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Eliana held the last letter, her hands causing the pages to shake. She gave Lucas a tiny nod.
“And within them, he has been threatening the pack and community. Saying he is going to take over everything once he’s released.”
Eliana nodded again, the letter suddenly feeling like heavy sand between her fingers.
“Do you know anything about this Garth person?”
Eliana shook her head. She was feeling oddly calm. She wondered vaguely if that was what it felt like to be in shock.
Lucas moved closer to her, leaning against the prep table and moving the letters around. Eliana felt his side pressing against hers, and it was comforting.
“And Phil decided to keep this from everyone. Clearly, it was threatening to him if he kept them in a lockbox underneath the porch.”
“He wants the restaurant too,” Eliana said, laying down the last letter. “Here, he threatens my mother.”
Lucas snapped his head in her direction. She saw his features from the side, and she still feared looking at him even in her dire state.
“Eliana, do you want something to drink? Some water? Maybe you should sit down.”
The way he spoke was gentle, not forceful or angry. Eliana shook her head and pulled all of the letters closer to her, and stacked them into a messy pile. There were about seven sheets, dates spread over months, all postmarked from a prison in another state.
“I don’t understand why he would keep this from us. Why not just throw out the letters? And who the hell is Garth Neilsen …?”
Lucas moved his hand to lightly touch Eliana’s wrist. He did not grip it, yet it washed a keen warmth through her damp skin.
“Eliana …” he breathed.
They were close, and she licked her lips when she gazed at him while realizing it.
At the same time, Tao emerged from the restaurant office. Lucas straightened as fast as lightning and leaned against the prep table. Tao’s face had lost all the color and general optimism that was his nature.
He stared into his phone, reciting information he had found while they had combed through the letters.
“Garth Neilsen is a shifter from the area,” Tao announced. “He was locked up for tax evasion, serving only a few months. He also owns that gold resort up the hill.”
Lucas cocked an eyebrow at Eliana for a brief moment, then they both turned to Tao, speaking the name of the resort at the same time.
“Tee Off?”
Tao nodded frantically, then took his phone and slammed it against the prep table. It was a loud and intrusive move for such a gentle giant.
Eliana looked at him, as did Lucas. They waited as Tao ran his hand over his face in a frustrated gesture. Eliana had never seen him do such a thing, not even when they were on the verge of splitting for good.
“That’s not the worst of it,” Tao said. “According to what I just read, Garth has been released. He was released a few days before Phil died.”
Hearing Tao say that Garth had been released days before her uncle’s supposed suicide in a motel made Eliana feel like she was floating in the most tragic and alarming way.
“Oh, God!” Tao said.
Lucas went to him, taking him by the shoulders and giving him quiet support. Eliana wasn’t entirely sure what to do. Her wolf was so enraged she could barely feel her skin.
It wouldn’t be prudent to act so soon, so impulsively. So she went to Tao and rubbed his back with Lucas and her making quick, knowing eye contact.
“We have to wait before we do anything,” Lucas said. “We will make a plan and follow through when cooler heads arrive.”
“Don’t you have to leave tomorrow?” Eliana asked, sounding mournful.
Lucas shook his head. “No, I can’t leave now. I want to help you both. This situation just got far more complex.”
