“I wasn’t elected; I was hired. If Ilya Sanguinati decides I’m not doing my job, he’ll fire me. He’s the only one who can. Now, if you’ll excuse me, Mayor, I’m going upstairs to find out what you said that pissed him off. And then, if you want, I’ll come to your office to hear your version of that meeting.”
“My version? My version? Who do you think you are?”
“I’m the chief of police, and you are one word away from being arrested for causing a public disturbance.”
Grimshaw waited while Roundtree did a passable imitation of a landed fish. Then he walked around the other man and went upstairs.
Well and truly pissed off, Grimshaw thought when he entered Ilya’s part of the office.
Ilya handed him a sheet of paper with “From the Mayor’s Office” as the heading. Must be the letter Roundtree’s office submitted for the next issue of the Sproing Weekly.
After reading Roundtree’s latest thoughts, Grimshaw understood why Ilya was angry. The letter was one long whining complaint about roads being closed and the terra indigene’s high-handed control of the village, which made law-abiding citizens too fearful to live and work in Sproing. Grimshaw figured Ilya would have filed that away for future reference when dealing with Roundtree and remain unruffled. But the Sanguinati’s leader wouldn’t shrug off the paragraph strongly hinting that Sproing’s troubles were mostly due to the current ownership of The Jumble.
“If Roundtree makes a move against Victoria, we will kill him,” Ilya said.
If that was Ilya’s conversation opener, every human in and around Sproing was in trouble.
Julian appeared in the doorway of Ilya’s office. “The village is starting to feel unhealthy. Cracked. And something is seeping in through those cracks.”
Crap. “Why here?” Grimshaw laid the letter facedown on Ilya’s desk. Then he looked at the other two men. “Why now?”
“Why is Roundtree trying to get people stirred up when last winter he was all about cooperating and everyone working together to get through the hard times?” Julian countered.
“Last winter he wasn’t dealing with us,” Ilya said. “Last winter he could pretend, or even believe, that everything that wasn’t human was Out There, not sitting in an office in the building next to the village government.”
And last winter, something the Others called a contamination hadn’t appeared in Sproing. Grimshaw took a seat, stretched his legs, and crossed them at the ankles—a deliberately relaxed position, even if he didn’t feel the least bit relaxed. “So, what did you and the mayor wrangle about?” he asked Ilya.
“Reopening the roads, among other things,” Ilya replied.
“Well, everyone wants the roads open, so that’s not a surprise,” Grimshaw said. “And I imagine Roundtree would like to pin the blame for this current trouble on someone who lives outside the village limits.”
Ilya gave him a sharp look. That letter had made it clear enough where Roundtree wanted to place the blame. Then the vampire flicked a look at Julian, confirming Grimshaw’s suspicion that the Sanguinati knew more about Julian Farrow’s past than he did—and didn’t want to aim Farrow toward Roundtree.
“It may have been a mistake to rent some of the cabins to colleges in the Finger Lakes without stipulating approval of the individuals who want to make use of that arrangement,” Ilya said. “Especially since we reduced the time on the leases to four months to accommodate the number of professionals who wanted a chance to have contact with the terra indigene.”
“You can’t preapprove Vicki’s guests or Ineke’s, and they’re more transient than professors coming to observe the terra indigene in order to write papers for academic journals,” Julian pointed out.
“The influx of new residents is now a concern,” Ilya said. “It didn’t seem within Silence Lodge’s duties to preapprove them either. Now it seems that knowing where those humans came from is vital to the village’s survival. Do you agree, Chief Grimshaw? Is the difference between new and settled residents the crack Mr. Farrow is sensing?”
“Could be,” Grimshaw agreed. “We certainly have a few people stirring up trouble within the human community. And those still-empty storefronts are becoming an itch I can’t scratch.” He looked at Ilya.
“None of the buildings that supposedly have new occupants belong to the Sanguinati,” Ilya said.
“Any chance of someone picking the locks, so to speak, and taking a look around the inside of those buildings?” Julian asked.
A flicker of amusement in Ilya’s dark eyes. “Mr. Farrow. Are you suggesting, in front of the chief of police, that the Sanguinati break a human law?”
“As long as you don’t set off a smoke alarm or write your name in the dust, how is the chief of police supposed to know?” Grimshaw asked dryly.
“I would prefer that human methods of gaining information about the occupants be employed first,” Ilya replied, his voice equally dry.
Not angry anymore, Grimshaw thought, watching Ilya. Still pissed off, sure, but there’s not that smoldering anger that could turn into a flash fire of violence.
Julian cleared his throat. “You should both know that some of my customers are going to The Jumble this evening to do their weekly book exchange.”
Grimshaw felt his heart beating. “Which customers?”
A hesitation before Julian looked at Ilya. “The Five who come at dusk.”
Ilya hissed, showing his fangs.
“Those five?” Grimshaw asked quietly. “Why?”
“A compromise—and a gamble,” Julian said. “I thought it would be safer for everyone if the Five didn’t come into the village right now. Conan and Cougar will make sure none of Vicki’s guests cause trouble. The Five only want to deal with the Reader.”
Silence.
Grimshaw focused on breathing and tried not to think about those voices in the dark. Moooonkey man.
“Vicki can handle it,” Julian said. “Gods, she survived the Elders who live in the lake, so she can supervise the exchange of used books.”
Was Julian trying to convince them or himself? Grimshaw wondered. Then he said, “Vicki will be fine. They’re female, aren’t they? Other females don’t trigger her anxiety attacks, so as long as the guests can be corralled for the time your customers are browsing, everyone will be fine.”
The men agreed on a plan. Julian would close early as he had intended to do and head over to The Jumble to be on hand if Vicki needed assistance. He would take Karol and Viktor with him and make sure they were safely tucked in with Vicki’s employees before the Five showed up. Grimshaw would talk to some of the owners of existing businesses and see what he could find out about the newcomers. Since Ilya had sent Boris home because he’d planned to be at his office most of the day, Grimshaw agreed to drop Ilya at The Jumble before heading home.