it after the separation. Though, given the way he’d hauled in that chemical carpet cleaner so quickly, she’d bet on Russ having long ago drafted a new will. That left Athena with only the flimsy motive of revenge for past wrongs.
“Did you take Russ a peacemaking gift?”
Shane shook his head, his dark blond hair soft and tumbled. “I knew he wouldn’t take it.”
“So after your shower . . .”
“I went over to Russ’s—didn’t want to waste too much time on it, to be honest. Needed to catch some shut-eye.” Eyes scrunched up, he rubbed his temple again. “And then . . .”
“Yes?”
“I . . .” His breath was suddenly fast and shallow. “I can’t remember.” Sweat broke out over his brow. “I can’t remember anything after that. Why can’t I remember?”
Garnet gripped his face between her hands. “Slow it down. Breathe.” It took three more clipped orders, her wolf rising to roughen her voice, but she stopped Shane from hyperventilating. Then, once he was calm, she took him back through the entire morning of the murder.
He still couldn’t recall anything beyond walking out of his apartment to go to Russ’s.
Leaving him with an order to do a simple calming exercise that would keep his mind occupied, she stepped out to talk to Lorenzo.
“I’ve known Shane since I moved into the den,” the healer said after hearing her report. “He’s a piss-poor liar. Can’t even bluff at poker.”
Garnet tended to agree. “What are the options? That he’s too traumatized by his actions to go back to that point in time, or the knock on the head scrambled his wiring?”
“Exactly.” Lorenzo rubbed his jaw, his heavy gaze going to the door of Shane’s infirmary room. “Either way, it’s not good for Shane, is it? If he can’t defend himself?”
Garnet had a bad feeling in her gut, a nauseating sense of being made the fool. “Maybe there’s a third possibility,” she murmured. “Maybe he didn’t see anything. His morning ended soon after he stepped inside Russ’s quarters.” She stared at the images on the backlit screen on one wall of Lorenzo’s office. “Were you able to confirm he was hit from behind?”
“Yes, the digital model just came through.” Lorenzo’s gaze was suddenly a dark wolf-amber. “You think someone else was in that room.” The healer shook his head. “But that dead bolt . . .”
Yes, that was the problem.
Chapter 9
Lorenzo folded his arms, his shirt straining across heavily muscled shoulders. “I want Shane to be innocent, but I didn’t catch any unknown scents in the room, so even the wild card of a rogue teleporter is out of the question. And trust me, I seriously tried to figure out how to make that a viable scenario.” A vein pulsed at his temple. “Once you strike that from the possibilities . . .”
That damn door locked from the inside. “I’m going to bring Shane up to speed.” He deserved to know, and—“His reaction might tell us something.”
“I’ll get in touch with Athena, tell her she can visit.” Lorenzo’s eyes went to the door of Shane’s room again. “He shouldn’t be alone.”
“No.” Even the toughest wolf had his breaking point.
Leaving Lorenzo, Garnet reentered Shane’s room and told him about the murder. His face froze, his eyes staring at her in blank disbelief before his big body began to shake. “Did I do that?” he whispered, begging her for an answer with his gaze. “Is that why I don’t remember?”
“I can’t answer that question, not yet.” Garnet brushed back his hair, offering the comfort of pack even as she kept her tone hard, unyielding. Shane’s wolf needed to know his dominant was in charge. “Nothing is going to happen until I’m satisfied I know everything there is to know about this situation.”
“Athena.” Shane’s eyes welled up and it was the first time she’d ever seen the big, friendly male in such a raw emotional state. “That’s why she’s not here.”
“Athena’s been desperate to see you.” Garnet glanced over her shoulder. “In fact, I think I can scent—”
“Shane!” Running into the room on a wave of lush, feminine scent and whirling multihued skirts, Athena fell sobbing into Shane’s arms.
Instead of collapsing himself, Shane’s shoulders squared, his tears retreating. As if in looking after her, he’d found his strength. “Shh,” he murmured, running a work-roughened hand over the silken mahogany of Athena’s curls. “Jem will figure this out. You know she will.”
Dark blue eyes met hers, entreaty and a fragile hope in their depths.