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

cremated about five hours after he was killed. Or whatever happened to him.”
    He wished that Max was there to fill in the blanks that he knew they were going to ask him about. Max had gone to classes an hour ago and had yet to return. He was in his last year of college and all of them were excited for him. Max, at twelve years old, was going to be a hell of a surgeon someday, and Misha was looking forward to telling everyone that he was his uncle. Not that he didn’t already.
    “Max said that according to Dottie’s memories of her husband he is very much alive. And so you know, they are actually married, and had been a few years before you came to them. But that, too, is something that we don’t know how it happened.” He closed his little book. “Her mind is blocked to him as well. Now that we’ve met Sonya, perhaps he can get in with the help of the others.”
    “This is just stupid. I mean, I don’t even know why there is such a big deal about any of this. She’s lied to me my whole life. Why do I care now that she’s gone?” Misha looked at Phillip when Charlie spoke, and he looked confused too. “What is it?”
    “No one told you?” Both Phillip and Charlie shook their heads. “Dottie is after the book. And the reason you’d been targeted about it is because she’s sold you out to the highest bidder, who just happens to be the man that Curtis worked for. Welshouse knows about the book and that his name is in it. Other people, other names in the book, they want it too, before he gets it. Because the holder of that book can control everything.”
    “How? It’s just amounts of money that people owed this Murphy guy. And he’s dead. What does anyone care about it now?” Misha stood up and handed her an excerpt from the book. This page was in the back, and it was numbered in a way that had taken them nearly a whole day to figure out. “I don’t know what I’m looking at.”
    “It’s what they did to owe Murphy money. Murders. Gambling debts. There are even a few men mentioned in that book that should know better than to get caught at any of this crap, much less doing it in the first place. Senators and lawyers. There are even quite a few doctors there that have been less than above board.” As she looked it over, he watched Phillip’s face too. He knew that he understood the importance of the book and the names that were in it. “The names in that book will be beholden to whomever holds the book because of the simple reason that they’ll be able to hold it over their heads for the rest of their lives.”
    “You mean whoever holds this book can blackmail them?” Misha told her it was more than that. “What else is there other than the greed for money?”
    “Power.” Misha nodded at Phillip when he spoke. “Not only will the owner of this book have these people in his pocket, but he’ll be able to get them to do things that are well beyond what they did in the first place to get them here. He’d be able to control not just their bank accounts, but anything in their lives. He’ll have it all.”
    Charlie sat there for several minutes, not speaking. He knew that her mind was working. He could read hers as well. He didn’t, but the look on her face as she worked through this was scary. And when she got it, not just the importance of the book but also how much it was worth, she leaned back on the couch and stared at him.
    “She’s sold me out.” Misha nodded. “And now that she’s gone…she can tell them about you guys and this house. That’s why it’s been so important for you to know what you think I might know about her.”
    “Yes. And this thing with Sonya, I’m afraid that doesn’t help either. I’m not sure what she can do, if anything, but it’s sort of adding to the urgency of what is going on.” When Charlie got up to pace, Misha looked at Phillip as he continued. “When you brought them here, did she say anything to you about what she might know? Dottie had to know