And then immediately wished he hadn’t.
It wasn’t the torn flesh of his throat that stole Aaron’s breath, nor the gore that seemed to have been wiped on his shirt—although they were both pretty horrific. The one thing that stopped Aaron cold was Charlie’s expression. His eyes were wide open, vacant, standing in stark relief against the pale skin of his face.
Aaron quickly looked away, but even with his limited knowledge, it looked as though the damage had been caused by a shifter. It’d take strength to cause that amount of damage.
“Fine,” Sam reluctantly agreed, “it looks like the work of a shifter. I’d hoped you were wrong.”
Archer sighed. “I can understand that. But I’m not. And we need to catch them before this happens again.” He glanced down at the photos in his hand, then back up at Sam. “Can you use your claws effectively on both hands?”
Sam tilted his head a little to one side. “I’m sorry?”
“According to the post-mortem examinations, we have three victims, all killed in the same way, but two of them were struck right-to-left, and the other was struck left-to-right. So we were wondering… when you’re shifted—or half-shifted, whatever—do you have a dominant hand?” He put the photos away in the folder. “Are we looking for more than one suspect?”
Sam looked to Isaac, who shrugged, then shook his head.
Aaron flexed his fingers and tried to imagine himself half-shifted. Did he have a dominant hand? He didn’t think so, and certainly not in his wolf form.
Doing much the same as Aaron had done, Sam held his hands out in front of him, then let his claws slide out.
Both detectives flinched.
“I don’t believe there’s a dominant hand as such. I guess I favour my right hand…” With a grim smile, Sam made a slashing motion with each hand in turn. “But we’re pretty lethal with either.”
“So it could be one or more shifters.” Archer looked pissed off, and Aaron supposed he couldn’t blame him. None of them had been much help.
Sam sheathed his claws with a soft snick. “Unless you find forensic evidence tying a shifter to this crime, it’s impossible to say either way.”
“Great.” Detective Archer tucked the folder under his arm and sighed again. Aaron was already used to hearing it. “I need to discuss a few things with my boss, but I’d like to talk to you again, probably tomorrow if that’s okay?”
“About what, exactly?” Sam asked. “We’ve been more than helpful as it is, Detective.”
Archer raised an eyebrow. “Well for starters, there’s the matter of the charges we may or may not bring against Mr Harper and possibly Mr Nash.”
Aaron swallowed, gaze darting between his alpha and Detective Archer as they had some sort of standoff.
Finally, Sam relented. “Fine. But I’m a busy man, Detective. Make sure to call ahead.”
“Oh, I will.” Archer smiled, and whether it was genuine or not, Aaron was taken aback by the difference it made. His blue eyes seemed brighter, crinkling at the edges, and his mouth curved up and parted, revealing white, slightly crooked teeth.
Archer’s scent, which—thanks to a healthy dose of fear earlier—he’d managed to avoid noticing up till this point, suddenly hit him full force, and his breath hitched. Closing his eyes for a second, Aaron attempted to get control of his traitorous body.
So not the time for this, Aaron.
Becoming a shifter had saved his life, and he’d never regretted that decision, but sometimes he’d give anything not to have senses quite so sharp. His wolf reacted to certain things so strongly, and at the most inappropriate times too.
They were standing mere feet from where someone had died, for fuck’s sake. Averting his gaze, Aaron caught Harry’s eye and mouthed, “You okay?”
Harry shrugged, then grimaced as he glanced down at the ground. Aaron could tell by the look on his face that he was seeing the bloodstain. “Not sure,” he mouthed back.
That was pretty much how Aaron felt too. Standing in the spot where someone had been murdered was a little surreal. The narrow road between buildings was just like any other along that street—littered with bits of rubbish that had managed to escape the industrial bins and smelling bad. Even the aroma of coffee and baked goods coming from the café next door didn’t cover the stench coming from those bins. And that was with their contents already emptied by the police. He didn’t envy the one who’d searched through it all.
“If that’s all, Detective, I think we’ll head back now.” Sam’s tone indicated they were done, however, Archer replied.
“Of course.” Archer stepped back out of their way. “We’ll be in touch.”
Isaac gestured for Aaron and Harry to go first, and despite the lure of Detective Archer and his appealing scent, Aaron was only too happy to head back to the car. He felt eyes on him the whole way and barely suppressed a shiver. When they were all safely inside Isaac’s SUV, he chanced a glance back at the alleyway.
The two detectives stood side by side, talking to each other but looking straight at the car. They were talking about Aaron and the others, that much was obvious. But they were too quiet, and from inside the car, he couldn’t make out what they were saying.
