BK 4 - Chapter 43 - Interrogation
"Hi, Trey and Cat. I don't think I've met you," Dexter said, looking Lisa up and down. She wanted to shift before he stepped into the house, but Cat kept her arm around her so she wouldn't do anything before they got some answers.
"This is our granddaughter, Lisa. Please come in." Trey smiled slightly, but Dexter was too busy staring at Lisa to notice it wasn't sincere.
"It's nice to meet you, Lisa. I'm Dexter." He held his hand out to her, but she turned and walked into the family room where everyone was waiting. She sat on Jayce's lap, needing him to keep her from tearing that bastard's head off.
"Everyone, this is Dexter. He works for the Sacramento Police Department." Dexter glanced around and hesitated when he saw Breanna in the hospital bed with Dustin beside her. He had thought she was dead. He just hoped she didn't recognize him.
"Hello, I just wanted to stop by and offer my condolences." Dexter began getting nervous when everyone just stared at him without speaking. Maybe this was a bad idea. He hadn't realized there were so many in the lion family. He got ready to turn and say goodbye, but Trey, Aiden, and Thatcher were standing behind him glaring.
"Uh, I think I should leave." He said, trying to walk around them.
"I think you should stay. We have a few questions for you." Trey said, walking toward Dexter. He looked around for someone to help him, and his eyes landed on the seven men who didn't look like they were part of the family. However, the look on their faces told Dexter they wouldn't be helping him either.
"Wh...what questions?" He asked, looking at Trey and then away again.
"Lisa, let's test your cross-examination skills, shall we?" Cat said with a sweet smile. Lisa stood up and pulled Jayce with her. She needed him to keep her calm.
"Thanks, Grandma Cat; I could use the practice." She replied, stopping when she was a couple of feet away from Dexter. "Please sit down, Mr. Nass." She pointed to the chair Tristan placed in the middle of the room. Dexter looked around once more and swallowed past the lump in his throat before taking a seat.
"You made it home quickly after your accident yesterday. Did you seek medical treatment anywhere?" Lisa asked, walking back and forth in front of him, keeping Jayce with her. Dexter glanced toward Breanne and Dustin again. He didn't know if he should lie or not.
"I don't know what you're talking about," He said, looking away. When he heard a growl, he glanced around but wasn't sure where it came from until he saw Dustin shaking angrily. Lisa kept her eyes on Dexter while holding her hand up to Dustin so he would stay back.
"That's a lie. You were in Albuquerque, New Mexico, yesterday and drove a truck into the car of my sister and her boyfriend. You're lucky she wasn't killed; otherwise, you would already be dead." Lisa kept her voice even and continued staring at him until he looked away. She then started pacing again.
"I didn't see them pulling out from the reservation. It was an accident." Lisa pretended to look thoughtful before turning to Breanne.
"Breanne, can you please repeat for the record what happened yesterday?" Lisa asked with a wink.
"Yesterday, Dustin and I were pulling onto the road when a truck came barreling toward us. I looked up and saw the driver. I remembered Dexter from the barbeque a couple of years ago. When he saw me look at him, he sped up and hit us. That's the last thing I remember before waking up this morning." Breanne replied. Dexter looked around the room, and a ripple of fear went down his spine.
"Was there any way he didn't see you?" Lisa asked Breanne.
"No. He looked me right in the eye and sped up. He tried to kill us." She answered. Travis and the other hunters were watching in fascination. For a minute, they forgot this wasn't an actual trial. Travis felt like asking if they could have some popcorn. It was nice to see the family angry at someone other than them.
"Interesting. Two different accounts of the situation, yet only one person was injured. Who do you think we should believe?" Lisa looked around at her family and the hunters. She was curious to see what the other humans in the room thought, seeing as they had no ties either way.
"Can you seven act as the jury, please?" She asked them. Lisa almost smiled when they all nodded eagerly and jumped up. Lisa directed Cole and Johnny to set up seven chairs. The hunters sat down and waited.
"Shouldn't I get a defense attorney in this game?" Dexter asked, glaring at Lisa.
"You call this a game when you tried to kill two people?" Lisa asked. Dexter looked away without answering. "Does anyone want to act as this idiot's defense attorney?"
Dexter looked around and saw no one moving. He didn't think this was real, but having someone on his side would have been nice.
"Sorry, no takers. Looks like you're going to defend yourself. Can you explain to the court why you targeted Breanne and Dustin?" Lisa asked while pacing again. Dexter sighed. He figured he better go ahead and answer the questions honestly. Maybe she would then show him some leniency.
"We knew he was a shifter, and she was with him, so it was collateral damage. We wanted to kill them both." He heard growling from Dustin again but didn't look in his direction.
"Who are you referring to when you say we?" Lisa asked, looking toward Trey. He already had his phone out recording in case he gave up some names.
"Me and the others who have made it our mission to eliminate freaks of nature," Dexter answered with malice.
"Again, who are the others you're referring to? Let me explain it to you this way. It would be in your best interest to tell us the names of the others you're working with." Lisa stopped in front of him and crossed her arms, waiting. Dexter looked down; he knew he didn't have a choice. He named eight other men in addition to Mick. Trey recognized one of them but not the others. He whispered to Lisa to ask about Neal Ayers.
"You said Neal Ayers is one of the men working with you. What role does he play?" Lisa asked with a straight face. Dexter glanced toward Trey.
"He made the list of all those in your family and set it up like a hitlist so we could cross off the names of those we successfully killed. It was kind of like a game. The more we killed, the more points we got. I had hoped to get double with those two," He said with disappointment, nodding toward Breanne and Dustin.
"So this is a game for you? Grown men get points for killing innocent people. All for what? What reward would you get in the end?" Lisa asked, doing everything she could to keep her composure.
"The glory of knowing we killed the most. We didn't need any other reward than that." Lisa looked toward the hunters, and they all looked sick. Until yesterday, they thought the same as Dexter and the men he was working with.
"Can you explain why you're coming after our family? What did we do to you and the others?" Lisa asked. Jayce took her hand again, noticing she was starting to shake.
"A few of them are men whose kids you had taken from them. Me, I thought it would be a fun game. Anyone that's not my race or species shouldn't be allowed to walk the earth or breathe the same air as me. For Neal, it's more personal. He worked for the FBI, and it gave him easy access to teenagers. When Trey and Cat began their group homes and speaking at schools about coming forward if they were rapped or abused, he got scared that some of the girls he was with would expose him. He started losing control, and his higher-ups noticed. He ended up losing his job. He blames your family for everything."
Dexter could tell this little interrogation was coming to an end, and he wasn't going down without a fight. He looked around, hoping to see a way out, but all he saw was a bunch of angry people looking at him.
"Members of the jury, I would like you to consider everything you've heard today. Do you find this man guilty of attempted murder?" Lisa asked, looking at the hunters. They all spoke without hesitation.
"Yes."
Lisa was getting ready to say he was found guilty when Jade walked past Dexter, and he jumped up. He grabbed her around the neck, pulled a gun out of his waistband, and held it to her head. Dexter turned his back on the hunters as he faced the family.
"No one move, or she's dead," Dexter said cocking the gun. Before anyone could react, Bill stood, walked behind Dexter, and snapped his neck. He grabbed the gun before it fell and handed it to Trey. Jade and everyone else stared at him in shock. They weren't planning on letting Dexter walk out of there, but they didn't think it would be one of the hunters that killed him. Bill's face turned red when he saw them all looking at him.
"Sorry, I just acted without thinking when I saw him grab her." He answered, glancing toward Jade.
"Don't apologize. You just saved us the trouble." Lisa said, looking between Jade and Bill.
"I can't believe you did that," Jade said, staring at Bill. He looked down.
"I saw red when he grabbed you. I know self-defense, but I've never had to use it before." Jade touched Bill's arm and felt the sparks immediately. She assumed he was her mate, but she wouldn't be eighteen for a couple more days. She looked toward her parents, and they were instantly at her side.
"What's going on Jade?" Janel asked, smiling at the young man who hadn't hesitated to save her daughter.
"I know I'm not eighteen yet, but I believe he's my mate. Is that possible?" Bill heard what she said and looked from Jade to her parents. Is it true? Could he be the mate of the most beautiful woman he had ever seen? His heart began racing while he waited to see what they said.
"Yes, it's possible. We're vampires, so it works differently compared to what shifters experience. Besides, you'll be eighteen in a couple days." Thatcher answered her. The young human had already redeemed himself in his eyes by how he'd snapped Dexter's neck when he had Jade. If he was that fast as a human, he would be even better as a vampire.
"I'm your mate?" Bill asked in disbelief.
"Yes. Do you feel the sparks and tingling when I touch you?" Jade asked with amusement at his reaction. He was like the boy next door with his sandy brown hair and dark blue eyes. He was around six feet tall and more muscular than she had first thought. That was evident in the way he'd taken care of Dexter.
"I feel them, but I didn't know what it was. What does it mean to be your mate?" Bill asked anxiously. He couldn't believe he'd been hunting these people, and now he may be mated to one of them. When Jade took his hand, he wanted to weep with joy. Was it possible to fall in love at first sight?
"Come with me so we can talk without so many ears," Jade said, leading Bill out of the room.
"What an exciting turn of events. Now we have a list of the men coming for us, Grandpa Trey; what are we going to do with it?" Lisa asked while watching Saxon and Thatcher get rid of Dexter. Trey smiled as he put his arm over her shoulders.
"We're going hunting."
