Page 115 of Of Fate and Phantoms
Gawler screwed his cap in his hands and stood with his back to the fire. He met Lincoln's gaze steadily, albeit warily. The mix of uncertainty yet determination were at odds. "Thank you for seeing me, sir. I thought you might not let me in."
"We're not enemies," Lincoln said. "You've done nothing wrong."
"Aye, but my friends…my pack…I heard what happened. It affects all of us, not just them."
"You mean that woman's death?" I asked cautiously. My stomach churned and I worried I would toss up my breakfast. "We're sorry for your loss."
"I appreciate that, but I know she done wrong. They told me what happened."
"Her family," I muttered, hardly daring to ask the question, but knowing I had to ask it. "Did she have a husband? Children?"
"A husband but no children."
I nodded, numb. Lincoln placed his hand on my lower back. "What else did your friends tell you about last night?" he asked Gawler.
"That King ordered them to kill you while he took your friend to his rooms to—" He shook his head. "I…I didn't expect that. You must understand, I thought he'd be different with her. I wouldn't have sent her to him if I thought he'd treat her like one of the females in his pack, like he had a right to her."
"Why are you here?" Lincoln asked.
"King's dead."
Lincoln's hand at my back tensed.
"My God," I said. "How?"
"Someone stabbed him in the night, right there in his lodgings. Police are crawling over it now, looking for clues, interviewing the landlady."
I felt a little weak and had to sit down. Lincoln rested his hand on my shoulder. I didn't look at him. Couldn't. Had he ordered King's death? Or had he told Gillingham to do it? Had that been what their brief conversation had been about last night?
"Who did it?" Lincoln asked. "Do your friends know?" It was impossible to tell from his voice whether he was surprised by the murder or was simply asking the question to deflect suspicion.
"They'd gone home. They saw nothing." Gawler cleared his throat. "I came to tell you that with King dead there's no need to trouble my pack no more."
"You're their leader now?" Lincoln asked.
Gawler nodded. "They'll follow my orders, and I ain't like King. I won't put them in danger like he did. I won't order them to hurt anyone. So you can leave them in peace."
"I intended to, but I need their names and current addresses for my records. The whereabouts of people like your friends must be known at all times."
Gawler hesitated then nodded. Lincoln retrieved paper from the desk by the window and dipped the pen in the ink. Gawler recited the names and addresses of his pack, including that of the deceased woman.
"I'll be off now," he said as Lincoln returned the pen to the stand. "Give my regards to your friend, miss. Tell her if she wants to go for a run again to come see me. There won't be no initiations with me. She won't have to do nothing she don't want to. Just run."
"Thank you, Mr. Gawler," I said, offering up a weak smile. "I'll pass on your message."
Lincoln saw him out just as Doyle drove the coach around. With Seth and Gus too injured, he'd volunteered to drive us to the palace. I secretly suspected he wanted to glimpse the elegance of the place, even if only from the outside.
Lincoln assisted me into the cabin then ordered Doyle to drive on once we settled. We sat in silence for a moment until Lincoln broke it. "You have something you wish to ask me," he said.
Sometimes, his ability to know what I was thinking unnerved me. "I'll just come out and say it. Lincoln, if you had a hand in King's death…if you ordered it, I want you to know that I understand why. You don't have to lie to me."
"I didn't do it, nor did I order it, but I don't blame you for jumping to that conclusion, considering my past."
I blew out a breath, more relieved than I expected to be. King had been thoroughly unlikable and was incredibly dangerous; not only because of his own power to change into multiple forms but because of the power he held over his pack. They would have done anything for him, including committing murder.
"I assume the man paying King to impersonate the prince consort did it," Lincoln went on. "Or possibly Gillingham. It wouldn't surprise me if he ordered King's murder out of revenge."
"It wouldn't surprise me either. Gillingham doesn't like to lose. He's a fool if he did order it, though. We needed to follow King to learn about the man paying him."
