AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She sank back in the cushions with a sigh as Boone rested one hand on her thigh. “You look exhausted, Hedra.”
“Because my family can be a lot. I love them, but being around them for a week takes a lot of energy.”
She gave Boone an appreciative look. “Thank you, by the way, for letting my parents stay here at the house. I know it was kind of awkward.”
“It wasn’t,” Boone said. “I liked your mom and dad a lot.”
“They liked you too,” Hedra said with a soft smile.
“Did everyone get home okay?” Boone asked.
“Yes. Nora texted me about an hour ago. Everyone’s home safe and sound, including Mom and Dad.” Hedra leaned against Boone, his solid strength easing some of her tension. “Thank you for not telling them about Mateo.”
“You’re welcome.” Boone kissed the top of her head.
She stared at him. “You think it was a mistake not telling them, don’t you?”
“I don’t,” he said. “After seeing how your brothers are with you, not telling them it was Mateo and letting them believe your brakes just failed on their own was the right move.”
Hedra’s stomach twisted. Her car had been pulled out of the river a day after the accident. It hadn’t taken the police long to discover the pinhole in the brake lines that allowed the fluid to slowly but steadily drip out and the completely severed emergency brake cable.
She shuddered against Boone, still finding it unbelievable that Mateo would do something this monstrous. She knew he blamed her, knew he’d had trouble moving on, but to do something like this? That wasn’t the Mateo she remembered.
Boone purred to her, his big hand stroking her thigh. “You’re safe, little lamb.”
“I can’t believe Mateo would do this,” she said. “I know I sound stupid, but he’s an accountant, for God’s sake, and he doesn’t know shit about cars. Dianne knew more about cars than he did.”
“People change,” Boone said. “Besides, he could have easily YouTubed how to cut brake lines. There are fucking videos for everything now online.”
“I guess,” Hedra said. “This morning, I talked to one of the police officers who interviewed me at the hospital.”
“What did they say?” Boone asked.
“They haven’t talked to Mateo yet.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Boone growled. “We gave them the knife with the note, the fucking cow tongue, and they have proof that your car was fucked with. What more do they need?”
“They’re going to talk to him,” Hedra said. “I guess they have a significant backlog right now, and it’s taking a while to get to cases not deemed a significant worry.”
“Not a significant worry?” Boone fumed. “The guy tried to kill you, Hedra. He almost succeeded.”
“They still need proof that it was him,” Hedra said, “and the officer also said…”
“What did he say?” Boone asked.
“He said I was a lower priority because my mate was a shifter, and you worked for a security firm. Because you can protect me.”
“Fucking hell,” Boone said.
She took his hand, squeezing it tight. “I mean, he’s kind of right.”
“That’s not the point,” Boone said. “Your life is still in danger, and they’re not taking it seriously. They could at least talk to the guy and…”
Hedra didn’t like the look on Boone’s face. “Boone? What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking we go ahead with our previous plan. I’ll talk with Mateo.”
“We should let the police handle it,” Hedra said.
