Kowalski came around the side of the two-family house, dressed for work. “Lieutenant?”
“Call me if I can help,” Pete said.
“I will.”
Unspoken warnings from Pete and Eve. Did they know something about Sierra’s disappearance, or had they observed something this morning that made them cautious? Monty went down the steps and met Kowalski on the walkway. “Karl, you should go to the station, see if there is anything we need to know before we start the day’s shift.”
“Should I look for anything in particular?”
Monty hesitated, but only for a moment. “A yellow taxi picked up my sister and her girls around daybreak on Earthday. I might need to talk to the driver after I speak to my mother.”
“I can make some calls, but you might want to ask Simon first. I didn’t see the taxi, but I saw him in the customer parking lot that morning. He might have seen something.” Kowalski hesitated. “If Sierra had been coerced in any way, I think the whole neighborhood would have known about it.”
“I know.” Simon might be upset with Sissy, but he wouldn’t have allowed her to be taken against her will.
“I’d better get moving if I’m going to catch the bus,” Kowalski said.
Monty saw the lights go on in Howling Good Reads and A Little Bite. “Tell Captain Burke I’ll be in after I see a Wolf about a girl.”
Simon didn’t flip the Closed sign, but he unlocked HGR’s front door before returning to the counter where he’d begun sorting the book requests from the terra indigene settlements the Courtyard supplied with human goods. According to Toland publishers, an entire warehouse of stock had been destroyed in the storm, and shipments of paper had been reduced by half.
No reason to doubt the statements, and he wasn’t about to accept damaged goods. Which meant he really needed to see what Intuit and terra indigene publishing companies might have available. He looked up as Lieutenant Montgomery walked into the store.
Before he dealt with books, he had to deal with Montgomery’s pack.
“My sister left yesterday morning,” Montgomery said. The hand he set on the counter kept trying to curl into a fist.
Tension, not aggression, Simon decided. “Yes. She and her pups left in a taxi.”
“Did you notice the license plate by any chance? Did anyone overhear where she was going?”
“She bought tickets for a bus that was going east.”
“Do you know where?”
“Not yet.” Simon studied Montgomery, who looked a bit . . . trampled. “Meg was itchy because of the Sierra, so we kept watch on Watersday night. I asked Air and her kin to follow the Sierra and let me know where she makes a new den.”
“Thank you.” Montgomery breathed out a sigh. “I worry about her.”
“She is pack.” Simon fiddled with the stack of requests. “But if her pups are going to survive, she needs a new pack now. One that doesn’t include that Cyrus.”
“I know.”
Montgomery sounded sad, so Simon added, “I will tell you where she dens.”
The human shook his head. “No. Jimmy will ask. If I know and tell him I don’t, the lie will cause hard feelings between us—more than there are now. If I or my mother know how to find her, it’s possible something will be said that will give away Sissy’s new location. Maybe something Lizzy overhears and repeats without realizing the significance. And then Jimmy is on Sissy’s doorstep again.” He rubbed his forehead. “But she’ll need to have the ration books forwarded to her new address, and that will leave a paper trail.”
“Should I tell Air to stop following?” He was having trouble tracking this human logic. Montgomery wanted to know and didn’t want to know. Well, he wouldn’t ask the Elementals to stop following, because, no matter what Montgomery wanted, Meg needed to know what happened to the Sierra.
“No.” Montgomery gave him a strained smile. “I would feel easier if someone I trust knows where she is.”
It pleased him to know he was trusted with helping Montgomery look after the human’s family.
“Well,” Montgomery said. “I need to talk to my mama.”
Simon nodded. “She was awake around the time the taxi left. She might already know about the Sierra.”
“Look, bitch.” Jimmy used the voice and attitude that cowed just about everyone—especially women he wasn’t trying to charm into bed or out of some money. “I’m here to see my mama, so get your skanky ass out of my way.”
The woman, wearing a black dress that looked like a costume out of a creepy movie, continued to block his ability to get more than a step inside the consulate. Then she smiled, revealing fangs, and the lower half of her body, dress and all, changed to smoke.
Fuck! One of those vampires.
“Mama!” Jimmy shouted. “Mama!”
His mother didn’t come rushing to see what he wanted, but the fucking ITF agent, who had been sitting at a desk at the other end of the room, talking on the phone, suddenly hung up and came toward him while some middle-aged woman picked up the phone at another desk and punched in numbers, all the while keeping track of him.
“Something I can do for you, Mr. Montgomery?” the agent said.
He knew that tone when it came from a Government Man. “Not a damn fucking thing,” he snapped.
“You don’t have permission to be here,” the vampire said. Her smile widened. “Unless you’d like to stay for breakfast.”
A chill went through Jimmy when the Government Man looked surprised but didn’t object to the idea that she might sink those fangs into his throat and suck him dry.
Although . . . He’d heard stories about female vamps being able to give you a suck that blow jobs couldn’t match.
He eyed the vamp and was about to say something, just to see how she would respond, when Twyla came down the stairs, followed by a man with thinning hair, amber eyes, and a suit that must have cost enough to buy a month’s worth of mellow weed.
“You’ve got no business being in the consulate, Cyrus,” Twyla said quietly but firmly. “This isn’t one of the stores where you have permission to shop.”
“We need to talk,” Jimmy said. “Can we sit down for a minute?” He gestured to the desks. He might find all kinds of things of interest if he had a few minutes to look around. After all, information was a valuable commodity, and you could take it without anyone being the wiser.
“You can’t come in. You can say what you want to say right here or we can step outside.”
Stone bitch. Couldn’t give in even a little bit.
Looking at the freaks and the Government Man, he realized they weren’t going to step back and give even the illusion of privacy. “Outside, then.”
The middle-aged bitch was still on the phone, still watching him, still reporting to somebody. CJ? That Wolf who gave orders?
Jimmy stepped outside, forgetting to play the caring son by holding the door for his mama.
“What’s this about Sissy hightailing it out of here?” he demanded.
“She left on Earthday at first light,” Twyla replied.
“Going where?”
“I don’t know, Cyrus. She didn’t talk to anyone, didn’t leave a note. She just packed up her things and left with the girls.”
“She must have said something.” Shit. He’d counted on being able to tap Sissy for money or information or even getting her to make extra purchases of some of the soaps and things Sandee had said cost twice as much in high-end stores, which were the only places humans could purchase them.
Twyla shook her head. “She said nothing. She just left.”
He didn’t believe her words, but he believed the sadness in her eyes. Sissy had bolted with her brats. That meant his kids could tug the strings on Grandma’s heart a little harder to get more treats.