Quincy nodded. “Yeah. Now, that’s all I’ve found so far. And that’s all that’s under that name. I’d be surprised, if they’re dealing with anyone with half a brain, if they don’t have other names.”
Chad glanced over at Jamie. “Think you can find them?”
Jamie hesitated. “Maybe? I don’t know. I mean… I’m not any better than he is.” He tilted his head toward Quincy.
Quincy shrugged. “I don’t know about that, but working together, we should be able to find it.”
“Still, it’s a step in the right direction. Let’s see what else we can find. Cell phone records, e-mail, anything like that. We need more than just numbers transferring. And we still need to figure out where those are going to.” Chad rubbed his face.
“There are at least three separate accounts the transfers are coming from, and a couple that they’re going to. I just haven’t found yet what those go to.” Quincy shook his head. “That’s going to take more time. Following numbered accounts takes a while.”
Chad nodded. “Then it takes a while. We need that information before we do more.”
Quincy went back to the computer and brought up the bank records again. He frowned. “Part of the problem is that the transfer goes to another bank, right? But once there, the amounts aren’t the same. The money then gets held there before the transfers get split up, which makes it hard to track what the next step is.”
“Makes sense, though, doesn’t it?” Miles asked. “If all the amounts were exactly the same, it’d be too easy to follow.”
“Yeah. So… we have some math to do. Ugh. That is not my favorite thing.” Quincy picked up his coffee cup, only to find it was empty. “How many have I had?” he asked, scowling into it.
“Um, I think that makes ten,” Miles said, smirking. “Good thing you’ve got such a high metabolism.”
“Maybe,” Quincy said, snorting. “Or maybe I wouldn’t need eleven cups to get this shit done if I didn’t.”
Miles laughed and took the cup, kissing the top of his head. “You worry about the work. I’ll worry about the coffee.”
Quincy nodded. “Thanks,” he said before turning his attention back to the data. “Any luck on e-mail accounts?” he asked Jamie.
Jamie shook his head. “Not yet. Going to take a while for that, I think. Same with cell phones. So far, I’m not finding any registered under either name. There was a number in Dee’s phone, but it went to the house phone at Thomas’s address, which we already knew. And I can’t believe he’d do all his work out of his house like that. That’s just asking to be caught.”
“Maybe he doesn’t care,” Chad suggested.
“Hmm.” Miles set Quincy’s refilled cup on the table. “Dee said he was arrogant. Maybe he thinks he’s untouchable?”
Quincy blinked. “Well, Abraham Thomas has attitude. He was one that always pissed both me and my father off. Charles Ross wasn’t much better.” He frowned. “It could be that we won’t find anything.”
“Uh… why not?” Jamie asked, tilting his head.
“They’re both pushing two hundred years old. Telephones weren’t even invented when they were born.”
“Maybe they’re Luddites?” Miles asked.
“That’s definitely possible.” Quincy made a face. “They always claimed technology was just going to cause problems.” He sighed and took a sip of coffee. “That means, though… there’s only so much we’ll find this way. There will be a trail. It’s impossible not to have one, but I’d bet we won’t find e-mails or cell phones or the like.”
“Ugh,” Chad grumbled. “Well, let’s get what we can, and we’ll worry about the rest later.”
Quincy sighed. “Yeah. There has to be a money trail back. So… math. Whee.”
“OKAY, MY eyes are crossing, but… I think I’ve got it. You’re not going to like it, though,” Quincy said, sighing.
“Wolf?” Chad asked.
Quincy nodded. “Yeah. I know the name, and he’s based here in New York. I, of course, don’t know where he is on the hierarchy of the pack or anything like that. But…. The cats aren’t the only ones he’s getting money from.”
Chad blinked. “No?”
“No.” Quincy shook his head. “There are also transfers coming in from a bank… in Denver.”
“What the fuck?” Jamie asked, scowling.
“Denver? What am I missing?” Chad asked. “Why does that sound familiar?”
“Denver is the American wolf headquarters,” Miles said quietly. “Where the alpha prime lives.”
“Oh fuck me,” Chad whispered. “But… would he really be involved in this?”
Jamie shrugged. “I have no idea. I could believe the xenophobia, but… this goes way beyond that.”
“That’s even an understatement,” Quincy said, frowning.
“Well, how the hell do we prove something like this? And what do we do with it?” Chad asked, looking from one to the next.
Quincy shook his head. “I don’t know. Has Noah gotten back to you about the cats?”
“Oh yeah,” Jamie said. “As far as he’s been able to tell, no one but New York and Forbes knows—and, he’s assuming, the prime.”
“Oh yeah, the prime knows,” Quincy said. “I’m sure of that.”
“Well. That narrows down the involvement, at least. What does that wolf have to do with it? And what’s his name?”
“Morgan Daniels,” Quincy said. “I have no idea.”
“A go-between?” Miles asked.
Chad frowned. “That’s possible. If the prime is involved in this, then he wouldn’t want a direct connection.”
“But… why?” Jamie asked, shaking his head.
“That I don’t know, and I suspect we won’t unless we get the prime to tell us himself. Suffice it to say, he is for now. The transfers are too coincidental. And I don’t believe in that much coincidence.” Chad turned to his board and wrote a big dollar sign at the top of the how column, then below it, Thomas’s name, Morgan Daniel’s name, and alpha prime, then drew lines between them. “Okay. We have a trail. Now… we have to prove it. A money exchange isn’t enough to prove they’re planning a war.”
Quincy shook his head. “No, it isn’t. I don’t know if your prime disdains technology as much as the elders do, but I’d bet anything we do find would be too vague to be useful.”
“Yeah, I’m sure it would.” Chad pointed to Jamie. “Look anyway. We might get lucky. In the meantime we need to see if we can find out where this guy is in pack structure. Miles, could you call Noah? Make sure, at least, he’s not the alpha here?”
Miles nodded. “Done.” He pulled his cell phone out and started dialing.
Quincy met Chad’s gaze. “I can’t believe what I’ve landed myself in.” He shook his head.
“Good thing Miles doesn’t shy away from a bit of trouble.” Chad grinned.
Quincy laughed. “Really.” He sobered. “Fuck, though. This has the potential to seriously fuck with both our kinds.”
Chad nodded. “Yeah, it does. If it’s true. We could be off base.”
“But you don’t think so,” Quincy said.
“No, I don’t.” Chad sighed. “We need proof. Then, I guess, we figure out where to go. If we do have proof of what your elders are up to, your father needs to know.”
“He’ll probably need to go to the tepey-iret.” Quincy frowned. “This is a fucking mess.”
“You can say that again,” Chad muttered, turning back to his board. “More fucking questions.” He shook his head. “Let’s get answers we can prove, then we’ll figure out who to talk to.”
“THIS CLUSTERFUCK just keeps getting better and better,” Chad groaned later that evening. He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes. “Okay, so, we have no e-mail, no phone records, nothing electronic except some driver’s license pictures and the bank records, is that right?”
“Yup,” Jamie said, sighing. “It’s just not there. Even the wolf—who I was glad to hear wasn’t
the alpha—doesn’t have much we can track. We can connect the money, but that’s all, and that’s no proof of anything except… they gave each other money.”
Quincy had to fight the urge to growl, knowing it’d come out just like his cat. He wasn’t sure he wanted to try to explain that to the hotel staff. “We’re going to have to find physical evidence.” He dropped his face into his palms. “I so don’t want to do that.”
“I don’t want to spend the rest of our lives in the Plaza either,” Miles said, pouring fresh coffee into each of their mugs. “Not that I don’t like it here. It is nice, but….”
Chad shook his head. “I want to shift and run. My wolf isn’t happy being stuck this long.”
“None of us are,” Quincy said. “My cat is about to claw through my skin. The stress alone….”
“Yeah, well, unless we want to take a chance and go over to Central Park, we’re stuck for now.” Jamie sighed. “Okay, so… where do we start looking for physical evidence?”
“Thomas’s place.” Chad got up and stood in front of his board again. “I’m thinking that’s the place to go.” He shook his head. “Everything from this end—from Quincy’s—leads back to him. I have no idea if he’s stupid enough to keep records or anything, but I think we need to try.”
“I should call my father,” Quincy mused. “Or see him somehow.”
“Get him down here,” Miles suggested. “Even if they know he’s meeting you, that doesn’t tell them much. I mean….” He shrugged. “You’re in New York and yet haven’t admitted to being back. They’d have to be completely stupid to not realize you’ve figured something out by now.”
“True. Okay.” Quincy grabbed his cell phone and stared at it for a moment, then sighed and typed out. Meet in Palm Court. An hour?
It took less than two minutes for a reply. Quincy would have been more shocked if his father hadn’t behaved the way he had at dinner the other night.
Will be there.
“Well, that was easy.” Quincy sighed. “If everything could go the way that and Noah’s report did….”
“Yeah, right,” Chad said, snorting. “We wouldn’t still be here.”
“Okay. That’s set up. What’s next?”
“We need to figure out how and when to get into Thomas’s house.” Chad grinned. “Luckily, that’s something I have a bit of experience in.”
QUINCY HAD found a corner table, away from most of the other patrons. Miles, Chad, and Jamie all sat with him, and if Aubrey Archer was surprised to see everyone, he didn’t show it. He did look everyone over as he approached the table, but that was all.
“Quincy. Miles. Good to see you again.” He nodded at each of them.
“Chad Sutton—you should remember him,” Quincy said, smirking. “And his mate and partner, Jamie Ryan.”
“Nice to meet both of you,” Aubrey said, shaking their hands before taking a seat.
Quincy refused to be shocked by his father’s behavior. He’d always been much more abrasive than this, much more standoffish, and Quincy wasn’t sure what to do with it. Still, he had bigger issues than his father’s change of attitude. “So… we’ve found some things out that you need to be aware of, both because you are my father and because you are tepey.”
Aubrey’s eyebrows went up. “Oh?”
Quincy nodded. “Yes. You might want a good strong scotch—”
“Or two,” Chad said.
“—or two,” Quincy agreed. “Before you hear all of this.”
Aubrey blinked but nodded. “Very well.”
Quincy glanced around, and just as he did, their server materialized next to the table. Aubrey put in his order, and the man disappeared almost as swiftly.
“All right, then.”
Quincy took a deep breath. “Okay. Here goes….”
It took three scotches, more than an hour, and a good deal of help from the others, but they finally managed to get everything outlined.
Aubrey sat back, looking thoughtful for a long time. “That’s… I never really thought it went beyond our pride.” He sighed. “We’re going to have to go to the tepey-iret. This is way beyond my jurisdiction.”
Chad nodded. “I had a feeling you’d need to. Don’t just yet, though.”
Aubrey raised his eyebrows. “Why?”
“We need more evidence. What we have right now doesn’t prove a damned thing. Most of this is more or less conjecture until we have something more linking these guys.” Chad shrugged. “If we don’t find anything in Thomas’s place, we’ll have to look elsewhere. But it’s a place to start.”
“What if you don’t find any more evidence of this at all?” Aubrey asked.
Quincy frowned. “Then we’re back at the beginning, more or less, because either we’re wrong or we need to find another way to prove it. Let’s hope we find what we need.”
“I’m not sure I want to prove my pride is involved in something like this,” Aubrey said, shaking his head. “But—” He held up a hand when Quincy opened his mouth. “But, if they are, then I simply don’t want them in my pride. But this… you’re talking treason. This is beyond any punishment I can give.”
“Proof first,” Chad said. “We’ll worry about the rest when we have it.”
Aubrey nodded. “How can I help?”
Chad cleared his throat. “We need all we can get on Thomas’s habits. Employees, schedule, anything like that you can give us. Do you know if he’s got a security system—he seems to not like technology in other ways, but does that extend to his house? That sort of thing.”
“I can get that, sure. Are you planning on breaking and entering?” Aubrey asked with a raised eyebrow.
Chad flashed a grin. “I don’t have to break to enter.”
Quincy snorted. “He got into my place without leaving a trace.”
Aubrey inclined his head in acknowledgment of that. “Very well. We just don’t need to bail anyone out of jail.”
“No way I could go to jail right now,” Chad said, shaking his head.
“Is there a particular reason?”
“He’s a newly made wolf,” Miles said. “He’s only had his wolf for a couple of months.”
“And you’re controlling him this well already?” Aubrey asked.
Chad shrugged a shoulder. “We seem to understand each other, for the most part.”
“Except for skunks.” Jamie snickered.
Chad elbowed his mate. “But in extreme stress, I can’t keep him contained yet. If I were locked up, he’d likely break free.”
“Well, then, don’t get caught,” Aubrey said.
Quincy blinked at his father. “Did you just make a joke?”
“I’ve been known to, now and again.” Aubrey tilted his head. “When this is all over, I think you and I need to have a long talk.”
“I guess so,” Quincy muttered.
“Well. I’m going to go. I’ll get that information to you as soon as I can. Look for a cat messenger directly to your door.”
“Are there cats you can trust?” Quincy asked, frowning.
“Yes. There are a few I’m sure are not involved.” Aubrey looked at Quincy. “Let me know when you make your attempt. If nothing else, I’ll be ready to bail you out right away.”
Chad chuckled. “Thanks.”
“Yes, thank you, Father,” Quincy said, standing.
“You can thank me later. Good luck.”
Quincy stared at his father’s back, shaking his head. “He’s changed,” he muttered.
Miles wrapped his arms around Quincy from behind. “Good or bad?”
“Good.” Quincy swallowed, not sure how to put it in words. “I… back when I was growing up, he’d never have cracked a joke like that. He’d never have greeted Chad and Jamie so… nicely. I don’t….” He shook his head again, then sighed. “Well, we still have work to do.”
“Yeah. We can’t depend on Aubrey for all our information. Thomas pays bills like everyone else. Let’s see if his electric usage tells us
anything,” Jamie mused.
Quincy blinked at him. “It’s no wonder I didn’t stand a chance against you two. Really glad you’re on my side now.”
Chapter 15
“ARE YOU fucking kidding me?” Chad asked, taking the coffee cup Miles handed him and peering at the printouts he’d spread across the table.
“Nope. Eleven acres. The house itself has nineteen thousand square feet. Thirty rooms, including twelve bathrooms.” Quincy shook his head.
“Fuck me,” Miles whispered.
“Later,” Quincy replied, smirking.
Miles grinned and waggled his eyebrows.
“Much later. This is going to take work.” Chad rubbed his face. “I guess there are rooms we can immediately ignore—the kitchen, the bathrooms, but….” He shook his head. “Jesus. That leaves seventeen possible rooms.”
“Well, we could probably ignore the steam room too,” Jamie pointed out.
“Yay. Sixteen.” Chad rolled his eyes. “Okay, we’re going to have to do more than a little surveillance on that one. There’s no way we can just sneak in, even if there’s no security system, and look around. We’d need hours.”
“I think some of this wing,” Quincy said, pointing, “is actually servants’ quarters. I have been here, but it’s been a long time, and he’s likely changed at least a few things. Not a lot, he’s very much a traditionalist, but….”
“But we can’t count on your memory, no offense.”
Quincy shook his head. “None taken. I’m not an elephant shifter. I’m a cat.”
Chad blinked. “Do those exist? How the fuck would that work?” All three burst out laughing, and Chad grinned. “Good. I’m not that crazy.”
“The problem I’m seeing,” Jamie said, frowning, “is that there’s no way to get close in a car.” He opened his laptop wider and turned it to show the Google map. Forest surrounded the estate for quite a distance.
Chad wrinkled his nose. “No, there isn’t.”
“We could shift,” Miles suggested.
“That means we watch naked.” Chad frowned. “And with no equipment. I’m not sure I like that either. We’ll need to give it some thought and hope your father comes through soon,” Chad said, glancing at Quincy.
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