Page 39 of Oracle Returns: Time will Stop

That possessiveness had been there since they’d done the sex magick in the static.

The man was a little too…happy to see his partner. Like with Bishop, he didn’t like anyone sniffing around what was his. He was crazy like that.

They let him explain it.

“It was like he wanted to get his hands on him, and not in a let’s thumb wrestle kind of a way. He was staring at him…lecherously. Ridge told me he didn’t like his vibe,” he admitted.

Oh, and he knew why.

Ridge was a very handsome man. He had those boy-next-door good looks, and he had an aura around him of confidence. Those things were what also made him attracted to the man.

HIS.

MAN.

From where he sat beside his wife, Nate understood.

“Well, that makes sense. When Callie got me the name, I started digging. Forty years ago, when this happened, his father was a young man of twenty.”

They all listened.

“And he had ties to them all. I was able to dig in and look into the man’s dealings. A lot had been wiped, but there were some things still there. He was on the cusp of being charged, but the FBI backed off because the police backed off.”

Well, that didn’t sound good.

“He was rich then, right?” Hart asked. “Because anytime the police or FBI back off, it’s because money is in play. Old-white rich men get preferential treatment a great deal because they can buy, or threaten, with the best lawyers. We all know that. How many times have we hit the wall of wealth and been told to back off?”

Which was funny for him to say since his wife, Lennox, was incredibly wealthy.

As was Lucian.

And Ridge.

Nate nodded.

“I can’t prove it, yet, but I’d bet that is exactly what happened. The Fed in me can smell that kind of bullshit a mile away, and it screams accurate.”

Tori was listening.

“So, that family also has ties to this area. What are the chances that we have an old family that’s doing this forty years ago, and it’s still here as that bullshit is starting up again?”

Nate nodded.

Yeah, it was slim to none that it was a coincidence. If he had a badge, he’d bet on it.

He continued.

“I was able to trace the Vanderbilt family to Salem during The Burning Times. Granted, the name wasn’t Vanderbilt until after then. It was a different family name, and the family married into the Vanderbilt name and started that legacy. They always have males in charge of the family. ALWAYS.”

Avalon was quiet.

Why?

This was her husband’s thing. While she worked in the static, he’d been a special agent and solved crimes for a living. She was going to let him do his thing.

“Could that be who is behind this?” Bishop asked.

Well, they knew one thing.