Emma rose from her chair, nodding as she did. “Of course.”
“Lach, I want to talk with Miss Emma a little more,” Chloe began.
“No. We’ve been here long enough for a pleasant visit with an old friend. They’re watching us and they’ll get suspicious if we stay too much longer.”
“He’s right,” Emma agreed.
Chloe exhaled, but didn’t argue, probably because she knew I was right. “Fine, but I would like to see you again soon, Miss Emma,” she insisted.
The older wolf came forward and hugged Chloe tightly. “I would like that too, Chloe.”
I gritted my teeth over what I was about to say because I hated to keep the women separated when they obviously cared so much for each other. But it still had to be said.
“I’m sorry, Emma, but I think you and Tom need to leave the town for a little while. A few weeks at least. You’ll be safer if you aren’t in immediate reach.”
Chloe shot me a sharp glance out of the corner of her eye but still kept her mouth shut, a first since I’d known her.
But Emma wasn’t going to let it go. “Lachlan, I think Tom and I will be perfectly safe here—”
“Like Nadine and Matthew MacArthur were?” I asked.
She fell silent and didn’t respond.
“Is there somewhere you can go that won’t make them suspicious?”
“My oldest daughter is about to have her third pup. It’s been a complicated pregnancy. They’ll understand if we have to leave to help her,” Emma answered.
“Then make your calls and arrangements. Tell Carter to find a way to get in touch with us.”
Chloe and the older she-wolf hugged again, and then they both plastered bright smiles on their faces and made a big show of saying good-bye on Miss Emma’s front porch. Chloe managed to keep her expression chipper until we left the city limits, and then she scowled fiercely.
Before she could cut loose and call Darrell Whelby every foul name she could think of, I asked, “Do you think Carter was the wolf that left that note?”
She stared out the window as the open fields whizzed by. “I think it’s very likely,” she stated cryptically.
“What will you do if he gives you proof that his father killed your parents?”
Her head swiveled slowly toward me, the expression on her face one I’d seen just before we battled the Faction. She looked fierce, cold, and frighteningly beautiful. An angel of death waiting for her moment to claim those who she deemed worthy of punishment.
“I’ll send it to the Tribunal,” she replied. Just as I began to relax, she continued, “Then I’ll rip Darrell’s fucking heart out.”
Chapter Fifteen
Chloe
The next day,I received a call from Miss Emma. She apologized that she wouldn’t be able to spend any more time with me while I was in town, but she had to leave because her daughter needed her.
Before she hung up, she said, “Carter will be in touch in a few days to see if you need anything. I’m afraid he’s too tied up to call you right now, but you’ll hear from him soon.”
It was clear that the call was to cover her tracks. I wondered if Darrell had gone so far as to bug pack member’s phones. If he had, he would only hear old friends saying good-bye to one another and the promise that someone in the pack would be contacting us.
I wanted Miss Emma to stay safe. She’d risked a lot in sharing what she knew with us.
Even though I believed her completely, I was having difficulty reconciling the Darrell Whelby she described with the man I’d known my entire life. Darrell had always been quick to smile, generous with his time, and always snuck me candy when I was a child. I’d never sensed darkness within him, which was unusual for me. My parents worked hard to teach me how to look beyond the surface of what people wanted me to see, to sniff out lies of omission or evasions.
The idea that we’d all been utterly fooled rubbed me the wrong way.
“I’m going to take a shower,” Lachlan stated, breaking me out of my reverie. “Then we need to talk with your grandmother and Calder.”
