Wild Country (The World of the Others #2)- Anne Bishop Page 0,113

window,” Judith said. “We saw the glass when we were getting Manuel to the truck to bring him here.” She thought for a moment. “Stewart said the getaway car swerved, and he thinks he might have hit the driver.”

“You’ve never seen the man before?” Jana asked. “Could he be someone who works at another ranch, or someone who used to stop in Bennett and might be doing that again?”

Mother and daughter shook their heads.

Tolya opened the slim leather case he’d brought with him, took out a picture, and set it on the table. “Was this the man who attacked you?”

Melanie stared at the picture. “No. This is the other man, the one who warned him to get out.”

* * *

* * *

Abigail swept and polished and vacuumed. She dusted the blinds and mopped the hallways and cleaned the restrooms in the office building that held a variety of small businesses. She didn’t mind cleaning the offices. At least there weren’t any surprises. The two attorneys who had come to Bennett didn’t keep bowls of tumbled stones on their desks. And the desks intended for their personal assistants didn’t have anything like that either.

Each office was made up of two rooms, and as houses were cleared, the attorneys’ rooms were piling up with boxes that contained documents that might help locate living heirs.

She considered approaching the men and asking if they needed help sorting the mail that was still coming in for Bennett’s previous residents. If someone sorted the personal mail from all the rest, that would be helpful, wouldn’t it?

And seeing the personal mail would help her figure out which cities still had survivors and might be a place where she could disappear if she needed to disappear again.

Out of the corner of her eye, Abigail saw a shape where a shape shouldn’t be. She stumbled back a step, almost getting her feet tangled in the vacuum cleaner’s cord.

“Gods above and below, you scared me,” she said.

Virgil Wolfgard stared at her. “Tolya wants to see you.”

“Why?”

Virgil said nothing.

“I have work to do. We’re all behind today, and I have more offices to clean.” Her heart beat so hard, she wondered if he could hear it.

“They’ll wait. Tolya won’t.”

“I have to tell my boss. I can’t leave work without telling my boss. She’s just down the hall.”

Virgil bared his teeth, revealing fangs that weren’t meant for a human mouth.

Abigail felt a desperate need to pee and wondered what he’d do if she wet herself. Probably wouldn’t matter to him. He’d drag her out of the building and up the street to wherever Tolya waited.

“Let’s go.” Virgil stepped back from the doorway.

She bolted past him, then stopped. “I have to lock up. I have to …”

He grabbed her arm and pulled her down the hallway, down the stairs, and out of the building.

“Why are you angry with me?” she wailed. “I didn’t do anything!”

People—humans—came out of shops and some looked like they might help. Until they saw Virgil, saw the red flickers in the amber eyes—a sign of anger in the Wolfgard. Then they slunk into their shops.

She should have known she wouldn’t get any help from these gutless wonders. Not even Kelley, who came to the door of the jewelry store but didn’t even ask what was going on.

When they reached the Bird Cage Saloon and Abigail saw Jana, she hoped she had at least one ally. But she wished it had been Barb Debany in the saloon instead of Jana. Barb was a sure thing. Jana was still a question mark.

“I have to pee,” she said. “I really have to pee.”

Virgil released her arm and looked at Jana. “Go with her.”

Abigail hustled to keep up with Jana as they headed to the toilets, which were located past the pool table, which she thought was fine for the men, but would the women feel easy about using the facilities when the pool table was in use? In her experience, only rough men—the kind women were smart to avoid—drank and played pool in saloons.

She wasn’t assigned to clean the saloon, so the facilities were an unwelcome surprise. Not individual stalls. It was just a single room with a toilet and sink. She hurried inside and started to close the door, but Jana put her shoulder against it and had a hand on the doorknob.

“I won’t come in with you, but the door has to stay open a little ways,” Jana said.

“What? Why?”

“Abby, if you really have to pee, do it.” There was