HADLEY

I turned on my heel without saying another word. I shifted as I hit the last step, not bothering with the car.

I’d called everyone home to regroup and discuss what we had so far. As the days passed, I felt the ever-growing pressure to present results to Elias and the Court. ‘Where are we with Summer’s article? Has it been removed from The Net?’

‘The Gazette say they have no intention of removing it’, Fabian replied. ‘The citizens of the City have a right to know what is happening with the case’

Morons.

‘Did you talk to Elias’, I asked.

He nodded. ‘He’s talking with Liv to see if she can help’

I knew the press would do what they wanted, they always did. It seemed ridiculous that they were spouting shit and the case barely been open a week.

‘How did it go with the humans?’, Soren asked form the opposite end of the table.

‘We have support from the PM, but his new assistant, or whatever he is, seems reluctant to help’, Stellan answered. ‘The PM offered more boots on the ground to help find Ava, Thomas didn’t see why we needed the help, and he found it difficult to accept why we needed the extra help’. Soren rolled her eyes.

‘The PM is on board’, I added. ‘His assistant will be the one to cause issues’. The room fell silent, though the frustration in the air was palpable.

My pack knew the struggles Stellan and I faced as Alpha and Second. Not all of them dealt with the human government, the Court and Council, but they shared equally in our frustrations to get things done.

‘Jayce, why don’t you start with what you’ve found out so far’, I said, addressing the room.

Jayce plugged in his laptop and pulled up the CCTV footage of the City. ‘Ok, this is the route Ava took before she disappeared’.

A map of the city flashed up on the wall at the other end of the room. Jayce highlighted Ava’s route in blue; showing us that after she had left the library she took the tram towards the Research and Development centre, getting off at Halfview Point, the end of the tramline.

‘Why did she get off at Halfview Point?’, Caiden asked.

‘Don’t know yet. Soren, has Eliska managed to find anything?’

‘No, she hasn’t’, Soren said. That’s not all either. I don’t think Eliska and her pack are going to assist us in this case’

My eyes snapped towards her. ‘What do you mean? She seemed on board when we visited the Council two days ago’

‘Eliska has been in touch to say she would like to remain neutral during this time. She feels that because of the nature of the case there will be a divide amongst the packs and the fae. She will help, but it will be minimal’

‘Surely by not helping will cause a divide anyway?’, Caiden stated, confused. Soren nodded her agreement.

‘If that’s how she feels, there’s not much we can do about it. We’re already likely to have problems from Lola, and we need to get this case moving forward’. I needed to get things moving. ‘Ok, new assignments for everyone. Ilaria, call Sianna and tell her we’re going to be pack down so her and the Black Hearts will need to pull double time. Caiden, call Hunter and tell him the same. Eliska may want to keep her pack neutral, but news of her decision will travel quickly. We need to make sure that the others are still on board and are happy with Eliska’s decision’

‘I spoke with Sianna before the meeting, they’re still on board’, Ilaria confirmed.

I nodded. ‘That’s good to hear. Ok, let’s go over what else we’ve found out, time is crucial’

After breakfast, Fabian and I beat the morning traffic and headed back over to the Greyson’s to see what they knew of Ava’s friends; Serra and Callista. I wanted to get a little more information on Ava’s best friends before interviewing them.

I pulled up outside the house and grabbed my jacket from the back seat.

I knocked the door and a petite girl with dark hair and pale skin answered the door.

‘Can I help you?’, she asked. Her amber eyes assessing us.

Her scent hit me; human not fae. It surprised me, for some reason.

‘Good morning Miss’, I smiled warmly. ‘I am DI Carraway and this is DC Madlock. Are Ethan and Vittoria home?’

‘Ooh no, don’t call me ‘Miss’, makes me feel like a child’, the girl laughed. ‘No, Vittoria and Ethan are not here right now, but Luca and Kyra are if that’s any use to you?’

‘That would help. We have some questions again, I’m afraid’

The girl nodded and stepped aside to let us in. ‘Kyra is in the kitchen. I’ll go find Luca’. She closed the door behind us and headed upstairs, leaving Fabian and I standing in the hallway.

‘Roe, what’s going on? Who are you talking to?’. Kyra came through the door that led into the kitchen and stopped abruptly upon seeing us. ‘Oh, hello’, she mumbled.

The world slowed and tilted to the side as I took Kyra in.

It had been a few days since I’d last seen her, yet somehow between then and now, she had changed. Her emerald green eyes were sharp and assessing, as if analysing for a potential attack.

Fabian cleared his throat forcing me to focus.

‘Sorry to bother you so early’, I smiled. ‘Fabian and I have some questions we’d like to ask you and your brother’

Kyra looked between us, the sharpness swapping to uncertainty in her eyes. ‘What about?’, she said folding her arms across her chest.

‘Your sister’s friends Serra Yearwood and Callista Mayfield. We want to know what you can tell us about them’, Fabian replied.

Luca trudged down the stairs followed by the girl who opened the door to us, whose name I picked up on was Roe. He didn’t say anything, didn’t even look at up as he joined us in the hallway.

Kyra nodded, ‘Come through’. She led us into the kitchen.

We all sat at the dining table; Kyra, Luca and Roe on one side, Fabian and I on the other.

‘How well do you both know Serra and Callista?’, I asked quietly.

Kyra shrugged, ‘Not overly. We know they met at uni, but they kept to themselves. They help Ava with her protests; organising them, that sort of thing. I mean they didn’t come round and sit in the kitchen with their glitter pens and tell everyone what they were doing if that’s what you’re wondering’.

Fabian continued with the questions and I tried my hardest to focus on the conversation and not stare at Kyra.

It was hard.

I guessed that she had not long got out of the shower. Her hair was wet in ringlets around her shoulders; her cheeks were pink and her scent hit me hard; rosemary mixed with burning embers and sage.

Roe caught me looking at Kyra. I offered her a smile, hoping she wouldn’t think I was some creepy cop. She smirked as she picked up her mug and took a sip of coffee.

Fabian cleared his throat again, my eyes snapped to him as he cocked his head slightly, waiting for me to have an input. ‘What can you tell us about the companies that Ava, Serra and Callista were targeting?’, I asked.

‘Only that they were all owned by humans who refused to hire fae. That’s why she started it all; she’d gone for an interview somewhere and when they found out she was fae, they turned her down’, Luca replied.

‘I didn’t know that there were narrow-minded assholes still out there until what happened to Ava’, Roe added.

I nodded slowly. ‘I’m afraid so. That must have been difficult for your sister. Had she been turned down from jobs in the past?’. Kyra and Luca shook their heads.

I changed the conversation slightly, seeing that neither Kyra or Luca knew anything else about their sisters’ friends. ‘Was she seeing anyone?’. I’d heard rumours that she was seeing Maddox Caulfeld, I prayed that’s all it was.

‘She was seeing Maddox’, Luca replied.

Damn it.

‘What was her relationship like with Maddox?’, Fabian enquired.

‘Toxic’, Kyra replied. Fabian waited for her to continue. ‘Maddox loved what Ava was doing, he saw it as a way to humiliate the humans. I’m fairly sure it was his idea for her to get more fae involved and start the protests’

‘I thought she didn’t tell you her plans’, I interjected.

‘She didn’t’, Kyra agreed. ‘When Ava started, it was just her, Serra and Callista; they would kick up a fuss and do whatever they needed to do. Then Maddox came along, and it escalated’

‘Was he using her campaigning to start protests, using Ava’s work as a front for his own gain?’

‘Yeah, I think so’

I nodded. ‘Ok, we’ll leave it there for now. Thank you for your time’

We pulled up to the house, I killed the engine and undid my belt. Fabian reached for the door handle. ‘Look, I know… I know you picked up on something, earlier’

‘It was kind of hard to miss’, he chuckled. He glanced sidelong at me. ‘I’m not going to say anything if that’s what you’re worried about’

‘Good. I should hope not’. I swallowed, fiddling with my watch. ‘Sorry’. I ran a hand through my hair. I knew Fabian wouldn’t say anything. He wasn’t one for getting in the middle of other people’s business. ‘I don’t know what happened’. I glanced at him. He raised a brow. ‘Ok, maybe I do, but I’m not discussing it’

Fabian smiled. ‘Your decision boss’. We got out of the car and headed into the house.

We updated the others on what we found out, all the while I was thinking of Kyra and what I’d felt when I looked at her. It was something I never in my life thought I would ever feel, I didn’t think it was something that happened anymore. It certainly wasn’t something I could talk about or even consider acting on. Whatever I felt, I had to push it down and ignore it.

In the house, the atmosphere had shifted since this morning; a quiet calm had descended, alerting me that something was wrong.

We’d barely made it down the hallway when Caiden came rushing towards us. ‘They’ve found her’, he said quietly. ‘They’ve found Ava’s body’. Fabian swore.

‘Where did they find her?’, I asked.

His throat bobbed. ‘In the alleyway next to the theatre. Hunter and Ilaria are already there, they were at the station when the theatre manager called’

I turned on my heel without saying another word. I shifted as I hit the last step, not bothering with the car.

I met Hunter and Ilaria in the alleyway by the theatre. Analytics had set up a tent near the back right hand corner where Ava’s body was found, Meera came out of the tent carrying a camera and waved me over.

I ducked under the green tape and walked over to her. ‘How’s it going?’, I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.

‘Not great’, she said, removing her face mask. Her cheeks were flushed; her hair stuck to her forehead and the smell of rubbish clung to her. ‘We’ve sorted through everything and taken photos, but there’s nothing here’

I frowned. ‘What do you mean there’s nothing here?’. I glanced at the tent, then back to Meera.

‘There’s no evidence to suggest Ava was killed here’, she clarified. ‘No fingerprints, no other DNA, no fibres or anything. The only thing we’re certain of right now is that Ava’s body was dumped here’

‘Are you absolutely certain?’. Meera’s face was incredulous and I knew I’d crossed a line by questioning her and her team. I held my hands up. ‘I only ask because it’ll mean there’s a possibility of a primary crime scene and more resources. We have to be sure’

She sighed snapping her gloves off. ‘I know you’re under pressure, Hads’. Her face softened. ‘I think you need to regroup and get the others out looking for a primary crime scene. Me and the team will head back to the lab and be ready for when you need us’

I nodded. ‘Ok, let me update Hunter and Ilaria then you can dismantle the tent’. I turned and waved the others over. ‘We’ll leave it taped off for now’. Meera nodded and fitted her facemask back in place and disappeared back into the tent.

‘They really found nothing here?’, Ilaria asked looking at the tent.

I shook my head. ‘We need to regroup and get out there to look for the primary crime scene. I’ve told Meera to keep this place taped off for now, we don’t want the press asking questions when we can’t provide answers and before we’ve told the Greyson’s’

‘It might be too late for that’

My head snapped to Ilaria and I saw she was alone. I glanced down the alleyway and saw Hunter talking to Summer from The Gazette. I suppressed a growl and stalked towards where they were stood at the entrance to the alleyway.

Summer eyed me mischievously, tossing her hair over a shoulder. ‘Hello Hadley. Anything interesting going on here?’. She had a pen poised over her note book, ready to scribble what I had to say.

I ducked under the tape, backing her further away from the alleyway. ‘Nothing for you to concern yourself with’, I replied. Summer let her arms drop to her sides, seemingly unfazed by three wolves trapping her against a car. On the outside she looked calm and cool, but her swift heartbeat gave her away.

‘Have Analytics found anything useful? What about evidence relating to whoever found Ava? Surely there’s…’. Ilaria cut her off.

‘We have nothing to say right now, and even if we did we’re not going to tell you about it. So why don’t you run back to the office and let us do our job?’

This piqued her interest. ‘So, you have found something then?’, she glanced between us expectantly.

‘What is it with reporters only hearing what they want to hear?’

I looked to my right and saw a small crowd had gathered behind the tape, some watching to see what would happen, some with their phones raised recording our conversation. Luckily there was an officer blocking their view. He requested the phone holders leave or surrender them and have them confiscated.

‘Just collecting all the facts’, Summer shrugged.

‘Only the ones you want people to know about…’

‘All right, that’s enough’, I snarled. Ilaria frowned and Summer looked startled. ‘A small crowd has gathered, they’re watching us and recording, I would appreciate it if we could leave the bitching for another time’. I eyed both of them, daring either one to say something. Ilaria dropped her gaze first.

‘Fine, I’ll go’, Summer sighed. ‘But just so you know Hadley, I’d be very careful with how you treat me’. She stepped forward, squaring her shoulders. ‘The last thing you’d want is for a clumsy reporter to accidently release an article detailing all of the abusive things a certain alpha says to members of the press and public. And how said reporter detailed that in order to shut her up, that alpha forced her to perform sexual favours on her all night’. She slipped her note book into her bag and said quietly. ‘I would really hate for that to get out and ruin everything for you’. She grinned wickedly and winked at me.

Ilaria and Hunter made to say something but I held up my hand. ‘It would be a shame’, I agreed. ‘And it would be even more of a shame for people to learn that you talk shit and have no proof of any of that’. I returned her grin with my own. ‘See you round, Summer’

‘See you, Hadley’

We parted ways, us moving left and Summer moving right. Hunter and Ilaria fell into step either side of me, both remaining quiet until we reached Ilaria’s car.

‘What a complete fuckwit’, Ilaria spat.

‘Do you think she’ll release that article?’, Hunter asked quietly.

‘I don’t know’, I said honestly. ‘But I’ll do everything I can to keep her on side so she doesn’t. I don’t need the extra headache’

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Thank you for reading the latest chapter of a Midsummer of Storms and Memories.

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