“Not really. Dates, places.” Tripp stopped and read. “Huh. Wyman wrote, ‘The Aberdeen brothers hate each other. It seems the feud between Jack, Ray, and Wayne is over a woman. They don’t agree with Wayne’s choice, and Jack and Ray insist that Wayne get rid of her.’”
“Which one is Layla’s father?” Webb asked.
We sounded like a gaggle of women gossiping. “We know Jack isn’t,” I said.
Tripp turned the page and pulled out a sticky note. “Coordinates. Interesting.”
Sawyer held out his hand. “Let’s find out where they lead.”
“With our luck, they lead to a warehouse of humans who’ve been turned into vampires.” An undercurrent of sarcasm lay beneath the seriousness in Webb’s tone.
It felt like icy fingers scraping down my spine as that cold, bleary day in Alaska came roaring back.
The minute I had entered the cavernous room embedded in a mountain, I’d almost choked on the stench. Bodies upon bodies were piled high—dead humans who were part of an experiment gone wrong. Horribly wrong. My uncle Patrick and Edmund were sick fucks, and all because they wanted power. It was a better world without them in it. I just hated that my sister had been the one to battle Edmund to the death, but she did it with strength, fortitude, determination, and a desperate urge to protect humanity. I would never forget seeing Edmund’s head on the pile of bodies or when my old man flung Edmund’s head over the edge of the cliff in that cavern. Elation and a sense of peace had washed over Jo, Webb, my dad, and me.
Webb’s phone rang, drawing me out of that hellish memory.
He tapped his phone screen. “Steven, you’re on speaker.”
“Good,” Dad said. “Any word on if your lead has panned out with Layla's neighbor?”
Webb had been keeping my father up-to-date every hour.
Webb chewed on his pen. “Nothing yet.”
My father blew out a heavy breath. “I’m going to be in Boston for at least another day. I’m still trying to get a hold of Jack Aberdeen. The council wants to meet with him. Has Layla spoken to him?”
“Not that I know of, Pops,” I said. “I’ll let you know if she has.”
“Son, I take it that things have calmed down between you and her.”
Sawyer, Tripp, and Webb watched me intently.
I wasn’t about to go into detail about Layla and me or tell him I urgently needed to be close to her, protect her, and that I wanted to fuck her. “She’s sleeping.” Harley had checked on Layla before she’d gone home. Her date with Ben had been canceled since he was on a recon mission.
“Steven,” Webb said, “do you think Jack will meet with the council?”
“Not at all,” my father said rather quickly, “but we have to try. And we need Jordyn in our custody. If he does return my call, I would like to be able to tell him that his nieces are all safe.”
“I don’t think Layla will say a word to him if she does speak to him,” I said. “There’s some strong animosity in that family. Even Wyman details that in his notebook.”
“Speaking of the former agent,” Dad said, “where are we with him? Has he given us anything to go on?”
“No, sir,” Tripp responded. “He doesn’t even remember Edmund.”
“Abbey?” Dad asked.
A muscle ticked in Webb’s jaw. “We didn’t bring up Abbey. It’s best if we don’t. But I’m planning on having Jo read his mind.”
“Good call,” Dad said. “I have to run.”
“Steven, I’ll update you again later.” Then Webb ended the call.
Sawyer pecked on his keyboard. “Um… those coordinates.” He pinched his unshaven chin. “Looks like a house in Montana.”
“It’s probably where Wyman’s family is,” I said. “Or Layla’s family.” Which didn’t matter in the grand scheme of what we were battling at the moment.
Tripp’s phone pinged. “It’s Kraft.” He tapped the screen. “Go.”
