Chapter Seven
She was pissed, I could see it on her face. Of course, to be fair, it didn't take much to piss Mariana off, but still. I would have almost thought she had tracking on my phone or was somehow stalking me, but Mariana was holding onto some bags – she'd obviously been in town shopping for the wedding.
“Did you lose your phone or something?” she asked me, arms crossed in front of her as she glared at me. “You better hope you lost your phone, because God knows, if you're ignoring my calls –”
She stopped and looked past me into the store. Her eyes widened, her face darkened with anger, and then she looked at me again.
“You just came out of there,” she said, pointing at the bookstore.
“Yeah, so?” I said. “I wanted to pick up a book. Didn't know reading was a crime. If we're going to get married, you're going to have to get used to seeing me reading.”
“Uh huh,” she said. “So, what book did you buy?”
Too late, I realized that I had nothing in my hands, and she could see that. “They didn't have what I was looking for,” I said with a shrug.
“So, you weren't actually in there talking to her all this time?” Mariana pointed at Rose through the windows.
“Sure, we talked, but –”
“Is that why you didn't answer my calls, Asher?” she huffed. She shook her head and held her hands up in the air. “You know what? We'll deal with that later. I was calling for a reason, Asher. It's really important and there is some bad stuff going down.”
“What's going on?” I asked.
“My father. He's been shot,” she said.
My heart dropped. “Is he okay?”
“He's fine, the shooter didn't actually kill him,” she said. “Missed his heart and got his shoulder instead. He's currently at the hospital, but they're going to release him here soon. The wound was pretty superficial and with his healing powers, he'll be fine in no time. They have the shooter in custody now.”
“So, they know who it was?” I asked.
“Yes, they do,” she said, glaring at me. “Asher, it's Cameron. Cameron tried to kill my father.”
“Wait, what?” I asked her, my heart dropping into my stomach. “No, you have something all wrong –”
“No, Asher, he's been arrested. It was him. It was your best friend,” she said. “And now my clan is demanding answers. Answers I don't have, which is why I've been trying to call you all morning, to try and head off a disaster between our clans. And instead, I find out that you're in there flirting with – with – her. That plain, ordinary – human. So glad to know I can count on you when clan business needs to be handled d –”
“Mariana, stop,” I said. “I'll handle this. It wasn't Cameron. There's no reason he'd do something like that. Something is going on here.”
“Oh yeah?” she shoved me hard in the chest. “Then handle it. Because right now, it looks like a war is brewing. And you're too busy cheating on me to care.”
“You're next in line, after your father,” I said, trying my best to remain calm. “Call a meeting. Tell them we are not responsible for this. If Cameron did shoot him, there must have been something going on and it was an isolated incident. I'll handle it.”
“You'll handle it? Meaning you'll punish one of your own for trying to kill one of us?” She seemed doubtful.
“Yes, if that's what needs to be done,” I replied. “But I'm also going to get the facts of the case before I do anything. I'm not going to go off half-cocked. That's not how I do things.”
“Well, don't be surprised if my people don't believe you, Asher,” she said. “I mean, Cameron is your best friend after all. Your right hand man.”
She turned and walked away, leaving me alone on the street with my thoughts. And my thoughts turned progressively darker.
First, Luke had been killed and made to look like it was N'gasso. Now Mariana's father was shot, and it appeared to come from us. Sure, it could be retaliation for what happened to Luke, but if so, it didn't come from the top of the chain. Cameron would have acted on his own, and I knew my best friend. I knew he wasn't the type to act without permission from either me or my father.
Things were not lining up.
I needed to speak to Cameron, get some answers from him. Maybe then I could get to the bottom of this.
Something was definitely going on. Something was brewing, she was right about that. But it wasn't a war that was brewing. From where I was standing, it almost looked like somebody was intentionally trying to put us at odds. But who? And why?
~ooo000ooo~
“Where's he at?” I asked the moment I stepped into the police station. “I need to speak to him.”
The officer at the desk just stared at me, eyes wide. She was new, and I felt bad for her. She looked at her computer and then back at me, her eyes wide and filled with terror.
“A - are you asking about Cameron Hudson?” she stammered, her voice wavering and reflecting the fear I saw in her eyes.
“Of course I am,” I said. “I need to speak to him. Now.”
Sheriff Richards stepped out of his office and waved the other officer away. “I'll handle this, Sheila,” he said, looking at me with pure disdain in his eyes. “We're in the middle of questioning Mr. Hudson right now. No one but his attorney is allowed to speak with him at this time.”
I slammed my fists down on the counter. “I need to talk to him. Something is going down, Sheriff. Maybe something big. A storm is brewing, and I'm afraid he's caught in the middle of it. If you don't let me get some answers – and believe me, I'm going to get answers you won't – there are going to be more dead bodies in this town, you hear me?”
“Are you threatening me, Mr. Blackwood?” he asked, smirking as he asked.
“No, I'm warning you. Someone is behind this, and it's not Cameron,” I said, my voice low and cold. “And I need to find out who it is.”
“Okay, so you're just trying to do my job. Gotcha,” he said, turning to walk away. “Thanks, but like I said, no one can speak to the suspect at this time. Unless you have information that would aid in our investigation, I'd appreciate it if you saw yourself out.”
“So, you're just going to walk away?” I asked. “Not listen to anything I have to say?”
“Do you have information on why Cameron Hudson would try to kill Mr. Rockford?”
“No, because he wouldn't –”
“Then we have no reason to talk, Asher,” he said, shutting his office door in my face.
With my hands clenched at my sides, I fought the urge to drive my fist straight through the glass on the door. I didn't want to end up arrested alongside Cameron, and I was smart and aware enough to know that the Sheriff was looking for any reason to put me behind bars. And I knew I couldn't give him one.
Sometimes, being level-headed sucked.
I left the police station and called my father, who answered on the first ring.
“I heard what happened,” I said.
“Which incident?” my dad responded.
“What do you mean –” I almost didn't want the answer to that. “You mean there's more than one?”
“Yep,” he said, his voice sounding defeated. “I think it might be best if you came home, son. We need to talk. It's serious.”
I hung up and rushed home, afraid of what else might have gone down while I was in the bookstore for the afternoon. As I drove past One More Chapter again and couldn't help but glance inside. I saw Rose talking to a customer, a little girl, and they both had smiles on their faces. Seeing her made me smile too. It almost made me forget about the faint drumbeats of war that were sounding all around me.
Almost.