Jake took the file and then opened it. Silence filled the room. He read it thoroughly twice. Word for word. No one interrupted him. No one whispered or talked together. They waited just as Gedeon and Meiling did.
As they had pieced together everything they could find on Guy Hawkins behind the façade he’d built around himself, Meiling had begun to really worry about Laverne. Hawkins had the best PR group to handle his image in the media and they had been doing a tremendous job for years.
Laverne, on the other hand, was a sweet, giving, kind woman without the kind of money her husband had. She had no PR team to watch over her in the media. Lately small shadows had crept in, rumors of late-night partying with drugs, quickly squashed, but once the rumor started, it was there for all time. Meiling and Gedeon were certain those rumors had been carefully planted by someone Hawkins paid.
Jake looked up from the typed report. “I’ve met Guy Hawkins on several occasions. I thought he was a pompous ass with an ego the size of Texas, but if half of this is true, he’s a serial killer.”
Gedeon hitched forward. “He’s a serial killer who will never be brought to justice in the normal way. He keeps his hands clean so there’s no proof leading back to him. I need to speak with Edge Wilson for a couple of reasons. The first: I need to know Laverne is safe before I can take the next step. And second: his life is in danger until I can make my move.”
Meiling once again found Jake Bannaconni’s leopard staring at them with focused eyes. Gedeon used terms like “make my move” and “take the next step.” She knew that meant Gedeon would go hunting.
They gave Jake the evidence they had on Hawkins and the women they had linked to him who had disappeared. They’d related their evidence to Drake, but it wasn’t the same as seeing it in black and white.
“Edge, I’d like you to read this,” Jake said. “If you prefer not to, that’s all right. It’s your choice.” Jake continued to look at them even as he called out to the bodyguard. “Edge is working for me now. I thought it more expedient if he was close. I won’t order him to cooperate.”
The bodyguard came out of the shadows and took the report Jake gave him. He barely flicked Gedeon and Meiling a glance before retreating to the wall to read through their findings.
“Are either of you hungry or thirsty? I should have asked you that first,” Jake said. “Emma has been trying to instill manners in me for years, but I fail at civility quite often.”
“At least you’re giving it your best shot. Gedeon does a lot of growling. Guests find it off-putting. I can’t imagine why.”
Meiling laughed. The instant she did, the atmosphere in the room seemed to lighten. She felt as if someone had flipped a switch and the room grew brighter. She also felt as if everyone was staring at her. It was difficult not to burrow closer to Gedeon.
“Jake, just to let you know, since I met the helicopter and escorted them to your office, my leopard has been quiet,” Tavin said.
The bodyguard Meiling had been certain was Tavin’s brother spoke up. “My leopard is also quiet. I’m Talbert, by the way. Thank your female for the respite. There are only a few female leopards who can quiet others.”
It isn’t Whisper, Gedeon said. It’s you. With your gifts. Talbert is correct. There are a rare few who can calm other leopards, but you have a universal gift, Meiling. Any leopard will respond to you. You may even have the ability to command it.
Do you have that gift? Meiling asked.
Gedeon leaned into her, pressed a kiss to the nape of her neck and then brushed another to her ear. “Yes.” He whispered the affirmative aloud. I practiced taking over for years until I was very good at it. Taking control of another man’s leopard is dangerous, Meiling. To be able to do so sounds like a gift on the surface, but it can be a curse.
She heard notes of regret, anger, fierce determination. That boy, tortured and forced to see his mother trafficked. Forced to see his family murdered. That boy whose innocence was ripped from him, questioning whether he was a monster because he had exacted revenge against those who had taken everything from him.
Even as she smiled at Jake and nodded to the bodyguards, she turned her face up to Gedeon, letting him see her love for him shining in her eyes. You are everything to me, she assured him. We’ll get through this and take care of the problem the way you always do. This is bringing up old memories neither of us needs to deal with right now.