“My name is Kade Rourke. I’m an Alpha, and I live at one-twelve West Talbot, apartment three-B.”
Same building as Emrys. I know that much from the quick residence check, though, I write it down anyway, mostly to give my hand something productive to do. “You run Rourke Securities. You’ve been operating for six years, you have no criminal record, and your file shows two commendations. I’m saying that out loud because it’s in front of me, not because I think good paperwork magically makes people innocent.”
A faint shift touches his mouth, too brief to call it amusement. “It doesn’t.”
“No, but it helps me understand the shape of the person sitting across from me. Tell me what happened tonight from the beginning. They let me know that your lawyer is on the way. If you’d like, we can wait. Otherwise, please start with what made you leave your apartment.”
I look up to see Kade folding his hands together and leaning forward, his expression darkening slightly. “I was in my apartment, in the front room. I’d gotten home maybe twenty minutes earlier, and I was reviewing a file on my tablet. I heard something outside near the side entrance. At first, it sounded like movement against the pavement, then something hit the brick. The bins make noise sometimes, and the building carries sound badly in that corner, but this was different. It sounded like someone trying to make a noise and not being able to finish it.”
I narrow my gaze at him after scratching his words down on the pad. “You thought someone was being stopped from calling out?”
“Yes. I couldn’t have put it that cleanly in the moment, but that’s what it was. I opened the side door and saw a man holding Emrys against the wall. His hand was over Emrys’ mouth, andhis arm was across his chest. Emrys was trying to get away, but he didn’t have room to move.”
The way Kade says Emrys’ name and vice versa tells me that there’s something between them. Kade’s entire body seems to soften when he says the Omega’s name, a pang of jealousy swirling in my chest before I stamp it back down.
Neither one of these people are mine even if biology has dictated something else. I clear my throat, trying to stay professional. “What did you do when you saw them?”
“I went downstairs, grabbed the man by the back of his coat, and pulled him off.”
“You didn’t identify yourself or give a warning first?”
“No. I didn’t have any reason to think a warning would help, and his hand was still over Emrys’ mouth. If I’d taken the time to announce myself, that would’ve been more time with Emrys unable to breathe or call out.”
I mark it down. “What happened after you pulled him off?”
“The guy swung at me. The first hit landed against my shoulder, and then he tried for my face. I shoved him back into the bins and ended up punching him in the face after he swiped at me to get distance between him and Emrys. He took off east toward the corner. I started to go after him, but Emrys was still against the wall, and I didn’t know how badly he was hurt so I stayed with him.”
“Did you touch Emrys after the attacker ran?”
A tortured expression runs across Kade’s face. “Not at first, but Emrys needed it, so I wrapped myself around him. That was moments before the police showed up.” His eyes move to the table for the first time. “I keep thinking I should’ve chased him.”
“Maybe you should have, and maybe you made the only call you could make with what you had. If you had chased him, Emrys would’ve been left alone outside after an assault, and there’s no way to know if the man had someone else nearby.”
Kade’s gaze lifts again. “I’m more pissed that no one believed Rys.Emrys.He shouldn’t have had to explain it while I was in cuffs.”
The little slip-up tells me more than I already knew, though, the thing between them doesn’t seem to have a formal name. They aren’t mates or currently bonded. Kade’s reaction to what happened would have been more biologically visceral.
“No, he shouldn’t have.” The answer comes out before I can polish it into something less likely to annoy the department later. “Did you recognize the attacker?”
“No. He was average height, smaller than me but larger than Emrys, with a dark coat, hood up, and gloves on. I didn’t get a clean look at his face, and I don’t want to invent one because I know how badly that can go.”
That does more for my trust in him than another commendation would have.
“He moved like he thought he had more time than he did,” Kade says. “He wasn’t casual exactly, but he wasn’t frantic either. When I came out, he reacted like I’d interrupted something that was already underway, not like he’d been caught making a bad decision in the moment. His right foot dragged when he ran, though I wouldn’t call it a limp. It looked more like something catching in the step, maybe an old injury or worn tread. His scent was flattened too, with a chemical edge beneath it. Cleaner, maybe, or a blocker. I couldn’t catch enough to name it.”
I write all of that down, slow enough to keep him in the moment and careful enough not to make the silence feel like pressure. “Emrys said the attacker used his name.”
Kade goes still, his scent thinning out before settling. “When did he say it?”
“Before the attack escalated. Emrys said the man was waiting near the bins and called him Emrys.”
Kade leans back a fraction, his expression darkening a fraction further. “I didn’t know that.”
“I figured. You would’ve mentioned it. I’m suspecting this wasn’t a random attack. Mr. Rourke, a man waiting near your building, using Emrys’ full name, and running before patrol arrived, isn’t something I’m filing under bad luck.”
I sit back a little and put my pen down, some part of me hating that we’re on opposite sides of the table. When Kade’s nostrils flare slightly, I realize that this mate thing goes both ways, something we’re both actively trying to ignore.
“We’re grabbing the footage from the camera in the corridor. Hopefully, that can—”
