From the Shadows by J. C. McKenzie

Author:J. C. McKenzie
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781990143014
Publisher: J. C. McKenzie

Chapter 8

“Today’s vibe: milkshakes.”

Juni Crawford

* * *

Juni sat across from a beautiful man in a restaurant booth. Though the air conditioning had blasted her skin upon entry to the cheap diner, it hadn’t taken long for her to acclimatize. Foxes adapted well.

“So you dated Byron for two years?” she said.

Rocco looked up from his drink. Normally, people were reluctant to speak with a private investigator. The promise of a strawberry milkshake at Rocco’s favourite diner, however, was all it took for him to agree to meet with her.

Rocco was a tall man in his thirties. Shifter, though she couldn’t quite pinpoint which kind. He worked in sales and carried himself with confidence, wearing business casual and a charismatic smile—one of those kinds that made you want to smile even if you were in the foulest mood. His gaze twinkled with intelligence and humour and his subtle cologne was warm and inviting.

He was also Byron’s last contact, who had a criminal record, for Juni to interview. None of the others matched the scent and they were all either out of town or had alibis for the time of the fire. This man was Juni’s last lead.

As soon as Rocco appeared, Juni’s hopes of closing this case quickly faltered. He wasn’t the mysterious fourth scent. Because of the dry smell that carried earth, wood, leather, and smoky tones, she now mentally referred to the owner of the mystery scent as “Vetiver.” Still, not smelling like vetiver didn’t automatically exclude Rocco as a suspect, and his scent was familiar, which meant he was probably out on the street in front of Byron’s house. And he had a prior.

“We broke up about six months ago,” he said.

“Was the breakup amicable?”

Rocco looked at her oddly. “Are breakups ever truly amicable? They say that on television of course, and in the tabloids, but I’ve never met a couple who simultaneously arrived at the same conclusion to end the relationship. Someone is always hurt at the end.”

Okay then… “Who broke it off?”

“Byron did.”

“So you were hurt at the end?”

“Of course, I was hurt.”

Enough to burn down his house?

Juni bit down on the unspoken question. She needed to build more rapport before she led the conversation to the arson. “Did he give you a reason why?”

Rocco shrugged and leaned down to drink some of his milkshake from the straw. “We had grown apart, both too busy with work. We never had anything to say to each other and could barely muster any interest in the important things in each other’s lives.” He paused and used the straw to play with the whip cream on the top of his drink. “He was right, of course. But it still hurt. Even now, but it’s more melancholy. Not bitter. Just sad, you know?”

Juni didn’t know. She had no real experience in that field of life, tending to avoid serious relationships. Even if she found someone who interested her, which she hadn’t, not really, what was the point? They would try to use her to get to Raven, or worse, someone could use them to get to Juni.

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