Page 52 of Celtic Dragon
“No, luckily we heard the snake before it was able to bite anyone. Spike shot it.”
“You got anything else, sweetheart?” I ask. “Maybe something that you might have overlooked?”
She shakes her head. “No, that’s everything that I know.”
“Ok, I’m calling Hawk now.”
I dial and the phone starts ringing. I set my phone down on the table and put it on speaker—after three rings, Hawk answers. “Ice, man, listen before you say anything. You need to know that I had no fucking idea that she was going to Ireland. She left no clue until she was at the airport boarding a flight. I couldn’t stop her, man. I tried, but I found out about her leaving too late. I’m sorry. I fucked up.”
Holy shit, he’s really beating himself up about this,I think with a chuckle.Poor guy, he’s probably been dreading my call.
“Hawk, stop.” He’s still talking, but I say over him, “Hawk, I know. It’s ok.” I think he finally hears me.
“What?” he says.
“Emma told me everything. It’s ok,” I say, then add, “I’ve got the girls, Rebel, Doc, and Ryder here. You’re on speaker.” I wait for him to say something, but he doesn’t, so I keep on going. “Emma filled the boys in on everything that she knows up to the point when she left the States. You got anything to add? Anything happen since?”
“Possibly. I’ve had Dbag doing some digging and I think we might have an idea who’s doing this.”
We’re all expecting him to continue, but when he doesn’t I prod him along. “And?”
“My initial gut feeling told me that this had something to do with Grayson. So I had Dbag poke around Grayson’s aunt first, since he lived with her. Then I had him look into the Graysons themselves, the family who adopted him.”
“Anything?” I ask.
“It looks like Mark isn’t their only kid. They adopted three other children—two boys older than Mark and a younger girl. Both adoptions happened after Mark was adopted.”
“So, he has siblings. Do you really think they could be involved in this?” I ask.
“Not these siblings.”
“He has others?”
“Well, I believe that the Grayson family is clean. But, if you remember, he spent his earliest years with his mother’s sister. She couldn’t keep him and after a year put him up for adoption.”
“Yeah, I remember that. So?”
“Well, Aunt Jenny did give up Grayson. But she kept his brother.”
“Hisbrother?” I ask, confused.
“Yep, Mark had a brother. A biological brother.”
“How do you know they are biological brothers? Maybe Aunt Jenny had another drug addict sister who had kids,” I say.
“That could be the case, but I seriously doubt it,” he replies.
“Why?”
“He’s a twin.”
“A what?”
“A twin.”
I look at Emma. “Did you know anything about this?” I ask her.
“No,” she says, astounded. It’s clear that this is as much a shock to her as it is to me.
