Right on target, Roger, Steve thought.
“I’m a specialist in a very particular field,” Jones finally said. “And while I had intended to visit the Falls and see this natural wonder for myself, I’m here in Ferryman’s Landing because … Well, to put it delicately, I had heard that a girl took her own life last year because of an addiction to cutting her skin. Some parents insist that girls will outgrow this behavior and don’t take steps to get their child the professional help she needs. Studies have shown that if one girl is discovered displaying this behavior, there are several more in the community who are still successfully hiding their addiction. Parents may see symptoms without fully understanding what they’re seeing. Until it’s too late.”
Steve didn’t think Phineas Jones missed much, but he hoped the man couldn’t detect his uneasiness.
“I think the incident was reported incorrectly,” Steve said.
Cold, sweet smile. “Oh? How so? A girl jumped into the river and drowned last year. What can be incorrect about that?”
“Nothing, as far as it goes. Except she didn’t jump into the river. She fell into the river. Fast current here. Lots of rapids farther up. Most people who live around the water know how to swim, but the river takes one or two a year. And at least one boat each year rides the falls down to the rocks. You may have heard on the news that some fools tried to go out during foggy weather a few days ago. There are rescue boats and volunteers still down there fishing out pieces of boats and bodies. It’s a tragedy when it happens, but it does happen.”
“Perhaps I should talk to the administrators of your schools. Sometimes school personnel—”
“Mr. Jones,” Steve said pleasantly. “I think you should get back in your car and drive away. It doesn’t matter what anyone else tells you. I’m telling you this is as close as you get to any child in Ferryman’s Landing.”
“The philanthropists I represent only want to help these girls,” Jones said. “Why are you so defensive? What are you afraid of?”
Trust me. How many parents had regretted trusting that voice?
“I’m afraid of the Beargard who rule the land around here as far as Lakeside,” Steve said, his own voice turning hard. “I’m afraid of them taking offense at a stranger poking his nose where it doesn’t belong and tossing a human into the river for sport. You should have paid more attention to what was happening in Talulah Falls, Mr. Jones. This is the wrong time for you to be doing business anywhere around the Great Lakes. You need any help finding your way out of the village?”
Another heavy silence. “No,” Jones said. “No, I think I have all the information I need. Good day, gentlemen.”
They watched him walk back to his car. They watched him drive away. And Steve watched the Crows fly off to start the relay of Crowgard, Hawkgard, and Eaglegard that would track Jones’s car for as long as they could.
Finally Steve said, “Officer Czerneda?”
“Mr. Ferryman?”
“Did Phineas Jones look like a smiling shark to you?”
“Yes, he did. He certainly did.”
Steve nodded grimly. “I’d better give Simon Wolfgard another call.”
Hearing the knock, Meg opened the back door of the Liaison’s Office and stared at Merri Lee.
As part of her training, she had seen videos of women being assaulted, had studied images of battered bodies and faces. She’d even seen one of the girls in the compound punched and slapped and kicked—a girl whose skin couldn’t earn enough to justify keeping her. The Controller had recorded that session and had shown it often enough that the real experience of seeing a girl beaten to death lost much of its impact.
Much, but not all.
Those images took on an additional meaning when superimposed over the face of a friend.
“Do you feel well enough to be out?” Meg asked, stepping aside.
“Dr. Lorenzo said to take it easy for the first couple of days and then use common sense,” Merri Lee replied as she entered the back room. “It’s been a week since … the assault. I lazed around, reading books and watching movies for the first few days. Even indulged in a couple of massages. Now I’m feeling restless and want to do something useful.” She hesitated. “With A Little Bite still closed to everyone but Courtyard residents, Tess doesn’t need me right now. I offered to help Heather fill out book orders, but she’s freaked about what happened to me, and I don’t think she’ll be comfortable being around me until the bruises completely heal.”
Meg understood why Heather would be upset. Merri Lee’s face was still healing, so the black eye and bruises must have been very bad. Heather’s life was in the human part of the city, and Merri Lee’s injuries were a harsh reminder of what could happen to someone labeled a Wolf lover.
Unlike Heather, Meg didn’t have any reason to avoid Merri Lee because she didn’t have to go beyond the Courtyard and its protection.
“Do you think Tess would let us wash these containers at A Little Bite?” Meg asked, pointing to six small containers. “I’m supposed to make up sample packages of Wolf cookies, but there’s just the bathroom sink here.”
“I could take them over and wash them for you,” Merri Lee said.
“Thanks.”
A yodeling arooeeooeeoo came from the front room.
“What is that?” Merri Lee asked, looking startled.
“That,” Meg sighed, “is Skippy.”
As soon as her friend left, Meg opened the large plastic containers. Blair didn’t say she couldn’t give the youngster a cookie. She reached for a cow, then thought for a moment before taking one of the people-shaped cookies.
She walked through the office until she reached the counter in the front room. Keeping the cookie out of sight, she patted the top of the counter. “Skippy. Front paws here.”
He rushed over and plopped his paws on the counter, aquiver with juvenile enthusiasm.
She held up a finger to get his attention. “Gently,” she ordered. Then she held up the cookie.
He wasn’t grown enough to leap on the counter or over it, and he couldn’t get his brains off the cookie long enough to think about backing up to get a running start. After three failed attempts to grab the cookie, the command Meg kept giving him finally got through. The fourth time she held up the cookie, he managed to take it from her with great care.
Of course, he also managed to step on his own foot in his haste to get back to the Wolf bed and devour his treat.
Meg sighed and returned to the back room to wait for Merri Lee. One chamomile cookie wouldn’t hurt Skippy. And, really, if it actually calmed him down, she’d be doing everyone a favor, because if she had to listen to another hour of that yodeling, she was going to find the heaviest box she could lift and beat Blair over the head with it.
If Skippy had nipped one of her fingers …
The pins-and-needles feeling suddenly filling her left hand was so fierce it burned under her skin.
Skippy … and teeth.
By the time Merri Lee returned, Meg had everything set up in the bathroom. Skippy was so engrossed in his cookie, he didn’t pay any attention when Meg closed the Private door and locked it. Maybe it was just as well that Nathan wasn’t the watch Wolf this afternoon. He’d have sounded the alarm the moment she locked the door because he would know why she was trying to lock him out.
“Put those down,” Meg said as soon as Merri Lee walked into the back room. “I need your help.”
“What’s wrong with your hand?” Merri Lee asked, putting the clean containers on the small round table that functioned as a dining area. “Why are you rubbing it?”
“I need to cut. I need you to write down the prophecy.”
Merri Lee took a step back. “Meg, this isn’t a good idea. I’m not qualified to—”
“Something is going to happen,” Meg cried.
“I’ll call Tess. Or Henry.”