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“Violet,” Red breathed, and it was a relief to see someone else putting together the pieces and coming to what looked like a similar conclusion to the one she had, rather than immediately playing it off.
“Magnus became the mayor because the previous mayor died in the explosion, Kane became the alpha because the same people died in an ‘attack’”—she made air quotes around the word—“and Mikel’s dad got the blame. Kane’s been at my house since. I saw him maybe last year, maybe the year before. They stayed in contact.”
She finished, and Red just blinked at her.
“Is Mikel going to try to get revenge?” she finally asked.
“No, he still thinks the explosion was a cover-up, and that his dad killed all those people. He barely wants to talk about it.”
“Okay, but is there any way itcouldhave been a cover-up?” Red held up her hands, asking for patience while they considered it.
Violet’s gut said no, but that wasn’t logic. “Theoretically yes. But then why blow it up with people who weren’t involved in the attack still inside, like my mom? Why take out the school and businesses when a smaller leak would have done enough to just clear that room. Why kill all those people to get to just two?”
“Maybe someone botched the cover-up?”
“Possible. I was ten years old, I don’t have a ton of details, but I definitely don’t recall a single thing that says it was anything other than an explosion. The whole town was all over it for weeks afterwards.”
She could tell she’d lost Red a little bit, and she supposed it made sense. It was easier to believe the version of events you already knew and had processed, not the crazy alternative. Maybe that was the case for her too, and she just didn’t want to accept she lost her mom in some power scheme, or that the end was even more brutal than she’d thought. “But I’m not the only one who thinks something’s up. You know Bard’s Books?”
“Yeah,” Red frowned, not following her jump.
“The old lady who owns it, she was a family friend of Mikel’s parents. He looks out for her and stuff. Anyway, he took her a moon rock or something, and after she got done trying to have him knock me up”—she made a face and Red scoffed—“she was talking likeMikelshould be the alpha. He told me she thinks it was a set-up too.”
Red gawked at her. “I’m not trying to be insensitive, but I feel like I just stumbled into a detective show. Wait, do you think you’re in danger? If Kane somehow cheated to become the alpha, and he knows that you recognize him—”
“He definitely knows,” Violet told her. “Mikel ‘doesn’t like his interest,’ but I don’t think he’s thought about it beyond Kane being curious about me because he doesn’t trust him. What happened with his dad, or what Mikel thinks happened, weighs on him. You know he’s not chatty anyway, and when it comes to this…” She mimed zipping her lips.
“Okay.” Red chewed her thumb, looking around the mostly empty parking lot like she’d find an answer there. “So, we go talk to Mrs. Bard!” She turned the key and the van roared back to life.
“Now?”
“Why not?”
“Good point.” For weeks Violet had wanted answers, but now they felt closer at hand, now someone else had validated her suspicions, she was inexplicably reluctant. The drive to the bookstore passed quickly and quietly. Maybe Red was lost in the details, chewing it all over in her head.
Violet told herself her stomach was only in knots because they’d talked about her mom. It was a memory she was careful not to touch, and she was aware it could be influencing her perception of all this. Having to come to terms with her mom dying in a cold-blooded attack, not an accident, at the hands of Mikel’s dad… She pushed the thought away.
“Violet Davis,” Mrs. Bard announced as soon as they entered the shop, appearing from behind a shelf and leaving Violet to wonder how she’d seemed so deaf the first time they’d met.
“Uh—” She started to correct her, and Red elbowed her.
“You go by pack name here,” she explained before Violet could continue.
“I had a feeling you’d be back.” She tottered over and squinted at Red. “Daniella Hawthorne’s young lady,” she announced. “Aren’t you cold, girl?” She gestured at Red’s teeny shorts. Violet was instantly thankful she’d chosen jeans that morning.
“I run hot,” Red replied gamely. The old woman only sniffed in response.
“Mrs. Bard,” Violet started and glanced around the empty store for listening ears.
“Call me, Margie, pet. Mikel’s too polite, has been since he was a boy. He makes me feel old.” She shooed them aside and lowered herself down into a chair beside a reading table, then gestured to the love seat across from it. “It’s safe to talk here. Now,” she started once they sat, “what have you come to ask me?”
Violet shared a glance with Red, unsure where to start. “Well…” She rubbed a hand over her denim-clad thigh. “To be brief, my dad is the mayor of Frankston. He became the mayor after the previous one died in what I grew up believing was a gas explosion in the town hall.” It was startling to see Margie’s eyes flash gold. “Then, I come here and learn the previous mayor supposedly died in a werewolf attack. Then, I realize Kane, the alpha, I know him. He’s been having dinner with my dad every once in a while since before the accident. My mom was in that building. It was an open casket funeral, and she wasn’t…” She stumbled over the words. “She was trapped under a ceiling beam and died of smoke inhalation. She wasn’t mauled. I—I saw her.”
Margie’s eyes were blazing, and she was so still for a minute, Violet grew concerned.
“It just seems like a coincidence that the two men who would directly benefit from the accident were in contact before it happened and still are now. And nothing in my memory ever suggested it was anything but a gas accident, not a massacre.”
“Elias was a good man,” Margie finally spoke. “A good leader. He loved this town, and he advocated for better relations with the humans in Frankston. Saw him change with my own eyes when the council came for him, but Iknowhe didn’t do what they said he did. And it sounds like you’ve whittled out the truth. Let me guess; Mikel won’t listen?”
