“I saw a man running up the access way,” Meg said, rubbing her throat. “Simon was going the wrong way, going to deal with the argument at the apartments.”
The phone rang. They ran into the sorting room. Feeling breathless, Meg grabbed the receiver. “Hello? Vlad! What . . . ?” She braced a hand against the counter. “Is she . . . ? Okay. Yes. Okay.” She hung up and looked at Merri Lee. “A man tried to abduct Theral. She’s hurt, but she’ll be all right. Mrs. Debany is taking her to the doctor’s. Vlad says it’s safe for you to go back to Howling Good Reads—Tess and Nadine are in A Little Bite, so they’re nearby—but you can stay here a while longer if you want to.”
“I want to stay,” Merri Lee said.
Another chorus of neighs outside the sorting room door. Meg found Fog, Quicksand, and Whirlpool standing there, sans baskets. Obviously the other ponies had informed their friends about the special treat.
After handing out sugar lumps and washing her hands, she returned to the sorting room, where Merri Lee studied the cards that were still on the table.
“We still have a lot to learn about interpreting what is seen,” Merri Lee said, “but I think you’re getting better at using the cards to reveal prophecy.”
“I saw death. But Theral will be okay.”
“Did Vlad say anything about the man?”
Meg stared at her friend, but she was thinking about when she had hidden in the Pony Barn with Sam, Skippy, and Jester while Namid’s teeth and claws roamed the city, hidden by the fog. She was thinking about the odd and terrible silence that had filled the Courtyard that day.
“No,” Meg finally said. “No, he didn’t.”
? ? ?
Simon stared at the three cards on the sorting room table, especially the middle card, the upside-down figure of a person pointing. This explained why Meg had said he was going the wrong way.
Distraction. Diversion. The Humans First and Last movement had used the attacks in Thaisia as a diversion for the war in Cel-Romano. It hadn’t changed the outcome of the war, but it had forced the terra indigene to ignore a distant threat in order to deal with the one right in front of them. Just like what happened in the Courtyard a little while ago.
Damned tethered goat.
A family dispute, no charges filed. As far as Simon was concerned, the fight was overdue. Unfortunately, the trouble in the Market Square stopped the fight between Montgomery and that Cyrus before Montgomery could settle the question of dominance once and for all. Equally unfortunate, Simon thought it likely that Montgomery would receive a thrashing from the leaders of the police pack for fighting where he was seen by all the humans driving by on Crowfield Avenue.
Well, that was Burke’s job.
“You’re all right?” he asked Meg and Merri Lee.
“We’re fine,” Meg replied. “I didn’t see much.”
“Captain Burke might want to talk to you. It’s almost time for the midday break. Why don’t you go over to A Little Bite and eat? Vlad is at HGR now, so I can watch the office here for a few minutes in case there are any last-minute deliveries.”
Meg put the cards back in the box and put the box in the drawer.
“I’ll wait outside,” Merri Lee said.
“Simon?”
Don’t ask, Meg. I won’t lie to you, so don’t ask.
“Tess told us a while ago that there is some mint growing in the Courtyard, so I wondered . . . Do Wolves usually chew on mint?”
“No. Why?” Before coming to see Meg, he’d gone into the bathroom at HGR to use some mouthwash. He’d also examined both sets of teeth to make sure there weren’t any bits of human flesh stuck between them from carrying the backbone.
Did he smell minty from the mouthwash—or was the scent wafting in from the front room?
Meg confirmed that suspicion when she glanced at the Private doorway before leaning toward him and whispering, “When Nathan came back to the office, he smelled like he’d rolled in mint.”
<You overdid it,> he told the watch Wolf.
<It’s stronger than I expected. And I wasn’t sure chewing on a leaf would be enough to hide that Jack’s scent.>
Nathan had a point, especially since he was still in Wolf form.
“Theral won’t have to be afraid anymore,” he told Meg.
She nodded and left the office without asking for details. He didn’t think anyone would ask for details about that Jack Fillmore.
Well, almost anyone.
? ? ?
Burke gave Cyrus Montgomery his fierce-friendly smile and watched the man try not to squirm.
“You want to come in or something?” Cyrus asked grudgingly.
Burke shook his head and looked around. They were standing on the front lawn of the apartment building, within sight of neighbors and the traffic on Crowfield Avenue. “You didn’t see anything wrong with having an argument with your brother where everyone could see, so I don’t see any reason why you and I can’t have a chat right here.”
“That’s family business.”
“Do you know Jack Fillmore?” Burke asked.
Cyrus shook his head. “Don’t know the name.”
“Really? According to the bartender at the Stag and Hare, you and Jack were drinking together the other day and looked quite cozy. Some money changed hands.”
“Don’t know . . . Oh, Jack. Yeah. I know who you mean. He owed me some money and paid back a little yesterday.”
“So you know him well.”
“Wouldn’t say that.”
“But you know him well enough to loan him . . . how much?”
A hesitation. “Five hundred.”
“That’s a lot of money to lend an acquaintance when you keep telling your mother and brother that you’re too broke to buy food for your family and expect them to help out.”
Another hesitation. “Had some emergency cash stashed away. If my woman found out, she’d spend it all on stupid shit. You know how they are.” Cyrus rocked his weight from one foot to the other. “Why are you asking about Jack?”
“He tried to abduct a young woman around the same time that you were having that public girlie fight with Lieutenant Montgomery. You know, lots of shouting and light slapping but no real hurt intended because, if you’d thrown a punch, you would have been arrested for assaulting a police officer. As his captain, I would have insisted that Monty file charges.” Burke’s smile turned fiercer. “This is what I find interesting. You call your brother, the police lieutenant, and insist on meeting him during his shift instead of waiting until he gets home. But the witnesses who overheard this shouting match didn’t hear anything that justified your urgency to bring Monty back here right around the time of the abduction attempt.”
“It was family business. I don’t know about that other stuff.”
“I hope that’s true, Mr. Montgomery. We’re going to be looking at Jack Fillmore very carefully and investigating everyone he’s met in Lakeside to discover if he had anyone helping him with the abduction—either directly or by distracting the Courtyard security during the attempt. The young woman was injured when he tried to forcibly remove her from her place of work. He threatened to kill her. Everyone connected with him will be brought in for questioning, especially because the police will not be able to bring Jack Fillmore to justice.”
“He got away?”