Page 23 of The Case of the Missing Love Stone

I hesitate.

“It isn’t to build evidence for Tom,” he says. “You’re the one who knows where the history and the case overlap.”

I look at Roman, then back at Wes. “Okay.”

Wes nods once. “Then maybe we start to figure out what we’re actually dealing with.”

I don’t know where all this will lead, but I nod again.

I can almost hear my tarot deck say I told you so.

Chapter 6

Wes Osprey

Scarlet’s fingers disappear inside the sleeve of my coat, while the last of the deputies’ unfamiliar scents cling to the rooms around us. My alpha reacts with entirely too much satisfaction at the fact that Scarlet is wearing my scent.

Tom found nothing, but the search left the house feeling disturbed anyway. Drawers sit slightly wrong. One chair is angled away from the table. A stack of papers I straightened still leans where someone shoved past it.

“Okay means access to the relevant research,” she says. “Not my entire life.”

Roman nods. “Boundaries.”

Some of the strain leaves her scent.

I lean against the edge of the table. “Then I’ve got two rules.”

Scarlet’s eyes narrow. “Of course you have rules.”

“You share anything in your research that could connect to the old rites, the swamp, or the bond failures. We share relevant GatorX patterns and lab findings. Active case details stay protected.”

“And who decides what’s relevant?”

“I do.”

She looks me over slowly. “Naturally.”

Roman hides a smile.

I ignore him. “Second rule. You do not go to old ritual sites or swamp access points alone while half this town is waiting for a reason to blame you.”

Her expression cools. “I’ve gone alone my entire life.”

“That doesn’t make it safe.”

“It made it necessary.”

Her words land like a solid knock to the gut. Roman’s fingers brush the back of my hand, warning me not to push where I have no right.

I change direction. “Tom told us not to trust you,” I say.

“That was direct. Usually people imply it with more local charm.”

“He said every bond collapse in the last five years circles back to you.”

Scarlet tenses.

“Is he wrong?”