Chapter 64

Aiden’s POV

“Hello?”

“Hello, is this Mr. Aiden Cruz?” The officer on the other end of the phone asks.

“Yes, sir. What can I do for you?”

“Hello, Mr. Cruz this is Officer Smith. I’m sorry to bother you but I have some information think you’d like to know.”

I clutch my phone firmly in my hands, fearing what he’s about to tell me. It can’t possibly be good news.

“I’m listening,” I reply.

“Those three men that were arrested for stalking you and your girlfriend have been released from our custody.”

My heart sank into my stomach. Released? How is that possible?

“I don’t understand,” I said through my teeth, trying not to let my anger get the best of me. “How is it they were released?”

“Someone paid their bail,” Officer Smith explains. “They were adamant about it being anonymous though, so I can’t give you any names. I just wanted you to know that they are free now.”

These men are back on the streets, which means Carol and her family are far from safe. I need to get to her as soon as possible.

……

Carol’s POV

“Thank you, Jarod, for taking me to the stadium last minute,” I say to Aiden’s personal driver.

He peeks at me through the rearview mirror, a faint smile playing on his lips before he refocuses on the road in front of him.

“No need to thank me, Miss Carol. It is my job,” he tells me as he always does whenever I thank him for rides.

I’m never going to get used to having a personal driver taking me to and from places. I’m so used to fighting traffic on my own. Just because I’m good at city driving, doesn’t mean I enjoy it though.

It’s a cold day; the temperature has been dropping significantly as winter continues. I can’t wait for a little warmth and sunshine.

As Jarod parks the car, I thank him one last time before exiting the vehicle. I wrap my coat tighter around my thin frame and put my hood on as I walk the rest of the way to the stadium, which is only a few feet away.

I love my new job as a team administrator and assistant coach; it certainly isn’t what I imagined doing. I always loved my job as a real estate agent; I was good at what I did. I’m a very organized person and I like focusing on fine details; I guess that’s what I like about this job. Not to mention I get to spend a ton of time with Aiden.

My heart swells every time I think about Aiden. I still can’t believe how different my life has been since the beginning of this year. When Zach cheated on me in front of my face, I honestly thought I would never trust another man ever again, especially a werewolf. But Aiden quickly proved me wrong and now I feel as if I’m floating on cloud nine.

I’m still smiling like a baffoon when I walk into the backroom and toward Mr. Whitlock’s office.

“What are you smiling at?” Coach Bower asks as I walk by him.

I pause to look at him.

“What are you doing here?” I ask in return. “It’s Sunday. I thought the team was off today.”

“They are but I like to use Sundays to get some extra paperwork done and go over the practice outlines for the upcoming week,” he explains, shrugging one shoulder.

“Don’t you ever take a day off?” I tease.

“Days off are for pansies,” he teases back.

I chuckle but it’s cut short when Mr. Whitlock’s office door swings open.

“Carol, this is important. Can you come in here?”

I nod, suddenly feeling nervous. He looks so serious. Something has to be seriously wrong. I walk into the office and watch as Mr. Whitlock takes his seat at his desk. He’s staring at something on his computer with the most confused look on his face.

“What’s going on?” I ask as I walk around his desk to look at what he’s staring at.

I see that he already has the ledger on his computer and he’s looking at the banking reports from this past week. Part of my job is to make sure these banking reports are in check. At check the reports at least once a week.

“Take a look at this,” Mr. Whitlock says as he points to a certain section of the screen.

I sit beside him and take a closer look at what he’s pointing at. As soon as I see it, my entire heart falls deep into my stomach and I can’t help the gasp that escapes my lips.

“How is that possible?” I ask, more to myself than to him. “I just checked these last night. There’s no way that money just disappeared.”

“It seems a withdrawal for $100,000, was made,” Mr Whitlock says, and I can feel his aggravation level rising.

“By who’s account?” I ask.

“It just says unknown user,” he clarifies. “Whoever it was wiped any trace to them clean. Do you have any idea who could have taken company money like this?”

“No,” I say; I’m not sure what to do in this situation and I can feel my emotions getting the best of me. “Do you think it could be someone on the team?”

“It could be,” he admits, but he doesn’t sound completely convinced. “I’ll call a team meeting in the morning and see if we can get to the bottom of this. Is there any way you can try and track the unknown account? Maybe you can find something?”

I nod and take over the keyboard. I did a few known hacks that I’ve learned in college during some accounting classes but everything I did just came back as invalid. Mr. Whitlock was right; whoever took the money wiped all traces of themselves, all evidence, clean.

A knock on the door brought me out of my head and before Mr. Whitlock could say anything, the door swung open. I’m surprised to see Aiden standing in front of us, his eyes wild and alert.

“Aiden, what are you doing here?” I ask, quickly standing to my feet. “And where are your crutches?”

“I need to speak with you,” he tells me, his voice growly.

His eyes flash with something that I’ve only seen on Zach a few times. Could that be his wolf? Most werewolves who live in the city are careful not to reveal their wolves to humans or let them out unless they are in the forest. But Aiden looks as if he is about to wolf out at any second.

“Okay,” I say as I excuse myself from Mr. Whitlock’s office and take hold of Aiden’s hand. From my touch alone, he starts to calm down, and I can see his wolf retreating. “What’s going on?” I ask once we are away from the office. “You shouldn’t have come here without your crutches; you need to rest your foot—”

“This was important,” he says, interrupting me. I can see the panic on his face, and it worries me more than anything.

“What’s going on?”

“Those men who were arrested for stalking you and your family have been released from prison,” he tells me.

I gasp at his words.

“What?” I ask, not sure I heard him correctly. “They were released? Already?”

He nods, a solemn look on his face.

“I don’t trust that they won’t come after you again. I need you to stay with me at all times. Understand?”

I nod; I feel numb from head to toe and now I’m going to be fearing every shadow and random noise I come across. I step into Aiden’s arms and let him wrap them around my body. He nuzzles his nose in the nape of my neck and he takes in a deep breath, memorizing my scent and allowing it to relax him and his wolf.

“It’s going to be okay. I’m not going to let them hurt you,” he assures me.

I nod, believing.

“I should call my parents and warn them,” I say as I reach into my purse and grab my phone.

I swipe my finger across the screen until my mom’s number appears; then I press the call button. I press the phone to my cheek and wait with bated breath until I hear her familiar and loving voice on the other end.

“Carol, sweetie. Is everything okay?” My mom asks, making my heart swell in my chest.

“Hi, mom,” I say in return. “I just wanted to warn you that those men who were stalking the outside of your house have been released from jail.”

She remains quiet for a moment while she processes my warning.

“Do you think they will come after us?” She asks.

“I wouldn’t put it past them, but Aiden and I aren’t going to let anything happen to you. If you see anything suspicious, please call me.”

“Okay, sweetie. I will. I don’t want you worrying about us. Your father and I can handle ourselves just fine,” she assures me.

“I don’t doubt that, Mom. But please, humor me. If you see even a shadow I want you to call me,” I repeat.

“Will do.”

“Thanks,” I said, feeling a little lighter after our conversation. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Carol Hun.”

I hung up without another word.

By the next morning, true to his word, Mr. Whitlock held a team meeting. He explains what we found out about the missing money and most of the team is shocked about the news. They all look at one another, confusion clear on their faces.

“I don’t think it was any of us, Mr. Whitlock,” one of the players said. “None of us have access to that account.”

“He’s right,” another player said, his eyes darting over to me. “We don’t have access to that account. Only one person I know does…”

His tone is accusatory and I feel the blood draining from my face. Aiden takes a protective step closer to me as everyone’s eyes turn in my direction.