Too damn fucking early.
Swinging open Roni’s front door, Marcus glared at Dante. “You know, this new ‘getting woken up at the crack of dawn’ thing isn’t working out so well for me.” It was still freaking dark outside.
Like last time, the Beta pushed a mug of coffee into his hand. “Get ready and come to the main lodge. We need to talk about Brunt.”
Closing the door, Marcus turned to find Roni doing an almost feline stretch, dressed in only his T-shirt. “Did you hear that?”
“Yep. It’s obviously important. Doesn’t mean I won’t put salt in the bastard’s coffee.”
When Marcus and Roni entered the main lodge a short while later, they found Shaya, Taryn, and Jaime huddled at one end of the table while Nick, Derren, Trey, Dante, and Ryan were seated at the other end. The females didn’t even look up from whatever notes they were making, and Roni guessed it was most likely something to do with the plans for the mating ceremony tomorrow night.
Once Marcus and Roni both poured themselves a cup of coffee and helped themselves to some cereal, they took a seat at the table.
“So, what warranted the early wake-up call?” asked Marcus before scooping a spoonful of Cheerios into his mouth.
“The fact that I have a feeling it’s going to be a long-ass day,” replied Trey. “As I’ve already explained to Nick and Derren . . . there’s a problem.”
Roni frowned. “What?”
“We can’t get to Brunt.”
“He’s well protected?”
“No, he’s in jail.”
Marcus paused with the spoon halfway to his mouth. “Jail?”
Trey nodded. “He didn’t make bail.”
Marcus shrugged. “So, then, we go to his apartment, take a look around.”
“We can’t risk it,” Nick told him. “As you know, a lot of accused shifters are ‘named and shamed’—their personal details are leaked to the extremists, who not only expose those details on their website, but hang around their addresses, holding billboards and marching. Right now, Brunt’s place is surrounded by them.”
“Shit,” hissed Roni. “Did Rhett find anything on him?”
Dante answered, “He managed to get ahold of his criminal records and basic details such as where he works and his date of birth, but that’s all. Brunt’s a hacker; he was able to delete his proverbial paper trail.”
“We know that he’s a lone shifter.” Trey drummed his fingers on the table. “He was banished from his pack when he was twenty-three. No reason was given publicly.”
Marcus took a sip of his coffee. “What’s his criminal history?”
“Short. There were accusations of stalking young girls when he was a juvenile, but nothing ever went to court. I’m assuming his pack somehow covered it up. But when he was twenty-four, he was accused of harassing a human female. Same thing again a couple of years later. Then a year after that, his human ex-girlfriend got a restraining order against him, but it’s not clear why. One thing we’re quite sure of is that he’s the jackals’ ‘tech guy.’”
Marcus cocked his head. “What makes you so sure?”
“When Rhett hacked into his criminal files, he was able to see a clear picture of Brunt—including the Chinese symbols on his arms. He managed to translate them. They’re three letters.”
“Let me guess,” drawled Marcus. “S, N, M?” At Trey’s nod, he growled.
“At least we know who the motherfucker is.” Roni briefly stroked Marcus’s thigh, still not feeling good at the whole soothing thing. Before she could pull her hand back, he gripped it tight.
“Brunt’s court date is in a few days’ time.” Trey folded his arms over his chest. “If the case is thrown out of court, we can get our hands on him—though we’ll have to be careful, since the extremists will most likely be waiting outside the courthouse. If he isn’t released, there’s no way of us getting to him—at least, not for a long time.”
Derren twisted his mouth. “Let’s hope Eliza’s as good as she claims to be, or we won’t get our answers from Brunt.”
Ryan leaned back in his seat. “In the meantime, we could talk to people who know him—friends, colleagues. They might know about his habits, might have heard about some place he likes to go.”
“No.” Roni shook her head. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned from all this, it’s that talking to ‘friends’ and ‘associates’ doesn’t help much. We need to speak to someone he pissed off. They’ll be willing to talk.” Ryan’s brows raised slightly, and he nodded his approval.
“We could speak to the ex-girlfriend who got a restraining order against him,” suggested Dante. “From what Rhett discovered, she lives in New York now.”
Nick smiled. “That’s when private jets come in handy.”
Dante balked and then spat a mouthful of coffee on the kitchen floor. “Roni,” he whined. She shrugged innocently while the others laughed.
It turned out that Brunt’s human ex-girlfriend, Margo Lincoln, was a librarian. Apparently he went for the quiet, timid, academic type. She was also pretty unfriendly and amazingly observant. She’d taken one look at Roni and Taryn as they approached her in one of the aisles of the library, and said, “You’re shifters.”
Taryn smiled. “And you’re smart, Margo Lincoln.”
“It’s the way you all move—controlled, graceful, stealthily.” Her tone held a tint of bitterness.
“You seem to know a lot about shifters.” The human said nothing. “I’m Taryn. This is Roni.” As Roni was busy sucking on a lollipop, she simply gave Margo a short nod.
Turning away, Margo inserted one of the many books she was holding onto a shelf. “If you’re here about Noah Brunt, I have nothing to say.”