He sighed and sipped his tea.

“First thing we need to do is find her. If she’s alive, she’s a threat. If she’s a threat, she needs to be neutralized.”

“Even if she’s your man’s mother?”

“Especially if she is. She’ll manipulate and hurt him. I can’t allow it.”

He raised his cup. “I like you. I should have known he’d end up with a woman as tough as he.”

“Tell me about what he was like as a boy.”

Chapter 20

“DO you want to talk about it?” Nell asked when Meriel called to check in. She’d awoken early to find a note in the kitchen from Tom saying he’d gone for a hike but would be back by nine.

She’d set herself up at the large table and spent some time just looking outside at the world as she’d jotted notes down.

“I don’t know what to think just yet. I feel terrible for them both. His love for Dominic is written all over him. You should see it here. Pictures of him growing up, the odd misshapen mug made by a grade-schooler. Whatever his flaws, he didn’t do this to hurt Dominic. He did it to protect him. I know Dominic is reeling. I feel …” She rubbed her eyes, knowing it was bad but she couldn’t help it. “This is all stuff I brought into his life.”

On the other end of the line Nell sighed. “You didn’t bring it. Fate brought you together right now for a reason. These are dark days. He needs you. You need him. And you had nothing to do with his uncle or his mother. I understand you’re upset for him, but this isn’t anything you’re responsible for. Speaking of which, are you ready to hear it?”

“Am I going to need to add whiskey to my coffee?” Another plus in the Tom category was that he’d left a carafe of hot coffee out should anyone wake early and want some.

“You’re going to just need to forget the coffee and go for the whiskey. I got on this last night after we talked and by the time I’d gotten up this morning I had an array of shit waiting for me. Gloria Ochoa, that’s her name, grew up in Tallahassee. Multiple arrests. Closed juvenile record.”

Meriel waited, knowing a little thing like a closed record wasn’t going to stop Nell.

“Her taste for illegal substances started early on. Busted for possession seven times. Many trips to juvie. Ran through caseworkers like cookies, this one. Removed from parents home by their request. She was sixteen. Went to live with relatives. The sister disappeared after school twenty-three years ago. No one ever saw her or heard from her again. No history like her big sister. Family is closed up tight about it but shortly after that they moved out of state.”

” Wow.”

“Yeah well, don’t feel too bad for her. Some people are just fucked up and awful. Meriel, you have to harden your heart. If she’s alive now, she’s turned. You know that. If she’s turned, she’ll be a danger to her son until she’s not alive anymore. And if the stuff Tom said about her working with mages is true, she could very well be part of this now. If it’s easier to steal magick from a blood relative, and Gia says it is, imagine what a big yummy snack Dominic would be. And I don’t mean in the fun way.”

“I know!” She traced a fingertip along the rim of her mug. “I hate this. I want it to be happy for him.”

“You can’t fix this. I’m sorry. You can’t make her into a good mother. I’ve got CPS records here.”

“CPS? Wow, you’re really getting good if you grabbed those. And in less than twenty-four hours? Genius.”

Nell snorted. “Of course I’m good. Also, this is about you. I made it happen. That’s what your best friend does. CPS was called twice. Infant had been left alone the first time. According to records Mom said she just went to the store while the baby was sleeping. Police interviews indicate the baby had been heard crying for hours until a neighbor called the cops and the landlord let them in. Mom didn’t return for six hours after that.”

Meriel sighed. Edwina hadn’t been the warmest of mothers, but she’d been there.

“Christ.”

“Second time was after a visit from a health worker. The baby seemed listless, ashen. He wasn’t gaining weight. They enrolled Mom and Dad in parenting classes. He was five months old at the time.”

“That was right before his father gave Dominic to Tom.”

“I doubt it was failure to thrive. I gotta tell you, if she is alive, I hope she lives long enough for me to punch her in the face a few times for that.”

It had to be hard for Nell, Meriel knew, pregnant herself, to read about all this stuff. But this was Meriel’s man and she had plenty of her own outrage.

“Get in line.”

“It would appear the dad staged an accident. Made it look like Dominic, whose name was Eduardo then, had died. Swept away in a river when Dad’s car skidded off a road. They never found the body but they did declare the kid dead. Mom was looked at for a while by the cops, Dad too. But they were never charged. They moved three months later. Fell off the map for a long time.”

If she thought he was dead, maybe they could keep it that way. At least until they found her and neutralized any threat she posed.

“And then what?”

“Nothing for a while. I have some Jane Doe hits I’ve got staff looking into.”

“Is she dead?”

“No. I don’t think she is. The dad is though. His body was found about five years after Tom left.”

A chill worked through her. “In Chicago?”

“Yes. How’d you know?”

“I’ll tell you in a minute. Give me the details.”

“He’d been in jail for assault. No identification but eventually they managed to get it. From his physical description I’m thinking he was seriously turned. The victim claimed she met him a local bar and she took him back to her place where he’d stayed for a week. She accused him of drugging her. She said she felt weak all the time and had woken up with him above her. She claims he was sucking her oxygen out.”

“Why would the cops arrest on that? I mean, obviously you and I know what it means, but stealing oxygen as assault?”

“Because he then choked her out for it. They arrested him for that.”

“Choked her out when she woke up and tried to get away, thus halting his fix.”

Her stomach hurt. She wanted it to be true that he’d come to Chicago to meet Tom and see his son.

“He died in jail?”

“No. He was released until trial. Someone fronted his bail money. They found his body in a park not even a day later.”

“Tom told me a story about the last time he’d heard from Felix.” Meriel repeated it to Nell.

“They found a woman’s body too. Police report dated it older than Felix. One of the notes says her skin was like rice paper. The vic was Asian though. That’s not our Gloria.”

“Damn it. No.” Tom had described Gloria Ochoa as tall with dark hair and big brown eyes. Had said she was beautiful back in the day. “Nell, if she’s alive …” Meriel looked at a framed picture of Dominic at about eight or nine, holding a fishing pole, looking up into the camera with a huge gap-toothed grin. “He looks a lot like his uncle. I can’t believe he never really realized that. But if I see the resemblance, what if she recognizes him? What if because of me, she sees Dominic’s picture and comes after him?”

“Life’s full of what-if moments, Meriel. We’ll create contingencies for as many as we can. He’s tough. He’s full-council and ascended to you. The bond will only make him stronger. The magick of Owen will shield him. Whatever happens, we’ll keep him safe.”

“And what if she decides Meriel is the target?” Tom came into the kitchen, followed by a cat, who deigned to let Meriel scratch behind his ears before he sashayed off to go settle in a window.

“Better me than Dominic.” She looked to him and then focused back on Nell. “What else?”

“We’ve got our own version of an APB out on her. I’m tapped into different federal and state systems to keep an eye out for any hits of arrests with women fitting her description.’Cause you know, there just aren’t many dark haired women in their fifties who get picked up without ID. Ha. Anyway, she’s turned and given what you’ve told me about her appearance with the mage at her in-laws’ door, we’ve got reason to believe she could be with mages now. Even the ones in our neck of the woods.”