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"The wolf ran off into the woods, the eyewitnesses said" The detective studied her for a o? Why did you run away?"

"Jake ca on the dresser Only one phone call had beeninto the roo up a blue streak as he said, ‘Coet out of here before the police arrive She’s run off Holy crap’ Then there was a lot of grunting and groaning andWe assume that hen he helped the injured man outside After several ine roared to life, and the vehicle tore off down the road Detective Tandy and I arrived shortly after that"

"They had guns, Detective I wasn’t about to hang around to get shot at again If they could have, they would have come after me, I’m sure"

"So how did Mr Silver know to " She patted Jake’s hand with her free hand "We’ve been seeing each other We planned to get together last night Only instead of findingfor Silver Town"

The detective’s brows arched heavenward "Long hike"

"I didn’t knohere else to go, and I was sure Jake was already headed to Crestview I couldn’t hang around to get shot at again," she repeated Then she had to explain her connection to Danny Massaro, who had also murdered her mother, and the other, Cicero, who she hadn’t seen before

After two long, exhausting hours, the detectives finally left and Alicia felt drained "They didn’t believe me about the wolf," she said to the fa the detectives out

"You did fine," Darien said, his tone reassuring, and she believed he really meant it "They won’t find a wolf, and Peter has learned that the man you bit never went to any hospital or clinic in the area to get the wound taken care of"

"It had to have been awful," Alicia whispered, still feeling bad about what she’d done "I didn’t mean to bite so hard, but I… I think I crushed the bone I didn’t know th"

"I believe he died," Darien said, matter-of-factly "Peter had already talked to the eyewitnesses, and they said the onethe other out to the car The injured man slumped in the seat, his face ice white If Danny Massaro had to take him someplace any distance from the motel, the man probably died We know for sure he didn’t take him to any area medical facilities Peter’s already checked We still want to confirm the man died, but it appears that way"

She narrowed her eyes at Darien "If you already knew that the , why didn’t you tell me before the detectives arrived?"

"The witnesses hadn’tup in Darien’s defense "I had asked theet a description so we could locate the lot was dark And so was the walk in front of the hts

"But when the car’s interior lights came on, the injuredhi at hi as he backed out of the parking lot and roared off I assumed you’d shot the other man, too I didn’t realize you had bitten him" Peter looked contrite "It was my fault that I didn’t think to ask the witnesses if they’d seen anything else near your rooh, Alicia," Darien said, his look stern "Why did Danny Massaro and Mario Constantino kill your mother?"

Chapter 15

Alicia was already upset by all of the police detective questioning she’d had to endure, so Jake wondered why in the hell Darien had to bring up the motive for her ood reasons for anything he did, but the ti seemed piss-poor

But Alicia didn’t seem upset by the query Instead, her lips parted, and she seemed surprised