Page 58 of Fennick’s Fortune (Sentinels of Apollo #2)

A week has passed since a threat to Akiva was eliminated.

That left us with one more. The biggest, in my opinion, and the hardest to remove.

Her dad was still out there, as far as we knew.

And despite the years that passed since that fateful day when she received that letter and her foster family was murdered, Akiva was still convinced he was out there and would someday find her.

The question was, how? The last time, the assumption was that someone at the FBI had fucked up and slipped somehow. However, she had no contact with them. This time, her name was changed by someone who was not involved in the initial name change. She’d moved more than a dozen times since then.

One way to ensure he never touched her was to find him first, if he was alive, and sentence him for his crimes, then execute him.

None of us had a problem doing it, but there was a problem.

We had the resources to find almost anyone, but they had to have a starting point to do that.

A name would help. And that posed a problem.

All she knew was Lazarus. Was it his real name or an assumed one?

We thought the place to start was to review the court documents for the trial of the other two involved in the breeding scheme—Anton and Kairo.

Upon review, we learned that Kairo and Anton had never revealed a name other than Lazarus.

When they were repeatedly asked what Lazarus’s last name was, they claimed they only knew him by that name.

The property where they held the women was the next clue.

Except it turned out to be owned by a man who inherited it from his family.

The gentleman lived in England. He never came to visit, but since it was handed down in his family, he held onto it.

Property taxes were paid while the house and the property sat empty.

No one knew that the people living there were squatters when Akiva was growing up. This information came up at the trial.

Utility bills were in the other two men’s names.

Because Akiva never attended school, she had no identification of who her parents were, unlike most kids who provided this information on their enrollment papers.

I asked her what her last name was before the first identity change.

She informed me she had never been told one.

Her mom was Verity Vikar. That had been established when her mother was asked who she was after the FBI sting. However, beyond that, she had been too unstable to get more information or find out where she was from. Was it her actual name? We didn’t know.

There were so many unanswered questions that it was causing Akiva more stress. She was berating herself for not remembering anything in her dreams. Her sleep was restless, even though I reassured her she’d remember when the time was right, and after she rested.

I believed she was anxious to find her dad because he loomed over her as the biggest threat to her happiness.

We’d settled into our home and were hard at work on our future together.

While working for Chester, she met more individuals who lived in Needles.

She was putting down roots, which she’d never been able to do.

It was scary. She was terrified he would wreck it for her.

I wanted to ensure he was either already dead or we removed him from this earth. My friends were on board with the idea.

Recalling my friends reminded me that two of them remained in Phoenix.

There had been more rumors of threats, not just to the Katz family.

But those threats became more than that.

People were attacked in other areas of Phoenix and nearby towns.

There had been beatings, burglaries, a house fire, and a knifing.

All were attributed to this group since they targeted shifters. The cops were at a loss for what tied the crimes together. It wasn’t as if the victims could admit they turned into other creatures, and that was the common denominator.

Keir and Gunnar were working to discover the identity of those behind them so they could put a stop to it.

And according to what the rest of us Sentinels heard, Keir was working to convince Fiona Katz that he was the mate for her.

The fact that he was a leopard like her wasn’t enough for her to fall at his feet.

According to Gunnar, she was making Keir work for it, but our friend swore he’d prove himself and make her his.

I wish we could be there to see his courtship.

There might be a chance to see it if they could get the Katz family to leave Phoenix and come here.

There was protection in numbers. They believed Old Galen was for the move—anything to keep his great-grandchildren safe.

Young Galen was somewhat there, but hated the idea of leaving his friends.

As for Fiona, she didn’t react one way or the other, so it was hard to know what she thought was the word from Gunnar.

To assist in changing their minds, we were headed to Phoenix for the weekend.

We couldn’t all go, so it would be Akiva, me, Brax, and Cerys.

The others would remain behind to keep an eye on things at home.

We thought that if she had women to talk to, maybe it would persuade Fiona that coming to Needles wouldn’t be a terrible thing.

As the newest member of our family, Akiva would be able to share her impressions with her. Or that was the hope.

We were trying to coax them to come as soon as possible because we couldn’t leave Keir and Gunnar there much longer. Keir was needed back at work in the middle of next week, and Gunnar had to start tracking down a couple of new fugitives.

Glancing over at my mate, I was pleased to see her sleeping soundly.

I hoped she made it through the night. We planned to get on the road to Phoenix early in the morning.

While she could sleep while we rode, the car wasn’t the most comfortable place to rest. Rolling closer to place my arm around her, I cradled her to me and closed my eyes. I needed some sleep as well.