“McNamara.”
Santiago nodded.“Mr.McNamara.It will come as no surprise to you that there is a smaller subsection of feline Shifters in the area.”
“You trying to tell me that James was a, what?Panther Shifter?”Shawn scoffed.
“You didn’t know he was a traitor.Why would you know he was a Shifter?”
“Because I’ve seen the signs before,” Shawn snapped, and hated how Erickson’s words dug deep and raked along his skin like claws tipped in acid.“He displayed none.He was even-tempered, cool under pressure.Never rippled, not once, under fire.”In times of stress, Shifters could and would phase in and out as the magic of the shift overtook them in the most perilous of situations.
“That just means he was good at hiding it.Doesn’t mean he wasn’t a Shifter.Anyway, we’ll find out once the autopsy’s through.”
“Is there some kind of trouble between Panthers and Lions?”Shawn demanded, wanting to know what kind of shitstorm El had landed in.
“Not usually, but things change if they were aware of her connection to Ryan.”
Shawn shook his head.“That can’t be.They only met for the first time tonight, Santiago.”
“Do you know how they met?”
“Some online dating site.”
“Was it called Pride in Love?”Erickson asked, then grimaced when Shawn nodded.“That’s how he knew.It’s a dating site for Pride members.First dates only happen rarely though.The connection has to be strong for a man to even contemplate taking it to that level.”
Shawn frowned.“What’s complicated about a first date?Isn’t that the olive branch?”
“Not for us.”Adam grimaced.“It’s complicated.But trust us, if Pantera knew about the site like you did, then he’d have figured something out.Did he run a background check on Ryan?”
“Of course.”
“Well, there you have it.There’s definitely a link.One we’ll need to investigate to ascertain exactly what’s going on here.”
A small bubble of sound exploded behind Shawn, and he half-turned and saw the little crowd gathered on the porch of the big house was still watching the goings-on.
“Better than soaps, huh?”Shawn asked Adam.
“Anything to do with Ryan is always fodder for gossip.”The PA jerked his chin at the yard beside the house.“That’s why they’re whispering.Ryan’s on his way.”
Shawn frowned into the darkness, barely managing to make out a moving figure.Shifter senses were, naturally, a hundred, maybe a thousand times stronger than a human’s so he didn’t feel too badly that he only saw Ryan when the man walked under an automatic spotlight.
“Santiago, Erickson,” Ryan called out in greeting as he stepped toward them, his feet making crunching sounds as he walked over gravel before hitting the paved drive.“Thanks for coming.”
The two cops beamed at their leader.“It’s an honor, sir.”
“A pleasure,” Santiago mumbled after Erickson.
“You managed to figure out what the hell’s going on?”
Adam shook his head.“They only arrived twenty minutes ago, Ryan.But we’ve pieced some things together.The guard… his surname was Pantera.”
Ryan froze, then shot Shawn a look.“You’ve explained to Mr.McNamara exactly who the Panteras are?”
“Kind of,” Adam confirmed.“Just that they all take on the same surname when they reach maturity.”
The leader blinked at that, then turned to Shawn.“They consider it a rite of passage for the males.They legally change their name as they pledge themselves to their den.”
“Why?”
“It’s just something they do.Why do human females change their surname when they marry?”Ryan shrugged.“It’s a tradition.”
