Dylan (Bowen Boys, #3)(21)
“Family I don’t need. They’ll get you killed.” She looked at George. “And when you came into the bedroom as a panther the other day, why did they all run from you?”
“Run?” He tried to remember. “Oh no, dear, they weren’t running. They were showing respect for the old man of the family. They gave me a wide berth to allow me passage. I’ve retired from the family as the leader, but they still have some respect for me.”
“I’m sure they respect you more than a little.” She hopped down off the counter and put her gun down. “This isn’t over. But I refuse to resort to pulling a gun to get answers. You know something you think I might benefit from, you give it to me straight. I’m not stupid, nor am I some weak-kneed ninny that can only survive if there’s a man around to save my ass.”
Reed stood up and walked to her. When he pulled Jack into his arms, George looked at Dylan. His body was still, stiff as a board, but he didn’t move to hurt his brother.
“I’m sorry, Jack. I really am. I’m not a mated male, so hugging you is sort of off-limits, but if you can take his wrath, so can I.” He kissed her head, pulled his plate off the counter, and sat down. “Especially when you can cook like this.”
George watched Dylan and the girl. He wondered what was going on behind their minds, both of them a study in stillness. When Jack turned back to the stove, Dylan sat up straighter in his chair and took a slice of bacon off Reed’s plate.
“Jack, do you think I could have something to eat as well? I worked up a powerful appetite last night.” She nodded but didn’t turn around. “Jack?”
“I’m cooking as fast as I can. Maybe you should have taken into consideration how much you guys eat before you put in this tiny-assed stove.” She turned and handed him a plate piled high with eggs, bacon, and toast. “If I have to do this daily, I’ll want a bigger stove and a bigger refrigerator.”
“I can do that.” Dylan stood up and pulled her into his arms. “I’ll do whatever it takes to make you happy.”
George had a feeling Dylan was talking about more than the kitchen and nodded. This was going to turn out all right, and he couldn’t wait to tell his mate. Corrine was not going to believe this.
Chapter Seven
Lucius watched the house from his perch on the tree. Deveron was proving to be much more of a problem than he’d asked him to be. When he’d told the wolf to make life difficult for the human, he’d never dreamed he’d make things this bad. He watched as the human Mann cleaned up the body of the woman that Deveron had murdered.
Lucius materialized in the room just behind the human. “He will pay for this. I did not give him leave to kill someone. He knows better.”
The human turned and looked at him, shock written on his face. Lucius thought the human had aged much in the past few days, and it did not look well on him. When he turned his back to continue his task, Lucius tried to contain his anger.
“He killed her. Now I have to figure out what to do with her body and all the blood around this room. And that man…the one that sent her here…he’s going to charge me for this one, too.” The human turned to him. “Do you have any idea how much he’s costing me to look for Crosby and not coming up with any more results than I did?”
Lucius swiped his hand around the room and the body disappeared, as did the blood and other parts of the woman. The human sat in the chair and looked around. Lucius thought the man was going to fall over the edge into insanity. He couldn’t let that happen just yet. He still had a use for him.
“I will also take care of the wolf at the bar. You’ll have no more problems with him.” The human nodded. “Deveron has not been able to locate the woman. He says that you have given him false leads and misinformation. Is this true, human?”
“I’ve not spoken to the man but to tell him ‘yes, sir’ and ‘no, sir’ since he darkened my door. The little pisser even leaves me notes on what he wants me to fix him for dinner and when he requires another female or something.” He looked at Lucius. “The only time he leaves this house is at dusk, and he returns within the hour without a word to me. If he can’t find her, it’s because he’s not trying, not for lack of information from me.”
Lucius had thought so. He moved out of this room and into the one below them by simply willing his body through the floor. He heard the human come down the stairs and sat to wait for him. When he came into the room that had the couch in it, Lucius bid him to sit.
“The girl? What do you know of her? Where she lives? Who are her friends?” Lucius knew very little about the woman who was messing with his plan, and hoped that when he found her he’d have something to hold her with.
“She gave us a bunch of half answers to questions, and the address she gave us is a fake. And the only friend she had has disappeared. I thought I had her killed, but it turns out that the woman in the accident had been dead for several days before the accident.” Lucius didn’t want to be impressed, but he was. “Crosby must have known we’d figure out she’d taken that chip from her body and had hidden the vet away so we couldn’t find her.”
“I don’t know…. Chip?” The human nodded and told him what it was and how it had been used. “So she found the chip and had it removed. If so, then how did you know where she was at any given time?”