“The records weren’t digital,” Eduard said. “But long story short, I was able to trace this business to the one that rented the property where Dakota first found you.”
Koios leaned back in his seat. “What?”
Eduard stopped sharing his screen and Dakota’s face was front and center.
“When Nick found the place where the Jerrick kids were discovered, it got me thinking. What if I could retrace my steps and discover where I found you? It took a little time, but I managed to locate it. Well, what was left of it. The house burned down not long after I rescued you all. It’s an empty lot now.”
“But we had an address, and with that, we could go back further. We finally managed to find a name.”
“Tell me it’s Jim,” Koios said. “I’ll even settle for James.”
Dakota snorted. “Not even close.”
“I’m still looking into it,” Eduard added. “But we have a supposedly deceased manticore named Diekstra Cavindish who was somehow able to sign incorporation forms on one of the shell companies we’re investigating. It’s the only time we’ve seen the name, but Cavindish is one of the older manticore families. It feels like a solid lead.”
“Follow the money,” Logan said. He glanced at Koios and smiled. “Always follow the money.”
“Unless it leads you to the wrong Oracle,” Koios teased. “Then don’t do that.”
Logan snorted.
“I have my people searching for more records,” Eduard continued. “We’ll let you know if we find anything.”
“And I’ll start crawling the dark web for the name. If nothing else, maybe we can find an alias or two. Thanks, Eduard.”
“You’re welcome. Find this bastard for us, okay?”
“I’m on it.”
Eduard ended the call. Koios leaned back in his chair. “His name is Dick,” Koios said. “I can’t even. He’s still Jim to me.”
Logan chuckled and pushed back his chair. He stood and put his hand on Koios’s shoulder. “Get the twins to start the search while you work with Phoebe. That’s an order from your alpha.”
“So you’re going to boss me around now?”
“As often as you’ll let me.”
Koios laughed. “Thanks for covering for me with Dakota. Ben and I haven’t discussed how to tell everyone yet.”
“Then you’d better take about twelve more showers because anyone with a shifter nose is going to know what you’ve been doing the moment they get anywhere near you.”
“Seriously? I showered three times, and I even used the stinky sugar cookie gel.”
“I’m well aware. I’m craving cookies and am very conflicted by it. This is your fault.”
“Nope. Blame Aleron. He’s the one who put the cookie gel in my shower.”
Logan’s eyes flashed blue. “I will happily blame Aleron. I believe a training session is in order. Perhaps one involving a dumpster. The stinkiest dumpster I can find.”
Koios sent a message to the twins and asked them to set up the initial search for the manticore’s name. Then he went to the training room where Phoebe and Gideon were sparring.
Damn, could his twin move. She kept pace with Gideon, blocking his jabs before returning them with punches of her own. Neither of them was even out of breath. Koios got tired simply watching.
He sat down in one of the chairs and let his mind drift. Of course, it went back to his night with Ben. They’d worked on their stamina. Multiple times.
A knife stabbed the wall inches from Koios’s face. “Ahh!”
“Told you,” Phoebe said. “Pay up.”
