Monty held his breath. He’d spent the past four and a half months building some trust between himself and Simon Wolfgard. His team interacted with Courtyard residents almost daily in an unofficial capacity, learning more about the Others than most humans were ever allowed to see—and providing examples of humans who peacefully interact with what lived in the Courtyard. All that work might be damaged by a man who had some reason to be resentful since his life had spun out of control because of assisting the terra indigene, even if it was indirectly.
But Pete Denby surprised him by saying, “What kind of job? Do you need a lawyer?”
“Not yet,” Simon replied thoughtfully. “Two buildings across the street from the Courtyard are for sale. We want someone to look at them and tell us if they are suitable dens. If we buy them, we will need to hire a human who can settle the legal papers.”
“Some of the terra indigene are going to live outside the Courtyard?” Monty asked. Simon Wolfgard was a progressive leader. He’d opened some stores to the general public and had more human employees than any other Courtyard on the continent. But he wondered if the Wolf wasn’t being a bit too progressive right now.
“No,” Simon said. “We’ll offer them to humans who are being driven out of their dens because they choose to work with us or for us. Like Kowalski and Ruthie.”
Douglas Burke was a big man whose blue eyes usually held a fierce kind of friendliness. But the look in those eyes as he rose from his chair behind the desk was fierce enough to make Simon growl in response.
“Excuse me?” Burke said.
Simon stopped growling and looked at all of them. “Kowalski didn’t tell you?”
“I haven’t heard about this,” Burke said with enough anger that Monty felt the heat of it. “What about you, Lieutenant?”
“No,” Monty replied. “I knew something was bothering him. I figured he would talk to me when he was ready.”
“Why not ask Kowalski to take a look if he’s the one who might be living there?” Pete asked.
“The humans who live there now would know his face,” Simon said. “We want someone to look before the humans realize the Courtyard wants to buy the buildings.”
“I’ll charge my usual hourly rate,” Pete said. “You’ll get a written report about each building. All right if I bring my wife? She’s the handyman in our family.”
Simon cocked his head. “Your wife is male?”
Pete blinked. “No. I just meant she’s the one who likes working with tools and doing repairs.”
“Do you have someone to watch the children?” Burke asked.
“We can watch the puppies,” Simon said.
Leap of faith, Monty thought, watching Pete struggle with the thought of handing his children over to Wolves . . . and whatever else might become curious about small humans.
“All right. Thanks,” Pete said. “Is tomorrow soon enough?”
Simon nodded as he pulled a folded piece of paper out of his jeans pocket. “This is the phone number for Howling Good Reads. Call there when you’re ready to look at the houses. Here are the addresses on Crowfield Avenue and the phone number on the For Sale signs.”
“I’ll set up an appointment with the property agent, and Eve and I will see you tomorrow.”
Monty wondered if Simon was waiting for Pete to leave before telling them about the other thing that had brought a Wolf to a police station. There were aspects of the Courtyard the Others didn’t share lightly. On the other hand, if Pete was going to do some house hunting for them, he was bound to meet the Courtyard’s carefully guarded and special employee.
Simon studied Pete for a moment, then turned to Burke. “Have the police been told to search for girls left on the side of the road?”
“Any particular kind of girl?” Burke asked quietly.
“Girls with silver razors. Girls who are gestating.” Simon growled. “Roadkill.”
Burke’s eyes looked like blue ice. “Here in Lakeside?”
Simon shook his head. “Beyond Lakeside and Great Island.”
“How . . . accurate . . . is your information?”
“We sent out a warning to all the terra indigene in Thaisia because of what we were told. They’re already searching. You’re the last pack to hear the warning.”
“We’ll get the word out. Lieutenant?”
Monty looked at Simon and motioned toward the door. “I’ll walk you out.”
“My scent here is fresh. I can find the door to outside.” Simon cocked his head. “This walking. It’s like a female in a story saying she’s going to powder her nose when she’s really going to pee?”
Pete choked.
“Something like that,” Monty said in a strangled voice. He walked out of Burke’s office. Simon followed him.
Monty waited until they were outside. “Is Ms. Corbyn all right? That’s how you know the information is accurate, because she made a cut?”
“Meg is fine—but she doesn’t know about the girls yet.” Simon shifted his weight from one foot to the other, a small sign of anxiety in someone who was usually bold and direct. “Humans paid a lot of money for prophecies. That makes the cassandra sangue valuable to the humans who run the compounds. Why would they leave girls on the side of the road?”
“The girls could have left on their own. Meg did.”
“Meg escaped. These girls can tell police, can tell us they want to leave. They didn’t have to run away and be alone.” Simon’s eyes were full of sadness and acceptance in equal parts. “We won’t find some of them until they’re dead.”
“The police will be out there searching too, and we’ll save as many as we can.” Monty waited a beat. “Anything else?”
“Nothing that can’t wait.” Simon walked away.
While Monty watched Simon and Blair drive off, Louis Gresh, commander of the bomb squad, approached.
“You look like you’ve just found a ticking briefcase,” Louis said.
“Close enough. But thank the gods, the bomb isn’t in Lakeside this time.”
“Anything I can do to help?”
“Plenty.” Together, they went back inside to help Burke send the warning to police stations throughout Thaisia.