The messenger arrived, looked around, then beamed a smile in her direction. When he reached the table, he bent toward her, as if about to give her a kiss. Then he hesitated and touched her hand instead.
He’s something of an actor too, Asia thought. He’d given the hostess the perfect impression of a man who wasn’t yet a lover but wanted to be.
“Anything interesting?” he asked as he draped his short winter coat over the back of the chair.
“Nothing.” She tried to keep the frustration out of her voice. There should have been an uproar in the Courtyard on Moonsday after the ponies ate the sugar, but there had been nothing then and nothing since.
“Nothing easily seen.” He opened his menu, skimmed the insert for the day’s specials, and placed his order as soon as the waiter arrived.
Asia ordered the soup and sandwich special and worked on being polite. She had altered her voice from syrupy to friendly but crisp. That, along with the difference in hair and cleavage, was a sufficient change to make the staff just uncertain enough about having seen her before.
When they were alone again, the messenger leaned forward, looking as if he were doing nothing more than flirting with a pretty woman.
“Someone became uneasy about the sugar and didn’t give it to the ponies,” he said. “The police have it now and will test it for poison.”
“That’s not good,” Asia muttered.
“It’s not significant. Our benefactor made a call and took care of it. The bottom line is humans before Others, so the tests on the sugar have been bumped way down in the lab’s queue. We’ll be gone before anyone gets around to fulfilling that particular request.”
“So it didn’t do anything for us.”
“Oh, but it did. It confirmed that our benefactor’s property is hiding in the Courtyard and using up a valuable asset to help the beasts. Knowing that, we take our preparations to the next stage.”
The waiter brought their meals and topped off their water glasses. The first glass and top off was part of the meal in restaurants like this one. After that, with the water tax being what it was, a glass of water cost as much as a glass of wine.
“The story I’ve spun for the locals is that two dozen men, friends of mine from our university days, have come to Lakeside for a winter vacation—snowmobiling, cross-country skiing, and so forth. There are good trails in the park, and there is an inn nearby that caters to visitors who enjoy winter sports. It even has a parking area just for snowmobiles. This thaw has soured things somewhat for winter sports, but we’re exploring the area and enjoying a chance to catch up with old friends. We aren’t complaining to the proprietors about the unseasonably mild weather, and that makes us good customers.” After giving her another smile, he took a big bite out of his sandwich.
“Two dozen men amount to a lot of expense to retrieve one item.” Asia swallowed a spoonful of soup. She hadn’t believed the benefactor would send that many men for this job. Her backers would want a large chunk of the finder’s fee that she’d been promised, but even so, her cut would be substantial. And that was just from helping the benefactor reacquire Meg. The real money would come from the acquisition of the Wolf pup.
“According to the weather reports, there’s a storm coming in on Watersday.” The messenger wiped his mouth with a napkin. “We’ll use it to cover our tracks and reacquire the property.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to get in and out before the storm hits?” Asia asked. “No,” she continued, answering her own question. “Those damn Crows are always watching.”
He nodded. “My men scouted the neighborhood, including the area of the park nearest the Courtyard. Some of the Crows spotted the snowmobiles and followed two of them halfway across the park. The birds need to be grounded by a storm so we can work without being spied on.”
“You’re taking a chance if the city closes some of the roads.”
“The storm is coming down from the north, and we’ll be headed out on the roads running east or south. We’ll stay ahead of it, and even if we have to hole up for a few hours, we’ll get far enough away that anyone trying to follow us will lose our trail. In the meantime, we’re going to cause some mischief.”
“Like what?” Having more appetite now than she’d had at the start of the meal, Asia tasted her sandwich.
“A few college boys with good throwing arms, a van with a side door, and a few dozen eggs to make a mess. Firecrackers thrown over the fence by a team on a snowmobile. Setting rags and paper on fire at one of the Courtyard entrances. We’ll be pulling the same pranks on neighborhood streets in the area.” He gave Asia a big smile. “Besides keeping the police busy, we’ll have a chance to observe how the Others respond—how many head for the problem, how many head for whatever places they think need defending, and what areas are left vulnerable that we can exploit.”
“The business area of the Courtyard is usually deserted once their stores close,” Asia said.
He nodded. “And the door in the parking lot’s back wall is wood with a simple lock. Their security is pitiful. Makes you wonder how they’ve managed to stay in control of this continent.”
“When does this mischief begin?” Asia asked. Then she almost dove to the floor in response to a rapid series of loud bangs.
The messenger grinned. “Right about now.”
“Is this typical spring fever?” Monty asked as Kowalski drove them to the next case of reported mischief. They’d already had three calls from the Courtyard. Simon Wolfgard had been annoyed about the first set of firecrackers that had been tossed in the Liaison’s Office delivery area and the Courtyard’s customer parking lot. And he hadn’t been amused by the eggs that had been thrown at the windows of Howling Good Reads and A Little Bite. But he’d been seriously pissed off about the second set of firecrackers tossed in the delivery area, because the dumb-ass teenagers had lingered on the sidewalk, taunting Nathan, who slammed out of the office in challenge. Then Meg ran after Nathan. She tripped and might have hurt herself if she hadn’t landed right on the Wolf, effectively stopping him from getting too close to the firecrackers.
Louis Gresh had answered that call, and Monty was waiting to hear from the bomb squad’s commander whether there was anything hidden among the firecrackers that could have injured woman or Wolf.
“Typical?” Kowalski shook his head. “Most kids aren’t going to risk getting smacked for using the week’s ration of eggs, so this egging windows is new.”
“They could be buying the eggs on their own,” Monty said.
“Eggs cost twice as much without the household ration coupon,” Kowalski countered. “High school and college boys coming in to buy eggs and paying that price are going to get noticed. And if they buy from a store in their own neighborhood, we’ll hear about it or their parents will.”
Monty pinched the bridge of his nose. “I don’t like this, Karl. It feels like we’re being set up.”
“By whom?”
He lowered his hand and sighed. “I don’t know.”
They pulled up to the curb and got out. Looking at the egg-splattered front window, they didn’t need to ask the irate owner what the problem was.
“Storm is coming in on Watersday,” Kowalski said. “That should put an end to this.”
Monty took out his notebook and pen. “I hope you’re right, Karl. I truly do hope you’re right.”