Unspoken (Shadow Falls: After Dark #3)(105)

Her uncle paused again. “Let’s see, what was your other question? Oh, yes. The morgue? Now there is a question I did not expect. But I like it, because it tells me you have stopped fighting the bond.”

“That is yet to be seen,” she said, remembering how Chase had pulled away again.

“Okay, how can I explain the morgue?” He looked up. “Not my brightest idea. But as someone who had to walk away from my family, I had no closure. So I offered him this choice.”

Feng picked up his tea and took a sip. “There, are you happy? Now I’d like to hear about—”

“You forgot one.”

He arched a brow.

In the corner of her eye, she saw Bao Yu sitting in the booth. The one they had done homework in, staring. Just staring. She was young, and had some books with her. Did she recognize Feng?

Pushing her aunt from her mind to focus on her uncle, she leaned forward. “Even if you don’t like the FRU, when my father got arrested for murder, why didn’t you step forward? All of this would have gone smoother. Instead of wasting our time looking for you, we could have been looking for Stone.”

“I told Chase that if it appeared my brother would be convicted, I’d come forward and confess to the crime myself. To the police, not the FRU. I’ve already figured out how to make it believable.”

Della sat there, her heart aching. “It would have been nice if Chase would have shared that with me.”

“He probably didn’t because he swore that wouldn’t happen.”

Della shook her head. It didn’t matter why. It was just another secret he’d kept from her. Another lie.

She met her uncle’s gaze. “What is Chase hiding from me now about his meeting with Kirk?”

Her uncle sat back. “What meeting with Kirk?”

Della looked at her uncle. “He really hasn’t spoken with you? You don’t know, do you?” At least he hadn’t lied about that.

“Know what?”

“Douglas Stone is Councilman Powell’s son. The whole council has known this for years.”

“No,” Feng said. “They wouldn’t … Kirk wouldn’t.”

Della saw the sense of betrayal in his eyes. They grew brighter.

“Why would I lie about it? And it gets worse. I think Kirk is trying to get Chase to do something. And I don’t like it.”

Her uncle threw a five-dollar bill on the table and shot up. He took one step and looked back at her. “You coming?”

“Where?”

“You want answers or not?”

*

Almost an hour into the drive, Della broke the apparent code of silence and asked, “Where are we going?”

Her uncle drove a gold Malibu. Nothing flashy, but it still smelled new. He’d been quiet, and for some reason it disturbed her. As had Bao Yu in the backseat.

Della cut her eyes back to her aunt. Still a young girl, still silent.

The insides of Della’s palms started to itch. Hadn’t her mama always told her not to get into cars with strangers?

This man driving might be her uncle, but he was still a stranger. Considering Chase had told her that he’d lost most of his Reborn powers, she could probably take him.

But laying a hand on a man who looked so much like her dad wouldn’t be easy. Not that it was really him she was afraid of. It was what he planned on doing that scared her.

“I told you. To get answers.” He put both hands on the wheel and stared straight ahead.

Della noticed the window starting to fog up. “Can you elaborate?”

He finally glanced at her, and the hurt in his eyes told her that he was thinking of his friend’s betrayal. “First we’re going to go have a chat with Powell. Then I figured we’d go see my pal Kirk.”

And that’s what she was worried about—seeing Kirk. “Why don’t you just call Chase? He’ll tell you everything.”

“He asked me not to call him, or contact him. He didn’t want to have to lie to you.”

And how did that make her feel? Chase had purposely cut off contact with someone who might have helped her father’s case. She pushed that aside.

“How about if I give you permission to call him? You can tell him we’re together, so he wouldn’t have to lie.”

“I’d rather get the whole story. I expect they’ll tell me more than they told Chase.” He leaned in and turned on the defroster.

“You think they’ll just tell you?” She saw steam leave her lips and she tried not to visibly tremble.

“With some convincing,” he said.

“Okay,” Della said. “I’m just gonna be honest here.” She stuck her hands between her legs to keep them warm. “I want to know the truth, but in the last twenty-four hours I’ve committed breaking and entering and grand theft auto. And assault and battery might be included, but that wasn’t me. Not that anyone will believe it. Anyway, I’m at my limit for committing crimes. I mean, if I do any more, I’m gonna go down. It’s a Murphy’s Law kind of thing.”

He looked at her. His eyes were bright and serious. Then he laughed.

And God help her, but it was the first time she’d heard her father’s laugh in so long that she laughed with him.

“You really haven’t done all that, right?” he asked when the humor faded.