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When I stepped out of the shower and dried myself off, I stared at the dragon shifter in the mirror. Years ago, when I’d first fallen in love with Miranda, I had stared at myself in a mirror just like this one, and I’d believed with everything I had that I was the luckiest man in the whole world.
I just knew it.
And right now, the face looking back at mine was a little more wrinkled, a little more jaded, and yes, a little more tired, but the man was the same, and I knew without a doubt that he was still the luckiest bastard in the world.
With a smile, I headed out into the bedroom and instantly knew something was up.
“Miranda?”
She wasn’t here. I glanced around and even went so far as to check the closet “just in case.” We both loved to play games, so my first thought was that perhaps she had been trying to hide from me just to be silly.
That wasn’t the case.
Instead, I realized that she wasn’t here.
She hadn’t brought a phone when she’d come to see me – only a wallet. It was still sitting on the dresser. I wished that she had thought to bring a cell phone. It wasn’t like there was particularly good service on Dragon Isle, but at a time like this, it would have been nice to be able to call her and figure out what was going on.
I noticed that her keycard was gone, but mine was still on the dresser. I grabbed it and tugged on a pair of pants. I didn’t bother with underwear, shoes, or a shirt. Hopefully, I wouldn’t be gone long.
When I stepped out into the hall, I realized what had happened.
There was food spilled just outside of the door. She’d tried to set out our tray but must have slipped and made a mess. Miranda was far too nice to ever leave anything like this out for anyone else to clean.
She’d gone to the front desk.
I made my way past the elevators, instead choosing for the stairs because I felt like they’d be faster. When I reached the first floor, I paused for a moment before opening the door.
I was overreacting, wasn’t I?
Nothing was wrong.
She was fine.
Only, as soon as I opened the door, I scented the anger and chaos in the air and I realized instantly that something was very, very wrong.
I had to stay calm, so instead of rushing around the corner to the front desk and to find my mate, I walked quietly until I heard voices.
Then I paused.
Miranda was there, all right, and she sounded pissed.
Peering carefully around the corner, I spotted two other people. At first, I thought Miranda was the one in trouble, but both the man and the woman were standing across from her with their hands up.
And Miranda was naked.
What the hell was going on?
“You’re a freak!”
“A monster!”
“Get the hell away from us!”
Both the man and the woman sounded scared out of their minds, and I realized that Miranda’s shredded clothes on the floor meant she’d shapeshifted in front of them – and they hadn’t been expecting this.
Maybe they didn’t know she was a shapeshifter, or perhaps they didn’t know that anyone was a shapeshifter. Although shifters in Rawr County weren’t exactly hidden, they didn’t just wander around in plain sight, either.
If you weren’t paying attention, it could be easy to miss.
She seemed to have the situation under control, so I slowly crept behind the front desk, where I found whoever was supposed to be working passed out on the floor. I checked to make sure they were breathing – which they were – and then I slowly lifted up the phone receiver to make two calls.
I called both the police and Cosmo, quietly filling them in on what was happening, and then I stayed where I was, listening to the interaction. I left the phone on so Cosmo could listen in as he hurried here. He had recording apps on his phone, so he could make sure the call was saved for future evidence if necessary.
“You weren’t brother and sister,” Miranda said. “You’re married. You’re married and you tried to fuck over everyone who worked for Kevin.”
“That’s not entirely true,” the man, who must have been Keith, said. That would make the woman Lane.
“Not true at all,” Lane said. “Kevin’s death gave us the perfect chance to slip in and take over the company. We didn’t embezzle.”
“Not at all,” Keith said.
His voice was so flat that I almost would have believed him if I hadn’t seen the evidence with my own eyes. Cosmo had explained most of it to me and Miranda earlier. Basically, whenever a client paid their deposits, there were some transaction fees charged that went straight to Lane’s bank account. She also was taking a portion of each case the firm handled. She’d labeled it in the software as something like a “processing fee,” but it wasn’t at all.
It was just her taking money.
During the time she’d been at the firm, she’d stolen nearly half a million dollars and somehow hadn’t been caught.
Until Piper.
“Piper caught you,” Miranda said, ignoring their lies. “That’s why you had to get rid of her. Lane was her attorney, but she sabotaged the case.”
Lane smiled. “Of course,” she said. “I couldn’t let anything happen to my husband.”
“Then why did you let him and Piper date?” Miranda asked. “Piper thought they were like, an item.”
Lane waved her hand. “We needed someone to take the blame. It was the best way to make sure we could plant enough evidence at Piper’s home to make it look like she was really the one skimming off the top.”
“And me?” Miranda asked. “Why me?”
This was interesting.
This was the question that had been bothering me, too.
Why had they chosen Miranda as their backup fall person?
It didn’t make any sense.
“Kevin loved you,” Keith said, glaring at her.
And that was it.
Miranda had spoken fondly of her previous supervisor. She’d made it clear that she liked working with Kevin and that he had been a good boss.
Apparently, that had been enough to make Keith and Lane’s decision easier.
They’d wanted her to suffer simply because of who she had been to Kevin.
Well, they were too late.
They weren’t going to hurt my girl.
Not today.
Not ever.
I prepared to launch forward if I needed to, but it seemed like Miranda honestly had this handled. I stayed where I was, carefully watching without being noticed, and I waited to make sure that my mate was okay.