She stared back at me as if she didn’t quite understand the look or why I would give it to her.
After a beat where she was clearly not getting it, I said, “I’m not in the mood to play whatever game you’ve got going on. You want to pull the pack business card? Fine. I don’t really care, but I don’t plan on sticking around to get shut out again.”
With that, I walked away.
“That’s not what I was doing.” She prowled next to me, keeping pace easily.
“You said ‘that’s pack business.’ What else is that supposed to mean?”
I pushed open the door and walked out, pissed that Dahlia had put me off so I could talk to the werewolf when I didn’t really have anything to say to the werewolf and when the werewolf had nothing important to say to me.
It wasn’t Sondra’s fault. Not really. The thing with Rick had freaked me out more than a little bit and Sondra had simply approached at the wrong time and pushed one of my many buttons. Hence my feeling of being done with this conversation.
“Will you slow down?” Sondra positioned herself in front of me, blocking me from getting my bike. “After what you did for Brax last year, that was a shitty statement.”
Some of my anger abated. None of the wolves had ever acknowledged I had done anything for them. The vampires either. I wasn’t expecting a thank you from those control freaks, but a simple chin nod of acknowledgement would have helped.
“Uh huh.”
I wasn’t willing to let this go yet. Especially since I still didn’t know what she wanted. And she did want something. She wouldn’t have chased me down otherwise.
“We’re having some internal problems after what went down with Victor. There’s also been a few weird things happening that has us all on edge.”
Oh? Tell me more. Their weird happenings wouldn’t happen to be werewolves freezing in place only to wake up paranoid and trying to answer a summons from an inkblot with a thousand eyes? Because that would mean that whatever had happened to Rick was affecting the wider supe population of Columbus.
“Yeah, I heard about that,” I bluffed.
I’d heard no such thing. The werewolves kept things tight, but I was hoping that Sondra would assume I had heard something and maybe let something important slip.
The skin around her eyes tightened though her face didn’t shift.
“I hadn’t realized Brax had already contacted you.” Her voice held a hint of suspicion.
I shrugged, not wanting to chance telling another outright lie. Not with their ability to scent deception.
“If you could just keep an eye out for us and report back if you find any wolves acting suspicious, the pack would appreciate it.”
Something was going on with them. I wanted to ask questions, see if her problem had anything in common with the hobgoblin in Dahlia’s store room. I kept my mouth shut.
She gave me another assessing glance, her eyes nearly glowing yellow at the shift of the light.
“I’ve got to go. If you find something, call me first.” She handed me a business card.
I took it, reading the front. It said Sondra Banter and then a number. I flipped it over and found it was black with a crescent moon on it. Cute. And oddly elegant.
She strode off, leaving me staring after her.
This evening just got weirder and weirder. Starting with the homicidal hobgoblin, followed by a bartender acting all mysterious and then the werewolf wanting help with a problem she never bothered to finish briefing me on.
This sounded like the beginning of a joke. It felt anything but.
Chapter Five
My phone rang as I unlocked my bike chain. For a split second I thought about ignoring it and letting it go to voicemail. I disregarded that notion almost as soon as I thought it. Janice would rain fire and wrath down on me if she found out I let a client go to voicemail. Jerry wouldn’t be far behind her.
I stood up and fished the cell out of my bag. The screen made me want to pretend I never heard it ring.
With a sigh, I touched the answer button.
