“How many vehicles constitutes a traffic jam?” Vicki asked.
“One percent of the population,” he replied promptly.
She blinked. “But . . . that would be three vehicles.”
“Yep.”
Julian took a bite of a sandwich and chewed slowly. “I don’t remember that rule of thumb.”
“That’s because I made it up.”
A stupid conversation, but Grimshaw saw the change in Julian, saw the moment his friend stepped back from some personal abyss.
“Is this the first time you caused a traffic jam?” Vicki asked, as if his causing trouble this afternoon was a given.
He wasn’t sure if that assumption was an insult, but she, too, was looking calmer so he’d run with it.
“No, I’ve done it a few times. The most memorable was a couple of years ago. I came across a young deer that had been hit by . . . well, probably a truck. It was across one lane of a two-lane road in the wild country, and the carcass was surrounded by crows.” Maybe not the best story to tell while they were eating. Then again, Vicki didn’t seem to notice. “Now, I couldn’t tell if they were crows or Crowgard, but I figured the latter since several of them ran toward my cruiser with their wings raised, as if trying to intimidate me. I pulled the cruiser across both lanes, put on the lights, and got out.”
“How many Crows?” Julian asked.
“A lot. They covered both lanes. I took some heavy gloves out of the trunk and approached the carcass, thinking to pull it over to the shoulder. Nothing doing. So I walked up ahead, getting my ankles pecked for my efforts, and I held up traffic for an hour before the Crows had eaten their fill and flown up into the nearby trees. Then I pulled the carcass over to the shoulder, got back in my cruiser, and I and the dozen cars who had waited drove away.”
“I wonder if the Crowgard would do things differently now,” Vicki said.
“How so?”
“Well, ever since Aggie moved into the cabin, she’s been coming over to watch the cop and crime shows with me, so I think she would recognize police cars and understand police officers are there to help. So maybe now you could explain why it would be safer to move the carcass to the side of the road where the Crowgard could feed without being hurt by passing cars.”
Grimshaw finished his share of the lunch. “Something to consider. At any rate, I wanted to give you a heads-up so you could get out before you’re blocked in. Not that I expect the announcement to take up much time.”
“Appreciate the heads-up,” Julian said.
He pushed away from the table. “Thanks for the meal.”
Julian walked him to the back door. “What time are you making the announcement?”
“Five o’clock.” Grimshaw studied his friend. The shadows in Julian’s eyes hadn’t disappeared. Not completely. “You should have told me.”
Julian didn’t pretend not to know what he was talking about. “I had my own reasons for not telling you.”
“Are they still valid?”
“Yes, Wayne, they are.”
“It’s part of the job,” Captain Hargreaves said.
Standing in the police station, watching with his captain as a crowd gathered on the street, Grimshaw grunted. “I’m highway patrol. This isn’t part of my job description.”
“Now it is. Suck it up and do the job.”
Hargreaves sounded testy. Grimshaw could understand that. If he’d been the one dealing with Yorick Dane and his pals today, he’d be testy too.
Checking the clock on the wall, he adjusted his belt and walked outside, glad of Hargreaves’s support.
“Many of you already know there have been several fatal incidents at The Jumble. None of these incidents were human against human. The police are still investigating in order to understand what provoked the attacks.”
“Ask the Dane family,” a man in overalls shouted.
Grimshaw ignored him. “The latest incident involved two men who took a motorboat out on the lake, despite being told about the no-motor rule.” Lots of headshaking and muttering in the crowd. “The response to the motorboat was of sufficient force that I decided to close the public beach for a day or two. While I don’t believe anyone in Sproing is in danger of an unprovoked attack, I do believe allowing everyone to calm down is essential for public welfare. I’m in charge of this police station. Until that changes, I’m not taking chances with your lives.”
Murmurs of approval.
“When are you chucking Dane and his hoity-toity friends out of The Jumble so Miss Vicki can go back home and get all this straightened out?” Helen from Come and Get It asked.
He heard a couple of sharp female voices protesting Helen’s term for influential businessmen from Hubb NE, but mostly he heard rumblings of agreement. They wanted Yorick Dane out of The Jumble, out of Sproing, and far away from Lake Silence.
“That’s not my jurisdiction.” Before someone said the wrong thing and turned a crowd into a mob, Grimshaw held up a hand. “However, Ms. DeVine has an excellent attorney who is scrutinizing every document Mr. Dane presented.”
“Sanguinati.”
“Yeah, he’ll sort things out.”
He didn’t recognize the voices, but he found the sentiment unsettling. When it came to choosing between businessmen like Yorick Dane and the Sanguinati, the majority of people in Sproing seemed to be voting for the vampires. Was that a change in allegiance, or had enough of the people here always been aware of who controlled their village from the shadows and had they just pretended to be clueless?
“The beach will remain closed tomorrow,” he said. “Barring any unforeseen circumstances, you should be able to resume water activities the day after.”
Of course, Ames Funeral Home was currently filled to capacity with unforeseen circumstances.
The crowd dispersed. Grimshaw breathed a sigh of relief. But when the people scattered to return to their jobs or head home, he saw another crowd had formed in front of the bookstore.
Sproingers filled the sidewalk in front of Lettuce Reed, climbing on each other to see into the windows or cling to the screen door. Had Julian put out a treat this morning? Or were they focused on the store for some other reason?
“What’s going on over there?” Hargreaves asked.
“Don’t know.” Before he could decide if it would be prudent to investigate, Gershwin Jones approached him. The big man studied the Sproingers, then looked at him.
“I have a feeling they’re going to come for you soon, and when they do, you need to pay attention.” Jones nodded to Hargreaves and walked away.
“What did he mean about them coming for you?” Hargreaves asked.
“I don’t know. But Gershwin Jones is an Intuit, so if he has a feeling about this, I’m going to pay attention.”
CHAPTER 69
Aggie
Firesday, Sumor 7
“Those police humans,” Jozi said as she and Aggie followed the footpath to the main house, leaving Eddie to watch the cabin. “Why do they keep chasing after us? We haven’t found any scraps, and it’s not like they want the food.”
Aggie slipped an arm around Jozi’s waist. “The police are looking for clues.”
They wouldn’t find any—if the Elders left any scraps for the Crowgard and other small forms of terra indigene, they wouldn’t leave them on the shoreline within The Jumble. But the police kept watching the Crows, and every time a Crow landed to inspect something near the water, one of the police ran over to see what the Crow had found. Very annoying. How could anyone look for a snack when another predator was waiting to snatch it?