Shadow Warrior (Shadow Riders 4)

“Have you talked any more to Grace about him?”

“No, but she did tell me the photographs he sent her were often of the people he was staying with. I’ve sent the photos to our investigators in order to run facial recognition and to ascertain if there are any clues in the pictures to help identify where he is. Or if the digital stamps will give location.” Vittorio slipped Grace’s phone back into his pocket. “If we can do that, we can go after him. Right now, we’re dead in the water.”

“I took a look at Lando’s apartment,” Ricco said. “Mariko and I thoroughly went through the ducts there. Unfortunately for Lando, the largest cooling duct led straight to his apartment first. Phillips was very comfortable there and left evidence of having spent the day there. He has life living in the crawl spaces, attics and ducts down pat.”

Emmanuelle held up her hand, wrinkling her nose. “Ew. I don’t want to hear any more. I know what you’re going to say. That’s disgusting. He must leave that when he’s going away, otherwise the stench would lead to an investigation immediately.”

“The point being, he’s casual about his kills. He isn’t nervous in the hours leading up to them. He’s patient,” Ricco said.

“Did you warn Eloisa?” Vittorio asked.

Stefano nodded. “I talked to her in person. She was livid over your engagement and practically accused Grace of knowingly harboring a criminal. She’s gotten worse, not better since I married Francesca. After her last attack on Francesca, I completely banned her. I don’t want Francesca upset in any way, and Eloisa has made her the primary target now that we’re grown and won’t put up with her crap.” He looked at Vittorio. “I suggest you do the same, at least until Grace is on her feet.”

“They’ve already met. I overheard her conversation with Katie Branscomb. As it turns out, Grace and Katie are partners.”

“We just received that information,” Giovanni revealed. “It’s in your phone if you paid any attention.”

“I’ve been getting so many updates so fast, I haven’t had the time to read every report thoroughly. At first, I thought maybe Eloisa called Grace to spew her anger at her, because otherwise she would have known she was capable of producing the children she so desperately wants.”

Stefano shook his head. “No, Vittorio. She wouldn’t have told any of us.”

A tendril of something red drifted through the tranquil colors in his mind. Vittorio had known all along. He was hoping his older brother would reassure him that wasn’t so. “Why the hell would Eloisa not inform us there was an untrained rider, capable of giving us children? What the fuck does she have to gain by not telling us? It makes no sense at all. None.”

“She made Francesca feel awful for not producing children,” Emmanuelle pointed out.

“I could have met her sooner and protected her from all of this.” Vittorio had watched Grace suffering. She hadn’t complained about the pain in her shattered shoulder, but he could see the agony etched into her face. She’d been so white her skin was nearly gray. He could see silent tears tracking down at times. She hadn’t been able to sleep lying down, and pain woke her intermittently. “She would have been safe from Phillips and the Saldis.”

“We don’t know for certain if Eloisa knew she is a rider, Vittorio,” Emmanuelle cautioned. She put a hand on his arm. “She’s so lost right now. She can’t take Stefano banning her. It’s a really big deal to her.”

“She knew,” Vittorio said with absolute certainty. “She met her in person. She knew. The big deal to her is that she no longer has Francesca as her whipping post.”

Mariko ducked her head for a moment and then she lifted it. “Your mother is in pain. Not just lost, but in pain. I see it in her eyes. She lashes out at everyone because she’s hurting. It’s sad.”

Ricco leaned over and brushed a kiss on the top of her blond head. “You are so forgiving, farfallina mia.”

“We are not,” Stefano said.

Vittorio echoed his older brother’s sentiment. It was hard to forget their childhood and even harder to take Eloisa’s attacks on their women. Emmanuelle was the one to always try to soothe her, but more often than not, Eloisa seemed to revel in tearing strips off of her. She found every reason to complain, mock and ridicule her. Nothing Emmanuelle ever did was right or good enough and yet she always helped her mother. Her brothers held Eloisa’s treatment of their beloved younger sister against Eloisa more than almost anything else.

“Let’s circle back to Phillips. There’s no explanation for Eloisa or her treatment of her daughters-in-law. We know Phillips can’t get to Francesca or Stefano,” Vittorio said. “He won’t be able to get to Eloisa, all the precautions are in place as they are in all of our homes. What about Lucia, Amo and Nicoletta? He might not know our connection to them, but we can’t take any chances.”