“I think he’s heading your way,” Trent said. “Stand by. … Yep, he is. He’s walking over to Peyton’s.”
A moment later, they heard a door open. “Badger, what are you doing?” they heard Dewi ask, not speaking into the phone.
“Gimme a minnit,” Badger replied in the background.
“He grabbed his tablet and he’s looking for something,” Dewi explained to the others. “Stand by.”
Ken mentally noted how Dewi and Trent sounded nearly identical when saying those two words, and he knew Peyton did, too, from hearing him say it in the past.
The three siblings were simultaneously so different but also very much alike in some ways. To a spooky extent.
A moment later, Ken heard Badger’s triumphant crow. Badger moved closer to the phone. “Peyton, do I have carte blanche to send Enforcers out on a mission and devote resources to it?”
“Uh, yeah, you know you do, Mr. Acting Pack Alpha. Why?”
Badger cackled. “Because hopefully I can quickly dig up at least a couple of answers to questions we didn’t even know we needed to be askin’!”
“Did you find it then, Badger?” Duncan asked.
“I believe I did.”
“Find what?” Peyton asked.
“Ye wanna tell ’em, Duncan?” Badger asked.
“Sure. I think Badger’s right that we’re possibly about to answer a bunch of questions, because I think we might be able to locate Donnel and Hyacinth. The real Hyacinth.”
Badger apparently took the phone Tamsin had been using and started making calls. Tamsin needed to return to Asia’s to take care of Maisie, leaving Dewi and the others free to talk.
“So how did Faegan pass off Tamsin’s mom as Hyacinth for all these years without anyone catching on?” Dewi asked.
“She resembled Hyacinth,” Hamish said. “Remember, we didn’t have smartphones and social media back then. Photography wasn’t easily accessible, even to people of our income bracket. And Faegan was such an isolationist to start with, no one from outside the pack who didn’t know Hyacinth would ever realize it wasn’t her. All she had to do was nod her head when he spoke and keep her mouth shut.”
“Not hard to do when Faegan had her mind wiped,” Peyton said.
“He’s right,” Trevor said. “I’d never met her in person before this. It was easy for Faegan to scrub all traces of the real Hyacinth. Some of us thought it odd that he didn’t bring her with him to multi-pack Musters when her family members were also present. Looking back, it all makes perfect sense.”
“We can’t put Tamsin and her mother together yet, either,” Duncan said. “We don’t know what kind of poison pill commands might be hidden in ‘Hyacinth’s’ head. Or Frannie’s. Or whatever her real name is. Anyone powerful enough to reset her mind certainly is powerful enough to do that.”
“If Tamsin even wants contact with her mom,” Ken reminded them.
“From the way Tamsin’s talking,” Dewi noted, “She doesn’t want anything to do with her. I’m more worried about Aisling being in the same room with Hyacinth, or Frannie, or whoever the hell she is. She’d likely rip the woman’s throat out on general principles.”
“Can’t blame her,” Ken muttered.
“Nor can I,” Trevor said, his brow furrowed with a dark scowl.
Dewi barked a soft laugh. “Anything for our mates, amirite?”
Ken and Peyton immediately looked at each other, eyes wide as Trevor stopped pacing, confusion on his face. “What?”
“Fuck,” Peyton and Ken said in unison.
“What’s wrong?” Dewi asked.
“That’s a hat trick,” Ken snarked to Peyton. “At least we’re not alone.”
Peyton groaned, took a deep breath, and said, “Thanks, Dewi. I didn’t have enough on my plate.”
