Wild Country (The World of the Others #2)- Anne Bishop Page 0,30

got a phone call telling me to come to Lakeside if I wanted a job in law enforcement. The caller said he’d been given a cryptic message and my phone number. This is his phone number.”

Kowalski took the paper and slipped it into his pocket. “You tried calling back?”

“No answer.” She hesitated. “I’d like to know if I’m being set up.”

“I’ll see what I can find out on the QT and get the information to you before you go.”

“Assuming I get the job.”

Kowalski smiled. “Assuming.”

* * *

* * *

Jana sat in A Little Bite with Lieutenant Crispin James Montgomery while Captain Burke and Simon Wolfgard decided her fate, at least as far as this job was concerned.

She’d told Montgomery about her love of frontier stories and how she’d imagined herself as the sheriff squaring off against the villains. She didn’t know why she’d told him that. Maybe it was because, sitting with him, she thought he was a man who could have worked with her, would have worked with her, if society’s ideas about certain kinds of jobs had been a little more flexible.

Then Simon Wolfgard and Captain Burke were standing next to the table and Simon was handing her the travel letter and pass for the train fare, along with a letter addressed to Tolya Sanguinati, the leader in Bennett. Simon Wolfgard also said that Officer Debany’s sister, Barbara Ellen, would be her housemate.

Despite her best efforts to maintain her feelings, emotions welled up inside her and leaked out a little.

No comments about women being too emotional to be on the job—except from Wolfgard, but that was a concern about whether watery eyes and a runny nose indicated illness.

Within minutes of being offered congratulations and best wishes, she acquired a Crowgard pen pal and was told by the coffee shop’s manager that a ride was waiting for her in the access way.

Jana hurried toward the back door of the coffee shop, then retraced her steps, wanting to thank Burke and Montgomery one last time for their part in her having a chance to be a deputy. And she wanted to ask where she could find Merri Lee. When she’d come to the Courtyard a few days ago to ask about law enforcement work, Merri Lee had told her about the job fair and which day to return to fill out an application. Jana had promised that if she got a job in Bennett, she would write and let Merri Lee know how she was getting on.

“The job fair is over.” The manager of the coffee shop sounded … different. Almost threatening.

Staying in the back hallway, Jana looked into the main room and stared at the woman’s hair as it changed to red-streaked green and began coiling.

Oh, that couldn’t be good. She’d figured the woman was terra indigene, but the hair changing color and coiling like that made her feel … uneasy. No. It made her feel a little sick—and very afraid.

She withdrew enough not to see or be seen, but, darn it, she was a cop—or about to become one officially. Burke and Montgomery were in the coffee shop and might need backup. Not that there was much she could do since she didn’t have a weapon.

“Didn’t come for a job. Came to see family. Was told there was a place we could stay.” A pause. “Hey, CJ.”

Burke said something in response to the other man, but Burke’s voice was so low Jana couldn’t make out the words. Then she heard Montgomery’s answer. “My brother. Cyrus James Montgomery.”

A car horn honked. Remembering there was someone waiting to take her to the hotel, Jana hurried to the back door and out, waving a hand to let the minivan’s driver know she was coming.

A family drama. None of her business. But …

Cyrus James Montgomery. If she had access to a police database and looked him up, she wondered what she would find.

Messis 8

To: Tolya Sanguinati and Virgil Wolfgard

We are sending doctors, lawyers, a toother, and a vet who is trained to work with large animals like horses and cows. And we found a human female deputy to work with Virgil. She knows how to shoot a gun and fight with her hands. She wants to ride a horse, and she has agreed to live with Barbara Ellen Debany.

These humans will be leaving Lakeside on Firesday. John Wolfgard will also be on the train. He worked with us at Howling Good Reads, so he can run the bookstore and has experience with