“Are you sure?”
Grimshaw stared at the government building. He didn’t doubt for a moment that the message was written in blood, but something about the way the cat’s head had been shoved into the hollowed-out belly bothered him. And now that he thought about it, the way the words had been misspelled bothered him too.
Getting out of the cruiser, he walked over to the corpse. As it was Earthday, none of the government offices were open. Employees usually used the back entrance anyway since there was a parking lot behind the building, so they might not notice the “encouragement” that had been left out front. Would Roundtree call someone to remove the carcass and wash off the steps before the offices opened for business tomorrow?
Or was the mayor foolish enough to think he’d take care of that?
He crouched, reached—hesitated. Then he pinched the cat’s neck with two fingers to pull the head up and . . .
“Crap.” He released the neck and stepped back. “It’s a fake,” he told Stavros. “Some Trickster Night prank using a hollowed-out toy.” But a high-quality toy with realistic faux fur that could fool a person at first glance—especially if that person was more concerned about the rest of the tableau.
“Ah,” Stavros said. “That is good news for the cat. But it leaves you with a problem.”
“Yeah, I know.” Grimshaw ended the call and returned to his cruiser.
He had a problem, all right, because something had been bled to leave that message for Mayor Roundtree—and as he considered the way the words had been misspelled, he wondered if a human was, or humans were, trying to implicate the Others in order to cause more trouble in Sproing.
CHAPTER 60
Julian
Earthday, Novembros 4
Julian stood inside the main house’s screened porch, drinking coffee while he waited for Ilya Sanguinati.
Michael Stern had called a few minutes ago to check in. Nothing around the cabins last night to cause alarm. They had food, but could he come up and fill a thermos with coffee to share with Ian and Jenna?
Julian felt a little guilty about saying no since he was on his second mug of caffeine, but he wanted Ilya to see everything before anyone else came up to the house. And it bothered him that whatever happened last night had occurred while he’d been sleeping in the next room. It bothered him that something had left Kira groggy and Aggie so disoriented and weakened that she couldn’t shift to her human form to tell them what, if anything, she knew.
The quick thump on the bedroom window that woke him up, followed by that warning rattle, bothered him most of all. Would something or someone have tried to harm Vicki if he hadn’t been there? Had she been the target all along?
He spotted Ilya hurrying toward the house from the direction of the lake. Not unexpected. The access road was still blocked by cars, so Boris couldn’t have driven the sedan up to the house to drop off the Sanguinati’s leader.
Then he noticed the black bundle Ilya carried. Setting his mug on the nearest table, he rushed out to meet the vampire.
“What . . . ?” Julian pivoted to open the porch door.
“It’s Jozi,” Ilya said.
Still alive, Julian thought, feeling a moment’s relief. But if this is Jozi, then who . . . ?
“I found her at the dock, tied upside down.” Ilya laid her on one of the porch chairs. “I think she was there for a while, and she’s very upset.” He glanced around the porch, as if making sure she couldn’t get out.
There was a local veterinary practice that took care of the animals on the nearby farms as well as people’s pets, but Julian didn’t know the office’s phone number offhand and didn’t know how much the vet might know about terra indigene forms.
“Should I call Michael Stern and ask him to deliver a message to Eddie?” he asked. “Do the Crowgard have their own healer?”
“All the gards have healers for their own kind of terra indigene,” Ilya replied. “But there is no physical injury that I can detect.”
“What about anemia?” The words were out as soon as the thought formed.
Ilya gave him a cold stare. “Is that an accusation, Mr. Farrow?”
“That’s a question, Mr. Sanguinati. Jozi was taken and didn’t struggle or sound an alarm. Kira was groggy when we woke her. Aggie is still disoriented to the point she can’t shift to human form. Something entered Vicki’s apartment through an open window on the second floor without anyone waking up and realizing we had an intruder.” He paused. They needed to work together, so arguing with Ilya was pointless. “You should see the body before we discuss this further.”
Ilya glanced at Jozi, who didn’t seem to be paying attention to them. “If Victoria has some available, perhaps she could offer a small amount of orange juice to Jozi and Aggie—and a little food.”
“I’ll ask her. The body is around the side of the house.” He waited until Ilya headed in that direction before he went inside to find Vicki and tell her about giving the Crows some juice. It’s what humans were given when they donated blood at a hospital.
He wished Ilya hadn’t suggested the juice, since it confirmed his suspicion about blood loss causing disorientation.
CHAPTER 61
Vicki
Earthday, Novembros 4
I think there was a poem about fog coming in on little cat feet, but I’m here to tell you it doesn’t. Fog comes in on clompy pony hooves, looking for a carrot in payment for hiding a crime scene until the authorities—meaning Grimshaw—need to see the body and collect evidence.
I don’t know how the pony got into the kitchen without Julian noticing him, but I figured Fog could go wherever he wanted, being about as stoppable as the Sanguinati, who could slip through any kind of crack when they were in their smoke form.
Not something I wanted to think about right now, what with Doc Wallace suggesting that I give the girls some juice to see if low blood sugar might be causing Kira’s grogginess and Aggie’s disorientation. So I concentrated on cutting up a carrot and telling Fog he’d been very clever to create a unique crime scene tent, and how I’d be sure to tell Chief Grimshaw when I saw him.
Fog seemed pleased with his payment, and I hoped on hope that Grimshaw wouldn’t give me his patented grim look because I’d unintentionally encouraged one of the Elemental’s steeds to become an assistant to the local police.
Julian walked into the kitchen and frowned at Fog’s tail.
Fog, focused on the last chunk of carrot but perhaps picking up a bit of tension in the human, flicked his tail at Julian.