“You think he’s looking into dolphin shifters?”
“Maybe. We just had the superpod in October. And there were a few isolated reports about people seeing naked guys running around on the Key when we rescued our dads. It wouldn’t surprise me if this idiot’s put two and two together.”
“He’s not that much of an idiot if he did,” Sean muttered.
“It doesn’t matter. Don’t talk to him. What concerns me more is how he got your work number.”
“Well, the sign on the truck doesn’t exactly put me under the radar in that respect.”
He knew Emery was giving him “the eye” over the phone. “That’s not what I meant.”
“So where’s this guy based out of?”
“I don’t know. The website domain registrar lists an address out of Miami, but that doesn’t mean anything.”
“But you’re going to find out.”
“Exactly. I’ll talk to you later.”
Sean hung up and immediately pulled up a browser on his laptop.
Yep, the guy’s site was definitely all about the weird and unusual.
If only he knew.
There was a discussion forum that Sean only briefly scanned. Based on some of the postings, it looked like a lot of people participating on there needed their tinfoil hats adjusted.
After twenty minutes, he forced himself to close the browser. The last thing he needed right now was another distraction. All he wanted to do was hurry up, get his work done, and make it home at a reasonable hour so he could cook dinner for Isla and Em instead of his mom having to do it.
Look at me, all parental-like.
He smiled. It still sometimes didn’t feel real, that he and Emery were now parents.
That they were responsible for the bright-eyed, curly haired wonder gracing their lives.
That she would look to them throughout her life.
I wish I could have met her parents. It still saddened him that their loss—and Isla’s—was his and Emery’s gain.
At least Isla appeared to be adjusting and happy.
It was with relief when a little before five he was able to leave work and head home. His office in Englewood was only fifteen minutes away from their house.
Emery’s car wasn’t in the driveway when he got home, but his mom’s car was.
Oh, boy. Grandma night.
So much for his hopes of getting alone time with Emery any time soon.
He opted for the elevator, punching in the code to bring it downstairs. When the doors opened upstairs and he stepped out, Isla practically took his legs out from under him in a tackle as he tried to step into the foyer.
“Da!” she happily squealed.
The house smelled delicious. He scooped her into his arms and gave her a kiss. “What’s Grandma making for dinner?”
“Bwisket!”
“Uh, nom,” he said, blowing a raspberry against her cheek. “Did you help?”
“Yep! Gwandma let me peel potatoes with the thingy.”
He walked into the kitchen, where his mom was smiling over the salad she was putting together. “A peeling knife,” she said. “One of those slotted ones, not like a paring knife. It was safe. She did really good.”
“A cook in the making, huh?” Sean asked.
“I wanna cook like Gwandma.”
“I’m sure you will, you keep this up.” He set Isla on the counter and leaned in to kiss his mom’s cheek. “I need to go put my laptop down and grab a shower.”
“Take your time. Emery called and said he was running late.”
Drat. “Okay, thanks.”
“He also told me about the Yellowstone trip.” She arched an eyebrow at him.
Sean felt his face redden. “He did, huh?”
“Uh-oh,” Isla said. “Da’s in trouble.”
She turned, one hand on her hip, the other brandishing an actual paring knife at him, which she’d been using to cut up radishes for the salad. “Get this through your head once and for all, mister. I’m okay. Yes, I’ll admit, this…everything overwhelmed me for awhile. Who wouldn’t be overwhelmed? Then we had to deal with…” She glanced at Isla. “That guy and what happened in October.”
“What happened in October?” Isla asked.
“Shh,” Sean and Helen both said.
Helen continued. “You are my son and I love you. You can quit treating me like a child now. I have accepted everything and I’m moving along just fine now.”
He stepped forward. “Really?”
“Really.”
Now he felt like crap. “Sorry, Mom. I was trying to spare your feelings.”
She smiled and leaned in to kiss his cheek. “I know, which is why I’m not mad at you. I appreciate the fact that you love me that much, that you’re trying to protect me. Well, you can stop protecting me now. In the beginning…okay. I’ll grant you that I was still in a massive state of denial. But not any longer. Got it?”
He smiled. “Got it.”
She shooed him out of the kitchen. “Go grab your shower. Dinner will be ready soon and your father’s coming over to eat with us. Emery said not to wait for him. I’ll make him a plate to reheat.”
He turned to go, but then did an about-face and returned to his mother. He gave her a one-armed hug and kissed her cheek. “You’re the best mom ever,” he said.
She smiled, but he caught the way her eyes suddenly looked too bright. “Well, you’re the best son ever. Now go shower.”
* * * *
His father wasn’t there yet when Sean returned downstairs. His mom had the table set and Isla in her high chair.
“Oh, by the way, I had an interesting call today,” his mom said.
Sean sat down at the table. He picked up his glass of iced tea. “Who?” He took a sip.
“A very nice reporter who wants to do a story on you and Emery. And how you’re now parents.”
Sean choked, coughing and spraying tea across the table, much to Isla’s amusement and Helen’s consternation.
“What on earth? Are you all right?”
He set the tea glass down and continued coughing and choking, trying to get the tea out of his windpipe. His mom walked over with paper towels and began mopping up his mess.
“What?” he croaked when he finally could speak again.
“You tell me. What was that about?”
“What did you say? What did you tell the guy?”
“The reporter? I told him exactly what you told us to say to people, that she was the daughter of friends of yours, and you and Emery were her named godparents and adopted her.”
Fear raced through Sean’s veins. “What was his name?”
“Jake Castle, I think. We talked for a while. Very nice young man. He’s profiling same-sex couples in the area.”
“Shi—oot,” he completed as he caught sight of Isla watching him.
“What’s wrong?” Helen asked.
He stood and motioned her out of the dining room and into the far corner of the kitchen, where he could speak to her in low tones without Isla overhearing.
Her face fell as Sean told her what Emery had found out about him.
“Oh, Sean. I’m so sorry! Why didn’t you all tell me?”
“We were going to. We didn’t have any reason to think he’d call you.” He had a thought. “Wait. How did he call you?”
“On the house phone.”
“Your house phone?”
“Yes.”
“Did he specifically ask for you?”
“No, he said he was looking to speak with your parents.” She grabbed his arm. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. Did I screw up horribly?”
He pulled her in for a hug. “You didn’t give him any information he probably couldn’t find out on his own. We’ll tell Emery when he gets here.”
“I just thought it’d be a good thing. You know, for your business, and for Emery’s.”
“I know. It’s okay, Mom. Seriously, I’m not upset.”
But this definitely bro
ught a new spin to things, that the guy had been persistent enough to track down his parents.
What else might the guy know?
* * * *
Sean hated to be the bearer of bad news, but when Emery got home, he followed him upstairs to their room to tell him what his mother had reported. Helen and Sam were still downstairs with Isla, reading her a story.
Emery heavily sat on the bed as he processed the information. “Dammit. That’s not good.”
“I know, but she didn’t give him anything our human friends don’t already know.”
“Yeah, but like you said, how did he get their number?”
“The only thing I can think of is he traced it through the business. Not like there are a hell of a lot of Sam Moritas in Englewood. He was active in Chamber of Commerce and Rotary and stuff for years. Their number is listed. Not very difficult to figure out.”
“True.” He began unbuttoning his shirt, but Sean could tell his mind was still elsewhere. “I need to call my dad and tell him this.” He looked up at Sean. “Can you stall them for me for a couple of minutes while I do?”
“Yeah. And listen, she feels really bad about this. So give her a hug or something, huh?”
“Okay.”
“Oh.” He smacked Emery on the shoulder. “What was that with telling her about Yellowstone and not telling me?”
He looked a little sheepish. “Sorry, babe. I forgot to tell you. With the plans for the ceremony and everything else on my mind, I screwed up and mentioned we were going on our trip right after the ceremony, and she asked about it, and I was already answering before I remembered.” He shrugged. “At least she took it well.”
“Yeah.”
Sean returned downstairs. When Emery joined them a few minutes later, Helen hurried into the kitchen to heat up his dinner. Emery stopped her and gave her a big hug, whispering something in her ear that made her smile.
All’s well.
Well, at least in regards to that.
Whether or not all would be well long-term depended on how determined this reporter was to get more information on them. Sean suspected they’d have to be very careful, at least for a while.
Chapter Thirteen
Erik knew he couldn’t rush Castle, but after weeks of sitting and twiddling his thumbs while Castle took his time with research, Erik was ready to explode.
He knew it was time to push the man. Otherwise, he’d never get closer to being able to hit Emery and the Nadels where it really would hurt them. Not to mention it would increase the chances of Castle accidentally figuring out who he was. He’d seen Castle reading an article about him being wanted by authorities for causing the accident, but with the beard and mustache, as well as the longer hair and missing leg, Castle hadn’t recognized him.
Clueless fuck.
“You realize we need to get out and go knock on doors, right?” Erik told him after yet another round of phone calls Castle made turned up nothing he could use.
“So where to, then?” Castle asked.
Erik smiled. “Englewood, for starters. We’re going to pay some people a visit. Then we can even head over to Cocoa Beach, and you can do more research on that little girl.”
“So I was right? The couple that ‘accidentally drowned’ on Christmas Eve night were dolphin shifters? And the little girl Sean Morita’s mother talked about was their daughter?”
Erik arched an eyebrow at him. “Fucking duh. Their pod Alpha must have contacted Emery and let him adopt her. She probably didn’t have any other family.”
It would be a full moon in two days. Erik suspected there’d be a swim. They could rent a boat and cruise around and possibly whet Castle’s appetite enough he could use the man to help him track down Emery’s house.
And that’s exactly what he talked Castle into doing.
In fact, Erik was delighted when, as he’d thought, they watched from a distance as the pod gathered.
So fucking close. Yet he knew it’d be suicide to reveal himself.
On the boat, Erik kept a close eye out, never letting his guard down for a moment. Castle watched the events unfold through a telephoto lens on a camera equipped with night vision, and listened via a parabolic microphone.
Erik had to bite the inside of his mouth when something unusual happened.
Emery announced he wanted to officially recognize three new children into the pod.
With glee, he listened to the feed from the parabolic mic as Emery recognized his adopted daughter. Isla Shorlin Morita-Nadel.
And then Olivia and Brad’s newborn twins.
Castle remained frozen, mesmerized by the proceedings. When the group finally dispersed over an hour later, Erik now knew exactly how he could strike deep in Emery’s heart. In a way he wouldn’t see coming. He’d have Castle check county tax records to make sure Olivia and Brad hadn’t moved, but it would be something no one would see coming.
Castle slowly began breaking down and stowing his equipment, apparently in a daze.
“What’s wrong, bucky?” Erik asked.
He slowly shook his head. “I…I just can’t…can’t believe it.”
Erik snorted. “I thought you did believe it. That’s why we’re out here, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, but…This is amazing!”
“Yeah, well, it’ll be even more amazing. We need to do a little research, but we’re going to pay those new parents a visit. You can confront them with the evidence and get some confessions out of them.” He grinned. “Think of the money you’ll make. The Today show. Good Morning America. Hell, even Fox News will be begging you to be a guest.” It hadn’t taken Erik long to peg Castle’s weak spots. The man wanted to be taken seriously, wanted mainstream media to show him respect. “You’ll be making the rounds.”
“I need to get this evidence posted on my website.”
“Not yet. Do you really want others to ruin this for you? You put that up now, they’ll all go into denial mode.” He leaned forward. “Do you really want them silencing you?” He pointed to his truncated leg. “You have no idea what they’re capable of. If you don’t have all the proof ready to go, including a confession, you’re vulnerable.”
Castle swallowed hard. “They did that to you?”
“They look sweet and nice, but they fucking eat their own. Literally.”
Eventually, Castle nodded. “So what’s next?”
“Another road trip, my friend. But first we need to confirm a few things.”
* * * *
“Why didn’t we plan this a little better?” Sean asked as he wearily dropped into bed. At least the recognition ceremony was over, with all three children now officially part of the Placida Pod.
“Because I didn’t think to verify when the full moon was before I made the flight reservations,” Emery replied, sounding equally tired. They would have an hour to nap before getting up and heading to Tampa International.
Sean wondered if it was even worth lying down.
“We can sleep on the plane,” Emery added.
“I’ll need to.”
“And we can spend an extra day in Spokane, resting. I can call from there and modify our reservation.”
“I’ll need that, too.”
“You don’t mind not having that extra day in Yellowstone?”
Sean closed his eyes. “At this point, I’m too exhausted. We’re going to have a very cranky toddler to deal with tomorrow, and I’m already cranky.”
“Sorry, babe.”
Sean snuggled next to him. “Maybe we can go back out for our one-year anniversary. Just the two of us.”
Emery kissed the top of his head. “Deal. I’ll check on reservations for June when we get out there.”
“And I promise I won’t reenact it by wanting to run over you with a boat.”
Chapter Fourteen
Sean felt himself alternately in awe over the landscape flying past their car windows, and nervous as hell at what he’d gotten himself into. He’d definitely needed the day they spe
nt in Spokane, most of it in a hotel by the airport where he and Emery could sleep while Isla happily watched TV from her own “big girl” bed.
“I don’t understand why all of this is necessary,” Sean mumbled. Now that he’d caught up on his sleep, the excitement of travel had waned.
The fact that he’d be surrounded by shifters while in Yellowstone had finally steeped into his brain.
“Think of it as a superpod on land. With different kinds of shifters.”
Sean stared at him. “Yes, because the events leading up to our Samhain superpod were sooo stress-free.”
“That’s not what I meant, babe.”
Sean returned his gaze to the window. Outside, the Montana landscape rolled past, different than anything he was used to as a native Floridian who’d only ventured twice outside the state. Once to Georgia, for a conference in Atlanta, and the other time to a conference in LA, where he’d seen nothing of the city except for LAX and the hotel.
Isla lay soundly sleeping in her car seat in back. They’d eaten breakfast in Spokane before heading out that morning, and she’d fallen asleep before they even reached the Idaho state line on their way east toward the park.
“So you’ve never been to one of these, huh?” Sean asked him.
“No. Dad’s been a couple of times, but before this, they were more geared toward the land-based shifters.”
“Then, again, why are we here?”
“I told you. Because they’re forming a mega-Clan and want as many shifter races on board as they can get. Not to mention with that reporter sniffing around, people need to be made aware of what he’s trying to do so they can stay far away from him. We have to band together.”
“Will the sharks be here?”
“Possibly. They were invited.”
There was a mixed bag. The sharks made him nervous, especially when he knew what they were capable of.
“Is Bigfoot going to be here?” Sean asked. “Can I get his autograph?”
Emery gave him “the look.”
Porpoisefully Yours Page 9