Written in Red

wary, especially after Henry added, “We had a visitor last night.”

Simon looked at the office’s back door. “An intruder?”

“Not there,” Henry said, tipping his head toward the office. Then he wagged his thumb toward the stairs leading up to the efficiency apartments.

For a moment, Simon just stared at Henry. Then he absorbed the meaning of the words and snarled as his canines lengthened, his nails changed, and fur sprang out on his chest and back.

“I told Meg we had rules about visitors. I told her . . .” He choked on the fury rising inside him—fury that wanted to rip and tear and destroy this strange and awful feeling of betrayal and the person who had caused it.

“Simon.”

He’d thought she was different from the other damn monkeys. He’d thought there was finally one of them the terra indigene might be able to work with, despite the way she made him half crazy with the not prey confusion. He’d consented to let her have a map of the Courtyard because she seemed to want to do her job. If he’d wanted a liar as their Liaison, he would have hired that Asia Crane!

“Simon.”

Hearing the warning in Henry’s voice, he made an effort to stuff himself back into the human skin.

“If you want to sneak a visitor past us, you don’t have him break the lock on the street door. And you don’t call attention to someone’s presence by yelling loud enough to be heard by the Grizzly staying in the apartment across the hall.”

“She didn’t know you’d be there,” Simon said, choking on the effort to get his teeth back to human size.

“Yes, she did. I saw her in the Market Square yesterday and told her I would be there so she wouldn’t be frightened if she heard me.”

Frightened. The word cleared away his fury and let him think again.

Meg was hiding from something or someone. He’d realized that when he hired her, but he’d been chasing his tail so much because of her—or dodging to avoid having it stomped on by someone else—he’d forgotten she had run away from something or someone.

He looked at the footprints coming out of the office.

“After the intruder ran off, she slipped out and spent the night on the sorting table,” Henry said.

Too afraid to stay in her own den? Unacceptable!

It took effort to shape words. “Did you see the intruder?”

“Not well enough. But I got the scent of him, and I’ll recognize it again if he comes around.”

If this stranger was hunting Meg, he would come around again. “Can’t get that lock fixed until tomorrow.” A Wolf and a Hawk were learning how to change and fix locks. They might be able to replace that broken one, but the Courtyard had an understanding with a lock company, and being willing to teach Others this skill was the reason Simon did business with Chris at Fallacaro Lock & Key.

“The Owls who kept watch last night will keep watch again,” Henry said. “I’ve already talked to a couple of Hawks and some of the Crows about keeping watch on this part of the Courtyard today. And I’ll be staying at the efficiency apartment again tonight.”

“What about today? With the stores closed, she’ll be alone up there during the day.” Not likely that someone would come in daylight, but imagining Meg by herself all day felt too much like watching a deer that was the perfect prey because it was separated from the rest of the herd.

And that reminded him too much of Daphne and Sam running alone that terrible night, thinking they were safe.

“Should we call the police?” Henry asked.

“And tell them what? That someone broke a lock? Nothing was taken. We aren’t sure the intruder was after Meg. We’ve had people try to sneak in and use the apartments. Could have been someone who just wanted to get out of the cold for a night and thought they could slip away before we noticed.”

“That’s called trespassing,” Henry pointed out. “Humans have a law against it too.”

“We’ll deal with it our own way,” Simon said. “I’ll get another shovel and help you clear the snow.” And erase the footprints that might tell a different kind of predator where to find his prey.

“What about Meg?”

She hadn’t asked for his help. It bothered him that she hadn’t asked for his help. He was the Courtyard’s leader, after all. “We’ll keep watch today. Tomorrow we’ll consider what else might be needed.”

Like getting some answers about who she was running from—and why someone would want her back.

Meg heard the howling as soon as she turned off the shower. Sounded like a whole pack of them was right under her windows. Drying off as quickly as she could, she wrapped the towel around her head, pulled on a bathrobe, and went to the windows to look out.

No sign of them, but judging by the way a car skidded as it came abreast of the Courtyard’s parking lot and the driver tried to accelerate to get away from whatever he saw, they weren’t far away.

There had been no sign of Henry when she hurried back to her apartment. Did he work in his studio on Earthday, or was she alone in this part of the Courtyard? Merri Lee had told her none of the shops were officially open on Earthday, but the library was never locked, and in the morning a couple of the Others served leftovers at the Market Square’s restaurant, Meat-n-Greens. So she could walk over to the restaurant for a meal and then spend some time browsing through the library’s books.

Another howl, easily heard despite the closed windows.

We are here.

Above her, somewhere on the roof, she heard several Crows cawing.

We are here.

Something that had been wound tight inside Meg since last night began to relax. There weren’t any humans around this part of the Courtyard today, but she wasn’t alone. She could spend the afternoon reading or napping, maybe even do some chores now that she’d learned how to clean. Not all human stores were closed on Earthday, so there were cars going by—including, she noted before stepping away from the window, a police car. She would be safe enough while there was daylight.

She could decide later about where she would hide after dark.

That afternoon, Asia Crane slowly drove past the entrance to the Liaison’s Office and the consulate. As usual on Earthday, a chain stretched across the street entrance, a metal Closed sign hanging from the center. It was a simple but efficient way to keep people from using the delivery area as a parking lot for the restaurants and other businesses across the street from the Courtyard.

Bigwig hadn’t been able to give her any information about the white van or the driver who seemed to be casing the Courtyard. Probably nothing more than a disgruntled husband or boyfriend looking for an opportunity to haul his dumb-ass woman back home. Although why anyone would go to that much trouble for no-looks Meg was a mystery.

She didn’t care about the who, how, or why as long as Meg no longer filled the Liaison’s job, leaving it open for her to have another shot at access to the Courtyard.

Damn it! There wasn’t anything that looked like the Help Wanted sign taped to the office door. That meant White Van Man hadn’t taken care of business yet. Well, she might be able to help with that.

Tomorrow she would make a two-prong attack. She would test her welcome at Howling Good Reads, and she would make an effort to befriend Meg.

Her next step would depend on her reception, but one way or another, Simon Wolfgard was going to pay for her backers becoming impatient with her lack of progress.

CHAPTER 7

Simon flipped the lock on Howling Good Reads’ front door, flipped the sign to Open, put on the wire-rimmed glasses, and started the rest of the routine for opening the store.