Protected By The Dragon (District Shifters Book 4) Read online

  “You wouldn’t have, being that I didn’t say it,” the woman said. “I’m Hattie Paulson, and yes, this is my house.”

  “Were you home on the afternoon of June 30th?” Lexi asked.

  “Yes,” Hattie answered. “And to be honest, I’m shocked the cops haven’t been around to talk to me. But they have already decided they’ve found the killer, haven’t they? And I guess they’re worried I will end up telling them something that doesn’t fit their neat little theory.”

  Her answer surprised Lexi. She tried not to show it, but she knew she had. This woman knew something, and she wanted to talk. Why hadn’t the detective or any of his people spoken to her? Was she right about them not wanting to upset their little theory? It was looking that way.

  Hattie smiled at Lexi’s obvious surprise. “Who are you? I know you’re not a cop.”

  “I…” Lexi started. She decided to tell the woman the truth. She didn’t sound entirely convinced that the police had the right man, and even if she refused to talk to her once she found out who she was, Lexi knew she could hardly lie now. “I’m the defense lawyer for the accused.”

  “Makes sense. Don’t you think it’s a terrible system when it falls to lawyers to find the evidence the police don’t bother looking for?”

  “You sound like you have first-hand experience with this,” Lexi said, taking a risk.

  “I do,” Hattie told her. “When I was a teenager, someone on our block was shot. My friend got the blame for it. He was Mexican. Poor. Exactly the type the cops like to pin shit on. He was lucky. A lawyer took his case on for free, and he was the one who managed to find the actual killer.”

  Lexi considered Hattie’s words. The scenario was all too familiar. But Mitchell didn’t fit the profile for a killer. The police wouldn’t try to pin a crime on someone white, rich, and powerful. It didn’t make sense. If he was being set up, it wasn’t by the cops.

  “Your friend was one of the lucky ones,” Lexi said. She realized it was a poor choice of words, but Hattie nodded, understanding she meant he was lucky to have someone on his side.

  “So, what do you want to know about that day?”

  “You said you were home. Did you hear or see anything unusual?”

  “Not unless you’re counting the sirens as the cops showed up.”

  “The neighbor on the other side of Lisa’s house was the one who contacted the police. He said he heard screaming,” Lexi said. “Are you certain you didn’t hear any screams?”

  Hattie nodded. “Yes. I was sent home from work at eleven-thirty or so, because I had a migraine coming on. I opened my bedroom window to try and get some air in, and then I lay on my bed. If there was anything to hear, I’d have heard it, because when I have a migraine coming on, I’m always oversensitive to noises.”

  Lexi nodded her head and jotted down what Hattie was telling her. “If it comes to it, Hattie, are you willing to testify to that in court?”

  “Sure,” Hattie said. “And no, it’s not about getting one over on the police. Lisa was my friend. And someone did this to her. That someone should pay. But it should be the right someone, not the convenient one.”

  “I agree,” Lexi said, getting up. Hattie walked her to the door, and Lexi handed her one of her cards. “If you think of anything, anything at all, feel free to give me a call. My office number and my cell phone number are both on there.”

  “I will,” Hattie promised. She watched Lexi walk down to end of her driveway before she shut the door.

  Hattie had given Lexi hope that she was on the right track here. Maybe Lisa hadn’t even been killed in her house. Maybe she’d been brought here already dead. Lexi ruled that out. The police surely would have noticed if that was the case. There was still something not adding up with Tyler’s story, though, and Lexi was getting more and more impatient about finding out what exactly it was.

  She headed back for her car, but before she got in, she thought of something else and quickly checked the file again. She reread the eyewitness’ statement. She had seen someone suspicious looking hanging around on Lisa’s driveway at around two or two thirty on the day she was killed.

  Lexi moved along the driveway to the spot that felt about right for the spot Julie, the eyewitness, had mentioned. She could see Julie’s lounge window clearly from there, which meant Julie could indeed have seen something. Lexi headed towards Julie’s house and knocked on the door.

  Julie was a middle-aged woman who seemed nervous after Lexi gave her the same introduction she had used on Hattie. She seemed a little reluctant to let Lexi inside, but she complied all the same. Lexi followed her to the lounge, and a quick glance out of the window confirmed Julie’s view. Julie indicated for Lexi to sit down and did so herself, pressing her knees tightly together and interlocking her fingers on top of them. Why was she so nervous? Was she lying about what she had seen?

  “Can you just tell me what you saw?” Lexi asked.

  Julie nodded, looking up from her hands. They were clenched together so tightly that her knuckles where white.

  “I saw a man. He was on Lisa’s driveway. It was sometime between two and half past two. The man was tall, almost six foot, and he was very well built, but not fat. Like muscly, you know? I couldn’t see his face. He was wearing black jeans, black trainers, and a black hoodie with the hood pulled up.”

  “You said in your original statement he was white. How did you know if you couldn’t see his face?”

  “I saw his hand. He had his hands in his pockets when I first noticed him, but he pulled one out and rubbed at his face for a second.”

  “Okay. Carry on,” Lexi said.

  “I thought the man looked suspicious, and I went to the kitchen to see what my husband thought. He came back here with me, but by then, the man was gone.” Julie seemed even more nervous now, and Lexi could see tears shining in her eyes. “Am I going to go to jail?” Julie asked.

  “What? No,” Lexi said quickly. “Of course not. Why would you even think that? You’re a witness, not a suspect.”

  “But I saw him. I saw the man who killed Lisa, and I didn’t call the police.”

  Lexi suddenly understood why Julie was acting so strangely. She thought this was partially her fault.

  “Julie, listen to me. If you’d called the police and reported that you saw a man, but he was gone, it wouldn’t have been a priority call. If anyone had even bothered to come and check out the neighborhood, it would have been far too late to save Lisa. Please don’t think you’re in trouble or that this is in any way your fault. You’re being very helpful by providing the description and a timeline, and that’s all anyone can ask of you.”

  Julie smiled. It was a watery smile, but she seemed to relax a little, as if Lexi’s words had brought her a little bit of comfort. Lexi was glad. None of what had happened was Julie’s fault, and she didn’t like to think of the poor woman beating herself up over it or worrying that she might end up going to jail for it. This was surely part of the reason witnesses sometimes didn’t come forward, this feeling of being responsible somehow.

  “That’s what Detective Burns said as well,” Julie admitted. “But I thought he was just saying it to get me to talk. But you said it after I had talked, anyway.”

  “We both said it because it’s true, Julie,” Lexi smiled. She stood up. “Now I’ll get out of your hair. I’m sorry to have bothered you.”

  “Oh, you didn’t bother me at all,” Julie said, walking Lexi to the door. “You actually made me feel better. And if anything I can tell you can lead to you catching whoever hurt Lisa, then that’s more than worth a few minutes of my time.”

  Lexi’s head was spinning as she walked back to the car. Hattie had given her hope, but now Julie had taken at least part of it back away. Her description could describe a lot of men, but one of them was most definitely Mitchell. While such a vague statement was worth very little on its own, alongside the other evidence, it would be taken pretty seriously.

  Lexi’s mind ke
pt going back to Tyler Bowes, even now. He was the key to solving this. As she unlocked her car and climbed back into it, she knew exactly what she was going to do next. She was going to set up a deposition with Tyler and see what exactly he knew for herself. That way, even if he stuck to his story, she would be able to read his body language and get a sense for how much of it was true.

  5

  “Are you sure you want to sit in on this, Mitchell?” Lexi asked for the third time. “It’s really not necessary.”

  “I’m certain,” Mitchell said. “This is my future on the line here, and I want to be involved at every step of the way.”

  Lexi seemed determined to talk Mitchell out of sitting in on the deposition with Tyler Bowes, but Mitchell wasn’t going to allow her to do it. He knew he was legally allowed to be there, and he thought it could work in his favor in several ways. Tyler was the neighbor who had alerted the police after supposedly hearing Lisa screaming. He was also the one who had found her body, entering her house before the police got there.

  Mitchell wanted to look him in the eye and see how much of his story was true. He also wanted to size the man up, to see if he recognized his face or at least sensed he was a demon. He thought Tyler might be working with Joshua. Hell, he could even be Joshua. Mitchell ruled that idea out. Joshua would be able to get fake identification easily enough, maybe even mind control the real Tyler Bowes to hand over his house, but he wouldn’t have been able to get around every single person who knew Tyler and mind control them into believing he was Tyler. He wouldn’t take such a big risk. Not when he could just as easily use Tyler himself to do his dirty work for him.

  If that was the case, Mitchell still wouldn’t be able to use that as part of his defense, but at least he would know. It was easy to spot someone who was being mind controlled if you knew what to look for. He would have a slightly glassy look to his eyes, his mouth would twist strangely now and again, and he would look confused a lot of the time, though not obviously so.

  “Fine,” Lexi said. “If you’re dead set on being there, I can’t stop you. But you need to promise me you won’t speak, no matter what happens, no matter what is said. Tyler will have a lawyer with him. Someone from the DA’s office, and while they shouldn’t, they might take an opportunity to fire a question or two at you, or to try and goad you into speaking up.”

  “I won’t say a word,” Mitchell said without hesitation.

  If that was all it took to convince Lexi he was doing this, he could easily keep silent for hours. He could do it just to be in the same room as her for a bit longer, but he wasn’t letting his mind go there. He needed to be focused on Tyler, not on Lexi and how he couldn’t get her out of his head for even a moment when he wasn’t with her, how he couldn’t tear his eyes away from her when he was with her.

  “Good. Because they will use anything you say against you, particularly if they touch a nerve and you get angry or anything. Do you understand?”

  “Yes,” Mitchell said. He flashed her a quick smile. “Believe it or not, I’m not an idiot.”

  “I believe it,” Lexi said, rewarding him with a big smile of her own. “But I also know what these guys are like and how they operate. They know how to push people’s buttons.”

  “It’ll be fine,” Mitchell assured her. He had been around long enough to learn to control his temper. He had learned to control an inner dragon, for God’s sake. This would be child’s play. The hardest part would be focusing on Tyler and his lawyer instead of Lexi.

  “The deposition will be recorded,” Lexi said, leading Mitchell out of her office and towards the conference room. “That’s normal, so don’t be surprised to see a camera there.” Mitchell nodded again. Lexi sat down and gestured for him to sit beside her. “They’re due any minute. Alex, my associate, is waiting for them, and she’ll bring them here,” Lexi said. She looked up at a tap on the door. “Right on cue. Remember, no talking.”

  Mitchell gave her a curt nod, wishing she would just trust him to do what she asked. After this, maybe she would. She didn’t know he had the self-control of someone who had lived for over a century. How could she? He could understand her caution.

  Alex opened the conference room door and gestured for the two men behind her to enter. They both wore black suits, although one looked expensive and one looked like an off the rack suit. Mitchell decided the lawyer was the one in the expensive suit. The introductions confirmed his theory.

  Tyler and his lawyer, Malcom, sat down. Mitchell allowed himself to take a proper look at Tyler. Lexi had warned him to keep quiet. She hadn’t said anything about not looking at the man. It quickly became clear to Mitchell that Tyler looked very similar to him in his size and build. In a black hoodie with the hood up, it would be easy to mistake the two men for each other.

  Mitchell glanced at Lexi, who kept her eyes straight forward, refusing to look at him. She tapped her pen up and down on the notepad in front of her, and Mitchell’s eyes were drawn to the movement. He saw immediately that had been Lexi’s intention. She had written four words there: I see it, too.

  Mitchell sat back in his chair, a little more relaxed now he knew he wasn’t just clutching at straws. Lexi had seen the similarity as well. Up until that moment, Mitchell hadn’t been certain Tyler was even involved. There had been a possibility he was just a concerned neighbor who had heard screams, but seeing how easily he could pass for Mitchell made him think twice about that theory now.

  The lawyers made small talk for a few minutes, and then Lexi started the camera rolling and began to question Tyler. She started off with his name and address, small details to put him at ease. Mitchell watched Tyler answer the questions. He seemed relaxed enough, but Mitchell’s dragon knew he wasn’t as relaxed as he implied. He could smell the nervous sweat coming off the man in waves. Tyler was lying about something.

  It seemed whoever was setting Mitchell up had bought himself a witness. If it really was Joshua, he was being even more cautious than Mitchell had thought, because while Tyler was showing his nerves a little, he showed no signs whatsoever of being mind controlled. And the first thing Joshua would have told him was not to be nervous.

  This put a new slant on things, one that Mitchell would need to get his head around, and fast. If Joshua wasn’t behind this, then who the hell was? Who would set him up for murder? He had no answer to that question yet. Hopefully Samuel would dig up something useful on that score. Right now, he needed to stay focused on this, and already his mind had wandered. Although at least it was still on the case and not on the tiny freckle on Lexi’s earlobe.

  Stop it, Mitchell told himself, forcing himself to focus.

  “You said in your original statement that you heard a scream, so you called the police,” Lexi said.

  “Yes,” Tyler confirmed.

  “What made you call the police? Did you consider that the scream could have been someone playing around, or that someone could have hit their thumb with a hammer, or any one of a million scenarios that didn’t require police attention?” Lexi asked.

  “The scream didn’t sound like someone playing around. It sounded full of both pain and fear. I did what I thought was right, and if I was wrong and it was nothing, I figured it was better to be safe than sorry,” Tyler replied.

  Lexi pushed a document across the table to him.

  “That’s a rough sketch of your home, Lisa Malone’s home, and Hattie Paulson’s home. Would you agree that your home is roughly the same distance from Lisa Malone’s home as Hattie’s is?” Tyler nodded. “And yet Hattie had her windows open and didn’t hear any screams. Why do you think that is?”

  “Objection,” the opposing lawyer said. “The witness can’t speak to why someone else did or didn’t hear something.”

  “I was just curious as to whether or not he had any theories about it,” Lexi said with a smile that dripped innocence.

  Mitchell knew there was nothing innocent about her question. She wanted Tyler and the lawyer to know that someone was re
futing the story of the scream. Tyler shifted uncomfortably in his seat and adjusted his tie slightly. Mitchell bit back the smile. It was working. Tyler was getting more nervous by the second. Mitchell could see a thin layer of sweat forming on Tyler’s upper lip.

  “Never mind. Let’s move on. So, you heard a scream, and you called 911. The call was made at two thirty-six, is that correct?”

  “I’m not sure of the exact time. I’d have to check my cell phone,” Tyler said.

  “The time is on the official transcript of the call. I’m just checking it sounds right to you,” Lexi said. Tyler nodded. He still looked decidedly uncomfortable. “And you then went to Lisa Malone’s home to check on her yourself?”

  “Yes,” Tyler said.

  “Why? If you thought something was so wrong that you called 911, did you really think it was a good idea to go barging in there?”

  “I… I didn’t really think about it. Or not that I can remember. I just acted. Like an adrenaline rush, I guess.”

  “You heard another scream and just ran to the rescue?” Lexi said.

  The lawyer opened his mouth to say something, but Tyler answered the question before he could speak. “No. There was only one scream.”

  “So, you heard a scream and just reacted on instinct a good five minutes after? Wow, your reaction times are pretty slow.”

  Again, Mitchell had to bite back a smile. Lexi was damned good at this.

  “What exactly are you implying, Ms. Lord?” Tyler’s lawyer asked when Tyler looked at him, panic in his eyes.

  “I’m not implying anything,” Lexi said, that fake innocent smile back on her face. “I’m merely asking Tyler here why he had no regard for his own safety, even though he clearly had time to think through the consequences of his actions.”

  “I just did what I thought was right,” Tyler replied.

  “Fair enough,” Lexi said. “How did you get into Lisa’s house?”

  “I knocked on the front door, but there was no answer. I went around the back, and I saw the door was open. I shouted her name, but again, there was no answer. That’s when I noticed the door had been forced, so I went in to see if Lisa needed help. She was on the ground, bleeding heavily, her eyes closed. I was too late to save her. She’d been stabbed, and there was a knife beside her.”