“Yeah, but knowing Darrien Fonthill is out there…” Just saying his name made me wince. “I’d like to see her for myself.” I gave up on my hairbrush and pulled my hair in a ponytail.
“I saw her last night. She looks a lot like you.”
“She was at the Pack meeting?” I peered out of the bathroom. “Did she seem miserable or scared?”
“No.” He shook his head. “She came down as we were finishing up. She had the twins, one on each hip. She and Lana seemed to be getting along pretty well too.”
Relief washed through me as I stared into his eyes. “Thank you for helping her.”
“I’m glad we could.”
After brushing my teeth, I came out of the bathroom, slipped on my shoulder holster and gazed at the clear morning outside our hotel window. “Something’s bugging me. It used to happen during complicated cases. A piece of the puzzle is right in front of me, but I can’t quite see it. Makes me crazy”
“Can I help?”
I didn’t even flinch when I felt him come up behind me, his arms sliding around my waist. Having him close was becoming a comfort in spite of my efforts to keep him out of my heart.
I glanced back at him over my shoulder. “I don’t think so. It’s just a hunch, but I think there’s some other connection with Fonthill I’m missing.”
Aren’s hold on me tightened a little. “Maybe with your roommate he attacked?”
I shrugged giving that angle a thought. “Maybe.”
“Does she know what happened to you?”
“Nancy? No.” I rested back against his chest. “Not too long after Fonthill lost his badge, my parents were murdered. I had to take care of Nadya, so I moved us to a tiny place on the other side of town. New school, new everything. I didn’t know what else to do since we never caught their killer.”
“Did Nadya see it happen?”
My chest constricted with pent-up emotion. This was the first time I’d ever talked to anyone about my parents’ deaths. The department kept me out of the investigation, standard practice since I was related to the victims, but when the case went cold, I’d called in some favors to get copies of the file. All the details and evidence were engrained in my memory.
But saying them out loud was a whole different ball game.
I cleared my throat, finding my voice again. “Nadya was at school when it happened. Thankfully my mom had called me and asked me to come by. I got off work early and found them.”
He pressed a kiss to my hair. “You think Fonthill might be connected to their deaths somehow? He could’ve been taking revenge for your testimony or something.”
I shook my head. “I don’t think so. He wouldn’t have known where my parents lived, and if he was out for revenge, he would’ve come after Nancy or even me, not my folks. But when we were in Los Angeles, when the laser came through our hotel room window…” I lost myself for a minute. “That moment made me think of it again. My parents were killed by a long-range rifle. That’s part of why they could never find the killer. The only evidence we had were the bullets. I didn’t ever realize Fonthill shot long-range rifles. And I definitely had no clue he was a Green Beret.”
“Why would your parents be targets then?”
I shook my head. “That’s the part I’m missing. If I had a motive, I’d have something to run with.” I sighed. “I shouldn’t let it bother me. It’s not going to help us right now.”
Aren turned me around to face him, his gaze demanding mine. “One step at a time. Let’s get Fonthill first.”
“Good plan.” I walked over to my laptop and quickly opened the LexisNexis website. It was the quickest way to track down info on people since I didn’t have access to the database at the NYPD anymore. After typing in Darrien Fonthill’s name, I started scanning information.
Behind me, Aren’s cell phone rang.
Chapter Twenty-Three
My twin’s name flashed across my cell phone screen. “Hey, Adam.”
“I need to talk to you about Nadya.”
I frowned. “Everything okay?”
Sasha looked up from her laptop.
“She’s fine,” Adam said. I mouthed the words to Sasha. “Did Sasha mention anything about her sister to you? Anything more than the fact she didn’t know about werewolves and jaguars?”
I glanced over at Sasha, watching her work. “No, just that she was working on her degree to become a teacher.”
Adam was quiet for a minute and finally said, “We need to talk. Where are you?”
“We’re at the top of the Tuscany Hotel right now.”
“Okay. Meet me at Harrah’s in the main bar of the casino. That ought to make it more difficult for him to catch our scents if he’s on the prowl.”
“Will do.”
I put my phone back in my pocket. “I guess I’m meeting my brother over at Harrah’s.”
“I assume I’m not invited?”
“He didn’t say you shouldn’t join us.” He also hadn’t asked me to bring her, but I kept that to myself.
“It’s okay. I’ve got plenty to follow up on now that I have a face and a name to work with.”
Part of me couldn’t believe she was letting me off the hook. But I wasn’t stupid enough to point it out. “All right. I shouldn’t be long. I’ve got my phone if you need me.”
I bent down to kiss her, surprised by how natural it felt.
…
Adam didn’t waste any time. Our eyes met, and he walked through the people on the floor like they didn’t exist, straight over to me at the bar. He took the stool beside me, and I caught the vibe instantly that he was unsettled.
I frowned. “What’s going on with you?”
“Nadya isn’t just a human.”
Before I could laugh, the bartender sidled up and took our drink orders. I watched her leave and glanced at my brother again. “She didn’t look like an alien to me.”
Adam groaned. “You know what I’m talking about. She’s got something more. I’ve never met anyone like her before. Lana has noticed it too. It’s not just me.”
Nothing he said was making much sense. “Then lay it out for me. What’s going on?”
“She knows the babies are more than human.”
It was my turn to look unsettled. “What? How? Did someone say something to her?”
“No.” He shook his head. “The Pack thinks she’s a college student helping Lana with the twins. She’s an outsider. They’d never expose our nature to her.”
“Then how could she possibly know?”
Our drinks were delivered, and Adam took a slow sip of his beer. “I have no idea. But she does.”
“Why would you think that?”
He ran his fingers back through his hair, his eyes sweeping the restaurant. “Because she was drawing with them and she drew a wolf for Malcolm and a jaguar for Madeleine.”
“That’s it?” I picked up my rum and Coke and shrugged. “Maybe she just likes drawing animals.”
“That’s what Lana figured at first, but I think she might suspect things about us, too.”
My eyes widened as I set my glass down. “There’s no way unless someone told her. We’ve still got over a week until the full moon. She’d have no clue.”
“She’s got more than a clue, Aren.” My brother’s frustration was showing. “Dammit, I was hoping you knew something more about her.” His eyes locked on mine. “Who is this girl we took in?”
