“Huffed?” Luna leaned in closer. “Was it an animalistic sound? Perhaps he’s a Species. A few of us could pass for full human.”

“He’s not New Species.” Jeanie smiled, amused. “He was a marshmallow. I should have said he panted because he got out of breath easily when he walked fast and broke out in a sweat. It didn’t help that he wore dress shirts. He had the whole business-suit look going on, regardless of the weather.” She glanced at the men in the room. “You guys couldn’t get that out of shape even if you really tried. He is also much older. He was born way before Mercile started their experiments. Agent Brice is definitely human.”

“He’d have to be fully human from the description you gave. Mercile killed flawed children with no Species traits.”

“A few of us could pass though,” Luna protested. “I’ve met two who appeared human but they weren’t that old. They were rescued from the place Darkness came from.”

“Two.” Flirt shook his head. “I’ve met both males you speak of but they have physical traits of Species regardless of the lack of facial markers. Even those can be seen if you are looking for hints.” He reached up and ran a finger over his cheek and jawline. “The bones always tell.”

Jeanie studied his face, looked at True, then Query. They did all have very masculine bone structure. “Agent Brice is not New Species. He has kind of girly features.”

Query chuckled. “Girly?”

“Feminine.” She smiled at him. “Softer and you can’t even see his cheekbones. He’s got a round face.”

“He’s soft,” one of the males stated. “That’s what she means. Like a human female—the flesh isn’t stretched taut over bone.”

She nodded. “Yeah.”

“Is anything else girly about him?” Query still looked amused.

“He wore a pinky ring on his left hand. It looked like a cat, believe it or not. That stood out to me because it was kind of weird. Not too many men wear those.”

“What’s wrong with a male wearing a cat ring?” Flirt frowned.

“Men don’t usually wear jewelry of animals unless they are more…” She shrugged, trying to think of a way to explain. “A wolf or a panther is considered manly but not a house cat and that’s what it looked like to me. That’s more typical of something a woman would wear. They tend to buy the kitten, dolphin, or puppy jewelry.”

“So cats aren’t manly?” Jinx’s blue eyes sparkled with humor. “I disagree.” He leaned back in his chair and flexed his shoulders, braced his elbows on the chair, and tightened the large muscles down his arms to show them off. “No one would ever call me feminine.”

Jeanie laughed. “They wouldn’t but…”

“But? Finish what you were going to say.”

“I don’t want to accidentally offend you.”

His humor vanished. “I look feminine?”

She almost laughed again at his appalled expression, which was comical. “No. You don’t. It’s just that, um, if I were to take a guess…you look nothing similar to a house cat. You kind of remind me of a panther. It’s the predatory look in your eyes, the black hair and the shape of your eyes. You have that danger vibe going on.”

“Predatory?” He grinned again. “I like that. Do I look at you in a way that makes you have thoughts about me eating you?”

Her mind blanked, stunned he’d said that. Heat crept into her cheeks as every word sank in, and the insinuation behind them.

“Are you done making jokes and trying to gain her interest in sharing sex with you? It won’t happen.” True released her hand and leaned forward to glare at Jinx. “We all know what she meant by that term. We frighten humans with the way we seem to study everything about them and it makes them uneasy that we don’t blink as much as they do. This is serious. Tim Oberto wants Jeanie returned to the task force to face Species law. We believe what she says but he views her as any other human who worked for Mercile. She’s the enemy to him. They planned to send her to Fuller.”

Jinx’s mood darkened as he glared back. “She doesn’t belong in that place. I’ve been there a few times transferring prisoners. Her spirit would be crushed within days. The human males would torment her with vile words. She is too gentle to survive their abuse.”

A male stood near the end of the table. “I work in the legal department.”

Jeanie remembered him. He’d been a timid male, his primate features clear, but her interaction with him had been minimal. She couldn’t remember his number and he didn’t state his name. He hadn’t been sent to the clinic for many injuries since the doctors mostly used him in trials for drugs they were conducting on cognitive improvements. They hadn’t asked her to draw his blood more than two or three times but she had smuggled him a cookie at Christmas, along with the rest of the New Species. It had broken her heart, knowing they had never in their lives received a gift. A cookie had seemed so trivial but they were small enough to hide in her pockets, the evidence gone as soon as they ate it. A lot of cookies had fit in her lunch bag so she’d had enough to pass out.

“I didn’t realize it was you when we assigned a number to the file. The task force doesn’t always give us names of who they bring in because paperwork can be stolen and leaked to the press. We have experienced nothing but trouble when that’s happened in the past. Their human families show up at the gates, their friends, and they create a publicity nightmare for the NSO.”

He paused, turning his attention on True. “The evidence of her working for Cornas Research is overwhelming even if she hadn’t been wearing their work badge when she was taken into custody. Bank records linked her to Cornas and Drackwood Research. Tim was disappointed at the lack of money she received so there’s no evidence that she obtained funds from what was paid to the informant who led the teams to both locations.” He paused again then cursed. “Tim already wrote up a report to the council asking for her to be incarcerated at Fuller. But he added an amendment, asking for her death if he can prove she is involved in the plot regarding the millions paid out for Species recovery.”

“Death?” True snarled.

Jeanie wasn’t angry. She was frightened. She had to remember how to breathe before her mind would function again. Can the NSO hand down a death sentence on me if Agent Brice isn’t found? I’ll end up becoming the fall guy for all the things that asshole did since he set me up to look as guilty as hell. How will they kill me? Lethal injection? Firing squad? Have my neck snapped? Oh shit.

She glanced at True and some of the fear eased as she stared at his enraged expression. He won’t allow that to happen. What if he can’t stop them? What if they send an entire SWAT team to his apartment to arrest me? He’d fight them. I’ll go with them willingly before I watch him get killed protecting me. She refused to allow that to happen.

The primate male took a step back and nearly tripped on his chair. Jeanie didn’t blame him for being affected by True’s anger. It would frighten her too if he ever looked at her that way or made that sound. The New Species straightened his shoulders, though, and calmly stared back at True after a few long seconds as he seemed to restrain his instinct to flee danger.

“Death,” he confirmed. “Tim believes it was unusually cruel to know Species were being abused but to withhold the information while it continued so the anonymous tipster could send us the evidence we received to gain a higher payment from the NSO.” He jerked his head in Jeanie’s direction. “Tim has ordered all of us to seek more proof that can link her to being that tipster.”

“She is innocent.” Jinx used his hand to indicate the New Species should sit down. “Thank you for the information but we don’t need to hear more. No one is going to kill Shiver and she isn’t serving any time at Fuller.”

“We agree.” True glowered at Jinx. “Stop wasting precious time flirting with my female. We need to track down this Agent Brice and force him to confess that he lied to Jeanie.”