Dark Wolf (Spirit Wild) - By Kate Douglas Page 0,71
know is whether or not your father is setting you up. Does he want you to be accused of the attacks on all those young women? Because it’s the only explanation I can come up with that makes any sense.”
He didn’t want to admit that he’d had a lot of the same thoughts. No son wanted to accuse his own parent of such horrible things, but he was beyond protecting his father, and he’d never lie to Lily. She meant too much to him. Somehow she’d gotten under his skin the first time he saw her, and the feelings weren’t going away.
Instead they grew stronger with every minute he spent with her. “I’ve wondered the same things for the past few weeks. There’s often a pressure in my skull that makes me think he’s either in my mind or pressing against my shields. The timing of the murders—they’ve happened up here when I’m in Montana, in the Bay Area when I’m in San Francisco. It’s too much to be mere coincidence. Then there’s the incident your dad wanted me to mention to you, about his bodyguards.”
Lily tilted her head and frowned. “Bodyguards? I didn’t realize your father needed them. Is his life at risk? The only cause he’s had lately is against Chanku, and we’re not violent. Well, killers by nature, but not when we’re acting civilized.”
She flashed him a grin as she sat on the edge of the bed. He loved the way she watched him. Her focus was absolute, but he could sense her mind spinning, coming up with an interpretation of everything he said. Open to him, but unwilling to be led; she thought for herself.
Even her father didn’t intimidate her, and Anton Cheval was not a man to be trifled with. He loved that about her. Admired her strength, the fact her personal integrity appeared to be absolute. There was damned little integrity in his father’s life.
Not nearly enough in his own, but that was going to change.
He shoved his hands in his pants pockets and rocked back on his heels. “Civilized killers? Now that’s an interesting concept. The truth is, my father has a lot of enemies. When you crave power the way he does, people who get in the way get hurt. Not always physically, but he doesn’t have any problem destroying reputations. He’s good at finding ways to control people, and I don’t think he hesitates going outside the law to do it, though I have no proof of that. Right now, he’s got at least half a dozen big guys working for him who look like they’d take your head off without provocation. Two of the men with him this morning caught my attention. One had his right arm in a sling. The other had an ugly slash across his nose and needed a walking cast. Left leg.”
Lily grimaced as she nodded in agreement. “There’s our link. The one I’ve been looking for. I told you I recognized the scent of the wolves that attacked us. They were definitely at the site of that murder in Golden Gate Park. They must be shapeshifters, which means they’re Chanku. No other beings shift naturally, and I can’t imagine your father is powerful enough to change them by magical means. He can’t shift himself, can he?”
“No. He seemed surprised when I shifted.”
“Eve’s not in contact with any others beyond the known members of the pack, though we do know of a set of experiments, using the nutrients to find Chanku in the military, but that was years ago. It was deemed a failure and ended abruptly. We don’t know how many Chanku might have been discovered or where they ended up.”
“Then maybe that’s where we need to start looking. I’m positive my father’s bodyguards are the ones who went after us, and we can tie them to at least one murder scene. You said you’ve got a guy up here working on the Montana cases. Has he picked up any Chanku scent?” Damn, he wanted answers. He wanted all this behind them, because he really wanted Lily.
“Alex’s nose isn’t as good as mine. The difference between wild wolves and Chanku is really subtle, so no, he’s not noticed anything. I did tell him that I recognized the scent from the murder scene when those wolves attacked us, and he said that was the first really good lead. Now that we can link them to your father through his bodyguards, the evidence is even stronger.”