“Excuse me?” Mitch said. I could hear the confusion in his voice, along with a wariness.
“I hate to be the one to tell you this, but Lenny is dead,” Nate said.
“Bullshit. Fuck you, you little prick. You think this is funny? Screwing with me like this?” Mitch shouted. “Lone wolf motherfucker. I shoulda known better?—”
I jumped up and snapped the phone from Nate’s hand.
“Hello, Mr. Gagnon? My name is Cameron Torres, I’m a reporter withTheToronto Chronicle.”
“What the hell is going on here?” Mitch asked. The anger in his voice was now dull and lifeless, as though it had already burned out and was fading to embers.
“I’m a reporter, I’m here with Nate,” I said. “He’s right about your cousin. I’m very sorry for your loss.”
“Wait… Lenny’s dead?Really?”
Ollie had told the cops who’d arrived on the scene that he’d come upon a hit-and-run, and while he was administering CPR,Rick had attacked him. JC’s pack members had staged the scene. Lenny’s wounds from his fight with Nate were consistent with injuries a person would sustain when having been hit by a car. The only hiccup had been getting Ollie to the shifter clinic rather than the regular hospital. Thankfully, JC had pulled enough strings to get a shifter EMS team to take Ollie. Lenny’s body was now in the morgue, awaiting identification.
“Mr. Gagnon, would you be willing to ID the body at the morgue?” I asked, trying to be as judicious as I could.
“Oh my God,” Mitch muttered.
The sadness in his voice tore at me. Yes, Lenny had stalked and attacked me, but he hadn’t been in his right mind. None of this was his fault. It was all on Rick.
“Okay,” he said finally. “Uh, where? Do you have an address or anything?”
“We’ll text it to you and meet you there tomorrow morning,” I said.
“Ah, fuck.” He sounded completely miserable. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I ended the call, then quickly texted Ollie to get the address. When he replied, I forwarded it to Mitch. Nate gave me an appreciative look, and my stomach dipped.
“You handled that really well,” he said. “He was on the verge of hanging up on me. Good job.”
“Thanks,” I said. “I figure we might be able to get more info out of him in person. You can’t hang up on someone when you’re face to face with them. Maybe we’ll figure out what the hell Rick and his dad are really up to.”
“Son of a bitch,” he said with a grin. “Let’s get some rest. Looks like we’re heading back out in the morning.”
37
Nate
Sleep didn’t come easy. I was too hyped up to relax. After tossing and turning for an hour, I finally fell into a fitful sleep, which only resulted in me feelingmoretired when I woke up.
Cameron and I quickly got ready, then headed out. We arrived at the coroner’s office an hour later, both of us anxious. As soon as I parked, I sniffed the air, searching for threats. Nothing. At least not right now. Even so, I’d keep my head on a swivel, checking for whatever might be coming for us. I didn’tthink Rick or his father knew we were here, but we couldn’t afford to let our guard down.
“Do you think he’ll show up?” Cameron asked as we got off the bike.
“He sounded pretty heartbroken last night,” I replied. “He wants answers as much as we do. He’ll turn up.”
A few minutes later, a truck pulled into the parking lot. When Mitch got out, he had the pale skin and dark circles under his eyes of a man who’d barely slept a wink.
“Good morning,” I said, trying to be as cordial as I could, given the circumstances.
Mitch shook my hand, then Cameron’s. “Hey. So, uh, what do we do now?”
Cameron gestured toward the building. “We’ll need to head inside. Did you bring anything that proves you’re the next of kin?”
Mitch nodded absently, patting his back pocket. “Yeah. I have a copy of Lenny’s birth certificate and an old ID he left at his apartment.”
