me look after Lizzy. And my sister and her two children may join her for a visit.”
Those amber Wolf eyes studied him. “Is that your whole pack?”
“I have a brother, but we haven’t heard from him in a while.”
“Simon?” the Wolf called again.
“I’ll be there in a minute.”
Monty couldn’t even guess what Simon was thinking. A Wolf pack might be quite comfortable in a one-bedroom apartment, but it wouldn’t work for three human adults and three children.
“Where is your mother now?” Simon asked.
“She lives in Toland. So does my sister.”
A long silence. Monty could hear someone talking behind the shelves. Someone else must be helping the Wolves.
“Humans have important papers,” Simon said, not looking at him. “Things they need to keep.”
“Yes.”
“Your mother and sister. They should come soon, and they should bring the important papers with them.”
“They don’t need to bring such things for a visit,” Monty said, smiling. But that was a good thought if his mother was going to relocate to Lakeside.
Simon looked at him. “They should come soon, Lieutenant, and they should bring whatever is most important to them.”
Another chill went through Monty. This wasn’t a misunderstanding about what humans brought when they visited someone. This was a veiled warning.
Simon walked away from the checkout counter and disappeared among the shelves.
Monty went into A Little Bite and bought a cup of coffee. Instead of taking it with him as he usually did, he sat at a table near the window, ignoring Debany’s puzzled looks.
Typical of Simon to give him a veiled warning. But the message was clear enough: get your family out of Toland because something is going to happen soon.
If it hasn’t already started, Monty thought, remembering the news report about dead fish washing ashore around Toland and two other East Coast cities.
He finished his coffee, brought his cup over to the counter, then signaled for Debany to join him as he left A Little Bite.
“Where to, Lieutenant?” Debany started the patrol car.
“Back to the station. No.” Monty got out of the car. “Wait here. I have to make a phone call. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Monty went up to the efficiency apartment, where he would have privacy. Pulling out his mobile phone, he called his sister’s residence and wasn’t surprised when his mother answered.
“Mama? It’s Crispin.”
“Crispin? Are you all right? Why are you calling at this time of day?”
“I’m fine, Mama.” Monty took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’m fine. But I need you to listen very carefully.”
CHAPTER 17
Windsday, Juin 13
A breeze danced over the Courtyard, softening the heat of the day as Simon and Sam trotted down the road. Meg and Tess had driven to the Market Square, so they had brought clothes for the two Wolves. Sam might remain in Wolf form, but Simon felt he should look human tonight as a courtesy to the humans who would be joining them.
Simon said.
Sam replied.
Which meant someone else didn’t know. Did human pups tend to misbehave during public events? Should he warn Lieutenant Montgomery and Pete Denby that anyone disrupting music would get nipped? He thought the humans were attending the concert out of politeness, but he could be wrong. Theral was going to play her fiddle, and those songs would be familiar to the other humans. The female pack was excited about the concert, both to hear Theral play but also to hear Charlie Crowgard. And Kowalski and Debany had asked him twice if Charlie was going to sing the song about Meg and Merri Lee defeating the bad human, Phineas Jones.
When he and Sam arrived at the Market Square, Kowalski and Debany already had three short rows of chairs set up in the open area that made up the center of the square.
“Vlad told us to do it this way,” Kowalski said when Simon approached. “And Henry said to put some perches behind the chairs and around both sides.”
Not all the terra indigene would attend this concert. Some still needed to stand guard. But tonight was as much about mingling with humans as it was a chance to hear music. Charlie would give a private performance for those who couldn’t attend tonight—or didn’t want to mingle.
Tess came out of Meat-n-Greens, followed by Meg, Merri Lee, Ruthie, and Eve.
“We’re all set,” Tess said. “We have pizza from Hot Crust that we can warm up, fresh-picked berries,