“Yeah, so?”
Sherwood and Jehanne believed that vampires should rule the city. However, they weren’t above using other supernaturals. As far as Sherwood was concerned, female shifters were the perfect whores because their animal aspect brought out a side free from sexual inhibition. The vampire pair also allowed wolf and bear-shifters to work as their personal and casino guards. But they had made it clear that a position as a guard was as high as a shifter would ever rise inside the Oasis.
“I’m confident it wasn’t always that way,” Robin said. “What if I told you I found evidence that Sherwood once had a penchant for shifters? That he even loved one?”
A bark of laughter escaped me. “I would tell you you’re off your rocker.”
“Thought so. That’s why I brought this.” Robin pulled a sheet of paper from his pocket, unfolded it, and slid it across the table.
I squinted down at the scrap of parchment. It looked like a letter, written on an elegant, old-fashioned scroll. Picking it up, my eyes raced over the words. With each sentence, my mouth hung open wider.
“This is a love letter from Sherwood to your mother?”
“Yup. He hadn’t mated with Jehanne yet, and he had his sights set on my mom. As much as it makes my skin crawl, it seems that she liked him too . . . that is until my dad came into the picture.”
“They fell in love,” I said. “Which must have pissed Sherwood off.”
“Yup. Mom married Dad and had me shortly after.”
“But Sherwood wouldn’t go away,” I whispered, knowing it had to be the truth. Sherwood wasn’t the type to let things go. In fact, he was quite the opposite.
Robin shook his head. “No, he waited until the moment was right, and then the bastard did away with them.”
I fell silent, taking it all in. “How did you figure this out?”
“Remember that box I had? I filled it with a bunch of crap over the years, but it used to hold my mom’s jewelry.”
An image of the box flitted through my mind. It was the only thing of value that Robin had owned in his childhood. Made of dark mahogany and inlaid with gold, the box shone with beauty.
“I remember.”
“About a year ago, I discovered that it had a false bottom. Mom hid love letters that Sherwood had written her inside.” He gestured to the letter in my hands. “That was one of them. I think she didn’t want Dad to find the letters but hated throwing something like that away. She also put other letters in there. Ones where Sherwood was clearly mad. In most of them, he demanded that she return to him. He threatened to kill Dad. He was incensed, and for the life of me, I don’t understand why Mom didn’t call the cops.”
Robin’s lips pressed together until they were white. “She put a letter in there that she wrote, too. It was scribbled on the back of a takeout menu, and flat out said that Sherwood was trying to kill them. I think Mom wrote it seconds before she died, and stuck it in that damn box, hoping that one day I’d find it.”
Holy shit.
I stood, pulled my chair back over to the refrigerator, hopped on, and grabbed the bottle of tequila. My headache still raged but screw it. This was some messed-up crap.
“Want some?” I shook the bottle in one hand as I dismounted from the chair.
“Please.”
I poured us two shots. Without speaking, we tapped the glasses together and tossed the liquid back. Immediately, my stomach revolted.
Ugh, too soon. Try not to think about it.
“So,” I started, trying to work out how I felt and fill the awkward silence, “even though it’s insanely screwed up, I sort of understand Sherwood’s motive. Lost love has always made people do insane things. But why would he killmyparents? That doesn’t add up.”
The corner of Robin’s lips lifted in a grim smile. “You remember that there used to be a larger clan of fox-shifters that ran around this area, right?”
I recalled shifting with other kids like me. The memories were so old that they always felt like a dream.
“Yeah. They all left when we were young.”
“They left because of your family.” Robin leaned forward and placed his elbows on the table. “Our moms were actually good friends. They’d grown up together, and everyone I’ve contacted said they were inseparable until my mom died. Shortly after, your mom took the job at the Oasis, which the other foxes thought was strange.” Robin poured himself another shot of tequila and downed it. “She’d gone to school, earned a degree, and even started up an accounting business that was pretty successful. Then she dropped it all to go work at the hotel? It didn’t add up.”
My hand slapped over my mouth. I’d always thought that was weird too, but after hearing Robin’s story, it all clicked into place. “She suspected Sherwood had something to do with your parents’ murder. She was searching for clues to avenge her friend.”
