Dex frowned. "If they mauled Dowling to death, it means they were in their Therian forms. How was the witness able to confirm their identities?"
Sloane tapped the screen. An image of a skull with four claw marks running through it popped up on the screen. "The same way we'll be able to identify them once we're in Greenpoint. Along with their classification, they have this image tattooed onto their left arms, they also have it shaved into their fur on the same spot. Around the base of their tails they have two bands shaved as well." Sloane returned the tablet to his tac pants pocket. The truck slowed down, which meant they were approaching Greenpoint. "Rosa will stay with the truck. Cael, Ash, Hobbs, and I will go in our Therian forms. Calvin, Dex, and Letty, you back us up. Let's get in, round these assholes up, and get out. Everyone stay safe."
"Shit. Hold on a sec." Cael tapped away at the security console's keyboard. "We just got some new intel in from Themis."
Dex and Sloane both joined Cael at the console, and Dex studied the large flat-screen with scrolling algorithms. Sometimes he really wished he could speak computer geek. Only half this stuff made sense to him. It was a whole other language. A collection of numbers, clipped phrases, code words, and at times diagrams. Themis gurgled and spat up the information before shuffling it around, connecting the dots, piecing it together to form something that made sense. A multitude of windows with random numbers popped up, along with a mug shot of Dowling.
"What are we looking at, Cael?" Dex asked, waiting for Themis to piece all the new info together.
"Dowling might not have been an informant for the THIRDS, but he was in contact with our agents. Actually, it looks like he was in contact with two agents."
Cael tapped away at Themis, his eyes going wide as two agent profiles popped up. Dex cursed under his breath, and Cael turned to stare at him.
"According to Themis, Dowling contacted both you and Sloane."
"What the hell?" Sloane put his hands on his hips and shrugged. "I never spoke to Dowling." He looked over at Dex. "You?"
Dex shook his head. He definitely would have remembered. Turning his attention back to Cael, Dex pointed to Themis. "Does it say when he contacted us?"
Cael tapped the screen, and a new window opened up, containing phone records. Dex leaned in with a frown. "Hold up. That's my cell phone number, and that's Sloane's. Why would Dowling call us on our cell phones and not at the office?"
"And how did he get our numbers?" Sloane added.
"That was at the bar." Ash put his finger to the time stamp next to Sloane's phone number. "Remember that weird call you got?"
"Shit, that's right." Sloane rubbed a hand over his jaw. "I got this strange call that sounded like someone--"
"Breathing heavy?" Dex asked, receiving a nod from Sloane. "I got the same call four minutes before you did. He called me twice, but all I heard was breathing. I thought it was some perv trying to get their rocks off and hung up."
"Yeah, I thought the same." Sloane's brows drew together as he paced, his eyes filled with concern.
"What is it?" Dex asked, feeling Sloane's anxiety.
"It was more than heavy breathing. I could have sworn I heard something else. What if Dowling had been hurt or dying when he called?"
Ash put a hand to Sloane's shoulder. "Hey, if he was in trouble, he should have called emergency services. Why call you? You weren't even on duty. Dowling died in fucking Brooklyn. You know how long it would have taken you to get there?"
Dex's stomach twisted up in knots. "I don't like this." Why would a guy who had to know what he was getting into by contacting the THIRDS take such a risk? And why them specifically? Neither he nor Sloane had ever met Dowling before, never even heard of him. Fuck. Why couldn't this just be a regular call out? Despite the evidence pointing to it being a gang execution, Dex knew it was anything but. With their track record? How could it be?
"Whatever Dowling was trying to tell us, he got killed for it. I don't think it had anything to do with him flipping on his gang."
Sloane nodded his agreement. "Which means Juarez and Turner knew what Dowling was up to and used the info they had to serve their purpose. They're covering something up. It's the only thing that makes sense."
"Okay," Calvin stood, a deep frown on his face. "So Dowling had something important to tell you guys, but they caught on to him before he could relay the information. These guys play it off as a gang execution to hide the truth. What do we know about them? Are they actually who they say they are?"
Cael tapped away at the screen and nodded. "According to Themis, they've been in and out of jail dozens of times. There's never enough evidence to make the charges stick."
"And suddenly we have an eye witness?" Letty asked, looking skeptical. "Anyone else think that's a little convenient?"
Ash turned to Sloane. "Where's our witness now?"
"In protective custody," Sloane replied. "Recon ran a background check, and the guy's clean. Just a regular citizen who happened to be in the right place at the right time." Sloane's pursed lips told Dex his partner wasn't buying it either.
"So this dude saw Juarez and Turner maul Dowling to death and just walked away without being seen or sniffed out?" Dex shook his head. "Fuck. I really don't like this."
"Well, we can stand here all day and speculate," Ash growled, "or we can bring these assholes in and see what they have to say."
They all nodded their acknowledgment and waited for the truck to come to a stop. The desolate view outside the BearCat's window was a familiar one and filled Dex with a sense of nostalgia. His very first case with the THIRDS had brought him here. God, that seemed like such a lifetime ago. Greenpoint had been part of his first investigation, launching a series of events that led him to where he was today. Isaac Pearce, Shultzon, TIN, his parents.... What a rollercoaster ride. Had someone sat him down back then and told him what would happen, Dex would have laughed his ass off. Now here he sat, half Therian, engaged, and about to become a spy.