Free Phillip: Lanning's Leap - Paranormal Erotic Romance by Kathi S. Barton

this calmly and without shouting.” To say everyone was surprised at Hannah would have been a gross understatement. But she did move them to the living room where they all sat and waited on some sort of explanation. If there was one.

Chapter 5
     
    “Are you saying that you made some sort of deal with that woman in order to get me a mate?” Misha was glad that he wasn’t on the receiving end of this anger from Linyah. Gladder still that he hadn’t had anything to do with it. She was really pissed off. But Nildale was her father, and as much as he liked the older man, he knew that he’d messed up royally by not telling her what he’d done long ago.
    “No. As I have said to you several times now, all I did was ask her to tell me if you had a male in your future. She is the one that said she could arrange it. And if you must know the truth, I didn’t think she’d done it. Not after all that time. I figured she’d had a hard time finding one and given up.” Nildale flushed brightly. “What I meant was, I didn’t think you’d settle for one even if she did find you a male. You can be somewhat stubborn, in the event that no one has pointed that out to you.”
    “That isn’t any better, Father.” Misha had to fight against laughing. He knew that if he did it, he’d be hurting. Even Phillip, who had been quiet since Sonya left, was smiling broadly. Linyah was pissed off, and by the look of her, she wasn’t backing off anytime too soon. “So she said she’d arrange for me to have a male, and you just simply forgot about it until now. How convenient for you. But that does not negate the fact that she is threatening Charlie. What does she mean that she’s going to make her guardians suffer? Her parents? The ones that gave birth to her, or the one that she was raised by? And why have we not found either of them?”
    “I don’t know.” Everyone looked at Misha as Nildale spoke. “What have you found out, young man? Anything on any of them? I know I gave you little to go with, but I can’t believe that this is so hard to figure out. What are you using to work on it? Magic?”
    “Magic, and even Linyah and Nic are stumped. Neither of them can find any memories of a life before Dottie…and so you know, as far as we can find, Charlie’s father is dead. At least the one that was in her life. If he’s not dead, then I have no idea where he is.” He was confused, so he reached into his pocket and pulled out his notepad. It had been as much a part of him as breathing since they’d opened Lanning Search and Rescue, and using it for everything had paid off more for them lately. “According to what we’ve been able to unearth about Dorothy and Curtis Grant, they were model parents and good citizens. Up until his untimely death about twelve years ago, everyone thought that Curtis was a broker. I guess in a way he was. But he was an accountant for the syndicate more than anything. And for a big name such as Welshouse. Then after his death, Dottie moved away and no one heard from her again until Nic did.”
    “How did he die?” Misha glanced at Charlie when she asked and looked back at his notes. “I was told that he’d been killed by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Driving home after work or something like that. I never really…to be honest, there are some holes in my memory now. I don’t know if it’s that woman or something else.”
    “It’s more than likely her. And I think she’s keeping us from looking into your head for information that is vital. This Welshouse guy is not one to fuck with. As for the way your father died, that’s not true so far as we know from Max.” Misha looked at his notes again before telling her what he knew. “He was, according to the paper, in an accident, but there are some things wrong with that too. The car that he was driving didn’t have any blood in or around it. And his body was never taken to the hospital but directly to the funeral home. Then it was