"Isn't it? Hermaphrodites exist. If a shifter was born with male and female bits, might it not be possible that he - or she - could take on both forms?"
"That's a bit of a leap."
"Maybe not." I hesitated, remembered my initial reaction on seeing Mrs. Hunt last night - a reaction I'd almost convinced myself to be the result of scrambled brain cells. But put those memories next to Misha's guarded words, and maybe the memories weren't that scrambled after all. "Misha said last night that Mrs. Hunt and the man who used me in the breeding center were very close indeed. What if that was his way of saying they were one and the same person?"
"ltd have to be a long shot, surely," Kade commented.
"Would it? They have the same eyes, and more importantly, they have the same scent."
"Not two spoors smell exactly the same," Rhoan commented. "Even in a family unit, there are slight differences."
"Maybe." Jack didn't sound convinced, but added, "Though it would certainly explain why the various members of the pack have slipped through the traps we've set."
"It could also mean the man in overall charge of the labs can assume any shape," Rhoan commented grimly. "Which means he could be anyone, anywhere."
"It would also explain what happened last night," Quinn commented, his voice totally devoid of emotion.
Yet the heat of his anger whispered across my skin, fleetingly burning. Thankfully, this time it didn't seem to be aimed at me.
"So what happened last night after I left?" I asked curiously.
Quinn still didn't bother turning around. "Mrs. Hunt went straight home after making her statement to the police. The chauffeur put the car away, then went upstairs to the small apartment above the garage. Twenty minutes later, the garage doors opened and the chauffeur was driving back out. Only if the heat signatures were anything to go by, the chauffeur was still in the flat, and the man driving the car was actually Mrs. Hunt."
"You followed the car?"
"To a small house in Gosford."
"He's still there?" And if so, why was Quinn here?
"Guardians now watch the place," Jack said, as if reading my thoughts. "I thought Quinn might be more useful back here."
Where Jack could keep a close eye on him, obviously. "Has Roberta got a daughter?"
He nodded. "Nasia. She was a research scientist at the Holgram Pharmaceutical Laboratories, but quit about seven years ago. According to tax department records, she hasn't had a job since then."
"Or simply hasn't paid tax."
He nodded again. "If she's in charge of the second lab, that's logical."
"So," Kade said heavily, "we have several people who are either full or half Helki, and all of them are probably able to take on any damn form they like. How in hell are we going to catch them?"
"We grab the man at Gosford first - "
"The minute you grab him, any useful information will be burned away," I butted in. "He'll be another Talon."
"If we grab him fast enough, we might be able to stop that from happening." Jack shrugged. "We cannot take the chance of him escaping."
"Better a fried mind than letting him go free to milk more specimens," Kade murmured.
With that, I had to agree. "What about this Roberta?"
"We snatch her as well."
"But won't that raise the alarm for the rest of them?"
"I'm hoping it does, and that in their scramble for cover, they'll make a mistake and reveal themselves fully."
"So how do you intend to snatch Roberta? I wouldn't recommend you sending people in there, because not even guardians could get a pack leader out unseen."