“I’m calling the Trio just to be safe.” Tabitha reached for her phone, but it wasn’t in her pocket. “Shit, I left my phone inside.”
“While you call them, I’m going to do another flyover.”
Tabitha sighed and ran her nails through his beard. “Your Eagle is gorgeous. I could watch you fly for hours. As much as I want to see your element, we need the SD car intact.”
Major chuckled and pecked a kiss to her lips. “You like my fire, do you?”
“Oh, yeah. You are one hot Gryphon.”
“And I’m all yours.” Major tapped her on the nose and turned back toward the woods.
Tabitha jogged to where the drone lay in pieces and removed the SD card. Once inside, she picked up her phone, but Craig’s voice had her pausing. Reaching out, she eavesdropped on his conversation.
“Don’t you have any contacts who can take care of him?”Craig asked whoever he was talking to.
“Sure, but this is a mess of your own making, Kreegon.”
“How is this my mess? I didn’t get the woman pregnant. I’ve never even heard of her before this. I’ve done everythingyou’ve asked of me, Father, and I’m still paying the price all these years later.”
“You should have thought of that… Not now, Ilga. He what?”The man on the other end cursed in what sounded like Italian.“You’ll have to take care of this, Kreegon. I have enough problems here with your little brother.”
“Father? Father! Shit.”Craig threw his phone across the room, at least that’s what Tabitha thought the thud was.“He’s not my fucking brother.”
Tabitha wondered if he was referring to Daniel’s child. If he was, the boy would be at least twenty since the scandal was twenty-one years ago. When Craig went silent, Tabitha returned to her task of texting the Trio about the drone. Many years ago, her uncle Julian had somehow rigged the area around the compound so that it couldn’t be spied on. Tabitha didn’t understand how it all worked. Since there weren’t other houses around, someone must have been trying to get close to the manor, and that didn’t give her the warm fuzzies. No one was supposed to know where they were. If, somehow, Cabretti had located them, Tabitha wasn’t ready to move again.
While she waited for a response, Tabitha decided to fix the boxed pasta salad she’d seen earlier in the pantry. If she started now, it would be chilled by the time lunch rolled around. She was almost finished when Craig came out of his room.
“Why is Major running through the trees? And why isn’t he wearing a coat?”
“He’s doing a perimeter check. Who were you talking to? We asked you not to call anyone.”
Craig’s face turned red. “How did you know I wason the phone? Are you spying on me?”
Tabitha placed a lid on the bowl before putting it in the fridge. “I was in the pantry getting a box of pasta, and I heard you.”
“I called my father to see if he knew of anyone in the States who could help look for Cabretti.”
“And since you didn’t lead with that, I’m assuming he doesn’t?”
“He had other things to worry about, so even if he does, I wouldn’t know.”
Tabitha’s phone rang. “Hey, Cuz,” she greeted Harlow.
“Have you looked at what’s on the card yet?”
Tabitha hadn’t because she didn’t know if it would fry her laptop. “Not yet. I didn’t know if it was safe.”
“It should be. The worst that could happen would be that it’s encrypted somehow.”
“Okay. I’ll do that now.” Tabitha moved to the large table where she, Anthony, her parents, and grandparents had shared many meals. She stared at the slots on her laptop. “Crap, it won’t fit. My card slot is twice as wide.”
“I was afraid of that. I’ll overnight you an adapter. I would have one drone-dropped if you were anywhere else.”
“Or we could go get one?” Tabitha countered. “I would rather not wait. Just in case.”
“That’s up to you and your hottie. Let me know either way.”
“Will do. I’ll text you as soon as I talk to Major. He’s still outside patrolling.”
