Around bites, Ben described what he’d done at the Shifter bar in Houston, and what he’d overheard.
Kendrick turned the information over in his head. They were looking for Dylan’s stash of—what? Ben also said they were looking for a “place” and needed a human to do the deal. For what? Buying a building? A piece of property? Probably.
Dylan suspected they wanted to set up their own compound, so it must be related to that. They would need a human to purchase property, or at least make it look like the human was buying the property.
They wanted to use the fight club, at least at first, to determine hierarchy. Hmm. Kendrick could work with that.
“What did this Lupine look like?” he asked. “The one in the bar who told the others he knew me?”
Ben shrugged. He poured an entire glassful of orange juice into his mouth, swallowed it, and refilled his glass from the pitcher. “He looked like a Lupine. Shaggy black hair, gray eyes. Attitude.”
Kendrick held on to his patience. “Anything else?”
“Scar on his forehead.” Ben traced below his hairline. “The others called him Darien.”
“Ah,” Kendrick said, his heart sinking. Darien was a Lupine somewhat down the hierarchy, who’d given him no trouble before. Unnerving. “And the guy in the parking lot talking to the Feline? You couldn’t tell what he was?”
“Shifter, human, one of those, probably. Not Fae—I’d have recognized that right off. I couldn’t see very well though, and was too far away to hear him.”
Kendrick fell silent. Ben had gathered a lot of information in one night, things he and Dylan hadn’t been able to find out in months, so he couldn’t fault Ben for not having the final piece of intel.
“What about the Shifter who stabbed you? Who was he?”
Ben looked sheepish. “He snuck up on me. I don’t know if he clocked me planting the listening device but he sure saw me watching the lead Feline. Don’t worry, I wiped his memory.”
Addie, who’d been helping Charlie serve, sat down and looked at Ben in astonishment. “You can do that?”
Ben wriggled his fingers. “It’s a talent I have.”
“So, why don’t you sit down with these Shifters and pretend to join them?” Addie asked. “Then when they’ve told you everything, wipe their memories for that time?”
“A thought,” Ben said. Another glass of juice disappeared. Even Shifters couldn’t eat like this guy.
“Drawbacks,” Kendrick said. “They’d forget what they’d planned and plan it all over again, maybe changing that plan in subtle ways. We might be waiting for them to set up in one corner of the state and they’d have picked another without us knowing.”
“Mm,” Ben said as he swallowed. “Good point. I do have other talents, don’t worry.” He winked at Addie, and she gave him a warm smile.
“So, what do we do now, boss?” Ben asked.
Stuff all the crazy Shifters in a room and sedate them so Kendrick could explore the mate-claim with Addie.
“If they’re using the fight club,” Kendrick said, tamping down on his impatience, “we go to the fight club.”
“What’s a fight club?” Addie asked.
Ben answered before Kendrick could. “Shifters meeting to fight each other for fun. And profit—betting is heavy. They’ve been doing this for a few years now. Helps them work off steam, apparently. There are a few fight clubs around these parts. Secret, or supposed to be. A lot of humans go though, to cheer on their favorites and win money.”
“Fight clubs are illegal,” Kendrick said. “Both by human law and Shifter. Shifter leaders look the other way but humans shut them down.”