Page 19 of Sins of the Fathers

“Oh, it’s protected, or rather, it’s surveilled.”

“By who?” Archie knew. There was only one group of people who would keep an eye on a building that had been destroyed twenty years ago.

“By your family-in-law, of course. I wonder how that feels. Does your father-in-law want to kill you every time he sees you?”

Archie snorted. “Probably, but then, Leroy wants to kill pretty much anyone every time he sees them. Look, there’s nothing I can do for you about it. I don’t have access to the sanctuary, and I don’t have any influence on hunters, let alone my father-in-law. Besides, you know very well he’s not actually my father-in-law. I think that you’re here because you wanted Jasper and I to know that you’re back in town. You want us to be afraid. You want us to wait and grow anxious and wonder what you’re going to do next.”

Kester’s smile grew. “Maybe. Wouldn’t you like to know for sure?”

“I very much would, but you’re not going to tell me, so fuck off.”

“I’ve killed people for less than that, Archibald.”

“You’ve killed people because they breathed wrong.” Archie was guessing there, but knowing Kester, he was pretty sure he was right. “Look, kill me or not, just make a decision. I have to go to work.”

“I thought you’d be more afraid.”

“I already know you can kill me very easily if you decide to. You haven’t decided to, though, and that makes me think that for now, I’m safe. That might change eventually, but I don’t think it’ll change today.”

Kester was silent for a moment before grinning again. “The day I decide to kill you, you won’t know I did.”

“Yeah, because you’re not suspicious at all, coming after me like this.”

“I was just asking for a favor.”

“A favor that has nothing to do with me since I don’t control the hunters or the area where the sanctuary was. Just go ahead and do whatever you need to do. I don’t know if the hunters will care, but I certainly won’t.”

Kester cocked his head. It made him look a bit like a dog—a dog with way too many teeth. “I think you might change your mind about that.”

Archie resisted the urge to ask why, but Kester wouldn’t tell him. “Can I leave now?”

“You can leave,” Kester confirmed. “But if you help me with this, I can give you information about Jasper. Maybe I could tell you that Leroy didn’t find him and take him by accident.”

Archie wanted to know what Kester was talking about, but he already knew he wouldn’t get answers. That wasn’t the way Kester worked. No matter how tempting it was, there was only one answer Archie could give him. “Leave Jasper alone. If there’s anything to find out about Jasper’s past, we’ll find it. We don’t need you to help.”

“That’s what you think.”

Archie might have just made a massive mistake, but he was sure that if he had, he wouldn’t find out for a while.

That would definitely give him time to call Jasper and tell him what had just happened.

* * * *

JASPER WASN’T USED to Archie calling him in the morning while they were both at work. Usually, when they wanted to communicate, they texted. They’d call each other at lunch, when one of them didn’t go to the other so they could eat together.

But Archie was calling now, and it made Jasper nervous. Something had to have happened, and there was a chance it wasn’t good. Part of Jasper didn’t want to know, but another part needed to know. If Archie needed him, Jasper would be there.

“Archie?” he answered after cleaning his hands on a rag.

“I just talked to Kester.”

It took Jasper a moment to wrap his mind around that. “Where?”

“In the parking lot of my favorite coffee place. He was waiting for me at my car.”

“What did he want?” Because Kester definitely wanted something. He wouldn’t have approached Archie if he hadn’t, and since Archie was alive to tell the tale, it looked like either Kester had gotten what he wanted or he still had a need for Archie.

Maybe he’d been after Cullen. They thought he’d given up looking for his son, but he might have changed his mind. This was Kester they were talking about. The man was a monster both intellectually and in the literal sense of the word.