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“Then Paris is family.”
“But he betrayed us.”
“He might have. We still don’t know that for a fact,” I reason, not really believing my own words, but we don’t have solid proof yet. “Does he deserve the benefit of a doubt?”
“He does,” Perseus says with a sigh.
“So, is he still family?”
“Yes.”
“Good.” I stand. “Then that makes Ellen family, and right now she needs our help.” I offer Perseus a hand and pull him to his feet.
“What do you need me to do?”
“Find out why her room is the only one with electricity. See if you can find any sign of Paris, and I need some cleaning supplies.”
Twenty minutes later, Perseus comes back upstairs with the supplies I asked for. He says the breakers were flipped to intentionally turn off the electricity to the rest of the house, probably to limit the electric bill. I get to work on cleaning Ellen’s living space while she chatters about the snakes and the hag and hidden families. It’s another twenty minutes before the others return with food. I help Ellen eat and take her meds. She then insists on taking a nap. While she does that, I go downstairs to see what the others are doing.
“I figured out which room he was sleeping in,” Perseus says when he sees me. “But there is no sign of him now.”
“I figured he left last night.” I sit down, leaning against the wall. “Do we have any idea where he could have gone?”
The boys keep brainstorming, talking everything out while my eyes slide shut, and I try to process everything. Seeing Ellen like that after hearing Paris tell me stories about his mother, the strong woman who raised him, who would take on the world for him. He clearly loves her, and yet look at what she has become, a shell of her former self talking nonsense, living in between reality and an old black-and-white TV show.
My eyes are still closed when I hear Perseus’s phone chirp, and he says, “What the actual fuck.”
“What?” Heph asks, and I pry open my eyes.
“An automatic payment on my card was declined for insufficient funds.”
“Okay… and?” I ask.
“There should be a few hundred thousand in that account.” He taps off his phone screen for a few moments, his brows drawn down over his eyes in confusion.
“Is it a banking error?” Heph asks.
“I don’t think so. It looks like this account has had several smaller transfers in the last few months, then a massive one of almost seventy grand last night.”
I am about to say something about calling the bank and seeing if his card info was stolen when the creaking of the rocking chair starts again above us.
“Do any of you have access to my mother’s bank accounts?” I ask.
“I can get it. Why?” Perseus asks.
“Because I have a hunch, and I am praying I am wrong. Can you look through my mom’s account to see if there are any transfers to that same account?”
“Yeah… Why?”
“Something Ellen said. I want to see if it’s true. Just look into all of that, and if you can follow the money and see where it goes.”
“What are you going to be doing?” Eros asks, taking my hand in his and lacing our fingers together.
“I’m going to stay here with Ellen. I don’t want to leave her alone. I’m hoping her meds have cleared her head a little, and I can get some real info from her. Either way, I am also going to look into getting her into a care facility. She needs round-the-clock care.”
“I’m staying here.” Eros places a kiss on the back of my hand. “I don’t want you alone in case Paris comes back, and he isn’t right in the head or something.”
“I need your help with the bank stuff, man.” Perseus shakes his head. “Aside from Paris, you are the best with the computer.”
“I’ll stay with her,” Heph volunteers, making all of us stop and stare at him for a moment.
“Are you sure?” Eros narrows his eyes like he is trying to look through Heph to see his real motives.
“I’m sure. Aside from our security system, I am completely useless on the computer.” He shrugs. “But I can help Athena with Ellen and keep both women safe, if I have to.”
“Then it’s settled.” I stand up and brush the dust and dirt from my jeans. “You two head out. Call us if you find anything, and we will do the same.” I head back to Helen’s room to see if she is more lucid.
Chapter
Thirty-Five
Perseus
“I hate this so much.” Eros leans back in his chair, his hands pressed to his eyes. We have been sitting at the breakfast table for the past four hours staring at these screens trying to trace payments and coming up empty.
“The good news is, this hacker didn’t touch all of my accounts.” I sit back in my chair and slam my computer closed.
