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“My father’s office is just down the hall, and I thought…” She trailed off.

“That’s a great idea, Bunny. Yeah, we can set those up quick.” I grinned, patting her head and messing her hair as I approached the door. She shot me a dirty look, but she couldn’t stop the smile on her face. That was all I cared about.

We locked Theodore’s office behind us and moved down the hall toward Hugo’s. Leighton picked the lock easily; this office really needed to look at its security in so many ways. Opening the door, the contrast between Hugo and Theodore’s office was jarring, to say the least. Hugo’s office was ostentatious and a blatant show of power and wealth. It had all the markings of a high-end interior designer, but there was no warmth or personal touches that said an actual person was ever there. The most significant difference was thelackof photographs of his family. A single photo of Hugo, Prudence, and a toddler Victoria was hanging on the wall. One of those stuffy family photos that no one ever wants to take and no one ever looks happy in. The only other photo was a small 5x6 of the same college graduation photo that hung in Theodore’s office.

“Oof…” Leighton said quietly. “Based on these rooms, there’s no way people aren’t mistaking Theo for the father.”

“The paternity test says otherwise… but I see your point,” I said, setting my bag down, pulling out the few remaining bugs, and placing them around the room. We’d already cleared Hugo, but information was always valuable. Turning back around, I saw Victoria looking around the office, taking in the same view we had. It looked like she was considering the differences for the first time.

“I guess now it makes sense. I always thought he just wasn’t big on photos…” She said, her voice soft and sad in a way that made me want to wrap her up and take away all the thingsshe’d had to learn. And I had a feeling it wouldn’t get any better from here.

“Well… at least this should help put any of your concerns about Hugo’s involvement to rest. And we’ll see what we can find out about what Theo’s doing, once way or another.” I offered, putting my arm around her shoulder as we left his office and locked back up. “It’s always better to know.” She looked up at me; her brow furrowed again in the way that said she was turning the information over in her mind. Her voice was soft and questioning when she answered.

“Is it? Cause it feels like the more I learn, the more things fall apart.”

Chapter Twenty One

Az

“Helen is heading to the warehouse with our guests.” I spoke, glancing at where Leighton and Craig sat in Ian’s office.

I’d spent the last several days hitting the streets with Leighton while Craig listened to the audio from the bugs he’d placed in Theo’s office. He’d said all of three sentences to fill me in on that situation, but I had more significant issues to worry about. There were still no signs of Jackals anywhere in our territory, and reclaiming them had been suspiciously easy. I didn’t have the mental capacity to worry about whatever they were planningandtrying to sort out what Theodore Abrams was up to. Craig was perfectly capable of parsing out anything relevant he uncovered.

“Joey should be with us for this.” Craig said, glancing up from whatever he’d been reading on his laptop.

“Well, if anyone knows where he’s disappeared to, you’re welcome to ask him to join us,” I replied, my hand tugging at my hair of its own volition. I was a little annoyed that not only had I developed the tick, Leighton noticed it and smirked every single time I did it.

“Last I saw, he was updating his conspiracy wall.” Leighton supplied with a laugh.

“His what now?” I asked.

“You know, his conspiracy wall.” Leighton answered, causing me to motion for him to continue. He sighed and rolled his eyes like I was the problem for not knowing what the hell he was talking about. “He’s got a whole wall in his room that looks like some kind of detective work, but it’s all about howMa Petitis the big bad evil guy. It’s very paranoid conspiracy theorist.”

“And you didn’t think I should know about this until now because?”

“I figured the little guy would tucker himself out and come to his senses.” Leighton shrugged. “It’s not like he has any information the rest of us don’t have.”

My hand tugged at my hair again, and I groaned. “Can someone please go get him so we can head out? Jesus Christ, conspiracy wall.” The last part I muttered to myself, trying to figure out why Leighton seemed to think it was a good idea to leave Joey to draw whatever incorrect and outlandish conclusions he was coming to.

“You grab the little tot, I’ll grabMa Petit.” Leighton said to Craig as he stood from his seat. “She should be there too.”

“You’re right, she should. Appreciate you giving yourself the better job, shithead.” Craig said with a lighthearted grimace as he moved past Leighton.

“When you pay attention, you get dibs.” Leighton laughed, following Craig from the office.

I took a deep breath to prepare myself for Joey and Victoria being in the same space. He’d been so antagonistic toward her lately that there was bound to be an argument on the way to the warehouse we’d secured for taking Candy and her second into custody. I stood from my seat behind the desk and quickly called Phil to ensure we had everything we needed for their stay. Then, I made my way to the minivan we’d secured for transportation.

Leighton and Victoria were there waiting for me. It looked like he hadn’t given her any time to dress. She was wearing a pair of black yoga pants and… was that my hoodie? My lips quirked up into a smile as I realized it was before my eyes flitted to her curly hair pulled into a messy bun. Leighton kneeled by her feet, tying her sneakers as she grumbled at him.

“I can do it myself, damn it,” She snapped, swatting her hands at him to try and get him to move out of the way.

“So?” He shrugged, dodging her hands as he quickly tied up the remaining shoe. “All done!”

I reached her side just as Leighton stood up. I jerked my chin toward the vehicle, indicating for him to get in, and then leaned down to whisper into Victoria’s ear.

“The next time I catch you in that hoodie, I’m taking it off with my teeth.”

Her mouth dropped open on a squeak, and her cheeks flushed red. Stepping around her, I shot her a wink and moved to the driver’s side door, climbing into the van. Victoria was still standing outside the sliding door when I settled into my seat, and I couldn’t help but smirk at her.