[Southern Arcana 3.0] Deadlock Read Online Free PDF Page B

laugh, though he didn’t feel particularly amused. “Gotta give the Mendoza propaganda machine their due. Only Cesar Mendoza could spin the fact that his little brother snuck off and played house with a psychic for over a decade. Talk to the man for more than ten minutes, and he’ll find a way to let you know the Mendozas are so badass that they father shapeshifting sons on human women. Asshole.”
    “It is quite the manly feat, if you overlook the part where Diego dumped his wife as soon as his big brother told him to.”
    Alec knew Jackson hadn’t meant anything by it, but he still tensed. Some things he’d never forget—his cousin, telling him that the family wouldn’t stand for the embarrassment of Alexander Jacobson the Third being married to a human. That night, he’d found his wife on the kitchen floor, surrounded by half-thawed bits of broccoli.
    A few years ago, the memory would have paralyzed him. Liquor would have been the only cure. Now he took refuge in temper. “Because we all know staying is a brilliant fucking plan.”
    Jackson stared at him for a moment and turned his attention to the building in front of them. “Best description Mac was able to get out of Kat was that the attacker was tall and blond. Her date, on the other hand, was shorter, with dark hair. If either shows up, it shouldn’t be hard to tell them apart.”
    There was no question Jackson was pissed, but Alec didn’t have the emotional reserves to navigate an apology or—worse—a conversation about Heidi and the past that felt too raw today. Instead he accepted the tacit change of subject and tried to turn it into a peace offering. “Kat did real good. Zola says she’s been working hard, and obviously she has. She held off the guy with her stun gun.”
    “Yeah.” Jackson pulled out his phone, punched a few keys and held it out. “That’s the date. I ran a check on him already. Nothing in the NCIC database, but that doesn’t mean he’s clean.”
    Alec took the phone gingerly. It was the exact same model Kat had purchased for him at the beginning of the year, after she’d proclaimed them both woefully out of date and behind the times. Jackson had adapted to his just fine. Alec had gotten a week’s worth of silent treatment from Kat for trading his back in for a phone that didn’t try to load up the internet or play music every time he wanted to make a call.
    He’d hated the thing, but he had to admit it had its uses as he studied the picture. A young man, probably midtwenties, smiled back at him. Dark hair, dark eyes, nothing remarkable about his face aside from a tiny bump in his nose. Probably a shapeshifter, unless Kat had broken her habit from the last five dates. If he was a shapeshifter, he didn’t come from any of the prominent families. “What’s his name?”
    “Christopher Gilbert.” Jackson hesitated. “Maybe.”
    “Maybe?”
    “Everything I could dig up on him is too neat. There aren’t any holes. Like someone sat down and came up with his story all at once.”
    “Kat would have run his info…” Alec sighed. “But she wouldn’t notice that. Damn. You should be the one to tell her.”
    Jackson tapped his knuckles against the passenger window. “Yeah, I’ll handle it.”
    Still pissy. Alec scrubbed his hand against the side of his face and forced himself to apologize. Kind of. “Sorry, man. It’s been a shit day. Kat showed up while me’n Andrew were still at the dojo.”
    “That couldn’t have been pleasant.”
    “I keep hoping I’ll turn around and she’ll be over it. So far…”
    “She’s doing the best she can.” Jackson flashed him a knowing look. “And, from the looks of it, so is Andrew.”
    Great. The supernatural gossip mill was operating at full speed. The fact that Andrew’s best friend was married to Jackson’s best friend didn’t help matters. “You got an earful from Nicole on the subject, I’m guessing?”
    “She says you’re being insufferable again, and someone