29. Looking for Dean

Kay was convinced that Dean might be involved in the murder someway. I had no idea how she got to that conclusion. According to Damon, Dean was in his room on that night so there was no way that he could be involved in murdering his own parents. But if Dean knew the other suspect why did he not come forward with that story? He let his brother face the charges while he hid away like a guilty person. All these sorts of questions were put forward by Kay which made me think again.





We had no other lead to follow than attend that pack meeting where Ryan was supposed to meet Mr Smith. Kay wanted me to look at the case with a different angle and not as someone close to Damon. He may not able to see it because Dean is his brother so I had to find out the truth by myself.





"I don't know how we are going to do that..." I trailed, nervously tapping my pen against the table. For a change, we were sitting in her house and fooling our parents into thinking that we were working on an assignment.




After that dream, I couldn't avoid Damon even though I tried to. Thankfully he was practising for his football match so we did not have to sit together on that day. After that, he did offer me a ride after school but I made a lame excuse that I had to come back with Kay. His face fell at that but he nodded his head. Maybe he was still thinking that I was scared to be with him alone but that was not the case at all. I was scared for sure but not by him but by my carnal desire for him. There was never this sort of energy or tension between any other boy that I liked.




Kay breathed staring at me, "I don't know how you are going to do that but we have to find a way."




I exclaimed, not meeting her eyes but silently tapping the edge of the pen cap on the elbow. It hurt. "No one knows where Dean lives. I don't even know what he looks like"




Kay made a face, "You don't have to."




"What do you mean?" I pushed my eyebrows together. What was she trying to tell? How was I going to talk to him if I don't meet him?




Kay shook her head. Taking a deep breath she pushed her hair back and looked straight into my eyes, "Call. I mean you can call him. What's the worst that can happen?"





"Oh, I don't know...Damon can kill me!"




Kay snorted, "For talking with his brother?"



I sighed. It was more complicated than that. No one knew about his dead brothers status except for me and Kay. If something goes wrong then we are the only two people he will hold accountable. That's something I don't want on our shoulders. We were already too deep into this and I cannot take any more of the burden.





"It's more than that Kay. No one knows about Dean. And he would like to keep it that way because they are working on exposing the real killer"




Kay breathed through her mouth like she was tired of hearing the same thing.




"What if he is the real killer Anya? That's why he is helping Damon find out the real killer."




"But-"



"I know you wanted this to be some sort of a great mystery but sometimes things are as simple as that. The police would come to the same conclusion because he is the only suspect was with them at the time of the murder. No one can vouch for him. Also, you should have heard stories about him"




My eyebrows shot up at that. It was only a day since I told her about Damon's brother. How did she manage to dig up so much? Then I realised that she was in the same school as Dean and Damon. No wonder she knew more about them than the person investigating them. This was a blessing as well as a curse because she was too involved with everything. In the beginning, I was very confident that I could solve it on my own but given the circumstances, I am finding it difficult every day. There is always something I am unaware of which comes as a new revelation and throws me off entirely.




"What stories?"



Kay frowned for a second before her face slipped into a grim expression.




"Oh, I almost forgot that you were not with me in the beginning. Anyways Dean Arcuri was known for his anger more than anything. He smashed his teacher's window just because she said something in the class about his handwriting. Once he beat up his junior, Karan for just walking beside him. That poor guy was rushed to the ER."




A shudder racked through my body hearing all those incidents. I had no idea that Dean was so violent and a bully as a child. That doesn't mean that he could also be a murderer, right? He was just having anger issues and that's that.





"Kay...umm...We can't say that he murdered his parents based on those incidents. He was a bully for sure but I don't know if he committed the crime"





Kay made a sound, her hands held together as she held on her cup tightly. I almost forgot that she was always drinking something while talking.




"There is a strong possibility that he may be. I don't know why you are trying to defend him-"




"I'm not"




She continued, "It's not difficult, Anya. Think of it as just another person to investigate. Everyone involved in this case as our suspects and we are just trying to set Damon's records clean."




"You're right" I sighed, not really meeting her eyes. Something inside me was still hesitant to ask Damon about his brother. He clearly loved his brother more than anything.





"Tell me something I don't know" Kay huffed




"And you ruined it"
***

The plan to talk with Damon was still on. That's why I was walking towards the boy's lockers. We had two shared classes but Damon was busy with practice. I had no intention of going back to his house so it was better to talk to him in school.




My feet halted in front of the locker room and I peeked inside hoping to hear a bunch of rowdy boys but there was no sound. I had already texted Damon that I was going to meet him in the locker room. He might have asked them to leave.




"You can come in" Damon's voice filtered from inside. Squeaking at the deep voice I held on to the door. I swallowed the lump formed in my throat and stepped inside the locker room.




As soon as I was in I could smell the sweat and over expensive perfumes. My nose scrunched at the pungent strong smell and I was already regretting asking him to meet me in the locker room. I stepped onto the wet shirt on the way and tried not to think about it.




"Hey" I waved as I noticed him sitting on the bench. His hoodie was lying beside him, a towel wrapped around his neck and he was shirtless. My eyes couldn't stop staring at his upper body and the way water dripped down his hair, onto to his chest only to disappear under his shorts. How was expecting me to talk to him in that state?





As if he noticed the effect had on me a smug smile appeared on his lips. He tilted his head to blink at me innocently while making no effort to cover his body.




"Hi"



My cheeks felt hot at being caught but that was something I should get used to.



"Sorry...uhh...but earlier how did you know that I was standing outside?"




He chuckled, the rich deep laughter making my toes curl. Clutching the towel he leaned back, "I'm a werewolf we can do that- sense human scent if it's near us"




My mouth formed in an O. No wonder that he knew that I was standing behind him on that night in the woods. That's why that wolf was able to find me so quickly. It must be insane having that sort of ability. You can already sense the danger!




"That's so cool"



He seemed taken back by my sudden enthusiasm. Did no one tell him that it was cool? Then I realised that it must be common considering everyone in his family is a wolf. Damon might not have confided in anyone other than Kay but that was because he had no choice but to reveal his identity.




"You think?" He asked in a low tone. His eyes were so wide and pretty, almost impossible to look away.




I giggled, "Yes. Don't fish for compliments now"




"No, I'm just shocked? Yeah. You are the first person I have ever told about my identity on my own you know. It's just range that you are not running for woods right now"




Before I could say anything he bit his lips as if he realised something.




"Sorry for mentioning...uh..."




"I'm fine don't worry about it" I gave him a soft smile




His lips turned up, "So what did you want to talk about?"




The smile left my lips as I know that I should probably start talking about the real reason I wanted to meet him. What if he doesn't understand? How was I going to tell him the real reason behind everything?




"Your brother, Dean"
***