Page 53 of Follow Your Instincts

The next couple of weeks werefun.

Ben and I ran together a few more mornings, but my favorite evening with him was spent at a fall festival in Brookwood. There was a carnival with games and rides, and his excitement was infectious. After riding every ride at least once, he bought me a caramel apple and won me a giant pink stuffed octopus that he carried around for me the rest of the night.

He made me feel like a teenager again, even more so when we snuck off to make out behind the cotton candy tent, his hands wandering until my scent spiked. I convinced him to leave once I noticed some of the sharper looks from other Alphas. I tried not to let the sour ending piss me off.

Lucas took me to a fancy restaurant he had talked about, the place that sold the best peach cobbler in the city.

“I’m not sure if I trust your judgment in food after the bagel debate,” I teased, but he was right. It was delicious.

He also took me to walk around a farmer’s market uptown in the city. It was mostly Hispanic and Black vendors selling fresh produce or prepared foods. I ate until I was stuffed: plátanos maduros, jerk chicken, black beans and rice, and banana pudding. Lucas was so easy to be around, and his height made me feel safe and protected, even around unfamiliar Alphas. He never tried to kiss me, but he was still openly affectionate. I could appreciate taking it slow.

Soren and I went on long walks talking about the Heitzig case, along with older cases that I was curious about.

I’d sent the photo of Greta and her mystery pack to Kira. She gave me names of places it could have been taken that I passed along to Soren, and he gave me updates on following up on those leads.

I spent a lot of the time alternately picking his brain and desperately wishing we were not in public. Whenever he kissed me, I turned into a panting, perfuming mess.

Lachlan tagged along on a couple of outings with the full pack. We did an escape room together, which mostly involved Soren and me solving the puzzles, Ben ransacking the place looking for clues, Lucas being encouraging, and Lachlan handling the math equations.

In between these dates, I spent a lot of time with Bridget. I enrolled in an online course on criminal psychology through Fairview City College to help pass the time, and it felt good to be using my brain on something productive even if I was sidelined from work.

Jess and I avoided each other as much as possible. The time I spent with the pack seemed to annoy her, and she made snide comments at meal times about Omegas jumping into bed with any pack that would take them.

I kept my temper under control, mostly because I didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of knowing she pissed me off.

Kira visited as much as she could with her schedule. She joined Bridget and me for our romcom nights and brought junk food.

If the prospect of my heat wasn’t dangling on the horizon like a hangman’s noose, if I could just go back to my job, if I didn’t have to worry about when and if the city was going to prosecute Todd Phillips… things might have even been perfect.

Chapter 20

Soren

Harcourt was about to put Jacobs on my case. I could feel it. It had been weeks and we had nothing on the actual robbery. And only a few shreds on where the hell Greta was. I had officers working on finding her, combing pawn shops for any of the missing jewelry and - nothing.

I’d checked out the bars Maggie’s sister suggested, and they did all have exposed brick walls with neon signs, but none of the staff I’d interviewed said they knew Greta or had seen her or the men in the photograph around.

To make matters even worse, the Internal Affairs investigator looking into Phillips’ attack on Maggie had finally decided to show up, and he looked like a total dick. Harcourt had given me a heads-up he’d be interviewing me, so at least I knew who he was. He was lounging on my desk when I walked into the precinct. His suit was perfectly tailored, his shoes shone, and his hair was tidy. I hated the pompous shit on sight.

“Detective Murray?” he asked as I approached.

“Yep,” I said shortly.

“Sergeant Broad,” he said, giving me a punishingly strong handshake. Another Alpha that wanted to show a Beta like me who was in charge. “Do you have a few minutes to talk regarding the incident that occurred in the precinct betweenOfficer Phillips and Officer Carter?”

“Gladly,” I said.

“Wonderful, let’s find an interview room away from any distractions,” he said, looking around with distaste at the shabby bullpen. “Lead the way, please, Detective.”

I led him to one of the interview rooms. It had taken this asshole over a month to investigate anything and his demeanor was already rubbing me the wrong way.

We sat across the table from one another, and Broad took out his phone and started a recording. “You don’t mind?”

“Of course not,” I said.

“Sergeant Frederick Broad interviewing Detective Soren Murray regarding case number 04746. Detective, please explain in your own words what occurred the night that Officer Carter, who is currently on medical leave, alleges an attack occurred on the premises of this precinct.”

I didn’t appreciate his tone, which heavily implied he thought Maggie was lying, but I kept my face and voice as calm as I could when I explained what happened that night

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