“Not a problem. I can fit my clothes and personal items into two suitcases. That and three boxes of books are everything I own.”
He wondered if that had always been true. He looked at her résumé again. Nothing about her family pack. But she was here in the Courtyard looking to work in a place far from the Northeast. Maybe her family pack had supported the Humans First and Last movement and she’d been driven out because she hadn’t. No way to know, and it really didn’t matter. But there was one other thing on the résumé that caught his eye because so few of the humans had mentioned other skills beyond the professional ones.
“Writing is your hobby?” he asked. “What kind of writing?”
“Fiction, mostly. I’ve sold a few short stories to magazines, but lately I’ve been writing . . . observations.”
Simon tried to keep his ears from shifting to Wolf to show interest. Officer Debany grumbled about the lack of news from his sister. With so many humans migrating to Bennett, other families would be grumbling as well. Maybe having someone like the Jana writing observations, whatever those were, that could be published in the Courtyard’s newsletter or Great Island’s newspaper would make the humans who were left behind feel easier about the ones who were leaving. Something to discuss with Vlad before passing on the information to Tolya.
Saying nothing more about the writing, they agreed upon a time the next morning when she would come to the Courtyard.
The moment Vlad confirmed that the Jana had left Howling Good Reads, Simon placed a call to Captain Burke, asking him to come to the Courtyard.
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Douglas Burke read the résumé and transcript a second time before handing it back to Simon Wolfgard. He owed the leader of this Courtyard, but there were some things he couldn’t do.
“We need to know if the Jana is really qualified to be a police officer,” Simon said.
“On paper, she’s certainly qualified.” Burke sighed. “Whether it’s fair or not, women aren’t hired for positions as serving officers. They are not on the street.”
“That’s your rule, not ours,” Simon replied. “In a pack, males are the enforcers because they’re bigger and stronger. But females are important in a hunt because they’re lighter and faster. They can run the prey until it tires, and then the males bring it down.”
“That may be, but I still can’t hire her.” Although if the Others were so set on having a female police officer working with them, maybe the new mayor and police commissioner would be willing to bend the rules, which would set a precedent for other women who wanted to go into active police work. Hiring Ms. Paniccia also would solve the problem of finding a partner for Officer Debany.
Simon growled softly, as if warning off a rival. “We want to hire the Jana to go to Bennett and be a deputy. We want you to confirm she’s properly trained to do the fighting and hunting.” He paused, then added, “But you don’t have to test if she can ride a horse. Someone in Bennett will do that.”
Well, damn. “Let me see that transcript again.” If she were a man, he’d definitely want her as one of his patrol officers. “What about the sheriff? Will he have a problem with a female deputy?”
“Virgil will have more of a problem with her being human, but Tolya thinks they need a human to help keep the peace.”
“Does Virgil have any training in law enforcement?”
“He was a dominant enforcer. He knows how to kill.”
Struck by a tone in Simon’s voice, Burke studied the Wolf. Had Virgil lost family members when the Humans First and Last movement killed so many of the Wolfgard? Wasn’t a question he could ask, but he had the feeling Virgil Wolfgard had never had the tolerance for humans that Simon did.
Suddenly he could see the value of having a human female police officer to balance a male Wolf’s aggressive reaction when it came to humans disturbing the peace.
“When do you need to know?” Burke asked.
“Can you test her tomorrow? If she qualifies, she can go with the others who are leaving on the train the day after.”
“I’ll meet her here and take her to the firing range. We’ll go on from there.”
“Barbara Ellen will need a roommate besides Buddy. The Jana could live with her.”
“About Buddy.” Michael Debany had been rattled after receiving the news about his sister’s living arrangements, and Burke kept a close eye on officers who were rattled for any reason.
Simon opened a desk drawer, removed a piece of paper, and handed it to him. “Vlad asked. Tolya replied. We told Debany.”
Burke read the message and laughed. Well, that explained why Debany had looked a bit sheepish these past few days whenever anyone asked about his sister.
“Once the Jana arrives in Bennett, Barbara Ellen will have a roommate with a gun. She will be safe from unwanted males, so Officer Debany doesn’t need to worry anymore.”
It sounded like an attempt to reassure, and it made him curious. “Would you want Meg to have a roommate with a gun?”
Simon looked puzzled. “Why would Meg need one? She has me when she’s home and Nathan is the watch Wolf when she’s in the Liaison’s Office. And if someone defeated the Wolves, they would have to deal with Vlad and Henry and Tess and the girls at the lake.”
The slightest change in Wolfgard’s eyes, in his stance, made Burke realize Simon had been wearing the persona of the bookstore owner for these interviews—and had, for the most part, maintained that persona while talking to him about Jana Paniccia. Until now.
“We’ll keep Meg safe,” Simon said. “And Theral.”
Burke stiffened. “Has Jack Fillmore tried to see her?”
“Some humans were sniffing around where they shouldn’t have been. They were driven off before they caused trouble. We don’t have the scent of that Jack Fillmore, so I can’t say if he was one of them. But Theral doesn’t need a roommate with a gun. Not in the Courtyard.”
Message received. “I heard that Katherine Debany will be working for Elliot Wolfgard.”
“Yes. She starts tomorrow. Miss Twyla will also work there in the mornings, helping with the files.” Simon smiled, showing a canine that was a little too long to be human. “They both looked at the files this morning. Elliot said he’s never heard a human say so much by just saying tsk.”
“A skill some women perfect.” Burke pushed out of the chair. “We’ll see you and Ms. Paniccia tomorrow morning.”
He went downstairs and spent a few minutes looking at the books on the display table, finally selecting a thriller by a terra indigene author and a story by a human author that was set in a frontier town from a hundred years ago. He had a feeling that living in Bennett was going to be somewhere between the two.
He paid for the books, then returned to the Chestnut Street station to inform Lieutenant Montgomery that he and his team would be helping to review the qualifications of a young woman who was going to wear a badge, carry a gun . . . and ride a horse.
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