Page 43 of Forbidden Moon
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JONAH’S CAUTIOUS RETURNtrip met with nothing more than chittering squirrels and a snarling coon, safely out of reach on an overhead branch. With sunset underway, the forest took on a more friendly atmosphere. Jonah often stopped to investigate while his mind replayed the encounter. He hadn’t expected or planned to show himself, though his mate’s reaction gave him hope that RJ might welcome Jonah in both forms once the truth came to light.
Eventually, he reached his clothing stash and re-dressed with haste. When the parking lot came into view, Jonah scented the air carefully. After deeming it safe, he got in the car, booted up his phone, and headed out. Two blocks later, his phone pinged with multiple text alerts. The real world came crashing back with the realization that he’d missed Movie Night! Jonah forgot all about it, and surely the pack and their guests noticed his absence.
Dreading what he might find, Jonah decided to read them before he got home. He turned into a church parking lot, parked, and started scrolling through his messages. Robyn, Lilly, William, and several others wondered why he wasn’t there and if he was OK. Then he got to Ben’s message and blanched—sent in anger, and from hisAlpharather than his brother. Not good. Jonah hoped Evan’s message might help him decide what to do and scrolled down to read it.
>Ben is NOT happy. I know you are spending most of tomorrow with RJ, but Ben intends to talk to you before breakfast. We’re usually up by seven, so I suggest you leave before then. Sorry! It looks like the wheels come off sometime tomorrow, no matter what. I’ll help if I can, and so will Jack. Make your time with RJ count!
Jonah checked the time; only ten minutes after nine and too early to go home. The only way to avoid Ben tonight was to sneak in after he went to bed. He got back on the road, deciding to hang out at the LRC office for an hour or so. Just as well, as he needed time to think and plan for tomorrow. He glanced up at the partial moon, feeling trapped between pursuing his mate and pleasing his pack. Jonah let loose with a string of muttered curses, hoping Luna heard every last one.
Chapter 18
DULUTH LRC NEWSROOM, five a.m., Saturday
Stuart drained his third cup of strong coffee in an effort to stay awake. Shifter metabolism shrugged off caffeine like water, leaving his mind and body drugged with fatigue. He’d been up all night monitoring the algorithm he’d sicced on BlogPress, hoping to get a peek at Birdman’s financial information. Only one more firewall remained, and he’d have to move quickly to snatch and grab before their security system discovered the breach and stopped him.
The moment arrived without fanfare, and Stuart’s fingers raced over the keyboard, even as his own software grabbed screenshots faster than the human eye could follow. Thirteen seconds later, BlogPress security discovered the intrusion and kicked him out. He began scanning the saved images for helpful information, hoping his targeted programming successfully broke through the encryption.
There! Not everything he wanted, but enough to narrow down the search area considerably. It wasn’t much to the untrained eye, only two digits and the name of a bank, and Stewart knew exactly how to track it down. His empty stomach clenched as the results gave a reasonably clear picture of Birdman’s location. He didn’t want to disturb Alpha Sheppard this early in the morning, but orders were orders, and he picked up a secure phone to make the long-awaited call.
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GROGGY AND UNSHAVEN, Adam Sheppard arrived at The Newsroom thirty minutes later. Aside from the entryway guards, only he and Stuart were present. The weary pair sat down in the secure conference room, dispensing with pleasantries.
“What have you got, Stuart?”
“I’m sorry, Sir. The information suggests Gladstone.”
Sheppard sighed, dragging an open hand over his face. It seemed Luna wasn’t finished testing his favorite pack of shifters.
“Explain, please.”
“We didn’t get a name or exact address, but we do have the first two digits of Birdman’s zip code and the name of the bank used to pay for the BlogPress account.”
Stuart brought up a map of Michigan on his laptop, turning the screen so both men could view it.
“The “49” zip code includes the western half of the state and all of the Upper Peninsula. As you know, only the U.P. is home to shifter packs, so we can focus our attention there. Birdman claims his sightings are in an area with a lot of people, which immediately rules out the vast majority of the packs in the region.”
Sheppard quirked an eyebrow.
“I follow so far, but what lead you to conclude it’s Gladstone?”
Stuart’s scent revealed a sincerely felt reluctance to name names.
