Bonding With The Enemy (BxB)✔

Chapter 26 - Jasper Takes The Case

With Liam still missing, Jasper ended up dragging both Darren and Gerrit to the station. 

In the waiting room, they found Kenny pacing as his wife, a busty brunette in shorts and a tank top, nervously fidgeted with a tissue.

The police were going through everyone's whereabouts and quickly dismissed Darren, Jasper, Mary and Gerrit, all of which had been home and accounted for at the time of Holly's disappearance.  The only person who was unaccounted for was Liam.

The two police officers glanced at each other when no one was able to say where he was. This just furthered Darren's suspicions on the guy, and as the only person who was not part of the pack, decided to speak on it. 

"Is everyone here really too scared to point fingers? Because I'm placing all mine on Liam." He cocked his head, drawing everyone's attention. 

One of the officers looked at the rogue as though he had just grown an extra arm. "What are you insinuating?"

"I'm just saying that the guy is suspicious. I mean, what has he even accomplished in this investigation? He stopped sending out search parties! Not to mention this mysterious 'lead' that he said he was chasing after, yet no one has any information on."

"Shut it!" Kenny snapped from the back of the room. "Don't you dare suggest anything like that about our Alpha! I know Liam, and I know for a fact that he wouldn't hurt Holly!"

"Just like earlier when you thought Jasper would never hurt a pack member?"

"Don't change the subject!"

Everyone went quiet and Gerrit put a hand on Darren's shoulder to stop him from retaliating. Then, a small gust started building up in the room, and Kenny's wife quickly stood up to pat him on the back.

"Calm down." She cooed. "I'm angry too, but fighting isn't going to help us find her."

Jasper decided to intervene at this point and moved to shield Darren from the Beta's view. "That's enough." He said in a calm, even tone. 

Kenny's eyes flicked towards Jasper and after a moment, he obeyed.

Once the wind completely died down, Jasper turned, frowning at the hand on Darren's shoulder, but opted to ignore it. "I'm going to be taking the lead on this till Liam returns. In the meantime, Gerrit, I need you to take my place and be Darren's escort."

"Why can't I help?" The rogue asked.

 "You will still be helping. We need you to keep looking for...." He eyed the nearby officers, but decided to continue, "For ghosts that might know something. Unfortunately, with Liam out of the picture, I've got to cover for him and run the pack until he returns. Which means I won't have time to take you around town anymore."

Gerrit nodded. "I'll stick with him for now. You focus on your work."

"Thanks." Jasper didn't seem very excited at the prospect of running the pack without his advisor around, but he unfortunately didn't have a choice. 

For the next three days, Darren barely saw Jasper and found himself practically glued to Gerrit's side. Or rather, vice versa since the guy made sure to keep the rogue in sight. On the bright side, Jasper was so swamped with work that he was no longer pulling on their mate bond.

The downside to all this was that Liam still hadn't returned, which was putting Mary on edge as the woman started holing herself up in the garden, worrying that the worst might have happened to him. 

Likewise, Darren didn't have any luck interrogating more ghosts since they either didn't know anything, or didn't see where the kids went. By the third day he was ready to give up when he saw a familiar shadow figure lurking around the neighborhood next to the preschool.