The driver was a Dog. I could tell that as soon as I opened the door, even before I sat down. I sneered at him as I gave him the address, and he dropped his head as he began to pull back into traffic. Good boy, I thought. I didn’t want to push my sleeve back and show him the Wolf Bite on my lower arm. Pulling rank is tacky. I prefer to simply intimidate with a look. I adjusted my skirt around me, and caught the driver looking at me in the rear view mirror. I showed him my teeth. He nearly rear-ended the car in front of us. “Keep your eyes on the road,” I barked. “I’m not paying you for a car accident.” His devotional statue bobbed beside him on the dashboard. I curled my lip and snarled softly.
I had to be at the party. Had to be. As a new sergeant, not being there would be the political equivalent of a suicide note. Nothing, but nothing--short of my own death, and then only in the line of duty--would be good enough to get me excused from the event. And beyond my political responsibilities, I also had career responsibilities. As one of the junior sergeants, I had to be there to keep an eye on the security staff (off-duty officers, as was common at inter-Clan parties) and to network for the division. One of the social events of the year, people all over the city willing to kill for the chance to be there, and I wanted to be at home with my sisters, waiting by the phone. Instead, I had to be mingling and networking.
I dug through my purse for the phone, and fidgeted with the folds of my skirt while I waited for one of them to pick up.
“Hiit’sme,” I said as soon as someone on the other end picked up.
“Kiah!” said Peri. I recognized the note of exasperation in my older sister’s voice as though it had been just days ago that she’d been threatening my life if I so much as spoke to her dates. “You may not use this as an excuse to get out of the party. And you know that. I’m sorry I panicked earlier, I’m sure you’re all right, that Ziya’s just off somewhere on the spur of the moment. She’s your niece, after all. She shouldn’t be able to do anything that surprises me anymore. So hang up, do your job, and if there’s any news about her, I’ll leave you a message.”
I said goodbye meekly, and hung up. The driver was watching me, and I curled a lip at him without making eye contact. I was undoubtedly being harder on him than I should have been, but I found it hard to care.
#
I’d decided when I was assigning patrols to the security staff that I would station myself on the mezzanine. Officially, I would be keeping an eye on both my staff and the party as a whole. Unofficially, it kept me far away from anyone who could ask me to dance. As soon as the coat check girl took my cloak, I headed for the stairs as fast as heels and a long skirt would let me move.
Besides keeping safe on the mezzanine, I could indulge myself in some people watching. I tracked the passage of individuals from group to group, formally dressed dignitaries and VIPs mingling and socializing, like elaborate courting rituals. It was odd though, that of all the finely dressed men wandering around, the one that my eyes kept going back to was simply a member of the catering staff.
He was fussing with the arrangement of a buffet table almost directly below me, moving back and forth between it and the kitchens, it and the others in the room, and I found myself tracking his passage through the crowds. Even in the black and white uniform of the caterers, the crowds parted to let him through, even without anyone looking at him. He had the presence of a Wolf, and the graceful bearing of a Big Cat, but I couldn’t tell which was dominant. I watched him working for a few minutes before he looked up and caught my eyes on him. He didn’t drop his chin like most people did when I made eye contact: instead he pushed his chin higher, met my eyes defiantly. He showed no fear of me at all, just crossed his arms across his chest--the right one on top, I noticed idly--and glared right back at me.
“Kiah! Stop that.”
I snorted in surprise and then reined in my defensive instincts. It was only Devi, my captain, by my shoulder. I held the man’s eyes a moment longer before blinking--slowly and deliberately--and then turned to look at her. “What?” I asked innocently. “I’m just keeping an eye on the area.”
She hip-checked me gently, to start me walking along with her as she talked. “Stop gawking at the help.”
I peered around her as we walked, pretending I was listening as I kept an eye on him. He had shifted into the middle of the cluster of catering tables and was talking--arguing--with another, older man. The other man was gesturing at the nearly bare tables around them. They locked eyes for a moment, and the older man tossed his head angrily. The younger snarled--Timber, I guessed, or maybe Tiger--and stalked off. I looked back at Devi again, having missed everything she’d just said, but gathering from her silence that she’d asked me a question. I blinked. “What?”
She snorted. “Come on now. Downstairs and to work.”
Devi believes in cultivating good business relations in social surroundings. I believe in shooting people who step on my feet. She is my boss, and therefore she always wins.
#
I was mingling when I heard it, far-off shouts under the music. I excused myself from the group I was in, and wove my way towards the other side of the room. The crowds of chattering people around me didn’t seem to hear, or at least chose not to acknowledge it. But I only needed an excuse to leave the main room. When I reached the stairs to the kitchen, I could hear the shouts clearly, could even pick out the individual words. I picked my way quietly down the stairs, not that they’d be able to hear me anyways, and stood for a moment, observing, before taking action.
It was him again, the beautiful one I’d seen from the balcony, arguing with a younger boy. One of the light drafts, I thought, from his build. The fight seemed to be winding down. Not surprisingly the beautiful one seemed to have won. They both looked pissed off--as if they’d have their ears flattened back if it was physically possible to do so--but the younger boy seemed to be returning to work.
“What’s the trouble here?” I stepped out into the room, looked around as though I owned the place. They were packing up the van to leave, I thought. Trays of food were waiting at one end of the room for the circulating waiters, but it looked like the majority of food had been put out and I’d caught them beginning to tidy away chafing dishes and empty trays.
“Sorry, Dama.” The younger one bobbed his head submissively. “It was nothing. We didn’t mean to disturb your party.”
“Hush.” The beautiful one spoke to the younger while glaring at me. “She’s Clanless, not a guest. Take the trays out to the van.” I waited in silence while he picked up a stack of trays and headed for the door to the loading dock; the beautiful one spoke just as the boy reached the double doors. “Jaime.” He didn’t quite jump, but it had to have been close. Jaime turned back to face us. “Don’t come back in here. I’ll fetch you. Straighten up the van while you wait.” He bobbed his head and pushed through the doors and out of sight. I turned my attention back to the good-looking one. He scowled at me. “Leave him alone.”
I said nothing.
“He didn’t know what he was getting into. I’ll talk to him myself, see if he knows anything worthwhile. But he’s just a stupid kid.”
The words almost could have been begging, but not with the tone of voice he was using. It was cold as ice, and just as sharp. I hadn’t a clue what he was talking about, but it didn’t seem like the time to admit that. I folded my arms across my chest, mimicked his pose right down to the stare. He knew what I was doing.
“I mean it. Leave the kid alone,” he repeated. “I’ll handle it, I’ll fix it up. I’ll take responsibility for him. All you getting involved would do is mess it up even worse.” He paused, ran a hand through his hair. “If it’ll make you happy, I’ll stop by the station tomorrow, give you a report of everything you might want to know.”
I still had no idea what he was referring to, though it seemed pretty obvious that Jaime had been doing something he shouldn’t have, something illegal. I was spoiling for a fight, and it looked like I’d just been given the opportunity to indulge myself.
“Do you have any idea what I can do to you?”
“A lot less than you think.”
He didn’t seem to be paying any attention to me anymore. He’d stripped off his dinner jacket, throwing it casually onto the counter next to him, and turned back around to face me. He leaned against the counter and unbuttoned his left cuff in slow, deliberate motions, then rolled up the sleeve of his neat white dress-shirt, fold by fold.
Timber then. I was right.
I was so sure of what I would see that his arm was bare to the elbow before I realized what I really was looking at.
His lower arm had a large raw-looking patch wider than my hand. Smooth, shiny, and bright red. It looked like it was still painful. I’d walked up to him without thinking about it, my hand stretched out to touch it before I realized--almost too late--how rude it would be. Branding. I’d actually never seen it before, outside of books at the Academy.
My eyes drifted to his right upper arm for a minute, then dropped to his legs for a split second before I blushed, heat rising in my cheeks as I lifted my eyes to meet his. So what. I still had yet met to a man I couldn’t push around. I could handle a deClanned caterer with my eyes closed. Didn’t matter how good he’d looked when I’d thought he was a Big Cat, that he’d made my pulse skip a beat when he could have been a Timber Wolf. I cleared my throat and began to speak, keeping my eyes locked on his.
He slitted his eyes and stared back at me. I lost my train of thought, and stopped with my mouth half open.
Someone cleared their throat behind me, and I jumped, not missing the smile in his eyes before I turned.
“Devi.”
“Kiah. If you’re done down here? I believe you’re supposed to be keeping an eye on the party. Not the . . . help.” Her eyes flickered over my shoulder briefly, and I saw a spark of amusement in her eyes as well before she turned to leave, pulling me along in the weight of her assumptions.
“Kiah.”
I paused and looked over my shoulder. He inclined his head gracefully.
“I’ll see you in your office tomorrow. 2
I was purposefully late to work the next morning. I felt it was only appropriate. Devi had kept me there till after 2 in the morning, dancing with ugly important men. All I’d been able to do before collapsing in bed when I finally got home was check my voice mail.
I wouldn’t have even come in when I did if Peri hadn’t called me at 9:30 to fret. I couldn’t blame her. I was worried about Ziya too. But part of me thought she could have at least waited until 10:30 to share her anxieties.
By the time I got off the phone with her, I had no excuse not to head in. I took my time showering and getting dressed, told myself it was just to show Devi that it took more than a little dancing to take me out of commission. I wasn’t sure if I believed myself, but by then it was too late to change.
#
The phone rang as I was merging onto the freeway, the howl reserved for family muffled by my purse. I pulled the bag onto my lap, digging in the bottom, hoping they wouldn’t hang up before I found it. “Hello?”
“Kiah?”
My niece. The one who was responsible for my wake-up call. “Ziya, your mother is frantic. She expected you at lunch yesterday, and she couldn’t get you on your cell, and none of your housemates had seen you . . . “
“Ki, I can’t talk long. Just tell Peri I’m okay. They haven’t hurt me, haven’t really done anything but talk so far.” I could hear noises in the background as she talked--the phone was taken from her hand as soon as she finished her sentence.
“But we will hurt her if we have to. Don’t call the police. Don’t talk about this with anyone but her parents. We will call again later, with your instructions.” A male’s voice; curt, humorless, and mean. The line clicked. I dropped the phone into my lap, rested my head momentarily on the steering wheel, watching the road through the gap between it and the dashboard.
Not what we wanted to hear. We’d been telling Peri for most of the last 24 hours that Ziya most likely had decided to go out of town unexpectedly for a long weekend. It wasn’t as though she’d never done it before. But Peri had been frantic, verging on hysterical. With good cause, it appeared.
I sighed and picked the phone up from where I’d dropped it on my lap, punched in Peri’s number. I checked the time again as it rang unanswered. It was a little early for lunch, and anyways, a secretary should have picked up by the fifth ring. After the fifteenth I hung up. I thought about calling her mate’s work number, but I didn’t have it programmed. Their home, I decided, and then Jere if I still couldn’t find anyone. Before I could dial the phone rang. Howled, again. My sister? Surely that would be trying the patience of fate.
“Kiah? I got a hold of her roommates, and they said she hadn’t been planning to leave town the last time they saw her. What should we do now?”
I shouldn’t have to do this. I thought. This is the eldest’s job, not the youngest’s. Why didn’t Ziya call Jere? I cleared my throat. “She called me. She said she’s fine.” There was no easy way to say it. “Peri, honey. She’s been grabbed. He said she wouldn’t be hurt if they could help it.” She howled. I had to hold the phone away from my ear for the duration, and even then the sound rang in the car. “He said not to call the police.” She got nearly as much of a kick out of that as I had--almost chuckled, despite the anger I could feel across the line. “I don’t know who he was though.” I checked landmarks “I’m nearly to work, okay? I’ll talk with Tadhg, see what we can do about it. You call Mina, I’ll call Jerelyn.”
I called Jere as soon as Peri had hung up. It barely had time to ring.
“I’m running out the door--make it quick.”
“Jere?” My voice wavered at the end. Ten years of training, and I never thought I’d be on this side of a case. 28 years of life and a career in law enforcement, and I still wanted my big sister to comfort me.
“Ki.” Her voice softened. “Mobile?”
“Yeah.”
“Alright, I’ll call you right back. I promise.”
It wasn’t right back.
#
The elevator still hadn't come. I glanced at my watch. Only 15 minutes since I’d been hung up on by that anonymous male? Surely my watch had stopped. Surely it had been hours since Jere had promised to call back, days since I had talked to Peri, years since Ziya had called. Though the lobby was fairly crowded, no one was talking near me. Even the captains dropped their eyes and their voices when they saw me pacing in front of the banks of elevators. Everyone hung back, pretending they were just killing time before taking the stairs.
I pounded on the call button for the elevator. Twelve seconds more. I would count to twelve, then I would take the stairs. The elevator chimed at five, just as the phone bleated. I picked up the phone as I entered the elevator, and spun around to watch the crowd outside. Most had their faces turned down; none would meet my eyes.
"Fools." I spat, and hit the button for my floor. They didn't even know why I was mad, but no one would take the chance that I was mad at them.
"If that was aimed at me, we don't need to talk." A voice in an empty elevator. I jumped, then scolded myself mentally. Jere. On my phone. I took deep breaths, tried not to let my fear show in my voice.
“Finally! What, did Peri call you?”
Her voice sharpened. “Should she have?” Oh, glory, not again. This was not my job. Not with my family. Why did every ounce of training desert me when I really needed it? My silence upset her. “Ki? Kiah! Why would Peri be calling me? Our parents?”
“Are fine. No, It’s nothing as bad as that, I think. Ziya called. She’s not just gone away for the weekend, it looks like she’s been kidnapped. I’m heading to Peri’s place once I’m done with work. I don’t think there’s anything vital for me to do today, but, well, I can’t just sit with her and wait for the phone to ring.” I paused for a moment. “Could you? I’ll meet you guys there after work, or earlier if I can.” This wasn’t just familial bonding. My sisters had been Clanless for years before they married, and they’d been good at their jobs. Neither had chosen Protection, as I had. Jere had taken Justice, Peri, Legal. They’d both stepped down before I had left the Academy, but their legends remained. I was currently the only Clanless in the family. Though Ziya seemed likely to follow in our footsteps. Peri would want our comfort, but she would also want us to get her daughter back.
“Of course.” The phone clicked again. I tucked it back in my bag, paced around the small elevator. It smelled musty and faintly of fear. I kicked the doors impatiently, a quick sideways blow like my father had taught me. It was not the first dent in them, but it was the deepest. I admired it for a moment. The elevator dinged again, before I got even more impatient, and the doors slid open. The usually friendly receptionist looked distinctly nervous, and the hallways to either side of the elevator were deserted. The faint, dying crackle of static I could hear from the intercom suggested this was not a coincidence. I didn't get this far this young by being sweet-tempered and tractable.
The receptionist eyed me cautiously as I stepped off the elevator, and I resisted the urge to snarl at her just to watch her jump. She's placid and gentle, which I am not, but which suits her calling better than they would suit mine. And you may be in a bad mood, I reminded myself, but that never excuses bad behavior. My Nanny again. The receptionist threw her head up, watching me nervously and sidestepped a few feet as I approached. I snorted disdainfully, and she dropped her eyes. Not even a Warmblood, I guessed.
"Any messages for me?"
Her head bobbed nervously, and she fetched them, quick steps around the edge of her desk, back to the mail slots. She kept her eyes on me as much as she could without making eye contact, just watching me. I took the phone slips and the oversized envelope that was presumably today's mail gently and smiled politely at her, lips closed, eyes lowered. She almost smiled back in turn, and didn't shy away as I continued past her down the hall to my office. Two phone slips were callbacks on current cases. One was a past case, one was a man I'd been seeing lately, and the envelope was a court transcript I’d requested for a case I’d just traded to Tadhg.
I looked up from the messages as I opened the door to my office, and stopped dead. For a moment, I thought I was in the wrong room. I would have backed out of it if I hadn’t recognized Tadgh’s collection of dirty coffee mugs on the other desk. So the gorgeous man sitting on my side of the office, in my chair, feet propped on the edge of my desk was someone who didn’t belong back here alone. He put his feet down when I approached the desk. I recognized him as I got closer: the caterer from the night before. Even better looking in street clothing, which I wouldn’t have thought possible.
“You remember me?” It wasn’t exactly a question. His voice did rise at the end, but it wasn’t enough. He stood up as he spoke, rising from my chair and towering over me. I snarled at him as I looked him over, not in the mood to deal with someone who thought they were being cute.
Glory, what eyes, was my first thought, followed immediately by, How dare he try and intimidate me on my own territory. I let my voice turn to ice, and packed all the scorn I could into my body language as I pushed past him and sat down in my chair. “No, I’m sorry. Should I?” I didn’t give him a chance to reply. “What do you want?”
He hitched a hip onto the edge of my desk, crossed his arms across his chest. “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?” I stared at him. He sighed and refolded his arms. “You were supposed to be expecting me? I’ve been here for a while.”
I leaned back in my chair, imitating his position a few minutes before, and looked him over thoroughly and blatantly. His eyes were the color of brown velvet, his hair a shade darker than sunlight, and I’d noticed when I pushed past him that he was wearing some amazing aftershave or cologne. And he was tall. Glory, he was tall. But he was deClanned. I had no interest in him, other than as a possible witness.
I pushed the other thoughts away from me, and shuffled through the papers on my desk. “Right. What was that about again?”
“We’d been getting some of our supplies from a less than honest supplier. Emile Passant.”
Something about his attitude grated on my nerves. “Emile? Goat, isn’t he? Never mind. It doesn’t matter. My partner is handling that case. You’ll have to talk to him.” I turned back to the papers on my desk
“And if I don’t want to talk to him?”
I looked back up at him, confused. “I’m sorry?”
He moved slightly, infringing on my territory again. “Your partner isn’t as cute as you.”
“What did you just say?”
He was standing right in front of me by then, and I had to tip my head all the way back just to meet his eyes. “What would the information be worth to you?” There was a certain tone to his words, a seductive rhythm wrapping around the otherwise innocuous words. Still, I overreacted.
“Just what the hell do you think you’re doing?” I leapt to my feet, pushing him firmly away from me. He took a step backwards and sat down suddenly on my desk. I kept moving forward. And he just sat there, smiling slightly and let the words wash right by him. When I got to the point of directly haranguing him for inappropriate sexually suggestive behavior, he dropped his eyes down between us, and back up to mine. I realized then how close I was to his eyes--close enough even to see gold flecks in the brown. I wasn’t . . . surely I wasn’t this close to him, wasn’t nearly sitting on his lap to scold him for inappropriate behavior. I looked down, trying to be casual about it. Legs, his legs, on either side of me. His chest, right in front of me, and yes, his mouth entirely too close to my own. He cocked his head to the side, deliberately. I jumped backwards, bumping my chair in the process, and moved to put it between us. He rose slowly; eyes locked with mine, and grinned at me. Wolf, definitely wolf. Though not entirely. Something else too. I dropped my eyes to his arms again, and he took a sudden step away. “I wrote it all down.”
I blinked, shook my head. “What?”
“The stuff about the case. I wrote it down in the notebook on your desk while I was waiting for you. It’s signed, and my info is on there, if you need to contact me about anything.” He dipped his head slightly, and slid silently from the room when I turned to get the notebook.
I was pretty sure his name was Eoin. He had the overly-stylized script I remembered being taught in grammar school, so I wasn’t positive, but I felt it was a pretty good guess. Eoin. One of my father’s English cousins had that name, I thought, but he had the English spelling, John, instead.
The notes were perfect, just what Tadgh would need to wrap it up. He and another witness from the catering company--I ran an eye over the witness’s given name--definitely a Barb--and guessed it was the older man from the party--could give dates, times, places. With any luck, this was everything needed to nail Passant. I ran off three quick copies and filed the original in the correct folder. Two copies I dropped on Tadhg’s desk, with a note as to their origin, and my whereabouts. The other I folded carefully and tucked in my bag. Just in case, I told myself, but I didn’t finish my sentence. Just in case what?
I flew through my paperwork, returned messages, and asked the communications division hypothetical questions about tracing cell-phone calls. I was done in under two hours--not bad for a pile of work that could take me six on a slow day--and took the stairs to the garage.
Everyone was at Peri’s by the time I pulled into the driveway. Jere’s car was in the driveway, and I could hear her kids in the backyard with Ziya’s younger siblings. I went in the side door, and Mina met me at the entrance to the kitchen. Funny how one never loses childhood habits. Even past forty, Peri sat meekly across from Jere, next to me, as we always had. Mina had water on for tea and was standing by the sink keeping an eye on the games outside. When the tea was made she brought our cups over and sat down with us. “Okay, now, Let’s hear the whole thing.”
#
The phone rang while we were still figuring out what to do next. I nearly forgot to check the display before picking it up. Tadhg.
“Ki! You’re not at home. Where are you?” I knew him well enough not to reply to the question: he didn’t pause for answers when he didn’t have to. “Doesn’t matter. I need you over here. Uh, here being what seems to be Passant’s warehouse. The place is packed with goods, and I’m betting most, if not all is stolen, but you know I’m no good at remembering that sort of thing.
He paused for a breath. “I’ll admit it,” he teased, “I need you, but just for your brain. The rest of you can stay home.”
It didn’t sound like he’d been to the office, or checked the voicemail I’d left him. “That’s sort of . . . not possible just now.” I filled him on the situation.
He swore, and I could hear him hit something. “Seriously, we need you, here, now. I’m sorry about Ziya . . . You know how sorry I am. But you’re going to have to get out here.” I closed my eyes, thinking furiously. He wouldn’t say that unless it truly was necessary
“Okay, okay. I’ll . . . I’ll figure something out. It’ll still be a half hour or more though.” I hung up, and turned back to my sisters, still not sure what to do about it. I couldn’t leave the phone with them as it was my work phone, but couldn’t expect to be able to answer it if it rang at the wrong time. Peri spoke up before I had time to say anything.
“I’ll come with you, stay in the car with your phone, in case he calls again while you’re busy. I’ll take my phone, and make the calls we were talking about from there. It’s not like I need to see anyone, and I can call from anywhere, after all.”
All I could do was nod. I wasn’t about to get into an argument with her that involved any of her babies, and her suggestion sounded feasible and sensible.
We took my car, of course. I never liked to think of myself as vain, but I preferred being seen in my sporty little thing than her cattle car. If I’d wanted a minivan that badly, I would have married the first boy who asked me. I could hear loud yelps coming from the backyard as we pulled out, but Peri didn’t seem bothered by them, so I didn’t ask.
I passed her my phone as I took the exit Tadhg had mentioned. “If it’s someone I know, the name will show up. You can let those go to voicemail, if you want. If it plays Pouria’s tune--hit the star twice to hear it, yeah, that tune--it’s someone unknown, and probably them. If not, transfer them to voicemail. I’ll try and make this as fast as I can, but there’re no guarantees.” I slid the car to a stop at the address Tadhg had given me, and looked over at her. She’d put my phone down on the console, and undone her seat belt already. She was digging through her purse, but she stopped when I stopped talking, and looked up. I leaned over and kissed her cheek quickly. “I’ll get her back, you know that.”
She nodded briskly, blinked once, and then made shooing motions with her free hand. “Go on then. I’ll keep an eye on the phone, go wrap this up.”
#
Our best chance of getting Passant’s suppliers and buyers depended on being able to act before they knew anything had happened. Which meant the stuff in the warehouse had to be identified and matched to people. Tadhg’s strong points were handling people, not information. The problem with computers was that you had to know what to ask them. The benefit of me was that I always knew what to ask.
By the time I left, we’d gotten enough names out of the computer to be able to start some major crackdowns, across the city. This was going to be all over the papers by the morning, I could tell.
It was dark when I left the building, and I could suddenly feel the weight of the day pressing in on me. Peri was asleep when I got into the car, curled up in her seat, a phone in each hand. I rested my head against the steering wheel for a moment, tried to think of a way that this could all turn out to be a bad dream.
“Ki?”
“Mm?” I replied, too tired at that moment to even lift my head.
“Oh, you’re back.” I could hear rustlings as she stretched and sat up. “I’d been hoping this was just a bad dream. They didn’t call, but you’ve got some other messages. They’re probably not going to call tonight, are they?”
“It doesn’t seem likely,” I agreed, finally sitting up and taking the phone she passed me. I put it on speakerphone and dropped it into my lap to listen to the messages as I drove. Two were from friends about weekend plans. One was a congratulation from Devi, and the last was Eoin. I’d been right about the name, I was pleased to hear. I ignored the thrill his voice still gave me, listened to the brief message--“I had something I wanted to say to you, but it’s not the sort of thing to leave in a message. I’ll try and get a hold of you again soon. Be well.”
“He sounds nice.” Peri said finally. “What was that all about? I didn’t think you were seeing anyone just now.”
I thanked the darkness for hiding the heat that rose in my cheeks. “It’s just business, nothing more.”
“Oh.” She sounded disappointed.
#
We drove in silence from then on. I took a couple quick glances at her as I drove. Her face was set but thoughtful. I was the best of us the Clanless had seen, but my sisters had been unparalleled during their tenure. We needed more to solve this, but I knew we’d solve it eventually. The phone rang in the car when we were nearly home.
“Ziya?”
“Ki! I’m still okay. Don’t worry. I’ll be fine. Though if that scar-faced one doesn’t stop staring at me, I’m going to kick him so hard he won’t be able to father children.” She laughed. “No loss, really. He’d probably just eat them anyways.” I could hear noises behind her again, but they didn’t seem to be having as much luck getting the phone from her this time. I heard a hand hitting flesh, and she yelped and dropped the phone. Peri was getting agitated beside me--she clearly wanted to talk to Ziya, but I didn’t want to switch to speakerphone just now, even though I didn’t like driving with one hand and split attention. I wasn’t really worried for Ziya--the slap had been followed by scuffling, which had ended in a howl of pain. A male howl, though slightly falsetto. The person who eventually picked up the phone was the one I’d spoken to earlier. This time he was slightly out of breath, and though he spoke loudly, I could still hear Ziya yelling.
“She’s trying our patience, but we’ve yet to harm her.” The yelling diminished as a door shut in the background. I guessed Peri could hear this bit safely and hit the speakerphone button as I laid the handset in its cradle. “I trust you have not notified the police?”
“Of course not.” I said in my most chilling tones. “Do you think we’re stupid?” Peri choked and bit her lip. I glared at her.
“Of course not.” I was amused to hear the conciliatory tones that entered his voice. I experimented a little.
“Frankly, young man, I am appalled that you think I value my niece’s life so little that I would deliberately go against your instructions.”
“Of course not ma’am. I only meant that . . . that . . .” He was almost groveling. I’d proven my point, to myself at least, and didn’t have time to continue playing with him anyway. I gave him a nudge in the right direction.
“I assume that you’re calling for a reason? Perhaps to tell us the conditions of her release?”
“Uh, yeah. Yes. Her release...” His voice trailed away again. He’d lost his train of thought when I’d harassed him--either that or something there was distracting him. Both, I guessed a moment later when an unholy noise rose up behind. “I will call soon with the conditions of her release. Please do not do anything that would endanger her in any way.” The line clicked. Peri cursed. I pulled into the driveway.
#
We were in the kitchen again. I’d told them what Ziya had said, and left out the parts that I knew would worry them. I wasn’t worried about her. We’d horsed around since she was little, and I knew she was tougher than she looked. Lately she’d been talking about the Academy after she finished at school, and I’d taught her a couple of things from my first year there. She was well able to take care of herself, but I still wanted her home again. We couldn’t do anything more till morning, so we decided, after much discussion, to turn in for the night.
Peri’s house is huge, with more than enough guest rooms for me, Mina, and Jere and the kids, so we all just crashed there. I took the phone with me, but slept undisturbed until the sound of herds of running children woke me the next morning.
I joined the others in the kitchen, where they picked up the discussion from where they’d left it the night before. I let the conversation wash around me. Something was . . . off . . . about my conversation with Ziya. I played it backwards and forwards in my mind, running the words over and over in my head. Something. She was saying something special in it. The voices of the children drifted in the open window during a lull in the conversation, and something clicked. I sat upright in my chair.
“Smart girl. She found a way to tell me who captured her.” The others looked at me expectantly. “When she was little, I used to try and get her to leave me alone by telling her stories of what happened to little girls who didn’t stay close to their mothers.”
“What?” Peri and Mina at the same time.
I dropped my head apologetically. “I was twelve, and she was a pain in the butt, always tagging around. So one day I told her that if she didn’t leave me alone I’d call the dingoes to take her away and eat her. She left me alone for a whole week after that, but then she asked her dad about it, and he told our dad, and he spanked me till I couldn’t sit down all day, and told her to ask him if she thought I was making things up.” I rubbed my hip reminiscently. “But she always remembered that dingoes line, and she’d use it sometimes.” They were all staring blankly at me. I sighed and spelled it out for them. “She said the scar-faced one would likely eat his own babies. They’re dingoes. I don’t know where she is, but that should be easier to figure out.” I laughed again and dug through my bag for my phone. I turned it on, and checked the last number that had called in. “We’re probably not going to be lucky enough for this to be a landline, but we can still see what we can find about them just the same.”
I called Tadhg, who was already at work thanks to the lack of a paperwork fairy, and asked him to run the two phone numbers. It only took a few minutes. “Mobiles, both reported stolen.” I repeated this to my sisters and Mina as they crowded around me trying to hear his voice. “And they both should have been deactivated. They must have someone who’s a wiz with these things. I’ll try and get a hold of the owners, have them call the company for usage records.” I thanked him and hung up.
“We’re getting closer, calm down. And they’re really not that bright--they may slip up at any moment.”
Peri glared at me. “Telling my baby such awful things.”
I laughed. “Oh, calm down. It’s not like this was the first time that threat was used in this family. Jere’s kids’ used it on me first.”
#
The next phone call came when we were in the middle of making breakfast. Others eat for comfort; we cook.
“Ziya?”
“Hi Aunt Ki. They didn’t appreciate me kicking Scarface, or organizing the others. I have to stay tied up by myself now, and they’d gag me, except I swore I wouldn’t bite anyone again. They did untie one arm so I could hold the phone by myself.” I laughed involuntarily, and when she spoke again I could hear the answering smile in her voice. “Really, I’m still fine. And if they haven’t hurt me thus far, I don’t think they will. But, I’d still really like to get out of here as soon as possible, so I’m going to do my best and cooperate with them from now on.”
“Can they hear me?” I asked.
“Oh, no, Ki, nothing like that. They’ve been perfect gentlemen. With the exception of Scarface.
“Dingoes?” I asked the question quietly.
“Oh, yes, they take good care of me.”
“Are you the only one they have?”
“No.”
The phone was yielded to the boss dingo at that point who asked to speak to Peri. I passed it over to her. I wasn’t in a mood to hang around the place at the moment. Jere and I had a quick but quiet discussion, which ended with her passing me her phone, and me slipping out the back door without Peri seeing. Jere would call me on the landline when the call was over, and they’d let me know what was said. Peri had been trained in hostage negotiation at the Academy--I knew she’d slip into her old patterns quickly. They’d be arguing for ages. All of the children were still playing in the backyard, but they ran over to greet me eagerly. Ziya was the oldest of the still-at-home, but the rest of them ranged from Jere’s youngest kids--fifteen year old twins--to Peri’s latest, still little more than a baby at three. I hugged them all in turn and told them to hurry up and finish their game, as breakfast was nearly ready.
“Won’t you be eating with us?” asked one of the twins. They were too dirty to tell apart at the moment.
“I want to, but I’ve got to get back to the office right now. I might be back in time for dessert though.” I winked at them, and they all dissolved in giggles, even the twins. I waved to them all as I slipped out the side gate, latching it securely behind me, and snuck down the driveway to my car. Either I made every green light on my drive, or I broke more traffic laws than I wanted to think about, but I made it to work in record time. Somehow I was pretty sure it was the latter.
#
I took the stairs up from the garage, for the opportunity it afforded me to work off some of my excess energy, and to avoid having to pass the security in the lobby any more than totally necessary.
He was in the office again when I came in. Eoin. Not in my chair this time, but instead leaning uncomfortably against the wall. He straightened up when he saw me come in.
“Your partner asked me to come in about the Passant case.” I nodded casually, as though I had no interest in him at all, hung my coat on the rack, and turned to go through the filing cabinet drawer closest to me, and coincidently farthest from him. “He had to step out for a minute, asked me to wait.” I nodded again. He took a step towards me. “I’m . . . I’m sorry about last time.”
I looked him in the eye for the first time. “Sorry about what?”
“I was harassing you. And I didn’t mean to be. And I shouldn’t have. So I’m apologizing.”
“Think nothing of it.” I tossed my head. “I know I didn’t.”
“Well, I do. I feel bad about it, and I want to do something to make up for it. Could I buy you dinner sometime? Not now, of course, but maybe after you tied up this case?”
I shuffled papers aimlessly, trying not to look at his face. “I’m sorry. I’m very busy. I’ve been spending too much time on the street lately. Lots of paperwork to catch up on . .. ”
“I’m only asking for a date, not a declaration of eternal love. A date. Lunch, dinner, drinks, dancing, a movie, whatever you feel like.” He pushed the drawer shut, making me jerk my hands back suddenly, and turned me around to face him again. “You’re Clanless, you can do what you like. Matrimony restrictions are suspended for you. You can marry anyone.” He shrugged. “It’s not like I’m asking for that. I’m just asking for a date, not a lifetime commitment.”
I looked away, over his shoulder, tried to ignore the proximity of his body. “Technically you’re right. But even then, there are things that just aren’t done.”
He braced an arm on the wall by my head and leaned in on me. “And when,” he enquired conversationally from a distance of about three inches away from my mouth, “have you ever let anyone stop you from doing what you want to do?”
The phone rang in my purse while I was looking for the right answer. I jumped, nearly banging into him. “I’ve got to get that. It’s my sister, probably.” He left quietly while I was digging for the phone.
#
When I was nearly though the conversation with my sisters, my partner came, beaming. “We’ve got them! At least, we’ve got a place to look!” My sisters heard him, I could hear them shrieking.
“Calm down! I’ll call you as soon as we know for sure, okay? I promise. Okay? Bye.” I hung up, and turned off the ringer, just in case. Tadhg looked ready to burst with excitement. “Alright, spill it.”
“The phones paid off. These boys are really amateurs--they’re not even trying to cover their tracks. Both numbers came from the same area--dingo territory. So we checked for other things that stood out. Two other numbers, also reported stolen, came from that area. We checked with the people who had been called from those numbers, and sure enough, those dingoes have a regular thing going. At least four other families had similar calls.
“I’m checking with someone from Gangs, to make sure there’s nothing special we need to be on the look out for, but then I’m heading out. You wanna ride along?” He laughed at my expression. “Go, get us a car, and arrange for some backup. I’ll be down in a couple of minutes.”
#
Gangs said that particular clan was almost a joke. No weapons were likely--certainly not more than a knife or two. At most, a pistol, but that was highly unlikely. They’d probably just grabbed the girls off the street at knifepoint, and were probably depending on intimidation and threats to keep them in line. I laughed when Tadhg told me this--the thought of what was basically a bunch of boys trying to keep Ziya under control was just too precious.
“Another day, and they probably would surrender on their own,” I joked.
Tadhg laughed. “I know your niece. They’re probably ready to give up now. Especially after negotiating with your sisters.”
“Peri always did like having the upper hand in a deal. Wonder what they would have given to get rid of Ziya.”
#
Thanks to some unexpected side trips, it was all but over by the time we got there. I glared accusingly at Tadhg. “I can’t believe it! What are all these people doing here? Where’s my chance to kick some dingo butt?”
“I know. I was looking forward to it too. But it’s internal not Clanless, so I had to let them handle it their way. We can still give Ziya a lift home, you know. And you can quiz her on how exactly she tortured them.”
I perked up a bit before something occurred to me. “Hey! Wait a minute! This is why we drove around ‘lost’ for so long, isn’t it? You didn’t want me kicking up a fuss.”
At least he had the grace to look shamefaced. “I had to let them know. It’s Wolf Territory, and it’s an internal issue. If they’d taken a Horse Clan girl, I would have let you swoop in like an avenging fury, but alas for your peace of mind, they did manage to be smart where it counts. The only girls we know they have are all Wolf Clan.” He patted my knee consolingly. “You’ll have another chance, some day.”
I bared my teeth at him and snarled. I settled for getting out of the car and slamming the door hard enough to make the car rock. I kicked it for good measure, ignoring the sound of Tadhg laughing as he got out on the other side. He took his time walking around to my side of the car, but I was too busy scanning the crowds to bother reacting to it.
“I think the victims are over there.” He pointed to a likely looking group of girls being escorted sedately by a couple of police. Sedately until the girl at the front caught sight of me and broke into a run.
“Ki!” She shouted. “And Tadhg!” She hugged us both. And if I thought she lingered longer hugging Tadhg than she had with me, I certainly wasn’t going to mention it. He didn’t seem bothered by it in the least. “Took you guys long enough. I thought I was going to have to do it all myself.”
Tadhg ruffled her hair. “Next time, kiddo, try and give us the street address--it will cut down on time.”
I let them squabble in the front seat for the duration of the ride. I sat in the back by myself and turned the phone back on. It rang almost instantly, and I picked it up nearly as fast. “She’s fine. I’m looking at her right now. She’s too busy arguing with Tadhg to talk to you now, but we’re on our way home, I promise.” I could feel their excitement through the phone. They started to ask questions all at once, but Peri cut them off.
“Ki’s not going to know all that. Wait till they get here. You’re certain she’s alright?” I held the phone up, and repeated the question to Ziya.
“I’m fine mum, I’ll be there in just a couple of minutes. Okay? You can ask me anything you want then.”
I put the phone back to my ear. “Satisfied now? Go make her breakfast now or something.”
Peri laughed. “Oh! Before I go, you had another call from Eoin. Left his number this time.” She read it off for me. “You’re sure it’s just business? He’s gorgeous sounding. Does he look at good as he sounds?”
As soon as she mentioned his name, I lost track of everything else. Even while I was talking to Peri, I wasn’t paying any attention to her. My mind kept going back to the invitation. It was only a date, not a declaration of eternal love, I kept repeating. By the time she hung up, I couldn’t think of anything else. A date. Lunch, dinner, drinks, dancing, a movie, whatever. A date. I’d been on hundreds of them. Well, a lot of them anyway. It didn’t have to mean anything. Unless I wanted it to. My mother was Eldest Kin of the Tigress, my father, a Younger Stallion of the Arabian Herd. My sisters have each in turn chosen their homes and mates--one a Billy, the other an Older Brother. I alone had not chosen. They always said I was too picky. I supposed it would be only fitting that my perfect mate would be imperfect. I lifted the phone again, tapped in the number, holding my finger above the send key. A movie. Separate cars, no dinner, straight home, alone, afterwards. No commitment.