Eye of the Beholder

Chapter Four

Toni studied Solberg closely. Something just wasn’t sitting right with her, and it started and ended with her new partner. “Where the hell did this information come from?”

“Anonymous tip, but the man hasn’t been seen in over a month.” Solberg shrugged. “It’s worth a look.”

She tapped her finger against her mouth. Maybe it was just her instinctive dislike of the guy that was making her dislike his tip. “What’s your gut say?”

“It’s legit. We’ve had more than one tip. It’s not like we’re going on one phone call here.”

She nodded slowly. If he was on the up-and-up then it was worth checking it out. “Okay. Research the company, see if anything’s changed there. I’ll check out the family angle.”

“You know the granddaughter was tortured by Mr. Grimm, right?”

“I know. It’s in the file.” The supposed vic was a sicko whack-job, but whether he deserved what he’d gotten or not, whoever had done him should have left him to law enforcement.

“Yeah.” Solberg took a big bite of his Whopper. “Checked that angle out first, thinking it might be a revenge thing.”

Ick. She hated it when guys talked with their mouths full. Like she wanted to see their chewed food.

Blech. “I’ll have to check out the medical records.” She bit into an onion ring, making sure to swallow before continuing her thought. “That makes the wife a much more viable suspect. The father of Ms. Grimm too.” She flipped through her notes. “Fred.”

He nodded, pointing to her list with one of his French fries. “I think we need to check them all out.”

“Okay. You’ve obviously got the family and friends covered. I’ll deal with the business angle.”

“Not a problem.” His false grin was seriously beginning to get on her nerves.

She bit into another onion ring and studied his smug features. Every one of her cop senses was tingling, but she couldn’t put her finger on what the hell was wrong. It was driving her fucking nuts. She couldn’t shake the feeling that some of that wrongness was now directed at her.

What are you hiding from me?

Travis sat in the back of Logan’s SUV and wondered how to bring up what he was sure would be a painful subject. He’d managed to keep Jamie and Jeff from questioning him further, a difficult job considering their cramped quarters and Jeff’s stubborn refusal to allow a subject to die a graceful death.

When he was ready to tell his story he only wanted to do it once, and while both Jamie and Jeff had earned the right to sit in on that discussion he needed everyone there for it. He’d managed to avoid the topic for four days now, but he was rapidly running out of time.

Morgan and Magnus Grimm—the twin half-brothers of Jamie, Jeff and Jordan—and Val had just returned from a job Travis had sent them on. The Grimms were working cases to pick up the slack left by Travis, Jeff and Jordan not being in the office. Considering everything that had happened they’d been more than happy to put in some overtime for him while he made sure their family was safe. Now that the case they’d been gone on was solved to everyone’s satisfaction the men were back, and it was time to come clean to all of them. They were planning on meeting for lunch at the Tait-Saeter condo, something Travis was looking forward to with equal amounts of dread and longing. Finally he’d be able to claim the woman who’d stolen his heart, no barriers or lies between them. He only hoped she could handle what he had to say.

Logan got lucky and managed to find a parking spot just shy of the corner of Ninth Street and Passyunk Avenue. They stepped out of the Lexus and breathed deep, inhaling the scents of the best cheesesteaks in the city.

“Pat’s,” Logan sighed, heading for his favorite eatery.

“Geno’s, you heathen.” Kir planted both feet firmly on the pavement and refused to move, no matter how hard Logan tugged on his arm.

Logan scowled. “Do you want to wait in the car while I get the food, or do you want to come with me?”

“I’ll come with you as far as Geno’s window.”

Travis, watching the frown growing on Jordan’s face, waited for the inevitable explosion. It wasn’t long in coming.

“Oh, my God. Sometimes you two are friggin’ morons.” Jordan stepped out of the back seat of the SUV, looking tired and cranky. The Philly accent was strong, whether from aggravation or exhaustion Travis couldn’t tell. She planted her hands on her hips and stared both of her lovers down, bristling with bad temper. “You—” She pointed at Logan, “—go to Pats. You—” She pointed at Travis, startling him.

“—Go to Geno’s. Jeff, Morgan and Magnus and I’ll take one wit’. Jamie, Kir and everyone else will have one wit’out, and the Wonder Twins want peppers. Oh, and Uncle Val likes provolone.”

“Wonder Twins?” Travis nearly choked trying not to laugh. It was the first time he’d heard Jordan refer to Jeff and Jamie as the Wonder Twins. From the look on her face if he did laugh she’d inflict major bodily harm on his person.

She ignored him. “Each of you get one for each of us, as well as yourselves. We’ll have a steak-off.

You—” She pointed at a surprised Kir, “—get your ass back in the truck and guard mine so Logan doesn’t have an aneurysm. Now move. I don’t like cold cheesesteaks.” She hurled herself back into the SUV and sat with her arms crossed, glaring out the front window.

The men stared at one another and shrugged. Logan and Travis headed for Pat’s while Kir settled into the back seat with Jordan, snuggling her close and kissing the side of her neck. They’d hit Geno’s on the way back to the car.

“Who decided the little dictator should come with us again?” Logan shoved his hands into his back pockets, looking bored. Travis wasn’t fooled, though. Logan was on point, wary of every person who walked by the SUV. He kept an eye on it at all times, his eyes moving between the customers, the car and any possible threats.

“Jamie.” She’d sent them on this food expedition as a way to distract Jordan, who’d been hovering over her like a mother hen and snapping at anyone and everyone who got within five feet of Jamie. The look of relief on Jamie’s face as Travis had dragged Jordan out of the house was worth the grumpiness Jordan was flinging around.

Jeff was also at the powerfully warded condo, keeping watch on his twin. The condo was so heavily guarded now he couldn’t even think how Grimm could possibly get inside. “She said she wanted someone along to supervise us.” Travis barely refrained from rolling his eyes. Jordan could barely keep awake. Right now, the only thing she was capable of supervising were her own eyelids. “By the way, why couldn’t we get cheesesteaks from somewhere closer to us?” He stepped up to the window and placed their order, letting Logan remain on guard.

Logan stared at him like he’d grown another head. “There are other cheesesteak places? Where?”

The man behind the counter laughed as he handed them their steaks. “Exactly. Swear to God, ain’t nobody in the damn city makes cheesesteaks like us.”

“Amen,” Logan laughed, winking at Travis as they made their way back across the street. They stood in line, got the second set of steaks, and headed back to the SUV.

“Finally.” Jordan pouted, right up until Logan shoved the bag of food into her hands. She settled back down with a contented sigh, sniffing the bags occasionally to get a whiff.

Travis reached for the bags, only wanting to hold them so she could catch a nap, but she growled and clutched them to her chest. With a laugh he held up his hand. “Right, do not get between the pregnant lady and the food.”

When the three of them stared at him, shocked speechless, he realized exactly what he’d said. Crap.

“Um, what I meant was—”

“We’re pregnant?” Kir’s hand immediately went to Jordan’s stomach, rubbing protectively over where the baby was. His eyes turned to spring skies instantly, white clouds drifting lazily across brilliant blue. “He’s right. We’re pregnant, Logan. Two weeks along.”

Logan took a deep breath, his eyes riveted to Jordan’s stomach. His hands clenched on the leather seats as he gulped. “Holy fuck.”

Exactly. What had they expected with a fertility god? How Logan hadn’t wound up pregnant over the years was still a mystery to Travis, as Logan, an expert shapeshifter, hadn’t only been in male form over the centuries. Travis cleared his throat. “Maybe we should get her home.” He glanced over at Jordan to see a dazed, terrified look in her eyes. “Yeah. That might be good.”

“Twins.” Kir’s voice deepened as Baldur roused, the feel of his child under his palm making the fertility god smile. “I can feel them. One born of me, one born of you.”

Travis smiled. He wondered if he and Jamie would eventually have twins. From the look of things, if he ever got her into his bed and his life, the odds were good he’d have to think of two baby names instead of one since Odin’s line seemed to be chock full of them.

The two men looked at each other, hope and fear warring with the shock on both their faces.

Logan turned to Jordan. “You’re out of the fight.”

That got a reaction out of Jordan. “Logan—”

“I am not losing another child to Grimm! ”

Travis shut his eyes, but the overwhelming scent of burning leather nearly choked him. He opened the passenger side window to let some fresh air in and hopefully calm Logan down.

He turned back to find both Kir and Jordan had hold of Logan and were stroking him. Logan was shaking like a leaf.

Travis got out of the car and walked around to the driver’s side. He pulled open the door. “Out.” He tugged until a wild-eyed Logan stood, shoving the other man into the back seat with Kir and Jordan.

“Keys.”

They were handed to him by Kir with a nod of thanks. Travis watched as the three curled around each other in a big knot with Logan tucked in the middle. He shut the back door and climbed into the driver’s side. He pulled out his cell phone and called Magnus, then Morgan. “Change of plans. Meet me at hothead’s, fifteen minutes.” He shut the phone and dialed Val, giving him the same message before pulling out into traffic.

“Don’t call either of my fathers.”

He glanced in the rearview mirror to see Jordan stroking Logan’s hair. Kir was soothing Logan, stroking his back. After the way Fred Grimm and Adam Grey had tortured Logan, Travis wasn’t surprised she still wasn’t speaking to them. He nodded once and turned back to the road.

It was time to set a few things straight. Time to help Logan release his living children from Grimm’s bondage.

“How did you know?” Kir’s eyes were still that eerie spring day, inhuman and beautiful and staring at him with a mixture of confusion and determination. “I knew something was different, but I didn’t know what. And I’m a God of Spring, in charge of fertility.”

He grimaced as he turned toward Rittenhouse Square. “I promise I’ll explain after lunch. I only want to tell it once.”

Travis ignored Kir’s long, thoughtful look, and hoped the man would be able to handle the truth.