Page 27 of Shifter and the Succubus (The Pack #1)

Kyle pulled up to the Shamat hospital. “Let me know when you’re done. I have to go save Callie from Misha, or actually, I might be saving Misha from Callie before she offs him. You don’t mess with Callie on a normal day, let alone when she is counting the days until that baby is born.”

Jason chuckled before reaching for the door handle. “Good luck with that.” He headed into the hospital, and the receptionist took him back to an exam room.

A few minutes later Sabrina walked into the room. “Morning. Did you get a good night’s sleep?”

He hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in weeks. “Sure.”

Sabrina shook her head. “You are becoming a terrible liar.”

He smiled. “So I used to be a good liar?”

She growled at him! Actually growled, and he liked it way too much.

“Just tell me the truth.”

“Fine. My sleep has been crap since I got shot. My brain won’t turn off at night.”

She nodded. “It’s understandable. You’ve had a lot going on. Hopefully we can find out more about your biological parents. I also want to take some more blood.”

He sighed. “What’s with the pincushion routine, Doc?”

“I’ve asked someone else to help with your case. Hopefully they can figure out something to help your animal and you communicate.”

“Dr. Henderson from the pack hospital?”

“I have spoken to him about your case, but he hasn’t seen what is happening with your animal before.” She hesitated for a beat. “So I have called in a geneticist.”

At this point the more the merrier. “Okay.”

She pulled out the supplies and extracted several vials of blood. “Did Griffin find anything in the shifter database for you on Jessica or her mom?”

He shook his head. “No. The names weren’t in there, but I’m not surprised since they were hiding out. It would have been too easy for it to be their actual names.”

Someone knocked and Sabrina told them to come in.

The door opened and Misha popped his head inside. Kyle must have kicked him out of the house for his own safety. “You about done in here?” he asked.

Sabrina pulled off her gloves and threw them in the bin. “Yes.”

Misha stepped inside and shut the door. “I’ve got some preliminary news on Jonathan Rowling, the lawyer who helped with your adoption.”

Already? “Did you stay up last night working on this?” Jason asked.

Misha grinned. “Maybe. Rowling used to be an attorney based in Chicago back around the time you were born. He handled general law—wills, trusts, power of attorney, that kind of thing. From what I have found so far, he closed shop permanently shortly after you turned twelve.”

Jason stood. “That would track. My mom said she tried to call him after my birthday to let him know that everything was okay, but she couldn’t get through to him.”

“Is he a shifter?” Sabrina asked.

“He isn’t registered with the Bureau by that name, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he isn’t a supe. We still have some who don’t like making themselves known for various reasons. But the more interesting thing is that after his law firm closed, Rowling dropped off the radar.”

“Dead?” Jason asked.

“Didn’t find any evidence of that. It’s like he doesn’t exist.”

Jason’s stomach twisted. “So it’s a dead end?”

“I didn’t say that.” Misha’s eyes lit up. “It’s just more of a challenge. I have started to dig a bit deeper. I think he either went underground or set up a new identity. And that in itself tells us something.”

Jason had trouble following. “Clue me in, would you?”

“It means that he isn’t just some lawyer who helped with the adoption. And if that’s the case, he might know more about your biological family and why Jessica hid you away.”

His heart sped up. “Except we have to find him.”

Misha grinned. “Yep. And that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

Jason was glad that someone was confident about what the hell was going on. “How?”

“Well, I’m free to work for a bit. Kyle wanted to spend some time with Callie.”

Jason glanced at Sabrina, whose eyes were dancing. He could tell she knew that Kyle had stepped in to give Callie a break.

“I plan on visiting with someone today who can hopefully help us find Rowling.”

“I’m going too.” He caught the look between Sabrina and Misha. “And before you say anything, I need to go.” And to get his mind off what was happening to him.

Misha nodded. “Fine.”

Jason blew out a breath. “Look at it this way, you get to sedate me if I hulk out. I know you’ve wanted to push that button.”

Misha shook his head. “Not true, my friend. Others, maybe. My brother, Aleksei, sometimes. But not you.”

The mark of a true friend? Not wanting to knock his ass out.

“Who are we going to see?” Jason asked.

“Larry is a Dalmot demon who creates new identities,” Misha said as he stopped at a red light.

“And we let him continue to do this because?”

“Because it’s a needed job for supernaturals. If we are going to continue to hide under the radar from humans, supes have to be able to start over again as someone new at different times in their long lives.”

“And you think he can help us find Rowling?”

“Not directly. But he can hopefully point us in the right direction.”

Jason was a bit surprised by their destination. Since they were meeting with a guy who created new identities, he had expected a run-down building, not a split-level ranch in the suburbs. They parked and headed to the side door.

Misha knocked on the door and stepped back when his phone beeped. “It’s Callie. I have to get this.” He started back down the sidewalk to the van and answered his phone. Jason turned around when the door opened and a large man—no, demon—appeared.

Jason’s internal alarm sounded when the demon glared at him.

“We’re here to see Larry,” Jason said.

Instead of responding, the guy charged him. Jason dodged out of the way. He kicked the side of the demon’s knee, toppling him to the ground. He crouched, ready to fight again, his heart pumping as adrenaline surged through him.

Always underestimate the human, huh?

Jason wrenched his arms behind him, and the demon cursed and put up a struggle as Jason zip-tied him. Might not be carrying his gun, but that didn’t mean Jason didn’t have other things at his disposal.

“Are you okay?” Misha called out, jogging toward him.

He blew out a breath. “I’m fine.”

Misha helped Jason lift the big guy to his feet. They headed inside, walking into a kitchen. An older male sat at a table in the attached dining room. He didn’t bat an eye when Misha pushed the tied-up guy into a chair and he groaned.

“Hello, Misha.”

“Larry. What’s with the muscle?”

Larry sighed. “He’s new. I’ve had some unsavory types trying to use my services.

” He glanced at Jason and gave him the once-over.

“Humans who want me to help them disappear. He’s supposed to help dissuade them from doing business with me.

Maybe a vampire bodyguard would be better.

Although most of them are too arrogant to be willing to work for a demon. ”

“Larry,” Misha said.

After a moment he focused on Misha. “Sorry. What can I do for you today?”

“We’re looking for someone. They disappeared.”

Larry nodded. “And you think they’ve changed their identity.”

“Yes,” Misha said. “At this point we don’t even know if they’re supe or not.”

“You know my code.”

Misha held up his hand. “I’m not asking you to betray a client. This isn’t someone you would have worked on.”

“But you think someone else helped him disappear?” Larry asked.

“Yes. We want you to put out feelers to see if someone can help us find him.”

Larry pointed at the seats across from him.

Jason nodded toward the guard. “I can untie him.”

Larry narrowed his eyes at the guard. “You going to behave if he lets you go?”

The guy nodded and Jason released him. He backed up when the guy lumbered to his feet, scowled, and stomped out of the room.

Larry shook his head. “That’s what I get for letting my wife talk me into hiring her sister’s kid. So. Where were we?”

“We need you to reach out to your connections.”

“Right! I can’t guarantee that they would be willing to help. We can’t stay in business long if we rat out the people we’re hired to hide.”

Misha nodded. “Understandable. But we don’t want to arrest this person. We just want to talk to them.”

“How does this all work exactly?” Jason asked, gesturing to the computers and documents spread over the table.

Larry settled back in his chair like he was ramping up to tell a story.

“There are various ways to help someone with a new identity. At the lowest level, you provide them with new identification. That worked years ago, and for some it still works. But now we have to deal with technology, which makes things way more complicated.”

“Because they leave a trail,” Misha said.

“Exactly. Any supe with half a brain doesn’t plaster themselves all over social media if they can help it. But I know that’s becoming harder with the young ones who don’t understand that what they put out there is permanent and confusing when they still look the same age a hundred years from now.

“And of course, identification is becoming trickier as well with imbedded 3-D symbols and all that jazz. But I can still make documentation with the best of them. And if they move to another place, it makes the process easier. For many of our people, they’re multilingual and can move to other parts of the world if necessary. ”

“What do you do for those who have a digital footprint?” Jason asked.

Larry smiled. “That would be what I would call my deluxe package. And it’s pricey because of all the work involved with removing their background as best as possible from the Net. I have subbed that out to my two granddaughters. They are wicked hackers if I do say so myself.”

Misha’s eyes lit up. “I would love to talk to them sometime to compare notes.”

“You’re a tech guru yourself, Misha. I’m surprised you would need our help.”

“I could probably figure it out eventually, but we need to find this guy sooner rather than later. Plus its tricky since he dropped out of sight over twenty-five years ago.”