said flatly. “That was almost sympathetic. For you.”
“Well?”
“There’s nothing to tell. I killed him. He’s dead, and that’s that. I took care of the body myself.”
“Where is it?” she demanded.
Colt gave her a warning look. “You can ask Roland if you don’t believe me.”
That seemed to pacify her. “Color me impressed, but I still don’t know how you managed to kill a changeling and a Plague Doctor. Especially since your boyfriend down at the DA’s office wasn’t there to help.”
“I guess I’m just lucky.”
She narrowed her eyes in suspicion. “And your Boy Wonder was there with you both times. That’s a strange coincidence, don’t you think?”
“You think Ronnie killed Peter?” Colt asked flatly.
She shrugged. “I don’t know what I think, but I know how attached you are to your little pets, so if you let him go with you, there’s something going on.”
“I didn’t let him,” Colt said, leaning back in his chair. “He took off, and Peter went after him.”
“And you just happened to be there to rescue him,” said Evelyn. “I guess you’ve moved on to stalking him now. And here I thought getting rid of Jason would help you focus.”
Colt gave her a weary look. “You ask a lot of questions for someone who just had all her problems tied up nicely with a bow.”
Evelyn scoffed a laugh and hopped down off his desk. “As if your little circus is all I’ve got going on?”
“Wait,” Colt called as she went to the door.
Evelyn looked back over her shoulder. “Yes?”
Colt hesitated, trying to convince himself it wasn’t worth the time spent asking the question. Twenty-six years of curiosity got the best of him in the end. “Peter said something before I killed him.”
“Oh?” she asked curiously, leaning in the doorway.
“He said our father is still alive,” Colt answered, trying to keep his tone devoid of emotion. The truth was, he wasn’t even sure how he felt. “You’re sure you have no idea who he is?”
“None whatsoever,” Evelyn answered without hesitation. Colt wasn’t sure he believed her, but there wasn’t anything in her tone to prove otherwise. “If I were you, I wouldn’t put too much stock in it. He was probably just screwing with your head. That’s kind of what changelings do, and besides, whoever the guy is, it’s not like he wanted you.”
“Don’t sugarcoat it, Evelyn,” Colt muttered. “Tell me how you really feel.”
She just smiled sweetly. “Don’t forget about the meeting with the New York Alpha tomorrow night. And if you can, try to be less depressing.”
Colt flipped her off on her way out of the room and turned back to his work.
It didn’t matter. He knew it didn’t. There was no more reason to care about his father’s identity now than there ever had been, and as brutal as Evelyn was, she was right. His father had never wanted anything to do with him, dead or alive. The guy was a deadbeat at the very least.
Colt realized focus was a lost cause, so he left his office to clear his head. He wanted to check on Ronnie, anyway. He knew he’d been a bit overzealous with keeping an eye on him over the past week, but he wasn’t going to make the mistake of leaving him on his own again.
They still hadn’t talked about what had happened that night. Colt wasn’t sure how to bring it up after Peter’s death. He wasn’t even sure what he’d say when it did come up. He could tell the subject was still raw, judging from Ronnie’s reaction the few times Colt had tried to bring it up before.
When he reached Ronnie’s room, the door was slightly ajar. He knocked, and it drifted open enough for him to see the younger ghoul standing at the edge of his bed, arranging the folded clothes in the suitcase in front of him.
Ronnie froze, and if there had been any doubt in Colt’s mind as to what he had planned, the guilt in his expression would have erased it.
“Nice technique,” Colt said, nodding to the neatly folded clothes. He wasn’t sure he’d ever folded a T-shirt in his life, but Ronnie was full of surprises. “So what, if I’d come here after lunch instead, I would have found an empty dresser and a Dear John letter?”
Ronnie gave an exasperated sigh and dropped down on the edge of his bed. “I’m not good with goodbyes. You know that.”
“I thought we weren’t keeping things from each other anymore,” Colt said, walking into the room