“A-are you sure?”
Dane just cocked his head and looked at her.
“I’m sorry,” he said, his tone softening, though that animalistic rumble remained. “After all the things he promised you, this must be a shock. But the man who promised to promote you is a double murderer, Aurora. Maybe more.”
“Double?” Her eyes bulged, and she instinctively reached up to run a finger over her pearls as if they’d somehow give her comfort.
“You said yourself you thought the cases were connected. The Abernathy case and the one your boss was working on. Finch and Abernathy were killed in the same way, and that points to Paul doing both of them.”
He was right. The reasoning was watertight, and if she wasn’t so stunned, she would have put it together herself. Only one question remained.
“But why?” she breathed, her mind starting to work again.
They stared blankly at each other as they raced to come up with an answer. She’d spent so much time wondering why someone like Finch would steal such a specific potion. It wasn’t consistent with his criminal record to do something so risky. A career thief like Finch wasn’t stupid. She had no doubt he’d weighed the consequences of each job he did, and his rap sheet showed he’d always been careful not to cross the line into grand theft. No way would he have risked a lengthy sentence getting caught stealing that potion unless he either already had a buyer lined up... or he’d already been paid. And paid well.
“Paul hired Finch to steal Mr. Abernathy’s potion!” It felt right, and Dane’s nod of agreement confirmed it.
“Of course!” Dane cried, grabbing her shoulders with an excited grin. “He tried to use it to break into the Treasury, but for whatever reason, it didn’t work the way it was supposed to.”
“Oh my god.” Aurora sat on the small bench by the office door. “That’s why he needed to be on that case. If he was investigating, nobody could catch him. It’s why he passed off Finch’s case to a junior like me.” She looked up at Dane, feeling incredibly small. “He must have been counting on me to make a mess of things.”
“But you didn’t. You were too good, and that’s why Finch had to die.” The faintest hint of a smile crossed his lips. “That son of a bitch underestimated you.”
“Language,” she whispered absently as her brain whirled.
She shook her head in disbelief, remembering the amiable conversation she’d shared with Paul over crappy coffee. He’d seemed so genuine. She’d even trusted him enough to confess to liking Dane. It seemed impossible that it had been a rouse, but she knew Dane was right.
His reading of Paul’s scent was unmistakable. Not only did she trust his nose, but she also trusted him. So much, it almost rattled her.
“Who do you trust?” he asked.
She looked up at him in shock, wondering if the bond between them had allowed him to read her mind.
“I, um, I’m sorry, what?”
“We can’t do this alone, Aurora. This guy is too powerful and dangerous. Who do you know that we can count on? Who isn’t going to surprise us by being in his corner?”
“My brothers,” she said without hesitation.
“Call them. We need to move.”
As they hurried under the cover of darkness to Paul’s house, she coordinated with each of the Rhonelle boys. Even at near midnight, they were all ready to spring into action. Particularly given what she had shared about the case at dinner, they leapt at the chance to catch Keenan.
They would all meet outside his house and fan out around it. Once they had the drop on the situation, they would close in together and block any way out. If Paul tried to escape, he would come face to face with at least one adversary. When they had eyes on him, the combined wrath of the entire party would bring him to bear.
Each of her brothers was powerful in his own right, but combined, they were truly a force to be reckoned with. As she hung up from the last call, she counted herself grateful. As much as her family tied her up in knots, the fact that they were primed to leap to her side spoke volumes.
The plans laid, she fell into step beside Dane. He had fallen silent again, and she joined him in it. Grim determination settled into her bones, and she felt like she could crack the pavement beneath her with each step. Anger spun inside her like a top, gaining momentum until it felt like her skin might split.
By the time Paul’s house came into view, Aurora was livid. Betrayal had hardened the underside of her skin and transformed into blistering rage. She wasn’t one to open up easily to anyone, but the filthy jerk had wormed his way past her defenses. The fact that she was so careful with her trust only made being taken advantage of sting all the more.
“Wait, what are you doing?” Dane asked as she started to make her way up the front steps.
“I’m starting this.” It was unlike her to dive in, but she felt so empowered she couldn’t stop herself. In this instant, she was ready to leap into the abyss and claw the sides on her way down.
“We should wait for your brothers.”
“They’ll be here.” What she needed most was to look Paul in the face and have him know it was her. The others would be there to help take him down, but this was her show. She’d earned it.
Reaching up, she planted three solid knocks in the center of his door. Dane fell into place beside her just as the lock turned and the door swung open. The pleasant smile on Paul’s face faded almost immediately, and Aurora could see in his eyes that he knew. They had him and it was all over.
All the hurt and anger inside Aurora coalesced into a blinding ball and thundered up toward her lips. It seemed as if she’d denied herself thousands of words. All the ungenerous, spiteful, vulgar invectives she kept within her were bursting to flow in a torrent, and this bastard was about to catch every single one.
But before she could open her mouth, Paul put up a hand.
“I’ve been expecting you.”
His hand snapped into a wicked-looking position, and the air behind them tinkled with malevolent vitality. Turning around, they saw what must have been a thousand daggers hanging in space. Aurora barely had a moment to wonder how Paul, a tiger shifter, had learned to cast a spell. All at once, the knives surged forward in a terrible wave, directly toward Aurora.
Gripping her firmly, Dane shoved her through the doorway, bowling Paul out of the way. Diving in after them, he slammed the door with startling force. Nearly a dozen blades shot through, digging deep into the wall, but the bulk of them hammered into the door with a thunderous racket. Here and there, points poked through the wood, gleaming malevolently.
She looked down and was stunned to see not a single knife sticking out of her chest. Just before the door had closed, she’d felt a stab as clearly as anything. Rubbing her hand over the spot, she marveled at the mystery of it.
“Gosh, that was close,” she murmured to herself, but there was no time to puzzle over it.
Paul scrambled up from where he had fallen, seething with rage. She started to get up herself, but Dane slumping to his knees arrested her attention.
“Dane?”
He fell onto his back, and Aurora caught sight of three wooden handles sticking out of his chest. One was lodged right in the same spot where she felt like she had been hit.