<Why did you follow him?> Simon asked.
“I don’t like him.”
<You followed him to one of these locked businesses?>
“Yes. He met with four men. He’s going to case the Market Square tomorrow to confirm the earth native trucks are making a meat delivery. When the stores close for the evening, he’ll call the men. They’ll slip into the Courtyard, break into the butcher shop, and steal all the meat. You Wolves will howl about the loss, but all you’ll do is hunt a couple extra deer to make up for it.”
<Is that what they think of us or what you think of us?> Simon asked.
Challenge, plain and simple. A Wolf couldn’t win a fight with a Sanguinati who was in smoke form, but Simon must have heard something in Leetha’s voice that he wouldn’t allow to go unchallenged.
“Leetha?” Grandfather Erebus’s voice was quiet—and more threatening because of that. “The Wolfgard asked you a question.”
A hesitation, but they all knew her answer would determine if she was allowed to remain in Lakeside.
“Cyrus Montgomery said those words,” she finally replied. “The words were said sneeringly, as if you deserved no respect.”
Simon didn’t move, didn’t reply.
“Simon?” Vlad said. “What do you want to do? How do you want to stop them?”
Simon stared at him as if Henry had given him a brain-rattling swat and that’s why he would ask such a silly question. <We’re not going to stop them. We’re going to give them more incentive to steal from us tomorrow night.>
Vlad suddenly realized why Leetha was having trouble accepting a Wolf as the Courtyard’s leader. She’d observed Simon dealing with the female and police packs. She’d seen him with Meg, who brought out his playful side. But she didn’t take into account that there was a reason he was dominant over strong Wolves like Blair and Nathan, didn’t take into account what it meant to have a Harvester like Tess living among them. She hadn’t really seen Simon yet.
“What reason?” he asked.
<We’re going to make sure that Cyrus hears about a delivery of special meat.>
CHAPTER 18
Sunsday, Messis 21
Jimmy waited until the lunch crowd thinned out before he meandered over to the Market Square. Wouldn’t do to run into Mama or CJ. Wouldn’t do to run into any of the bitches who spied on other people for the freaks. But three of them were sitting at one of those umbrella tables, eating salads like that crap was real food. He recognized the two women living in the apartments with the cops—Ruth and Merri-something—but he didn’t recognize the third one, a black-haired girl who was wearing a big gauzy shirt despite the heat.
She looked vaguely familiar, like he’d seen her in passing. Didn’t matter. Couldn’t be much of anything interesting about her if she was hanging around with the other two.
He wanted to take a look at what had arrived at the butcher shop that morning, needed to tell his crew what they could expect. He resented having to buy fresh meat. Sandee would cook it to the point of being inedible—the bitch could mess up spreading peanut butter and jelly on bread—but he needed a reason to be there instead of buying prepared food at Meat-n-Greens or A Little Bite.
Going into the butcher shop, he confirmed there was no bell on the door to be making noise that might carry late at night. Nothing fancy about the lock either. Shit, even Clarence could pick that lock inside a minute.
He waited near the door, but the shopkeeper seemed intent on talking to one of the male bloodsuckers who were squatting in the apartment above his.
“Delivery of special meat will be arriving tonight,” the shopkeeper said. “Rarely get it anymore. That’s why I’m not posting a sign, just passing the word.”
“How much is being delivered?” the vampire asked.
“Not sure. That’s why I can’t guarantee you’ll get a particular cut, but I’m making a list of anyone who is interested in receiving a bit.”
The vampire glanced at Jimmy, then turned away but didn’t lower his voice quite enough. “You going to let the humans reserve some of the special meat?”
The shopkeeper laughed quietly. “Nah. I’m not going to mention it to any of them. If there is any left over after I fill our orders, I’ll sell it to the humans, but it isn’t likely there will be anything left.”
The vampire nodded. “Put us down for a piece. Don’t want to miss out on a delicacy.”
Jimmy barely contained his excitement as the vampire walked out, leaving him alone with the shopkeeper. Special meat. Delicacy. Hot damn, they’d picked the perfect night to empty the butcher shop.
“Afternoon.” He gave the shopkeeper a big smile. “I was hoping to buy some meat for the family’s dinner.”
The shopkeeper waved at the glass counter. “What I’ve got is here. If you want a quick meal, I’ve got slices of cooked meatloaf with gravy today. Was made fresh this morning. By a human.”
On any other day, he would have tried to buy a whole meatloaf, figuring to sell or trade half of it. But he didn’t want the freaks looking at him too hard today—and he didn’t want them whining to CJ or that bastard Burke about him taking more than could be eaten at one meal.
“I’ll take three slices,” he said. When the shopkeeper raised eyebrows that had more brown feathers than hair, he added, “The kids won’t be able to eat more than half a slice each, not when they’ll be having their vegetables too.”
Three slices went into one of those containers customers were expected to wash and bring back. Jimmy made the purchase and walked out. He kept his pace leisurely, even waved to the three bitches who were finishing up their meals.
Sandee was out when he got back to the apartment, and the brats were out too, so he heated one slice of meatloaf, then another half for his own meal. Having put the rest in the refrigerator, he spent the afternoon sitting on the porch waiting for nightfall.
Meg hung up her gauzy shirt in the back room of the Liaison’s Office, then went into the bathroom to splash some water on her face, brush her teeth, and pee. Euphemisms, she had learned, were wasted on Wolves. As soon as Nathan returned from his own midday break, he would sniff around the back room and be able to report exactly what she’d done, so what was the point of saying anything else? She’d tried the whole “I’m going to powder my nose” thing once, but every Wolf she knew had come around trying to sniff her face to be able to identify the scent of this powder.
Even with Merri Lee’s and Ruth’s help, she couldn’t convince the Wolves there was no powder until Simon confirmed that, in some stories, “powder the nose” meant peeing. Then Katherine Debany ruined it later that afternoon by taking out a compact and actually powdering her nose within Elliot’s sight. Naturally, Elliot informed Blair and Nathan—and Simon—and the whole “let me smell your face” routine started all over again.
She found Nathan in the front room, already stretched out on the Wolf bed. He yawned at her, showing off all his teeth. She wasn’t fooled. He only looked lazy and half-asleep. Any deliveryman who believed the ruse and acted inappropriately discovered how fast a Wolf could move—and just how much damage those teeth could do.
“Merri Lee, Ruth, and I had an excellent lunch,” she told him. “It was a salad made from fresh greens and garden vegetables with the last chunks of leftover turkey and hard-boiled egg, along with a variety of mini muffins we bought from Nadine. What about you? Did you have a good lunch?”