“I don’t have to look it up. High-dollar SUV, professional thugs with top-of-the-line equipment, fake plates. That’s Clifford Bradley.” Pablo shook his head. “He’s dangerous. Very dangerous. Even for you, I think.”

“If he’s so dangerous, why haven’t I heard of him?” Dylan asked.

“He’s a recent arrival. From Atlanta, but he works the entire country. He also doesn’t have his finger in things you’d be involved in—you’ll never see him at the Shifter fight club or throwing back a beer at a local bar. He’s high dollar. The higher the better. He has clients in New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris . . .”

“Clients for what?” Dylan asked in his quiet voice.

“Drugs mostly. The very expensive kind that fund wars. Weapons. Diamonds. Anything he can move that’s sought after by the ultrarich and untouchable. I’m too small-time for him—I don’t even think he knows I’m alive. Fine with me. I leave him alone.”

“Why would he try to take Olaf?” Maria asked. “Not for ransom, was it?” She knew that kidnapping was a lucrative business in some third-world countries. Even people who couldn’t pay much for the return of their loved ones would manage to pay something.

On the other hand, though Shifters had more resources than most humans realized, they were perceived to live close to the bone. A man who dealt in diamonds might not believe he’d get much from Shifters.

Pablo spread his hands. “I’ve heard rumors—and I haven’t heard them lately—that some very rich people like to keep captive Shifters, especially when they’re young.” He swallowed and looked at the Shifters, who were watching him in absolute stillness. “As pets.”

Silence descended. Outside the office, the clink, clink of tools went on, a sudden clatter and a swear word in Spanish as someone dropped a wrench.

Ellison was the first to speak, his Texas drawl toned way down. “And you didn’t bother to tell us this, because . . . ?”

“I said I hadn’t heard of it happening lately. Last time was before I ever met you.”

Dylan remained in place, standing with the utter stillness of a big cat as he watched prey play not far from him. Entirely his choice whether to remain quiet and not attack, or reach out and take down the unfortunate animal within reach. Sean stood as quietly as his father, and Maria swore she saw the sword’s hilt on his back shimmer once.

Ellison and Spike were just as still. Maria stood close enough to Ellison to hear the low growl working up in his throat. Spike’s hands balled into fists, the tatts on his arms stretching, while his dark eyes pinned Marquez, who wet his lips.

Maria knew enough about Shifter encounters to know who had all the power in this room. It wasn’t Marquez with his guys outside and probably weapons hidden everywhere. Dylan ruled, with Sean, Ellison, and Spike tying for second. Marquez was at the bottom of the food chain, and Maria was neutral, an observer, and protected. If Marquez made any attempt to use her as leverage over the Shifters, he’d die quickly, and by the look on his face, he knew it.

“I want to meet this Bradley,” Dylan said.

“No, you really don’t,” Marquez said quickly. “He has ice in his veins. He doesn’t care about family, or life, or even the stuff he buys with his money. It’s all about him being in control. He’s . . . what do you call those people with no conscience? A sociopath.”

“Find out,” Dylan said in a hard voice. “I want to know for certain if he’s behind the attempted abduction, and where he is now, and then I will meet him. He’s made a mistake.”

“Yeah, I know.” Pablo rubbed his forehead. “Austin’s your territory. You said.”

Maria had to lean around Ellison to ask her question. “What happens to the cubs when they get too big to handle?”

Pablo shrugged, looking uneasy. “I don’t know. They keep them on as bodyguards, maybe as servants? I have no idea.”

“You will find out,” Dylan said. Not a suggestion.

Maria knew that no grown Shifter would allow him– or herself to live as a servant or bodyguard against his or her will. Even the smallest of cubs could be difficult to manage—she knew how much she struggled to make Olaf mind her, and he was one of the more docile cubs. She watched Spike chase little Jordan around Shiftertown every day, and Spike was . . . Spike.

Cubs went through Transitions to adulthood at some point. Scott, another of Ronan’s brood, was going through his Transition—hormones flooding his body and filling him with mating frenzy, which made him crazed and dangerous. And whenever humans thought a Shifter endangered them . . .

“They kill them,” Maria said, her mouth stiff. “Don’t they?”

“Maybe,” Pablo said.

The sword definitely shimmered that time. Dylan fixed Pablo with a gaze that had become white blue. “Find out every single person who’s bought a captured Shifter and what happened to that Shifter. I want names and locations. I want them soon.”

“I don’t work for you,” Pablo said. “You know that, right?”

Dylan flicked his gaze up and down Pablo, and Pablo’s face lost a little color. “Do it,” Dylan said. “As a favor.”

“You’re asking for a hell of a favor. Does that mean you’ll owe me one back?”

Dylan held his gaze a moment longer then turned and walked away in silence, fading into the shadows.

Spike and Sean followed, their rigid backs betraying their barely contained rage. Ellison pivoted but remained as a shield between Maria and Pablo as he started to walk her out.

“You’re Maria Ortega, am I right?” Pablo asked in Spanish.

Maria stopped. Ellison did too, turning to face Pablo but again keeping himself a protective barrier for Maria.

“Why?” Maria countered.

“You’re the one they brought back from Mexico,” Pablo went on, switching to English, which meant he wanted Ellison to know what they were talking about. “From the feral pack. I heard how your brother treated you when you tried to live with him. If you want, I could always explain to him that he needs to be kinder to you.”

Maria thought about her brother and his old-fashioned ideas about how women should fit into the family. They were to be pure angels, married off to men of their parents’ choice, to produce children to strengthen the line. A ruined woman was of no value at all, except to be unpaid help to her brothers and sisters and their children.