Marc’s lips twitched.“I wanted to ask if Joseph had transferred all the information over to us yet.”
Shawn nodded.“It’s taken him long enough.”It had been five days since they’d visited El’s parents’ home.“I’ve logged all the stuff and have been rifling through it.Everything checks out thus far—he wasn’t lying when he said Jessa skipped out, and has carried on doing so for the last thirty years.”
“What do we think then?She’s dead?Or in cat form?”
“As far as I can tell, she had no enemies.Not in the ‘human’ life she left, anyway.She was a good journalist, had a great reputation for integrity.Her pieces were going to get her an award someday.That was definitely on the cards.”
“So, what went wrong?”
He shrugged.“She met Joseph?Seems to be the slippery slope for a lot of people.”
Marc chuckled.“The guy’s like bad luck personified.”
“Seems that way.”
“I guess it makes sense.He’d be the catalyst, wouldn’t he?If Jessa had found her mate, and her family weren’t happy with The Mother’s choice, that would put her in danger if she was willing to cross them.”
“Let’s face it.She’s El’s mother.Of course she’d have the balls to cross them.Hell, those two answer the whole nurture vs nature thing.It’s in El’s blood to be feisty—she had to get it from somewhere.”
Marc smirked.“Yeah.Sounds about right.”He took another sip of beer.“Did you find anything else in the documents?”
“Not so far as I can tell.Jessa Rodriguez Garcia was a journalist by day, and whatever she did by night was nobody’s business—at least, the people investigating her could never figure out whatever she did when the sun dropped.”
Marc scowled.“Did you say Rodriguez Garcia?”
Shawn nodded.“Yup.That’s her full name.”
Letting out a deep sigh, he mumbled, “I think we’ve found our issue.”
Shawn curled upward into a seating position.“What is it?”
“The Pantera have a relatively new leader—well, new for them.He’s only been in charge for eight years.”Marc clenched his jaw.“Before him, his uncle reigned.Until he was in an accident.”
“What kind of accident?”
“A sleeping with the fishes kind of accident,” Marc said wryly.“His name was Rodriguez Garcia.Before he turned it to Pantera, that is.”
Shawn stiffened.“How do you know that?”
“I was reading background checks on the Pantera.Leaders, past and present, to figure out what their current motivations might be.”
“So, you mean to tell me El’s the granddaughter of the last Pantera Council leader?”
Marc closed his eyes and nodded.“We just can’t catch a fucking break, can we?”
With the smileon her face feeling positively frozen, El allowed Leilani to glower at her over the dinner table.
She was here because of Ryan.
The statement was becoming a mantra.
She had it on repeat in her head, because if it was on repeat that was the only way she would stop herself from stabbing Leilani in the eye with a fork.
God, the woman’s hatred and prejudice nearly leapfrogged off the damn table and bitchslapped El in the face.
She wasn’t sure how long she could stand to be viewed with such disrespect before she snapped.
El had always been seen a certain way throughout most of her life.The only scorn she’d been on the receiving end was from the mean girl’s at school and her parents and brothers.
