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An hour or two quickly turned to three, then four. If the station had been bustling with activity, it might have been more tolerable. At least then there would have been the impression of things happening, something being done. Instead, officers filtered in and out from behind the front desk like they were carried by an old, lazy river.
It was easy to convince myself that they’d forgotten I was even here.
The only silver lining of our situation was that it gave me more alone time with Rylan. After missing him for so long, I cherished every moment I got with him. I poured all my focus into him while I waited for an update. I could never get tired of looking at my son. Even the smallest changes in his expression captivated me.
He had such a strong hold on my heart, even this disastrous turn in our day was made better by having him in my arms.
The male officer who brought Denny and Xander in eventually came out and introduced himself as Sheriff Cooper. He sat down in the chair next to me, bearing a peace offering in the form of a white paper bag. The logo on it said Heaven’s Diner, and the bottom of the bag was gray with grease.
“Thought you might be hungry.” Cooper held the bag out to me like an olive branch. “Should’ve asked if you were vegan and such, I s’pose, but since you’re a shifter—”
“I’m not one. A shifter or a vegan, actually.” I took the bag from him and opened it. Immediately, I was greeted by the scent of griddled meat, melted cheese, and fried food. “Thank you. This smells amazing.”
“It’s a heart attack in a foil wrapper, but Lord knows I’ve eaten enough of them in my day, and it hasn’t killed me yet. They’re from the best diner in town.” Cooper scratched his chin. “Only diner in town, actually. I took a couple back for your mate and your pa, too.”
“My pa?” What the hell was he on about? It took me a moment to connect the dots. “Oh. You mean Denny. He’s not my dad. He’s just trying to help us.”Unlike you, I resisted the urge to add.
“Ah. Really? Thought I saw a resemblance there, and Renee out at the Holiday Inn said…”
My eyebrows shot up. “So, that’s how you knew where we were.”
And after we’d asked her so nicely not to tell anyone that she’d seen us, too. Her betrayal had happened so quickly, it was almost impressive. She’d made it all of half an hour before spilling the beans.
“Don’t hold it against her. When Miss Harper tore in here, she was in quite the state. Got us pretty riled up. I called around to every hotel in a fifty-mile radius—there aren’t many. Renee only gave you up when I explained what you were being accused of, and even then, she didn’t sound real happy about it. You can’t be angry at a woman for cooperating with the police.”
I scowled down at the bag on my lap.
Watch me.
“Are you going to let them go?” I asked.
“Need to ask you all a few questions first. But then, yeah, probably.” Cooper rose. “Figure we can get it over with faster if I talk to you all at once. You okay with that? I can wait until you’re done eating. We can go back when you’re ready.”
“No, that’s fine.” I got up, food in one hand, Rylan’s carrier in the other. “I’m ready now.”
Cooper took me through the same door Denny and Xander had disappeared behind when we arrived. Down a short hallway, we hung a left into another room.
Within it, Denny and Xander sat on the same side of a long interrogation table. Denny turned and greeted Cooper and me with a grin. Xander flicked me a glance. I could tell from the look in his eyes that he was furious but too smart to act on it. The room was lit with harsh fluorescents and smelled like stale coffee and fries.
I hugged Xander with one arm, then sat down next to him. Sheriff Cooper took the chair on the table’s opposite side.
“Now, I’ve corroborated the stories I’ve gotten from you so far pretty thoroughly. There’s no question that’s your kid there, but I gotta say, you coulda made this a lot easier on everyone by just alerting the authorities when you found him.” Cooper gave us all a stern look. “So. How come you didn’t call us?”
“If we called you, it would have made the news,” Denny said. “With one of the boys still missing, we were hoping that the fewer people who knew Rylan was back with his parents, the better chance we’d have at finding little Ryder as well.”
“I’m sure that’s true,” Cooper said. “Not a bad plan. But the cops aren’t here to hinder you.” I begged to differ at this point but bit my tongue. “We could’ve helped, even. If you’d have contacted me—”
“You know how us shifters are, Sheriff,” Denny said politely. “We like to handle our own business. Usually less dangerous for everyone if we do.”
“Can’t argue with you there,” Cooper said. “We’ve had an increase in ferals around here lately, you know. I wanted to believe what they say about your barks being worse than your bites, but…” He rolled his sleeve up, revealing a thick bandage packed around his forearm. “Got this from one of ’em about a week ago. Believe you me, I’m not partial to tangling with a wolf again anytime soon.”
“Bet you’ve got one hell of a battle scar hidden under there.” Denny tugged the neck of his T-shirt aside. “Got this one from a feral myself. Me and my boys specialize in dealing with ’em. Here, I’ll give you my card.”
Denny reached into his pocket and drew out his wallet. It still surprised me how easily he handled the sheriff. He was made of pure, casual confidence, speaking more like a drinking buddy than a suspect. All part of his charm, I was sure.
Next to me, Xander was wound so tightly I could practically feel his annoyance radiating off him. Beneath the table, his knee bounced incessantly.
I definitely felt more in-tune with Xander than Denny right now.
