“How many serve on Dragon Throne Justice?” Gedeon asked. He slipped a small amount of compulsion into his voice so that Lubin would want to answer.
“Five, although Longwei Lis, from China, has a son, Kang, chomping at the bit to take over or be added to the board. Frankie thought he might want to keep this woman, this Libby, for himself if she had talents, but it seems he was wrong. They wanted her to lead them to another woman.” Lubin looked from Gedeon to Meiling and then back to Gedeon. “Her cousin.”
“You want me to find this Libby’s cousin?” Gedeon guessed. He was grateful Meiling had her silky black hair and dark chocolate eyes, where Libby had been tall and blond. They hadn’t been cousins by blood, but the two of them hadn’t ever made a big deal of it.
Lubin nodded but looked mournful. “You do the impossible, Gedeon. This is the impossible. These people have threatened to kill my only remaining son. Miguel had nothing to do with Libby’s death. He ordered her taken to them, but Frankie didn’t comply with that order. You knew him. He changed his mind or forgot. Still, the order is there. These people don’t play games. We must deliver something to them, or Miguel is dead.”
Lubin and Miguel didn’t give a damn that Libby had been kidnapped and murdered. Neither gave a second thought to her. They were concerned that the men making up the powerful Dragon Throne Justice would order them killed. They wanted Gedeon to fix it for them by finding Libby’s cousin and delivering her into the board’s hands. They didn’t care what the board wanted with her, or even if they killed her. They simply wanted to be left alone.
“Do you have anything to go on, Miguel? Frankie must have cleaned out the hotel room when he took her. Did you save her things? Personal items? Cell phone? Anything at all I can use as a starting point?”
Miguel nodded. “I have all of that bagged for you. I knew you’d need it. It’s already loaded in your vehicle.”
“I’ll pay your regular rate,” Lubin stated.
“Frankie was my friend,” Gedeon said, waving away the idea of taking money. “I’ll see what I can do. Miguel, lie low. Stay close to the house and watch over your father.” He stood up. He didn’t know how much more he could stomach, or how much longer Meiling could be in their company without telling them what she thought of them.
He kept his body very close to hers as they followed the servant down the hall to the heavy front door. He let the servant open the door. It was a habit not to touch more than he had to anywhere he was. He didn’t like to leave evidence behind that he’d been there. Meiling didn’t look at him as they made their way to the car. She didn’t say one word as they got inside, closed the doors and he started the vehicle up.
Once they were back on the road headed toward the airport, Gedeon glanced at her. She stared out the window, her soft features set.
“Are you okay?”
She shook her head. “I don’t think I can talk yet. The two of them, talking like that. They’re evil, Gedeon. You know that, don’t you? They didn’t give Libby a second thought. Miguel saw her. He raped her. He didn’t give a damn about her. She was too much trouble, so he wanted her sold to the other men who had been looking for her. He didn’t mind that she was dead, that they’d killed her, only that that got their family in trouble.”
Her voice hadn’t risen. Her tone remained the same. Soft. Too calm. On the outside she appeared stoic. Strong. But inside, where no one could see, he felt tears dripping down her heart. He felt them in her soul.
She didn’t take her gaze from the window, but she continued speaking. “Do you know why I called out to you about the bomb when I despised shifters? When I knew you might even kill me for witnessing you killing all those men who trafficked those women? I watched you come out of those cabins and your grief and rage were genuine. You can’t fake something like that.” Her tone was still strictly neutral.
Gedeon nearly pulled the little utility vehicle over, but they couldn’t afford to miss their flight. They’d chartered a plane for home. Why was it he never seemed in a position where he could comfort her?
“Lotus,” he murmured gently.
“That last cabin, you came out of it, and you put one knee to the porch and covered your face with your hand and wept. I’ll never get the sight of you like that out of my mind. You cared about those women. You cared enough to kill for them. No other shifter that I’d ever come across would have taken risks like that, or even thought twice about the women. I thought you were magnificent.” Her voice lowered to a whisper. “Being with you all this time, nothing has changed my mind. If anything, I think it even more.”