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“If you insist,” I finally managed, forcing myself to keep my hands in my pockets instead of reaching up to check for my scent blockers again. “While Frankie has been questioning you, I’ve been inspecting your office as well as the way the two of you have been acting. Once we leave, we’ll compare notes and go from there.”
“How exactly is that helpful for Valor?” Cassius demanded, his deep voice sharp enough to make me flinch again.
“We need to rule the two of you out first,” I reminded him, keeping my eyes on the sketch I’d done to avoid all that eye contact. “If we can’t do that, we have to be careful when accepting any help you might give us when it comes to solving this case.”
“And what have you determined, Ms. Parker?” Liam asked, leaning back to mimic my posture.
He was mocking me, but I didn’t really care. That wasn’t the point of this.
My eyes slid from the sketchbook to the ivory peonies in the table that symbolizes forgiveness. Then I fixed my gaze on the rain sliding down the windows along the far wall, seeing nothing but those dark clouds thanks to how high up we were.
“There’s only one floor above yours,” I murmured, shoving back any thoughts of that boy and his tears hidden by the rain. “The president of the company was right above you when he was murdered, which means there’s either very good insulation in this building if you heard nothing, or you were listening to music too loudly to hear anything. It’s also concerning that the police were here so soon after his death.”
The killer had probably called them, hoping to frame Liam since he was the easiest to pin the blame on.
“Unfortunately, your only alibi is Cassius, and the same goes for him. This means the two of you were unsupervised during the window of Gideon Valor’s murder, which is a problem since there are no cameras in this office…I assume the president’s office is exactly the same. Any security cameras would be outside the office as well as in that private elevator that could help us with timestamps, I suppose.”
Silence as they absorbed all that.
I ignored the tension building and started jiggling my leg as I considered the blueprints of the building I’d hacked into right after I’d seen Gideon Valor’s murder on the news this morning.
“There are a few sets of stairs in this skyscraper, but only two that have access to the top three floors. On the southern side of the building is a staircase employees like to access the roof for their smoke breaks. There’s also an access point up there to the seventieth floor, but I couldn’t find anything regarding security footage there. Still, it’s possible someone went across the top of the building to the northern side, and then came down to the president’s office.”
Even if that was the case, most of the doors leading anywhere external had little devices on them that would alert security if they were opened and closed. It was smart when it came to staircases and boiler rooms, that kind of thing, but there weren’t any on Liam’s door so it was unlikely there’d be any on Gideon’s.
Sliding my gaze from the windows to the door that led to a private bathroom, I knew the easiest explanation was Cassius took the private staircase from this floor to the seventieth. There was another room beyond that wall that had another elevator in it per the blueprints, but that didn’t mean it worked. Just that the original owner of this building had been overly cautious and afraid of an ambush.
Alpha disputes were a lot bloodier back in the day, and it wouldn’t have been unusual for another pack to try to kill this pack’s heir.
“From what I can tell, Liam Valor did not kill his brother. I don’t have the exact time of death yet, but the overall sequence of events just doesn’t make sense. Why would he be in the lobby collecting a food order right as the cops came to storm the building? It’s lazy of them to arrest him on sight, which makes me think someone implied it was him when they called to tip off the police.”
“Impressive,” Liam admitted, but his smirk said otherwise. “Anyone could deduce that though.”
“Anyone with access to the building’s blueprints,” I corrected, forcing myself to look into those intense red eyes. “But not just anyone would be able to see that you aren’t the main suspect. Cassius is.”
Both alphas stiffened as if I’d physically slapped them.
I didn’t react to the shift in mood as I’d been expecting it, but Frankie did and her growl was just as nasty as Liam’s.
“James, I suggest you get control of your omega,” Liam snarled, his razor-sharp focus never once leaving me.
“She’s not my omega,” Frankie snarled right back.
Giving Cassius a small smile, I shrugged my shoulder. I told you so, asshole.
“I’m curious why you’d think that,” he said, his voice cutting through those growls effortlessly.
“Are you?” My smile widened and I raised an eyebrow, silently asking if he was sure.
Cassius nodded once, the corner of his mouth lifting ever so slightly. “I am.”
What was it about him that made me want to rise to the challenge no matter how stupid I knew it was?
“Despite the obvious, boring motives, Liam Valor has no interest in becoming the next chairman, or even the next pack alpha. But you…”
I kept my eyes on his, knowing this single statement could cost me my life, but it could also give me the respect I so desperately needed.
“The two of you live together. You’re even wearing the same button-down shirt. Then there’s the fact that Mr. Valor’s scent is lingering on your chest, Cassius. It’s also clinging to your hair and neck. Even without being able to scent him on you, I already knew the two of you have slept together in the past.”
