Page 42 of Sins of the Fathers
“Thanks for the warning. See you then.” Dawson sighed. “So much for downtime. You ready to go?”
“As ready as I’m going to be. At least we’ll have the feds’ news to report to Denny as well as ours,” Grady replied, hoping that the agents had made progress.
Gibson met them at the door. “Come in. Donuts are on the table, and we just made a new pot of coffee.”
Grady chose a raspberry filled donut, while Dawson picked a maple frosted. They settled in at the small table, and the other men took seats across from them.
“Supernatural forensics confirm that the trace magic on the HDF bikers’ corpses is the same power signature as on the coyote shifters’ bodies—and the bar brawlers from The Maverick,” Gibson said as Tucker reached for another donut.
“And that supports your witch theory?” Grady asked.
“It’s not confirmation, but it’s a step in that direction,” Gibson replied.
“How much do the Kings get involved with the Syndicate?” Tucker asked, with powdered sugar dusting his russet beard.
“We don’t,” Dawson replied. “Unless supernatural creatures kill people or traffic other cryptids, we leave the rest to the human authorities. We’re monster hunters, not law enforcement.”
“Do you think your fathers and Grady’s grandfather knew that the cases that got them killed involved a Syndicate rogue vampire and his pet witch?” Gibson took a drink of his coffee and waited.
“We’re not sure what they knew,” Dawson replied. “We think my dad and Grady’s grandpa were chasing blood slave traffickers. If the vampires had Syndicate ties, that wasn’t where the concern lay. As for the witch—there’s a good chance he or she is the one behind the deaths.”
Grady was quiet for a moment. “I agree with Daw. Stopping the rogue vampire was the goal. They wouldn’t have seen it as going up against the Syndicate. Those groups have rules about interacting with humans. Usually when someone breaks the rules in a big way, the pack or nest leaves them to the hunters.”
“Andusuallyyou’d be right,” Tucker said. “Except that the rogue vamp your grandfather went after was the blood son of a powerful elder in the Syndicate. And whether by design or not, your grandparents burned the vamp—which the elder took as a war crime, worse than just killing him. Even if he did recognize that his son had crossed too many lines for the behavior to be ignored.”
Grady paled, and Dawson put a steadying hand on his arm. “My grandparents burned to death,” he said. “The insurance company and the police said it was arson—regular human-style. But apparently magic was involved?”
“We think Ophelia Locklear was the witch helping the rogue vamp,” Gibson said. “Not entirely clear on their relationship, but it’s likely that either she was injured in the fire that killed Frank Richardson and his wife, or Ophelia took her vampire partner’s death personally and lashed out for revenge.”
“That doesn’t explain what happened decades later to my parents,” Dawson said, tightening his grip on Grady’s arm, anchoring them both.
Gibson sat back and stretched his long legs out to the side. “My suspicion? Ethan had no idea at first that the case he and your mom were chasing was connected to Frank’s death. Somewhere along the line, they figured out that the cases overlapped, and that probably pushed them to take more risks for the sake of vengeance.”
“If Ophelia found another partner for some new scheme and Ethan started nosing around, she would immediately think the Kings were on to her—again,” Tucker added. “She either didn’t bother protecting her partner or wasn’t able to—but she saved herself and caused your parents’ plane to malfunction as revenge.”
“And thenmydad stumbled upon his father’s files and started digging,” Grady said with a sigh. “But we were hunting a werewolf when he died. That case had nothing to do with vampires or the Syndicate or witches.”
“We got a DNA match on the blood of the werewolf that killed your father—and tried to kill you,” Gibson replied. “He wasn’t just an out-of-control were. Taren Villers was a hitman who happened to be a werewolf. The hunt was a setup. You were both supposed to die.”
Grady felt like he might throw up.A hitman. We walked into a trap.
“Gray?” Dawson asked quietly, concern clear in his voice.
Grady managed a nod. “Let me guess—Villars was connected to Ophelia.”
Gibson and Tucker both nodded. “Yeah,” Tucker confirmed. “She might have caught wind of yet another King digging up the past and decided to nip the problem in the bud.”
“Except we killed the hitman,” Grady said with a note of pride in his voice. “You’re saying that you think the witch sent the hitman? Why would she kill my grandparents and Dawson’s parents herself but outsource us?” He couldn’t completely hide the way he flinched at the words.
“Our theory is that she’s been weakened somehow, and that’s why she hired a killer,” Gibson replied. “She’s still dangerous—just not as powerful as before.”
“And since you killed the hitman, she’s going to be out for revenge—again,” Dawson warned.
“I still don’t understand her endgame,” Grady said. “Why would the past matter so much now? And if she’s really involved with the SPS like you thought, what’s in it for her?”
“We’re still trying to figure that out,” Gibson admitted. “We showed up because it looked like someone with Syndicate ties was starting up the blood trafficking again. We even had a come-to-Jesus-meeting, so to speak, with the head of the vampire side of the business. And it surprises the shit out of me to say this, but I think he was telling the truth. What’s going on, isn’t the Syndicate’s fault.”
“The vampires aren’t involved with whoever is using the legend of the Bushwhacker ‘ghosts’ to kill people. In fact, they’d like to find Ophelia themselves—apparently, she double-crossed them,” Tucker added.
