"Well, the cosmos might not be forthcoming," Riley said, "but I'll bet the Directorate's computers could cough up something. Give me the juicy details, and we'll run a check."
I doubted she'd get much more than Stane, but just in case I filled them both in on how'd we'd met and what he'd told me about himself.
My cake, burger, and Coke arrived, so I ate that while they fired yet more questions my way—some of Riley's explicit enough to have me choking. She laughed and thumped me on the back.
"A man can be as hot as he likes out of the bedroom," she said philosophically, "but if he can't perform in it, he's not worth keeping."
"Trust me," I wheezed, "he can perform."
"Good," she said. "Now on to more serious stuff. Rhoan's been questioning the dog shifter who attacked you, and he hasn't given us much at all. Interestingly, DNA tests show he is fully human. Whatever has given him the skill to partially change, it's not nature or science."
I wrinkled my nose and glanced at my mom. "Is magic capable of something like that?"
She shrugged—an elegant movement, like everything else she did. "I'm no expert, but I doubt whoever is bringing the soul stealer into this world would be powerful enough to alter the basic nature of life. It would have to be someone far more powerful."
"But this Charna is practicing blood magic—"
"I doubt even that would be enough," she commented, "but as I said, I am no expert."
Meaning I'd have to ask Ilianna to ask her mom. Again. At this rate, she'd be meeting stallions over dinner at her mom's for the next month. I met Riley's gaze again. "Rhoan ran a background check on him."
It wasn't a question—running a background check was pretty much standard procedure, even for the police.
Riley nodded. "It didn't come up with much. Apparently Graham Turner popped into existence a year ago. As yet, we haven't tracked down who he was before that."
"Might be worth trying the cached files at the Criminal Records Bureau in Britain. That's where we found Handberry—or rather, Gordon March, as he was born."
Amusement wrinkled the corners of Riley's gray eyes. "I told Rhoan you were more resourceful than he thought. Although he's going to be miffed you got the information before him."