I gestured for Archer to stay where he was and stepped out of the kitchen.
CHAPTER 15
HARLOW
Forrest Cross' blue eyes appraised me as I stepped out of the kitchen. His chin raised. Expression cold. His posture was relaxed, except for a hint of tension in his shoulders, as if I wasn't a threat to him at all.
"Miss St. James," he said easily. Too easily.
"Judge Cross." I kept my tone as even as his. I wasn't going to show him I was rattled. People like him could smell fear. He'd take advantage of it the moment he caught any indication I was anything but confident.
"You can call me Forrest," he said as if we were acquainted.
"Why would I call you that?" I asked.
In the corner of my eye, Cass moved closer to me, putting himself between me and his father.
"How about I call you Zeus?" I suggested.
Forrest barked out a laugh. "Why would you do that?" He seemed genuinely amused.
Me, not so much.
"That's what you call yourself, isn't it?" I asked, doubt creeping into my mind for the first time. I tried to shove it away, but it kept sneaking back in, like a small but persistent snake.
"It absolutely isnot," he said firmly. "The opposite. I've been trying to track down Zeus for a long time. Since he helped cover up what happened to my youngest son." He glanced over to Cass, who gaped at him.
"You cared?" Cass asked. He looked like that small, sneaky snake had slapped him across the face.
"Of course I cared," Forrest said. Not scoffing. Rather, he seemed resigned. "I know you think I'm a cold, unfeeling monster. But I care." For a fraction of a second his facade slipped, a hint of grief in his eyes.
To say I was confused was an understatement.
"You've been trying to track down Zeus," I asked. "I don't understand."
"That much is clear, Miss St. James," Forrest said. "I've been tracking him and his associates. Me andmyassociates noticed a correlation between their deaths and your presence. I decided to keep an eye on you."
"That's why you've been eating at my restaurant," I said, still trying to get my head around everything.
"That and the food is excellent," he said. "I was close to uncovering the identity of Hypnos. I had a feeling you were about to do the same. He was at that dinner a couple of nights ago. After you put word around that Detective Hans Getzoff was close to uncovering Hypnos and Zeus."
"You knew that?" Cass asked, shaking his head in disbelief.
Forrest gave him a thin-lipped smile. "You'd be surprised by the things I know," he said.
"You're going to have to give me a minute," I said. My brain was turning around and around, almost tying itself in knots.
"You're not Zeus?" Cass was visibly conflicted.
That was completely understandable. Not only was I conflicted, I was aware how easy it would be for Forrest to walk in here and say about anything to get us off his tail.
"You honestly think I'm capable of the things he did?" Forrest asked. "Yes, we've had our differences, but the things he and his companions…" His Adam's apple bobbed, reminding me very much of Cass when things got gory. He was sickened by all of it.
As sickened as the rest of us.
Forrest glanced at me. "Hypnos is dead." It was a statement, but not one delivered with certainty. There was a hint of a question in there too.
"What makes you think that?" I said carefully.
