“Jesus fucking Christ.” I leaned back against the wall of the hospital where I’d just dropped off a few more people.
“I’ll talk to her in a few hours. For now, Erik doesn’t want to make any noise about kicking her parents out of the inn since there isn’t any proof yet, but there’s a lot of circumstantial evidence. We already know her brother was involved with the Brat. We know she was a desperate young woman living in a difficult situation, anxious to get out of Vinake, ostensibly willing to do anything to make that happen. She had access to not just the school computers, but the entire system. She changed all the passwords and created a protocol that no one knew, not even Jonas, so he could test it. And then the Brat showed up at a time when she was supposed to be there alone. Logan got back faster than anticipated since he didn’t pick up dinner for her, like they’d discussed. If he had, she could have easily given them any information they needed and they would have been gone before he got back.
“She didn’t know Jonas would tell her to shut everything down instead of finishing the tests. Instead, Logan got back early and now he’s dead. In my lifetime, he’s the first Royal Protector to die, other than a few of Anwar’s thugs, and I’m the one that killed them, so this doesn’t sit well with me.”
“But you and Joe both vetted her!” I was pissed.
“I know and that’s why she hasn’t been arrested. But that’s the next step if we find any proof at all.”
I didn’t know what the hell to say to that. I couldn’t wrap my head around any of this.
“She’s been in our lives less than two months and we’ve seen her family’s café destroyed, the entire town of Braksa burned, and now Logan’s dead. Either someone is doing a great job of setting her up, or she’s not who we thought she was.”
“How could we miss any trace of her being linked to the Brat?” I demanded.
“She could have a burner phone and we’d have no way to trace it since we’d need to know where she was when she was using it. Vinake is a small town with no traffic cameras or surveillance, so if she was out and about at night meeting up with them, secret meeting places in town…it’s possible, Axel. If you take your heart out of the equation, you’ll see we’re doing the right thing, but I promise you, our search for the truth will exonerate her if she’s innocent. You have to cut all ties, though, until we do.”
I blew out a breath and my free hand balled into a fist at my side. This wasn’t Sandor’s fault. Our loyalty was always to the king and royal family. Always. No questions asked. Even if it meant walking away from Solange.
“You there?” Sandor asked quietly.
“Yeah.”
“I know this sucks, but Logan’s dead and—”
“You don’t have to remind me of that,” I said with a grunt. “I’m well aware of my duty, both to the Protectors and to the king.”
“I’m going to talk to her around eight, so I’d prefer if you didn’t call her before then.”
“I won’t.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. I’ve got to make another run to Braksa, I need to go.” I disconnected and slowly headed back to the SUV. I loved Solange, but Sandor had planted the seeds of doubt and now I didn’t know what to do. Well, I knew what I was going to do—I had no choice in that—but I wasn’t sure what the hell I was going to say to her. Love wouldn’t be enough to get us through this if she was guilty.
35
Solange
I was up early because my dreams had been filled with nightmares. I took a shower and got dressed, wondering what the day would bring. I was still shell-shocked over the events of the night before and had tossed my clothes in the trash the moment I’d gotten home. Two months ago, I would have done everything in my power to save them, getting the blood out and moving on, but that wasn’t the case now. I couldn’t stand to look at them, and my heart hurt remembering Logan as he’d leaned against me in that room.
On the verge of tears again, I longed to reach out to Axel but he was busy too, handling yet another situation that included fatalities, and for the first time in my life, I felt truly out of control. Helplessness was part of it, but this went beyond that.
A knock on the door brought me out of my reverie and I padded over in bare feet to answer it. To my surprise, Sandor was standing there, and the look on his face told me he didn’t have good news.
“Good morning,” I said quietly.
“Good morning.” He met my gaze. “May I come in?”
“Of course.” I moved aside and he walked in.
He turned to me with a serious look in his eyes. “Solange, I need to ask you some questions.”
“Okay.” I met his gaze nervously. What was this about? It sounded like I was in some kind of trouble but I couldn’t imagine what I’d done.
“Who is your contact within the Bojovnik Brat?”
I gaped at him. “What? I don’t have a contact—what are you talking about?”
“We have evidence that someone has been in contact with them. You’re the only one who was alone at the school. You changed the passwords, potentially allowing them access to the system. To be honest, we’ve had nothing but trouble since the night you called Xander, asking for help, and I have to wonder if you and your brother planned that whole thing to find a way to give the Brat an inside track with us.”
My face was burning with humiliation. Though I hadn’t done any such thing, the mere fact that he thought that of me was more than I could bear. I was on the verge of tears but he was waiting for a response and I didn’t have one.
“I would never…” I whispered, trying to find my voice. “How could you think this?”
“How could I not?” he asked in a gentler tone. “We haven’t lost a Royal Protector in fifty years.”
“There have been several attacks on the royal family since Erik took control!” I said, losing the battle against my tears. They streamed down my face as I stared at him. “Long before you met me. And how could I know Xander would come to the café and use my phone that night?”
“You couldn’t, but it could have been an opportunity that fell into your lap. Or perhaps your brother coerced you.”
“I…” They didn’t believe me. They thought I’d somehow betrayed them and had gotten Logan killed.
Shit, did Axel know?
“Until we can complete a full investigation, I’m going to have to ask you to move in with your parents at the inn.”
I couldn’t move.
“I have Natalia coming to help you pack your things and Kostya’s as well. Then someone will take you to the inn. Once we’ve completed our investigation, I’ll be in touch.”
“Do you…” I swiped at my face, trying desperately to make sense of this. “Do you believe I did this?”
“I don’t know what to believe,” he said after a moment. “All I can do is follow the trail of evidence, and right now it’s all leading back to you. You know the computer system, you created the password protocol, and only you and Logan knew you would be alone last night at that specific time.”