Allegiance of Honor (Psy-Changeling #15) - Nalini Singh Page 0,177
caged, her telepathic strength seen not as a gift but as a tool to be broken to her parents’ use.
Shaking his head against the rise of his own rage, he cupped her cheek. “We’ll never harm them.” It was a reiteration of a promise he’d made the day the squad became his, and he could set the rules. “Each and every Arrow child will grow up in freedom.”
Zaira’s hand closed over his. “Freedom.”
It was all that needed to be said.
PART 9
Chapter 52
LUCAS WAS PLAYING outside with his cub the afternoon of the joint celebration when Sascha called down to say he had an urgent call from Bastien. Shifting back into human form, he caught the phone she dropped down—along with his jeans—then kept an eye on Naya while Sascha climbed the rope ladder to the ground.
“Come on, Naya,” she said with a loving smile, her voice drenched with the happiness she found in being with their child. “You get to teach your mama how to stalk like a cat.”
Excited, Naya began to pace deliberately, showing Sascha what Lucas had been showing her. She was gorgeous and so was his mate, but Lucas knew Bas wouldn’t have interrupted him during his rare time off unless it was important, so he moved a short distance away to take the call. “Bas, what is it?”
“I’ve found the end of the money trail,” the other man said. “To the captain who was going to take Naya to Australia. You know that. Shit. I’m punch-drunk from the success and slightly sleep-deprived.”
Lucas’s panther had gone hunting-still inside him at Bastien’s first words. “Who?” he asked quietly.
“Psy named Pax Marshall.”
The fingers of Lucas’s free hand curled into his palm. “You’re dead certain?”
“Without a shadow of a doubt. Money came from what looks like a personal slush fund used for various off-the-books activities.”
Lucas consciously stopped himself from growling, held his claws in. He had to think with crystal clarity right now, couldn’t be blinded by the primal instincts of his panther. “Could anyone else have accessed that account?”
“Sure, but they’d need to know every single one of Pax’s passwords. I couldn’t get into the account itself, that’s how secure it is, but the trail definitely dead-ends there.”
“Send your report through to me.” He knew Bastien would’ve been adding to that report as he went, setting out the complicated financial maze in a way Lucas could easily process.
“Give me one second. And . . . done.”
“Thanks, Bas. Now get some rest before the party or your mate will have my head.”
Chuckling, Mercy’s brother signed off. Lucas stood in silence for a minute, thinking through Bastien’s information. Then he thought of everything he knew about Pax Marshall and made another call, asking Aden a single question when the leader of the Arrows answered. “Has Pax Marshall ever been categorically fingered for even one of his rumored illicit activities? Any proof at all?”
“No,” Aden answered without asking why Lucas wanted to know. “That’s part of why he’s considered so brilliant. Everyone knows he’s crossed lines, but no one can prove it. Not even the squad.”
“Thank you, Aden.” Hanging up, he put away his phone and went to join his mate and child. It was only after Naya curled up for a nap in the sun that he told Sascha what Bastien had discovered and what Aden had said.
His mate’s gaze was intent. “You think it’s too easy?”
“But that’s just it—it wasn’t easy. It was brutally hard from Bastien’s perspective, and he’s a genius at this stuff.” Lucas leaned back against the aerie tree, Sascha in front of him and Naya napping a few feet away. “When I say Bastien’s a genius, I mean it. Other companies, including major Psy ones, have tried to poach him from us over and over.”
Sascha chewed on her lower lip as her eyebrows drew together in thought. “If it took Bas days to track this transaction, then it was well hidden. So well hidden that most people would’ve never found it.”
Another long pause. “On the flip side, if DarkRiver was meant to find it, then knowing Bas was on our side would’ve been a guarantee of eventual exposure.” She blew out a breath. “And why would Pax pay the ship’s captain directly when he’s rerouted all other payments through patsies?”
“Exactly—but on the other hand, if he wanted control of Naya, he might not have wanted to involve anyone beyond a not-particularly-intelligent captain who could be disappeared with no one the wiser.”