my ex, the one who hired the Huntsman—went to Cornell for his undergraduate degree. I met Kelson while I was doing graduate work at Ithaca.”
Armel nodded. “Uh-huh. Was your ex a shifter?”
Liam shook his head. “No. I don’t think he knew anything about us until I confided in him…when I thought we were serious about each other,” he added, chagrined. Russ kissed his temple, silently supporting him. Liam squeezed his hand, but Russ didn’t need their bond to see the regret and self-recrimination that Liam harbored.
We’re going to need to talk about this…later.
“So it would be very unlikely that Kelson, who knew nothing about shifters, would know how to hire a legendary hitman most of our community thought was a myth, don’t you think?” Armel mused aloud. “That would be something that a person steeped in supernatural lore might know, though.”
“You think Roberts connected Kelson to the Huntsman,” Russ said in a flat, cold voice.
“Campbell—the Huntsman—knew Roberts well enough to have had a couple of phone conversations with him. As much as Roberts wanted his nephew to have the library job, I doubt he would have hired the Huntsman to get rid of you. But he might have put him in touch with an ex-student who needed a favor,” Armel theorized, “especially if doing so helped him out too.”
“Shit,” Russ muttered. That was the loose end he hadn’t been able to