Edwina and the Seven Snowed-in Scientists (20 page)

“Dad?” she asked, suddenly very worried for her father.

“He knows you’re safe. You know that. Uncle John took care of it

months ago.”

“I know,” she said irritably. “But is he okay? Did anybody try to

kill him?”

“No, nobody tried to kill him, but he isn’t well enough to travel.

According to his wife, he’s been ill for a few months. The doctors are running a heap of tests, so hopefully we’ll know something soon.”

Edwina rubbed her forehead. She’d already agreed to visit their

Uncle John before she left them, but seeing her father seemed to be

more important at the moment. She smiled when Kieran proved he

knew her well.

“Calvin has already booked our flights. We’ll be in South Dakota

by Wednesday.”

“Thank you,” she said as she sat in the chair beside him. It would

be nice to introduce Kieran to her father. Her dad had been keen to

see her happy. Kieran certainly filled that description.

“Flights booked?” Jake asked as he came into the room and sat at

the table. Kieran nodded. “Great, when do we leave?”

“We?” she asked, feeling like she was missing something

important. “How many of you are coming to South Dakota with me?”

Edwina and the Seven Snowed-in Scientists

139

“All of us,” Gary said as he came up beside her to steal a kiss.

“All of you? Whoa, that could be a little hard to explain to my

father.”

“Explain what?” Gary asked, pretending that he didn’t really

understand her concern.

“Explain what?” she practically screeched. “How the hell am I

going to explain seven brothers who all know me intimately?” Gary

shrugged, and she wanted to twist his ears until he stopped being so casual.

“Relax,” Kieran said as he pulled Edwina onto his lap. “We will

simply introduce ourselves as friends, nothing more. But there is no way you are going anywhere without us until we know who tried to

kill you.”

She nodded, trying to hide how much the reality of that statement

frightened her. She couldn’t imagine making enough of an impression

on anyone that they would want her dead.

“Friends?” Brian asked as he came through the door with a flurry

of snow. “I don’t know, sweetheart. Maybe you should introduce at

least one of us as your beau. Then you’ll have someone to cuddle up

to when it’s cold. I’m happy to volunteer.” He winked before he took

a seat and started eating.

“He does have a point,” Edwina said with sudden realization that

it was winter in the northern hemisphere. Hell for someone who hated

the cold she sure seemed to be on the wrong end of the world lately.

The rest of the meal was filled with the brothers playfully one-

upping each other, trying to convince her he was the best man for the job. By the time she fell into bed, she’d been thoroughly convinced by each of them, thoroughly sated, and completely and thoroughly loved.

* * * *

Simon watched the emotions play over Edwina’s face as they

drove up the driveway to her father’s home. It was obvious that she

140

Rachel Clark

was very worried. She held herself stiffly, as if she couldn’t wait one more moment to see with her own eyes her father’s condition. They’d

spoken on the phone, but her father’s reassurances had worked only to convince her that he was sicker than he admitted.

She was out of the car almost before it came to a full stop. Simon

hurried to catch up to her, determined that whatever she faced here

today she would be protected. She grabbed the doorknob and twisted,

obviously expecting to be able to walk straight in. She seemed very

surprised to find it locked.

Evan leaned over and pressed the doorbell as Simon hovered close

to Edwina. He wanted to take her in his embrace but hesitated,

knowing that she didn’t really want to explain their presence.

“Edwina?” the well-dressed, perfectly made up woman said as she

answered the door. The woman seemed intimidated by Simon and

Evan’s presence, but she recovered quickly. “Oh, thank goodness

you’re home. Your father will be so pleased to see you. Such a

miracle that you survived.” The woman stepped forward, pressed an

air kiss to Edwina’s cheek, and then looped her arm through Edwina’s

and led her down the hallway.

“Where is Rhonda?” Edwina asked, looking around in confusion.

“I had to let the housekeeper go,” the woman said with a

disappointed sounding sigh. “I discovered that she’d been stealing

from your father for years. Please don’t tell him. I know how much

faith he’d placed in her.” She looked on the verge of tears, but Simon had a moment of doubt when the emotion fled her features so quickly.

Simon glanced at Evan before they followed the women into the

house. Edwina’s stepmother turned to face them with a look of

displeasure on her face. “Mr. Callahan is quite ill. Please wait here while I take Edwina to visit her father.”

Fuck that. Something was definitely off.

Simon stepped forward, wrapped his arm around Edwina’s waist,

and pulled her close. “I’m her fiancé.”

Edwina and the Seven Snowed-in Scientists

141

“Oh.” The woman looked startled by his declaration, but must’ve

realized she couldn’t keep him away from Edwina without raising a

whole lot of questions. “Very well. But please respect Mr. Callahan’s right to peace and quiet. He is a very ill man.”

Simon saw Evan nod a moment before Kieran whispered softly

enough to be heard by yeti ears only, “Stay alert. Something’s

wrong.” Simon wanted to say “no shit,” but figured he wouldn’t be

able to answer his brother without Edwina’s stepmother overhearing.

Kieran, Jake, Calvin, Brian, and Gary had all taken up strategic

positions around Edwina’s family home. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t

snow here for at least another month, so camouflaging their yeti forms wasn’t very easy. They hadn’t really been expecting trouble, but

considering the woman’s attitude, Simon was very glad for his

brothers’ presence.

Evan waited at the door as Simon and Edwina went into her

father’s room. Edwina made a soft noise, obviously shocked by her

father’s appearance. Jed Callahan looked far from the fit, mid-fifties rancher Edwina had described. He opened his eyes as Edwina lifted

his hand into her own, and he smiled tiredly.

“Hello, pumpkin,” he said in a weak voice. “Good to finally have

you home.” He seemed unaware of Simon, so he stayed in the

background, hoping to give Edwina time with her father but still be

close enough to protect her.

After a few minutes of stilted conversation, Edwina’s father fell

asleep and Simon held his arms open as Edwina sought comfort in his

embrace. Her stepmother motioned them into the hallway. “He’s been

ill since you disappeared. Believing you were dead has put a terrible strain on his heart.”

Interesting. Jed hadn’t trusted his new wife enough to let her

know his daughter was actually safe.

Simon and Evan heard Kieran’s near-silent warning long before

Edwina’s creepy stepbrother stepped foot in the house, but even

Simon wasn’t quite prepared for the man’s reaction.

142

Rachel Clark

“Edwina,” he said as he rushed to embrace her. She stepped back

into Simon’s arms obviously wishing to avoid the man’s unwanted

attentions. “Who is this?” His voice was filled with anger, and

Simon’s alter ego wanted to growl at the man’s attitude.

“Simon, I’d like to introduce you to my stepbrother, Keith. Keith,

this is my fiancé, Simon.”

Simon offered his hand just to be polite, and was quite relieved

when Keith ignored it.

“Fiancé?” Keith asked aggressively. “Goddamn it! You were

supposed to freeze to death, not come home engaged.” Keith pulled a

handgun from his waistband and shot Evan before any of them could

react. Simon thrust Edwina behind him, desperately holding her out of the line of fire as Keith began to laugh like a maniac.

“Keith!” his mother yelled.

“Shut up, old woman,” he said as he waved the gun around the

room. “If we’d done things my way in the first place, I wouldn’t have to shoot so many people now.”

The woman shook her head in obvious disappointment. “Fine,”

she said, “I’ll head into town and make sure we’ve got an alibi.”

“Not this time,” he said as he turned the gun on his mother.

Simon could hear Kieran and the others running full pelt into the

house. He wasn’t surprised to hear breaking glass as their primitive need to protect their mate overrode all else. In yeti form Brian reached Edwina’s stepbrother just as the man fired the gun at his mother. She hit the ground hard, but Keith hit the ground harder.

Standing over the unconscious man, Brian growled his discontent

a moment before grabbing Edwina and pulling her roughly into his

embrace. “I’m okay,” she said, touching his face, trying to calm him

down.

“Change back,” Simon told them as he stepped into Kieran and

Jake’s path. They, too, headed directly for Edwina, and if someone didn’t keep a level head, she was about to be claimed in the hallway

of her father’s house.

Edwina and the Seven Snowed-in Scientists

143

After a tense moment Kieran and Jake nodded and changed to

their human forms. Jake dropped to Evan’s side. Kieran moved

toward Brian and helped Edwina calm him down. Gary and Calvin

joined them a moment later, naked but at least in human form.

“There’s no one else in the house,” Calvin reported as he took in

the scene. “Ambulance and police are on their way.”

Edwina finally convinced Brian to change back and then made her

way to Evan. There was blood everywhere, and it was obvious that

the wound was serious. “Change forms,” she said angrily.

“He can’t,” Jake said as he probed the wound with his fingers. “If

I don’t get the bullet out first, changing could be fatal.”

Edwina’s cry of distress broke his heart, but Simon dragged her

away from the grim scene and hustled her into her father’s room. Jed

was on the floor obviously trying to drag himself to the doorway.

Simon and Edwina helped him back into the bed, and the older man

held onto his daughter even as he shook with fatigue.

Jake stuck his head in the door, thankfully remembering that he

was naked as he motioned for Simon to join him in the hallway.

“The rest of us need to get out of here. Explaining this is going to

be difficult enough without having to clarify why your brothers are here or why we’re naked.” He titled his head to indicate the woman

lying on the floor. “Evan’s fine. He managed to stabilize Edwina’s stepmother, so it gives him a reasonable excuse for being covered in

blood.” Simon nodded. “We’ll be close if you need us.” At the sound

of sirens in the distance Jake, Kieran, Gary, Brian, and Calvin left the house quickly.

* * * *

Edwina stayed close to her father as police traipsed through his

home, collecting evidence and asking questions over and over. Simon

and Evan had controlled the situation, managing to keep Keith under

144

Rachel Clark

control and his mother alive until the police and ambulance officers

arrived to take over.

Then they quietly answered all of the officers’ questions, filled

them in on everything—well almost everything—that had happened

in Antarctica, and held Edwina’s hand as she held her father’s. As the police were wrapping things up, Evan moved to the tray of food that

was supposed to have been her father’s breakfast. He sniffed it and

grabbed the nearest police officer and asked him to smell it, too.

“Do you smell wine?”

The officer sniffed deeply, shook his head, and then nodded,

looking at the cold oatmeal in confusion. “Maybe,” he said as he took another deep breath. “It seems a strange combination.”

“Mr. Callahan has been getting gradually sicker since the

housekeeper was fired. Is it possible that he was being slowly

poisoned?”

Edwina sucked in a gasp of air. None of the tests the doctors had

done had been able to determine what was making her father sick.

Just thinking that her stepmother may have been poisoning him made

her feel violently ill.

“Anything’s possible,” the officer said with a shrug. “I’ll send a

sample to the lab, and we’ll do a search through the house with Mr.

Callahan’s permission to see if we can find anything that she might’ve been hiding.” Edwina’s father quickly agreed.

Several hours later the police officer returned to speak to Edwina.

“We’ve found a substance that we think is dried oleander leaves. It

was hidden in the teapot. I don’t know if the doctors can do anything for him, but I’ve called an ambulance for your father. At least if they know what they’re dealing with, they might be able to make him more

comfortable.”

Edwina nodded, thanked the officer, and when the ambulance

arrived, she climbed in beside her father. It was obvious that Simon and Evan wanted her to travel with them, but she waved them away.

Edwina and the Seven Snowed-in Scientists

145

She was no longer in danger, and it was time she stopped relying on

the Kodi brothers.