Lake Silence (The Others #6)(42)

I had a bad feeling Grimshaw and I had just painted targets on the backs of several people—including my ex-husband. Yorick used to say a successful businessman was bound to make a few enemies. I don’t think he’d considered that the Sanguinati might be one of them when he said that.

“It may not be a secret society,” I said. “It could be a private or exclusive group that doesn’t want their name splashed in the newspapers for doing charitable work. Or it could be a club. Yorick was a member of a couple of clubs where he hobnobbed with people who had money or social clout. Those clubs were exclusive but they weren’t secret.”

Grimshaw nodded. “That would make more sense, although I doubt that Marmaduke Swinn or Franklin Cartwright had money or the social clout to belong to such a club.”

“It doesn’t matter if Detective Swinn and Franklin Cartwright are part of that group,” Ilya said. “It doesn’t change the fact that humans with an agenda are causing trouble at The Jumble. Until we know who belongs to this tie clip club, we cannot determine if they are merely a nuisance or a real threat.”

I had a feeling that everyone who was included in the we Ilya Sanguinati referred to had fangs at the very least. Which meant we didn’t include Grimshaw and me.

“It’s a human investigation,” Grimshaw said, turning in his seat to look directly at Ilya.

“It’s a human investigation because Victoria called the police instead of calling us,” Ilya replied.

Oh golly. Had I stepped on some terra indigene toes by reporting the body to humans instead of calling Silence Lodge? Of course, I hadn’t known about The Jumble being a terra indigene settlement or even the species of my neighbors across the lake, so I hoped the Sanguinati took that into account.

“Franklin Cartwright was staying at the boardinghouse, and he allegedly worked for Yorick,” I said, trying to smooth any ruffled feathers—or fangs. “Even if I hadn’t called the police when Aggie tried to warm up the eyeball in the wave-cooker, someone would have noticed that he disappeared.” I liked saying allegedly. It was such a cop-and-crime word.

“Humans disappear in the wild country all the time.”

Grimshaw looked grim. I didn’t blame him. We were being reminded that survival not only depended on fellow humans playing nice and sharing the sandbox but also depended on not bringing yourself to the attention of all the large, intelligent predators that prowled just beyond the boundary of the sandbox—and sometimes went hunting inside the sandbox when they had a reason to focus on particular prey.

“You should ask the Xaviers,” I said, breaking the tense silence that followed Ilya’s words. “Detective Swinn, his team, and the dead man had stayed at the boardinghouse. If any of them had one of those tie clips, Ineke might have seen it.” I pointed to the tie clip in the evidence bag. “You could show her that one or even take a photo of it to show around.”

It was the way Grimshaw didn’t look at me that told me someone— or several someones—had already asked Ineke about the tie clip.

“The Xaviers are not the only individuals who could assist in finding out who wears that symbol,” Ilya said, focusing a predator stare on Grimshaw. “We can assist with locating other humans who belong to this group. You can supply a photo.”

Vampire and cop locked eyes.

“Belonging to an organization isn’t proof of guilt or collusion,” Grimshaw said.

“But obtaining a sample of who might belong to a particular group may assist in determining the group’s agenda,” Ilya countered. After a weighty silence, he added, “Our interest is in understanding why Franklin Cartwright came to The Jumble and what he was supposed to achieve. Victoria is the owner of the buildings and caretaker of the land that makes up The Jumble. Someone thinks otherwise and is causing trouble. We will pursue this until we know why. We are willing to work with the police in this matter, or we will work on our own.”

In other words, someone can go to jail if he or she has been naughty or that person can be eaten. Given those choices, I’m pretty sure I would choose jail. Then again, Ilya Sanguinati did look yummy, and dying from orgasms and blood loss might not be a bad way to go.

“Cooperation is always appreciated.” Grimshaw didn’t sound like he appreciated being backed into a corner, but he said the words that should at least delay more people getting killed.

But I was going to pay close attention to the shelves in the general store in case there was a sudden run on the ketchup and hot sauce.





CHAPTER 23





Aggie


Thaisday, Juin 15

Following Ilya Sanguinati’s orders, Aggie gathered her Crowgard kin and flew to the woodland side of Silence Lodge, where they wouldn’t be seen by any humans fishing on the lake. Many of the Crows chose to perch on the branches of nearby trees, but most settled on the ground since it was easier to shift to a human form when you didn’t have to balance on a branch that might not hold that shape.

A dozen Sanguinati followed Miss Vicki’s attorney out of the lodge. Several Crows fluffed and fluttered. Other Crows preened their feathers to show they weren’t concerned by the number of vampires who were also attending this meeting. Normally the Crowgard had no reason to fear the Sanguinati. Being another form of terra indigene, they were not prey. But powerful predators should never be taken lightly.