Page 58 of Remnants
Scoffing, I focus my gaze on the corner of the table in the interview room to keep my eyes from rolling. This guy definitely has a superiority complex. “Sure,” I reply instead, doing my damnedest to be on my best behavior like I’d promised Aiden.
“Your hospital record says you’d broken several ribs and had some pretty severe bruising,” he muses, flipping open the file he’d slappeddown on the table when he first entered the room.
I cast a short glance at Cibrina sitting next to me and see her mouth turn down while staring at the file that I’m pretty sure he had no right to obtain.
Fantastic.
“Good for you,” I reply, sarcasm drowning my words. “You can read.”
Cibrina places her hand on my arm, and I force myself to take a deep breath. Right. This is almost over. I need to keep my head.
Detective Unger’s lips twitch to an almost smile from my response. “And it was Aiden Adams who signed you in. What’s his relation to you?”
Heat flares in my chest. I drop my hands to my lap, fisting them beneath the table. “He’s my…boyfriend,” I finish lamely. That word doesn’t feel right. That little word isn’t enough to encompass what we have, what me and the others have between us.
But it’s none of this guy’s business what word would fit us best, so I leave him with that.
“Ah, your boyfriend,” he drags out slowly, then closes the file and laces his hands together over it. “The way I see it, Miss LaRoux, you’re innocent. Maybe even a victim. Now, I don’t know if this was some sort of domestic or company-based harassment or what…but I’m here to let you know that you can trust me. If you’re covering for someone, you don’t need to do that. We can bring them in and hold them, so you have nothing to fear from intimidation or repercussions if you were to give me a name.”
Anger rushes through my veins, boiling my blood as I clench myteeth. This asshole is trying to get me to point a finger at Aiden. My gift burns in my gut, aching to slip free at the threat to Aiden. Leaning forward, I lower my voice when I answer him. “You wanna know how I see it?” His brows knit, and I know I have his attention. “I see a pathetic, wannabe detective grasping at straws, trying to make something out of nothing in the hopes someone will notice him. I think if you were a real detective, you’d have actual bad guys to catch, but instead, you’re here harassing us because you have nothing better to do. Get a life because I have nothing more to say to you.”
The detective smiles, then mirrors my position on the opposite side of the table. “One thing you should know about me is that I have great instincts. Some might even call it agift.” My stomach drops. “Thank you for your time today, Miss LaRoux. I have what I need for now, and I’ll let you know when I have further questions.” He stands, taking the file with him. “Don’t leave town.”
He exits the room, the soft click of the door behind him striking me with a bolt of fear.
Cibrina sighs. When I look at her to speak, she shakes her head. Another officer opens the door for us, leading us back to the entrance of the police station where the others are waiting. I’d been the last one, so we walk outside to the two parked cars before anyone says a word.
“How did everyone do?” Aiden asks Cibrina, who’d been present with each of us.
I’m half expecting her to look at me after the shitshow that was my interview, but she doesn’t. “We’ve given him nothing furtherto investigate with this incident.” Aiden nods, but she continues, “But he’s not going to drop it from what I can tell. He seems to already have an interest in us, so since he doesn’t have an angle from using the victims’ statements, I have no doubt he’ll be searching for another one.”
“What other angle could he possibly have?” Dane questions, his arms crossed and one foot up against the tire of Kellan’s car.
“The Guild, for one,” Cibrina responds. “He may look deeper into the company, and Aiden as the one who runs it. That and he made a comment about having a natural gift with his instincts. It could be a coincidence, but…”
Dane swears and hits a fist against Kell’s car.
“Watch it,” Kellan growls.
Cassandra chews on her lip but stays quiet while Fabian tosses peanuts into his mouth and looks unperturbed.
“The cops aren’t a problem. It’s just him,” Jackson comments.
Aiden turns to him. “Did you hear something?”
Jack nods once. “His superior. Demanded to know what we were all doing there.” He cocks his head. “I can make him and all of this disappear,” he offers chillingly, and Cassandra shivers next to me.
“Not yet,” Aiden commands, and I frown. I know it’s probably not therightthing to do, but I agree with Jackson. We have enough problems right now to add this guy to it, especially with thatgiftremark. Does he have a gift himself, or was he insinuating he knows about people with gifts? “We’ll have someone keep an eye on him for now to make sure he doesn’t get too close. If he does, then we’ll address him. Until then, we keep our focus on GE.”
I reach behind me to pinch Jackson’s hoodie, which draws him immediately to press into my back without a word. I’ve barely had him back from watching Thorne. Is he going to be off stalking this guy now?
Aiden catches the movement, his eyes then finding mine. “Others can watch the detective. Thorne was a special case.” He looks to the rest of the group. “Hopefully, this is the last we hear of this detective, but tell Cibrina or me immediately if he tries to reach out to you directly.”
Somehow, I doubt we’ve heard the last word from Detective Unger.
Chapter sixteen
Jackson
