Phantom Shadows by Dianne Duvall Read Free Book Online Page B

perceived how crazy the bastard was. Or would become.
    “And who else would know the original drug wasn’t powerful enough?” Darnell continued. “Only someone who had interacted directly with Montrose Keegan and had access to his notes and those damned movies Dennis made of the battles. As far as we know, Keegan didn’t talk to anyone else.”
    “As far as we know,” Roland reiterated.
    Chris shook his head. “I don’t know who he could have talked to. Anyone else would have had him committed if he had started rambling about vampires and immortals.”
    “It’s worth looking into,” Bastien said, seeing where Roland was going and reluctantly agreeing. “When I worked with Montrose, he worked alone. I’m certain of it. Even when I pressured him to speed up his research. But I was sane.”
    “That’s debatable,” Roland muttered.
    Bastien ignored him. “Dennis wasn’t. If Montrose feared him even more than he did me—”
    “He did,” Ami spoke up. “When Dennis took me to Keegan’s lab”—she swallowed as if just saying the word resurrected fears that threatened to choke her—“Montrose was terrified of him. And there was blood. Old blood. On some of the papers I rifled through looking for a weapon. And on the walls. I don’t know what happened down there, but . . .” She shook her head. “Montrose was visibly shaking while Dennis talked to him. He was terrified of him.”
    Marcus drew Ami closer and kissed the top of her head.
    Bastien nodded. “If Dennis was pressuring Montrose to find a drug that would incapacitate us or at least weaken us enough to defeat, I’m sure he was issuing more frightening ultimatums than I did. Montrose may have taken his plea for aid to others besides Emrys.”
    Chris retrieved a small spiral notebook and a number two pencil from his jacket pocket. Flipping the notebook open, he began to scribble notes. “I’ll look into other med school chums. Hell, I’ll look into all of his old school chums, both those he kept in contact with and those he didn’t.”
    Sarah pointed to Chris’s notebook. “You might want to check out the professors he studied with while pursuing his doctorate.” Until Roland had turned her, Sarah had been a music theory professor at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “His students, too. Particularly any grad students with whom he worked closely.”
    Nodding, Chris continued to write.
    “Did he have any family?” Darnell asked.
    Bastien shook his head. “Just his brother Casey. Casey said their parents were killed in a car accident almost a decade ago. It’s why Montrose was so protective of him.”
    “What about grandparents?” Sheldon asked.
    Tracey snorted. “How the hell would grandparents fit into the equation?”
    Sheldon shrugged. “Money? I don’t know.”
    Chris kept writing. “I already looked into that. The grandparents are dead. Both sides of the family.”
    “What about girlfriends?” Sarah suggested.
    Étienne scoffed. “Who the hell would date Montrose Keegan?”
    “Hey,” Sarah retorted, “some women choose brains over brawn.”
    He tossed her a flirty grin. “You didn’t. But if you’re of a mind to . . . have I by any chance mentioned that at university I—” Étienne’s file folder flew up and hit him in the face a moment before his chair was telekinetically yanked out from under him, landing him on his ass.
    Even Bastien had to laugh.
    Grabbing the chair with a curse, Étienne regained his feet and once more seated himself beside his siblings. “Are you going to do this every time we have a meeting?”
    “Are you going to flirt with her every time we have a meeting?” Roland ground out.
    Étienne muttered something in French.
    The chuckles quieted.
    Seth leaned back in his chair. “All right. Now that we know a little more about the attack on Bastien last night, let us discuss how to address this latest threat while Chris pursues his leads.”

Chapter 3
    Melanie listened quietly as