Puppy Love
Chapter 35

~Josephine~

I did not need to know why Justin didn’t pair me up with Liam, he wanted us actually doing our job, so I couldn’t complain.

“So, where do we start?” I asked Justin, and he looked around. Liam and Charlotte had entered the house closest to Brighton’s mansion, and technically, that was the house that mattered the most because they would have seen something.

“I guess that spot is taken,” I pointed at the house, and Justin chuckled.

“That is the easy angle to replace out what happened to the housekeeper,” He said, then pointed at the house on the bend.

“We will be taking that one,” he added, and I frowned.

“That house is too far from the Brightons”, I complained.

There was no way anyone living in that house could see what transpired at the gate of the Brightons.

It was bound to be a waste of time, but Justin was a brilliant Alpha, and I knew he must have a reason, so there was no point shutting it down.

“And why is that spot crucial?” I asked Justin, hoping he would wow me, and he laughed.

“It is because of the van that exploded. Anyone in.

that house will have a clearer view of what happened to the vehicle. Though distant from the scene, it doesn’t change that they might have seen something,” He said, and I understood his view.

“Brilliant,” I squealed, knowing we were the only ones looking into what might have caused the car to blow up since everyone seemed to be questioning neighbours close to the Brighton Mansion.

Justin and I began to walk to the spot, and I felt it was the right time to talk to him about Liam and me. I could not shake off his discomfort speaking

Sophia’s name, and I wanted to address it. He needed to know I wasn’t bothered.

“Justin,” I managed, and he was attentive.

“I know you are looking out for me, and I appreciate it, but I want you to know that mentioning Sophia doesn’t bother me. Liam and I have crossed that bridge, and I trust him completely. I know they are good friends, and he might have had feelings for her in the past, but what he feels for me is sincere. I can see it. No amount of Sophia Jokes from the others can crush that, and talking about her will not affect me in any way. I want her and her mother found. It is unfair she got caught in a mess she knew nothing of. The least we can do as leaders is to ensure the people we will lead are protected, and true justice is served. Hunting her and her mother isn’t justice; it is revenge, and I hope the council also abolishes that nonsense like they did the one for treason,” I said, and he sighed.

“Well, it got to you last time, and you barely touched your food,” Justin said almost with a chuckle, and I was surprised he figured it out so quickly.

“You knew?” I asked, and he laughed.

“Liam wasn’t himself when you left. I had never seen him that way before. I suspected something was up. I never want to see you two that way again.

Liam is my cousin, but he is also like my little brother. I have watched him over the years, even though we have spoken so much about Sophia, he has never dated or looked at anyone before. So what you two have is a big deal. It will also be a big deal to our folks when they finally know. The fire between you two is young; keeping Sophia out of it is important to keep the fire burning. It might not bother you, but it is a way of respecting Liam and you. Besides, the jokes were getting old. Noah and the others have to look for something else to tease Liam with,” he said, and I understood his point, which made me laugh.

“As for teams today, there was no way I was going to pair you two together,” he added, and I wondered where that came from.

“Don’t look at me like that, Jo. I saw you frowning when we exited the van, and the only reason you will frown during something like this is that you aren’t happy with the team you were placed in.” He said and halted in his tracks.

“I want you two actually doing your job,” he said, and I laughed because I figured that out already.

“I know,” I said, and he continued walking.

We got to the house on the corner of the street. It wasn’t a bungalow and looked new. Since neither Justin nor I lived in Grizlo, there was no telling if the building had been there a long time or had just popped up.

The other teams were at an advantage because they had someone that had lived with them here, especially Liam’s team since both he and Charlotte lived here. Nonetheless, we would have to make do.

The house wasn’t fenced, so we had easy access.

Standing on the porch, Justin rang the bell, and it seemed like no one was home.

We rang the bell for almost three minutes before someone came to the door.

A woman opened the door, and she looked dishevelled as if we had interrupted her sleep. I didn’t have to overthink it because there was drool on the corner of her lips.

The instant she figured out who we were, she became scared. Most people were like that around us. They feared the Volkovs and Stapanovs alike, especially royalty. I was used to it, so I smiled warmly to get her at ease.

“Hello, madam,” I said, smiling. She snapped out of her fear and bowed to greet us. I hated it when people did that, but I guess it was unavoidable.

My name is Chloe Renolds,” She said, and her name sounded like she was from the South.

“Southerner?” I asked, and she smiled at me, nodding.

“Yes, we moved here from the south,” She confirmed, and I was glad to see she was relaxed.

“We are here to ask you some questions about the van and house that burned down,” Justin said, and she nodded.

“Please come in,” Chloe said. As much as I hated entering strangers’ homes, this was necessary to get the job done.

We entered, and she led us into her living room.

Although the outside looked simple, the interior was stunning. It was modern and chic. The contemporary feel of the furniture and the placements gave it an exquisite look.

We were offered a seat while she went to the kitchen section to make herself a cup of coffee.

She offered us some, which we declined.

An elderly woman walked out of the house. She was very old. I did not need to guess her age. She was over a century, really, from the colour of her hair and the traces of wrinkles on her face, but time had been easy on her if that was the case because she was still agile and pretty.

“Alpha, My Lady. My great grandmother, Leah.” Choe said, and we greeted the woman.

“You should still be in bed, Granny; they are here to see me,” Chloe complained, and it was cute seeing the two of them.

I hoped Grandma Gezel, though my father’s stepmother, lived that long. It will be fun to tease

her.

“They are here to see me because I saw it all,” the old woman argued, and I was attentive while

Justin chuckled.

Chloe rolled her eyes, and I knew she would give in to her grandma, who was her ancestor, really.

“Oh really, so tell them what you saw,” Chloe said, giving the old woman the floor. The woman smiled. She was clearly looking for excitement, and we had just brought it to her.

My name is Leah, by the way,” the woman said, and I smiled.

“I was on the porch knitting a shawl when I heard two hits a few seconds apart. I suspect that something hit that van coming from down the street. It hit it twice, and I saw it. I looked in the direction the hits came from and saw two hefty men close the trunk of their black unregistered

SUV and drive off. I would have said the fire scared them, but I doubt it because they had on ski masks and looked pretty calm for people that were spooked. I told Chloe about it, and she said she would tell the authorities when they came, but she never did,” the woman complained, and I looked at Chloe.

“I didn’t tell them because no one asked if we had seen anything. I felt it was odd,” Chloe said in her defence, clearly pumped up from her cup of coffee.

“The fact is when something like that happens, the least the authorities could do was ask around, but we were shooed away. They just wanted us to get back into our house. Because certain things about the fire did not add up, there was indeed a need for an investigation; they just told us to get back in.

We have just moved here, and the last thing I want is to get in trouble with those in charge, so I obeyed and returned to my house,” She said and looked at her ancestor, Leah.

“So yes, I kept the details to myself because no one wanted to know,” Chloe confessed, and I realised why Leah would come out. She didn’t think Chloe would tell us what she saw.

We spent a while asking them questions about their neighbours and the oddities on the street.

Leah was forthcoming, and I could see the excitement in her eyes. I was grateful for her contribution, and when we felt we had learned enough, we thanked them for their time and opted to leave.

The moment we stepped out, Justin and I got talking.

“It can’t be a coincidence that we got a video of someone wearing a ski mask giving us instructions the same day. Ski masks might be a common thing, but it isn’t something people go about wearing daily. The two must be linked somehow,” he said, and I understood his point. I looked at the place the fire took place and saw Liam and Charlotte at the place. I guess they had beat us to it because they were leaving already.

“Everyone is done with their questioning,” Justin informed me, and we headed towards the van.

We all converged at the van. Other than Liam’s team, the others didn’t look excited. It was clear they did not learn much.

We got into the van, and Marvin opted to drive with Justin in the passenger’s seat.

“So, what did you two learn?” Justin asked Liam while I snuggled close to him in our usual spot.

“Someone blew up the van, and one of the shots missed the vehicle and hit the house, causing the house fire,” Liam said, and I gasped because I now knew what the people in the Ski masks were

doing.

“How did you know?” I asked, beating Justin to it.

“A hole in the wall of the house. The trajectory is

-close to where the van is. The people we questioned also said they heard two hits before someone screamed fire. The hits were seconds apart. I guess the first attempt hit the house, then the second attempt hit its target, Liam said.

“We believe they were tying up loose ends because the people in the van were seen coming out of grandma’s house before they met their demise,”

Charlotte added, and it all made sense.

“Which means the people Leah spoke about in the black SUV wearing ski masks were the true perpetrators of the crime,” I said, and Charlotte frowned. I explained to everyone what Justin and I had learned, and Noah grinned.

‘I knew it. I knew something fishy was going on.

The fire service was in on it, too, because the people we questioned said they did not check or attend to the scene. They took their time putting out the fire in the house instead of the van so they could salvage the evidence since they had already told them that no one was living in that house. I figured they wanted the van to burn down,” Noah said, and it was sad that we could not trust the authorities.

“Let’s head to the clinic. We will discuss this further at the packhouse. Lady Claudia is around.” Justin said, and Charlotte was grinning at the mention of her mother’s name.