Chapter Nine
Wilhelm yawned and stretched his arms over his head. He planned to review a few more files, then see if he could nap on the leather couch in his office. He hadn’t started to feel sleepy until he’d gotten to the office and began working. It made sense, because the office felt more like home to him.
The flurry of incidents that happened yesterday wore him out. If he could catch a nap, the rest of his day would probably be better. He only hoped every time he closed his eyes he didn’t see his brother’s frowning face, disapproving of him in some way or another even from beyond the grave. Fuck it, Halgar. When he’d managed to push aside his brother’s memory, Juliette’s face showed up every time he’d started to doze. Thoughts of her kept him awake for more pleasant reasons.
Wilhelm shook his head and opened another file on his laptop. The Benedict account. Everything should be in order, he’d only need to—
His cell phone’s ring drew his attention. At first, he didn’t recognize the number, then the area code clicked in his mind and he realized it must be Detective Frasier, the policeman who’d handled his brother’s case. They’d spoken yesterday after Wilhelm had called about the accident, and something about his unwillingness to go into detail bothered Wilhelm, so he’d asked the man to call back today. “Detective Frasier, good morning.”
“Sorry for calling so early, but I wanted to touch base with you before the day got away from me.”
“I was up, it’s no problem.”
“Mr. Sorenson, does your brother have any enemies?”
“Enemies?” Was that a standard question when someone died in a car crash? “Not that I know of. Why?”
The detective breathed loudly into the phone. “What about his wife? Could there be a jilted lover, or—”
“Detective, I wouldn’t know anything about Carol’s life. As I told you yesterday, my brother and I have been estranged for the past few years. Why are you asking me this?”
“It’s probably nothing, Mr. Sorenson. Only a hunch. Something about the accident just doesn’t sit right with me. The Medical Examiner just handed me the autopsy report. He didn’t find any substance that might cause your brother to be impaired while driving. Nice weather, no drugs or alcohol in either of their systems, one-car accident. I’m probably just being over-cautious, but I like to be thorough.”
All the sadness and loss Wilhelm had felt since finding out his brother was gone began to bubble into something else—anger. And purpose.
“Are you suggesting that my brother was murdered, Detective?” He forced himself to lighten his grip on the phone in his hand.
“I’m sorry, I can’t rule that out yet. I think it doesn’t sit right, that’s all. I have a couple of my best technicians going over the car in impound. Like I said, I want to be thorough, but there’s no need to be alarmed. I’ll let you know if I find anything that points toward foul play.”
“Thank you for the update, Detective. I really appreciate it.” Wilhelm wrote instructions for Gunther to have his corporate Gulfstream readied for tomorrow’s flight. Gunther had come in early, right after delivering the rent paperwork and flowers to Juliette. He called in his beta. “There has been a development about Halgar’s accident.” Wilhelm gave Gunther the short version of what Detective Frazier had briefed him on moments earlier. “I’m going to Aspen to inspect the scene of the accident with my own eyes. I’ll cancel my afternoon meeting,” he stated.
He called Gunther in and instructed him to ready a plane for Aspen in the morning. With all that settled, he tried to focus on the Benedict file again, but found himself unable to stop considering the possibility that his brother’s accident was actually murder.
At the very least, if he met Frasier he’d get a better sense of whether the man knew what the hell he was talking about. Maybe he saw something that was overlooked with the initial investigation. Maybe this was all for nothing.
No matter, he had to find out.
The sharp ring of his office phone snapped him to attention. Gunther knew better than to send calls through until at least nine. It wasn’t quite seven. He pushed the button. “Yes?”
“Wilhelm, it’s Juliette on the phone,” said Gunther.
That put a smile on his face. She was probably calling to thank him, maybe even scold him for bothering to give her flowers. Juliette was always a welcome distraction, so his morning just got a whole lot better.
“Hello, Juliette,” he said after he clicked over to the call. “I take it the paperwork is in order?”
“Wilhelm, you need to come to your brother’s place now.”
“Why?”
“I’m here right now. I came by to see you this morning and to see how the cubs are doing. I caught Leanne pouring liquid Benadryl into their formula. She’s been drugging them so they’d sleep longer.”
“What?” Wilhelm shot to his feet.
“I called the police and they’re on their way. I need you to be here when they come.”
“I—I’ll be there as fast as I can. Please convince them to wait for me.”
“Nobody’s leaving until you say so.” The growl low in Juliette’s voice raised Wilhelm’s hackles. He’d never heard her so furious or so determined.
“I’m on my way, Juliette.”
“Hurry, please.” The connection ended.
Wilhelm swore. First the detective had a funny feeling about his brother’s accident, and now Juliette caught the twins’ nanny trying to—
No. This all had to be some sort of nightmare, a bad joke. He rushed from the office, shouting instructions at Gunther as he passed.
* * *
Wilhelm saw three police cruisers lining the mansion’s driveway, blocking in Juliette’s white Toyota as soon as he rounded the curb. She must have been watching for him, because she flew out the door as he stepped from the car.
“Thank God you’re here,” Juliette said as she rushed toward him.
Her beautiful face was paler than normal, her eyes darker. He could smell lingering musk around her, as if she’d just shifted. Weretigers left a signature primal scent only noticeable to other shifters if they had transformed recently. The scent on Juliette almost drove him to shift too, his own tiger eager to respond to Juliette’s tigress. Especially when Juliette broadcasted a strong signal of distress.
She’s overwrought, he thought. “Are you all right, Juliette?”
“I’m fine. Leah and Thomas are fine too,” she said. “Uhm, Wilhelm, I might need a lawyer.”
That got his attention. “What did you do?”
“Leanne accused me of battery.”
“Oh? Did you ‘batter’ her?” Wilhelm couldn’t help let out a tiny amused tinge to his voice.
“Only a little.” Juliette held up her thumb and forefinger. “I lost it when she confessed she and her mom used antihistamine on babies so they’d sleep longer. So, I bitch-slapped her a bit.”
“Did you injure her?”
“No, I don’t think so. Physically, I mean. Emotionally, I can’t say. She soiled herself. I shouldn’t be surprised, I guess. The other side of me isn’t pretty.”
“I beg to differ. Everything about you is beautiful.”
Her eyebrow arched a little.
“Don’t worry. If need be, I’ll defend you myself.”
“You? Are you a lawyer?” Juliette seemed surprise.
“I passed the bar exam but I’m not practicing. Let’s go see them.” Wilhelm gently tugged her elbow and escorted her to the mansion. The thought that she saved Thomas’ and Leah’s lives and that she could look so upset at what almost happened when the kids were nothing to her, moved him. She and Wilhelm weren’t even what one would consider friends, since their interaction generally only consisted of him visiting Bonbon most mornings for a pastry and tea and another attempt at getting Juliette to go to dinner with him. He was only her landlord.
But in that moment, it didn’t matter to Wilhelm. As he reached her, he instinctively wrapped her in a tight hug. “Thank you. Thank you so much,” he whispered.
Her arms looped around him just as tightly, and Wilhelm realized he was accepting comfort as much as giving it. He’d almost lost the only family he had left, if not for this amazing woman.
It seemed like the most natural thing in the world to stand there holding her, their breath slowing as they relaxed into each other’s arms. God, it felt so right, more than anything he’d ever done.
“Mr. Sorenson?” An officer took a few steps out of the front door.
They let go of each other and turned to the officer. “Yes,” Wilhelm said.
“We’d like to ask you some questions.” The officer moved to the side and gestured to the door.
And then Juliette’s hand slipped into his. He glanced at her, and gave her a slight nod, everything about him feeling brighter, stronger, with Juliette gripping his hand. They walked into the mansion and only let go when another officer approached Juliette and asked her to repeat her story one more time.
By the time the officers were satisfied that there was cause to arrest Leanne, Wilhelm had heard Juliette repeat her story, exactly, at least three more times to different officers. One was concerned about Leanne’s bruises and pressed to make an assault case out of it. He antagonized Juliette in such a way that she quickly lost her cool and snarled viciously. In front of a very pissed-off weretigress, the cop startled and quickly groped for his weapon.
Wilhelm interfered. “Excuse me, officer. Ms. Crabtree is an outstanding member of society. She reacted this way because our kind is very protective to our young. She’s not the villain in this case—that woman is.” Wilhelm threw a venomous glare at the nanny. “But if you’d like to arrest and charge Ms. Crabtree for assault and battery, be my guest, but I assure you, I’ll get Ms. Crabtree out on bail before the lunch hour. If your case goes to trial, I’ll do anything in my power so that no jury can convict her for trying to protect my innocent infant niece and nephew, who you know just lost their parents in a car accident yesterday. So if you are finished here, please take that woman into custody while Ms. Crabtree and I address a more pressing matter. We have to take the babies to the hospital for exams. We don’t know what kind of damage that woman inflicted on them by drugging them daily.”
The lead detective quickly apologized and wrapped up the investigation. Leanne was escorted away in handcuffs. Juliette would have to go to the station also to make a formal statement at her earliest convenience.
As soon as the cops were out of sight, Juliette confronted him. “I thought you’re my lawyer? What’s up with ‘if you’d like to arrest and charge Ms. Crabtree for assault and battery be my guest?’ You were kind of throwing me under the bus there.”
Wilhelm grinned. He grabbed her arm and pulled her in a tight embrace. “Thank you,” he whispered. Her body tensed at first, then, she relaxed.
“You already said that. You don’t have to keep thanking me.”
“I’m forever grateful for your help. And the way you defended the twins, you’re an impressive tiger mom.”
Her breath caught in her throat.
Wilhelm thought he’d committed a faux-pas when he just wanted to compliment her fierceness in protecting Leah and Thomas. But then, Juliette let out a quiet laugh.
“Any woman would do the same thing in my situation, Wilhelm. It’s no big deal.”
“I must disagree. It’s a big deal for us.” Wilhelm put his hand over hers, pressing a kiss to her fingertips. “Are Leah and Thomas sleeping?”
“I don’t think so. Bonnie is watching them right now.”
“I’d like to see them.”
“Of course.”
The cubs were napping after Bonnie fed them. They slept peacefully in the same crib, holding each other’s hand. Thomas hiccupped a little. Juliette hurriedly patted his back until it passed.
“Poor baby,” Juliette whispered. “He’s so cute.”
Wilhelm agreed. Satisfied that his niece and nephew were safe, he motioned Juliette to follow him out. Bonnie could watch them while they took care of another matter. They went to Halgar’s study. “I haven’t gone through my brother papers yet to look for the twins’ pediatrician, but I’ll have my own physician take a look at the twins in the meantime. Juliette, I have to go to Aspen to talk to the detective who’s investigating my brother’s death. But I’m not leaving until tomorrow.” He’d said it as a way to make it clear he had all day to spend with Juliette, if she wanted. But her eyes went wide.
“Investigating?”
He nodded. “The detective has a hunch that it wasn’t an accident. And given what just happened here, I think he’s on to something. I told him I’d fly in tomorrow. I want—I need—to see things for myself.”
“Oh, Wilhelm. I’m so sorry. It’s bad enough to lose your brother, but the thought that he might have been murdered . . . I can’t even imagine how that feels.” She frowned. “What about the babies? You’re not taking them to Aspen, are you?”
The babies.
The nanny was in jail, and while the housekeeper seemed to be willing to help out, Wilhelm wasn’t comfortable allowing another of his brother’s employees to take care of the twins. Not until he knew what was going on and why. The only person he felt comfortable allowing to care for them right now was Juliette, and she had her business to run.
As if she’d read his mind, Juliette said, “Let me watch them.” She put both hands on Wilhelm’s chest and took a deep breath like she was prepared to argue with him when he refused. “You said yourself I was good with them. I can close the shop for the weekend and give Noelle and Andy some paid time off so I can stay here with the twins. I know there are other staff here who could do it, but frankly I don’t trust any of them after what Leanne did. And I feel . . . protective of them. Please let me babysit for you?”
Wilhelm smiled. “I was just thinking of asking you. You sure you don’t mind closing for a couple of days?”
“Not at all.”
He’d surprise her with a month’s free rent later. Hell, maybe a year, or forever. She’d saved the lives of his remaining family. She deserved so much more than that. Offering monetary compensation to her right then, though, with the earnest look in her eyes and the light trembles that still ran through her after such a close call, wasn’t the right thing to do. He cupped her cheek and let his thumb brush her jaw. “Thank you. There’s no one I trust to take care of them but you.”
She beamed, and if there had ever been a perfect moment between them, a moment just right for a first kiss, this was it. Wilhelm put his fingers under her chin, dipped his head, and pressed his lips against hers.