Frey (24 page)

“
Uri,” Matthew
intervened.

“
Yes, Little Man?” Uri
responded with a softness foreign to his size.

“
I want to live with Frey.
Abbi, you should, too. I mean, our stuff is already there, and I
want you to be where I am. I don’t know the chief, but I do know
Frey. Please, think about it.”

Abbi never could tell her brother no. She
didn’t trust Frey, not after he let Matthew down, but she really
didn’t know the police chief, and she didn’t want to be separated
from her brother. She may be upset with Frey, but if Matthew felt
safe there, then that’s where they’d stay.

“
Okay, Matty. Whatever you
want.”

Chapter
Twenty-Two

Frey stared at the screen before him, taking
in all the information Sixx had dug up on Quinn. How could one man
be so fucking vile? Sixx had already printed everything so Frey
would have a copy for Abbi to give her lawyer. It was going to take
some more digging, but Frey knew in his gut Troy Quinn was
responsible for Abbi’s parents’ deaths. From the time of the
accident until he and Abbi were married, money that was supposed to
be Abbi’s and Matt’s was transferred from the bank account her aunt
oversaw to one in Troy’s name. Sixx wasn’t quite as good as Julian
at digital tracking, but when it regarded bank accounts, Sixx knew
exactly what to look for. Frey was impressed with the amount of
information he’d found in so few hours.

“
I can’t figure why the
aunt would give him half the money. The only thing that makes sense
is they were in on it together from the beginning. What if they
both plotted the accident, knowing Judy would be the sole guardian?
He sabotages the car, she oversees the estate, and they split the
cash,” Sixx said as he continued to type, looking at home in
Julian’s chair.

“
But can we prove it? That
was ten years ago.” Frey wanted to kill someone. Since Judy was
already dead, Troy’s face came to mind. He vowed then and there
Troy Quinn would never get anywhere near Abbi again. He would find
a way to ruin him, his reputation, his name, his face. He was going
to make the man suffer in ways he would never recover
from.

“
Frey, man, reel it in,”
Sixx said as he rolled his chair backwards. Frey had phased without
realizing it.

He retracted his claws and fangs, licking
his lip where blood trickled. “Fuck. I really need to patrol
tonight. Find some Unholy and let loose.”

“
I get it. Uri said
Matthew will be in the hospital overnight. Normally he would have
already been sent home, but Jonas is calling the shots on this
one.”

“
Good. If he’s still
there, Abbi will be, too. I don’t have to worry about either one of
them.”

Sixx was concentrating hard on a picture on
the computer monitor. “What the hell?”

Frey glanced at the screen. “When did you
join a band and not tell anyone?”

“
That’s not me. That’s…”
Sixx flipped the screen to a website. “I’ll be fucked
sideways.”

“
Would you care to
explain?”

“
I’m not sure I can. I
mean, fuck. I think that’s my son,” Sixx said as he read the
article in front of him. “Desmond Rothchild, twenty-three, lead
singer of Cyanide Sweetness, was born in New Atlanta before moving
to the west coast…” Sixx trailed off, reading silently.

“
What makes you think he’s
your kid? You can’t have a child with someone other than your
mate.”

Sixx paled. “Oh, shit.” He looked away from
the screen. “I bit her. I bit Rae thinking it was safe because she
was human. Fuck, man, I didn’t realize it was possible back
then.”

“
What are you going to
do?”

“
I guess I’ll call her and
say, ‘Hello Rae, remember me? Michael? You had my kid and didn’t
bother telling me.’ I’m sure that’d go over well. And why didn’t
she tell me? I have a son, and she’s kept that from me for over
twenty years.”

“
If
he’s your son. Don’t jump to conclusions until you know for
sure.” Frey was just as shocked as Sixx that he could have mated
all those years ago.

“
Yeah, you’re right.
Besides, I need to keep looking into Troy. If Desirae is my mate
and this Desmond is my son, I’ve been in the dark this long. A
little while longer won’t do any more harm.”

Frey’s phone rang, interrupting their
conversation. “Uri, is everything okay?”

“
Yes, Brother. Matthew is
awake and talking. He tried to convince Abbi that Troy wasn’t
responsible, but Troy had threatened to harm Abbi if the kid told
the truth. I spoke to him and gave him the rundown of how things
were going to go. When he’s released, he wants to come back to your
home. Abbi’s agreed to come with him.”

“
Holy fuck, are you
serious?”

“
Yes. She was going to
stay with Kaya and Rafe, but Matthew talked her into coming back to
your place.”

“
That’s wonderful news.
I’ve spoken to Lorenzo. He’s willing to relieve you from guard duty
this evening.”

“
Good. I’m ready to hit
the skies and find some Unholy to decimate. Seeing the kid’s face
and what he’s gone through has my beast ready to fight. If I don’t
take out some of the monsters, I may have to find a different
monster and take him out.”

“
Truth, Brother. I feel
the same way. I’m leaving the lab now. I’ll see you in the air
later.”

“
Later.”

When Frey put his phone away, Sixx asked, “I
take it you and Uri will need a clean-up crew tonight?”

“
Fuckin-A, we will. The
Pen is getting too full. Let’s let Deacon rest tonight,” Frey said
as he stood and stretched.

“
I’m going to stay here
and see what else I can come up with on Quinn. Call me later, and
I’ll round up the bodies.”

“
Thanks, Brother. For
everything.” Frey wanted Sixx to know he wasn’t mad at
him.

“
Don’t. I know you said
it’s okay, but it’s not. He was my charge, and I let him down. I
will make it up to him. To you.” Sixx was a big ass Gargoyle, but
his emotions were evident on his face. Frey would feel the same
way, so he let him have that.

He held out a fist for Sixx. Reluctantly, he
bumped knuckles then turned back to the computer. Frey left the
lab, his heart warring with itself. He was happy Abbi agreed to
come back to his home, but when she found out what Troy had been
about all along, he was afraid she would be way too hard on
herself. At least he could put the bad news off a while. Right now,
though, he had something else he had to take care of.

Trevor knew Dante hadn’t been home long, but
he really needed some time alone. Dante had promised him a vacation
after he helped get Tessa home from the hospital. He hated to ask
for that time now, but he had to get away. Away from the morgue
with all its death. Away from Jasper and all his lies. Away from
New Atlanta where nothing good had ever come his way. Well, didn’t
come his way and stay. He felt so stupid getting his hopes up that
someone could have feelings for him. Especially someone like
Jasper.

The man was a god. He was in a league of
gods. A league of gods who hung out together, worked out together,
had sex with other gods. It did not include someone like Trevor.
Jasper had fooled him once, made him believe he wanted to spend
time with him. Maybe he had just used Trevor to make his ex
jealous. No, that didn’t make sense. Trevor wouldn’t make anyone
jealous. He picked up the note that had been included in the photos
and read it again.

Did you honestly think someone like him
would want someone like you?

For a split second Trevor had. He had
allowed himself to believe the impossible.

He read the other part:

Do you even know what he is?

What did that mean? Trevor’s mind was racing
and his heart was hurting. He made up his mind to call Dante. He
would take a week off as soon as Dante was ready to come back to
work. It wasn’t fair to ask to leave immediately. His boss had been
too good to him already. Speaking of his boss, the door to the
morgue opened and the man walked in. Okay, that was just
creepy.

“
Trevor, how are you?”
Dante was part of the league.

“
Honestly, not too good. I
know you just got back in town, but I was going to call you. I need
to take some time off.” There. He said it, and there was no taking
it back.

“
Do you want to talk about
it?” His boss pulled up a stool next to where Trevor was sitting.
Sitting staring at a piece of paper on a stainless steel slab. A
slab that was bare except for the paper. Instead of working, he had
been staring.

“
Not really. I just need
to get away, clear my head. I’m not asking to leave today, but as
soon as you are ready to come back to work and feel you can do
without me, I’d appreciate it.”

“
How long do you need?”
Dante glanced at the paper on the table then back at Trevor. Even
though he was sure Dante couldn’t have read the note from that far
away, he folded it and put it in his pocket. The move was probably
rude, but he didn’t want his boss to realize just how pathetic he
really was.

“
I don’t know. A few days,
maybe a week?” How long did it take to heal a broken
heart?

Dante looked around. “It doesn’t look too
busy now. Why don’t you go ahead? I’ve got this covered.”

“
Are you sure? I mean, you
just got back.” Now Trevor felt bad for asking.

“
I’m sure. But I want you
to remember something while you’re off. I’m here for you. If you
feel like talking, I’ll listen. No judgment, no words of wisdom,
just an ear to listen. Whenever you’re ready, come back. I need you
here. You are the best assistant I’ve ever had, and I finally feel
comfortable taking a few days off here and there, because I know I
have you here taking care of things.”

Trevor didn’t know what to say, so he didn’t
say anything except, “Thank you. I’ll not be gone more than a week,
I promise.”

“
Take your time. When you
get back, I will fill you in on my trip. I think you’ll find it
fascinating. At least I hope you will.” Dante rose from his stool,
clapped Trevor on the shoulder and left the room.

Huh. Dante was different somehow. Lighter,
happier. Even if Trevor didn’t know what true happiness felt like,
he could recognize it in someone else. He stood from his spot
behind the table and read the note one more time. Yeah, he was
doing the right thing by leaving.

Jasper shouldn’t mind stakeouts. He was a
full-blooded Gargoyle who could sit still for hours at a time and
never get tired. Watching Troy Quinn’s house for movement, however,
was not his idea of a good time. No, the way he felt right now, a
good time would be barging into the bastard’s house and beating him
to within an inch of his life. It didn’t bode well for the human
that all of the Gargoyles felt the same way. Sure, his
responsibility as a Goyle was to protect humans. But when the
humans were scum like Troy and Craig, Jasper didn’t feel goodwill
toward their kind.

What the fuck was Craig up to? Why was he in
New Atlanta now? How had he known Jasper was there? Was he the one
who sent the photos to Trevor? If so, how did he even know about
Trevor? He and his mate had only been together a few times. Jasper
could imagine what was going through Trevor’s head seeing those
pictures. Some of the photos were close ups, taken from the bedroom
of Jasper’s last home. Craig must have hidden a camera at some
point. For what reason though? He was the one in the closet,
refusing to make their relationship public.