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Ridge huffed but didn’t say anything.
“The sick part is, I ran into Christie Greenthorne in Mateo’s apartment and—”
“What were you doing in Mateo’s apartment?”
My pussy clenched at the dark growl rushing out of Ridge’s chest. His stormy eyes landed heavily on me. There was a possessive nature to his reaction, one that should have infuriated me, but excitement burned through me instead. He was jealous.
Ridge was lucky I wasn’t someone who liked games. He’d be in big trouble if I decided to mess around with him.
“I wanted to ask Mateo some questions, but the bar was packed, and Zander was there being a jerk.”
Ridge growled again, but I ignored it.
“So, Mateo said I could wait in the back room, but it shares the hall with his private quarters. I heard somebody talking on the phone upstairs. So, I did what any self-respecting investigator would do. I eavesdropped.”
A frown etched itself firmly on Ridge’s face, but before he could lecture me about being careful and watching what I was doing, I steamrolled over him.
“Well, it turned out it was Mrs. Greenthorne, and she was freshly fucked. It was a sight to see, I won’t lie. I’m a little disgusted with Mateo, truth be told.” I narrowed my eyes. “But anyway, she confessed that they were in therapy with Lola because she thought I was spying for Lola, then she slammed the door in my face. I wanted to tell you immediately because I thought if the deputy knew about it, it could be a motive for Mr. Greenthorne. Then I ran into Audrey, and get this—she knows her mom is boinking her friend-with-benefits and doesn’t even care. How sick is that?”
Ridge was about to answer, but I was so excited with all the news I’d found out that I kept on talking, telling him that Audrey had said she’d defend me even if I had killed the deputy because of our “engagement.” I explained why she was happy about it and her rationale for that. He was annoyed but relieved to hear that she believed I didn’t do it.
Ridge continually surprised me. He constantly wanted to be my champion. He wanted people to believe I didn’t do it because he didn’t think it was possible for me.
I finally stopped talking and caught my breath.
“I’m not surprised about the Greenthornes,” Ridge said. “That family has been caught up in enough small scandals that you’d think they’d clean up their act. We knew about the therapy because that’s Mr. Greenthorne’s solid alibi. When the murder happened, he was actually talking with Lola Kipling in her office about therapy stuff, but Clawson has yet to question Lola thoroughly. He confirmed Mr. Greenthorne’s alibi, and now he knows that Lola was in her office with him, but she was awake and in her office pretty early in the morning. He finds that suspicious.”
My excitement at the prospect of Mr. Greenthorne going away for the murder dimmed. I’d been leaning more toward him, thinking he had the strongest motive. I didn’t think it could be Lola because she’d fainted when she saw the body. No one could fake such a visceral reaction.
Waving off the suspicion over Lola, I asked, “Did you know Margo used to date Deputy Hill?”
“I’d heard something about it, but I don’t know much more aside from a couple of passing comments Clawson made.”
Why would Clawson be making comments? “What comments?”
“I really don’t know any details. Just that they were seeing each other, and then suddenly they weren’t.”
I nibbled on the inside of my cheek. I’d have to ask Margo directly. It was best to get the details from the horse’s mouth, anyway. I didn’t want to get my facts wrong.
“Anything else?”
He finished up his plate and stacked all three dirty dishes. “This isn’t about the murder, but Clawson has received reports from other scattered packs about more shifters disappearing. It seems to be a pattern making its way across the country.”
My heart’s steady beat jumped out of rhythm.
“I’m more worried than ever about the safety of the shifters in Blackwood Creek,” Ridge continued. “We tried to convince one of the larger scattered packs to settle in this area today. Not only would they fortify our defenses, but they’d have a permanent place to live.” The skin around his eyes pinched with strain. “The pack turned us down again, and they’ve warned other groups of shifters away from settling down anywhere because the hunter problem is getting so bad.”
His body tensed up, and I hated what this was doing to him. He genuinely cared and wanted to ensure shifters were safe. It made me wonder if staying in Blackwood Creek was a wise decision. Was I going to put these shifters I was growing to care about in danger by inadvertently bringing the hunters here? Was I making Ridge’s job harder?
Bloodshed and the lifeless eyes of the people in this town invaded my thoughts, and my breathing started to ratchet up. My wolf began to writhe inside me, itching to run.
Ridge had gotten up to put the plates in the sink, but he turned around and put them on the counter before wrapping me up.
“Breathe, Tori. You’re hyperventilating. Breathe slowly.”
I couldn’t catch my breath. My blood rushed in my ears and my heart threatened to burst out of my chest.
Ridge placed my face into his neck. “Breath in my scent, Tori. Take a deep breath in. You’re safe, I have you, you’re okay.”
