Chapter 85

Ethan

The door clicks shut behind me before I quietly make my way down the hall.

“We should stay with our mate,” my wolf grumbles, annoyed that she’s napping while we leave.

“Thought you wanted to find the person who tried to kill her,” I retort.

He growls, baring his teeth. “Of course, I do, but I also want to be with her.”

“I do too, so the sooner we find this arsonist, the sooner we can get back to Fiona,” I tell him. He growls in agreement, settling. I’d love nothing more than to lie in bed with Fiona right now, but there are more important issues to deal with. The main one is the danger of an unknown attacker being out there somewhere with a potential to strike again.

Butler Evans and his daughter wait for me at the bottom of the stairs. The rest of the staff are off performing their regular duties.

“If she wakes before I get back, make sure she’s comfortable and has anything she needs. She can call me on my cell if she needs me,” I tell them, knowing there won’t be any problems. Butler Evans has been with me since I took over as Alpha. He’s competent and kind, always there when I need him.

His daughter is different. I haven’t had much interaction with her other than the few months she’s been here training under her father.

“Of course, Alpha. The Lu- Mrs. Aldridge will be taken care of while you’re out,” Butler Evans tells me while offering a small frown of apology for the slip up. I’ve told the staff not to call Fiona by the Luna title, so she doesn’t get overwhelmed, but also because she hasn’t officially taken the title.

“That will come soon enough,” my wolf says. “What can’t come soon enough is getting rid of that name.”

I agree with him. Like Fiona, I’m ready for her to be rid of her cheating husband. What I’m even more ready for is for her to take my last name.

My wolf hums in my head.

“I’ll be back soon. If there’s any issue, contact me,” I tell Butler Evans with a pointed look and a hint of the Alpha tone to stress the importance of my words.

He bows his head respectfully, and then I turn to leave, ready to figure out who tried to kill my mate.

When I pull up to the fire station, Jason is already standing out front waiting for me. He greets me with a slight bow and a smile before clasping my hand and slapping my back.

“When am I going to get to meet this woman?” The Gamma asks, his brows arching in interest. He is one of the two Gammas I brought over when I came. He’s also a close friend that I’ve trusted since inducting him into the Gamma line.

“Never if you keep wiggling your eyebrows like that,” I growl. He slaps a hand over his chest and staggers back dramatically, making me roll my eyes. Always the dramatic one. I wouldn’t change it, though. Jason has made me laugh through more tough times than I care to remember.

“You wound me, Ethan, but I’ll let you have the little Luna to yourself for now. Just you wait, man. When I meet her, she’ll know all your embarrassing stories,” he tells me, cackling.

Shaking my head, I slap the back of his head to focus him. Jason waves off my reprimand, something not many people are allowed to do, and he leads me inside to his office. He’d been my first call after I woke up from saving Fiona. If anyone could determine arson, it was Jason.

“What did you find?” I ask as he pulls out a folder.

“It was definitely arson,” he answers, passing the folder to me. “This is a copy of my report. In what was left of the house, I found traces of gasoline along the edges of the house and at the doors. Before the house collapsed, I found traces of it in the living room and hallway. She’s lucky you got there when you did.”

I knew that. If I’d been a few minutes later, Fiona would be dead.

“But she isn’t,” my wolf reminds me

“No, she isn’t. She’s at home, resting. Safe,” I say, telling myself more than I am telling him.

Nodding, I flip to the next page of the report, which has images of two different doorknobs attached to the paper. I study them but can’t tell what the importance is.

“Oh, these are interesting, E,” Jason says, pointing to the key slots. “Whoever did this, took time to break some sort of metal, probably a key, off in the lock. Even if your mate had gotten to the door, she wouldn’t have been able to open it.”

A growl vibrates through my body as I slam the file closed.

“Any ideas on where to search for someone like this?”

Jason hums and rubs his jaw before suddenly snapping his fingers and saying, “You could ask her neighbors if they saw anything or if any of them have dash cams that might’ve caught a video.”

“Thanks, Jason. I’ll call you later,” I tell him, heading back to my car.

“You can thank me by letting me meet her!”

Shaking my head, I climb in my car and crank it, pulling back onto the road and heading in the direction of Fiona’s house. If there’s even one person who saw what happened that night, I’ll be glad. I just need a sense of direction to know where to look. Any little clue will help.

So, when I park in front of the wreckage that was Fiona’s house, I start with the house directly across from hers. The woman who opens the door is the same woman I remember that called the fire department.

“Oh,” she gasps, looking up at me. “You’re the young man that saved our neighbor.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“It’s an awful thing that happened, the house burning, and all. Is she alright?” She asks, her hand touching her chest.

“Fiona is fine, but they haven’t found who started the fire yet. I came to ask if you might’ve seen anyone that night or know of anyone who has a camera that might have caught a video of the arsonist,” I tell her, glancing around.

She shakes her head with a slight frown, responding, “No, but you should ask her neighbor to the right.” She points at the house with the blue car in front of it. “Mr. Randal has cameras in his yard. Says they’re to keep the foolish kids off his yard.”

Perfect.

“Thank you.”

With that and with my simmering anger, I head to the house with the blue car, knocking loudly on the door.

“I’m coming. I’m coming,” a crotchety, snappy voice calls. I expected an older man, but when the door swings open, a man probably a few years older than me pokes his head out.

“I’m sorry to bother you, but my fiancé lived in the house next door,” I tell him, jerking my thumb at Fiona’s house. “The fire department says this is an arson case, and I’m asking around for evidence. Your neighbor said you have surveillance cameras. Do you mind if I look at the footage from that night to see if they caught sight of the arsonist?”

The man grumbles something about naps and bothersome neighbors but waves me in anyway. He’s like those old men on movies that shouts at kids for getting on his lawn, but he can’t be any older than mid-thirties.

It doesn’t take long for us to get to a small room with a computer.

“I figured someone would come, so I got it booted up for you already,” he announces, surprising me. Once he gets the video on, he presses play. “Motion detector on that side of the lawn caught movement and sent an alert. Didn’t see it until it was too late, and the fire department was already called, but here.”

He moves out of the way, pressing play and giving me space.

Leaning in, I focus on the dark video as a car pulls up to the curb and the driver door opens. The headlights are pointed right at the camera, so at first, all I can see is the silhouette of a woman stepping out of the car. However, the moment she rounds the front of the car, I recognize her.

Jack Aldridge’s mistress carries two large gasoline cans in her hands as she heads towards Fiona’s quiet house.

Jessica, Fiona’s stepsister, is the arsonist.