“Agrios.”
A name I had heard recently, somewhere. It came to me. Agrios had run with the Zips, the local gang who had helped in the attack at the jewelry shop. A name that Andromeda was going to ask around about, ask her brother who ran with the Razors. And maybe she had. And maybe she had died because of that. The shock in my system intensified, fueled by anger.
“He smells like lemons,” I said.
“His background check was stellar,” Alex said. “Except...” The word held a tone of disgust and self-loathing. “Except that Agrios means Citrus. Titus was thumbing his nose at us. My Spanish is pretty sucky so I didn’t catch it.” Des Citrons had an inside man. And we hadn’t caught him. I wanted to hit something. I was pretty sure my Beast had risen inside me and that my eyes were glowing. A lot of thoughts raced through Marco’s eyes, his body tensed and his scent vacillated. Uncertainty, worry, and a flash of joy. We hadn’t said the wordsDes Citrons. We hadn’t said anything about the emperor. Hisscent stabilized, the smell of a man who was about to bluff.
“Derek,” I said.
“Yes, Enforcer,” Derek drawled. I looked his way to see that he was enjoying all this. I got the feeling that he’d had a run-in with Pretty Boy already. “Help our pessimistic friend pack and see he makes it back to shore. He’s fired.”
The smell of dismay and hostility filled the air. The workers might not like Marco, but they liked a woman coming in and taking over even less. Alex and Eli stepped out, shoulders back. An unspoken threat.
“For what cause?” Marco asked, his hands fisting. He stepped into my face. “You don’t have the authority to fire me, lady.”
I didn’t bother to respond to his claim. I couldn’t put a human in restraints just because he smelled like lemons. But I could get him off the island and to a vamp who could drink the answers out of him. “Derek. He needs to be bled and read.” The words were oblique, telling Derek that Marco might be an enemy blood-servant, and more dangerous than a human.
Understanding filled Derek’s face. “My pleasure, Enforcer,” he said. Derek and two of his men descended on Pretty Boy, who had turned a lovely and satisfying shade of red. There followed a scuffle and some cussing and the vision of Derek and his security pals half carrying the man out the front door. The smell of antagonism from the construction workers had deepened. They looked twitchy, apprehensive at the loss of the pack leader and the rearrangement of their previous social order. I had picked the infiltrator out of the lineup and made my own impression all at once, and not a good one. Go, me. Finishing the house still hung in the balance. I could turn the crews to me, or I could ruin everything. I usually ruined things.
“That man stank of lemons. Anyone notice that?”
“So what?” a man asked. He was beer-bellied and wearing a sweat-stained T-shirt.
I said, “Lemme guess. He was new to the firm. Been with you for less than two months. He just walked in oneday and took over, with the acceptance of the powers that be, and yet he knew next to nothing about construction. Am I right?”
The guy rubbed his scruffy chin and hunched his shoulders, thinking. “Okay. So?”
“The enemies of the Master of the City stink of lemons. Marco was a blood-servant. I don’t know how he wormed his way into Madderson Construction, but I’m guessing it was by coercion.”
The guy blinked as if he had missed something, and then cursed softly.
“Anyone else want to go home?” I asked.
No one responded.
“Fine. You”—I pointed to the number two man—“ever been a foreman on a construction site?”
“Most of my life,” he said, not watching the inelegant removal of Pretty Boy.
“Name?”
“Renny Coozer.”
“Renny, you’re now the official Madderson foreman for this project. I’ll personally handle any fallout from the owner.”
Renny nodded once. A man of few words. I liked that.
“I’ll continue what I came to say.” I scanned the men and women. They turned from the door and looked at Renny. Then at me. There were some unhappy expressions still, but there was also comprehension and a few of the people looked delighted. Riding on top of the uneasy, unhappy stench there was something else. Respect, maybe?
Beast/Jane. We are alpha.
So far,I thought back.Let’s see if money will make that more than a passing fancy.
“I know I’m the newcomer here. And what I know about construction can be written on the head of a pin in longhand. But I know hard work. You’re already on overtime,” I said to the crews. “As of now, you’re on bonus time. You get this house finished in thirty hours, according to the plan Renny lays out, and you will each make ten percent of your yearly base salary. In cash. To be paidby the MOC.” The unhappy stench on the air cleared up fast, eyes tightened, smiles started, and I could see them each calculating how much money they stood to make. “You get to police each other,” I continued. “If word comes to Derek Lee that someone’s slacking and letting other people do their work, with the plan to cash in on the bonus anyway, that person will be shipped back to shore. I expect you to work hard, work steady, work together, and take breaks and sleep time as needed. I don’t intend anyone to crash and burn.
“I want the foremen of each crew to meet with Renny, Eli Younger, and Derek, when he gets back, to give them an idea of what needs to be done and in what order. This project, the approval of the MOC, as well as cash bonuses, are all on your shoulders.”
I turned to the side. “Mike. I’d like a tour of the house. Alex, come with. See what you need to get this place rigged for security and satellite cells or remote Internet or cameras or whatever it is needs doing.”
