“You think he said that to sound more credible?” Pete asked.
“We don’t know,” Burke replied.
Monty pulled the papers out of the inside pocket of his suit coat and handed them to Pete. “These are copies of Lizzy’s birth certificate and the legal papers Elayne had drawn up for child support.”
“No other legal agreements between you and Elayne?” Pete asked.
“We weren’t married, if that’s what you’re asking.”
Pete tucked the papers in his briefcase. “All right. I’ll look into what options you have to gain some kind of custody, or, at the very least, prevent Elayne from taking Lizzy beyond Thaisia.”
“Thank you.” If he did gain some kind of custody, would his mother be willing to relocate and help him take care of Lizzy? Something else to think about.
Monty’s mobile phone rang. “This is Montgomery.”
“Lieutenant.” Something odd about Simon Wolfgard’s voice. “Come to the Courtyard. Now. We have something that belongs to you.”
Pater,
Payment for merchandise was misdirected. Location known, but retrieval will be difficult. First shipment of merchandise will be sent in good faith.
—NS
CHAPTER 15
Firesday, Maius 11
“Why do I have to play with a human?” Sam asked again as Meg reached for the back door of A Little Bite.
She stepped away from the door and bent over, bracing her hands on her thighs so that she and Sam were eye to eye. The way he was growing, she wouldn’t need to do that much longer. Or maybe this growth spurt would plateau soon. None of the Others would talk about what the terra indigene looked like before taking on the forms that separated them into various gards and gave each group particular traits, but Meg had the impression that Sam’s growth wasn’t based on how quickly or slowly wolves or humans grew to maturity; it was based on how the terra indigene’s mysterious first form matured.
“We’re not playing with her, exactly,” Meg said. “We’re just going to have a snack and keep her company until Lieutenant Montgomery arrives.”
“Because he’s her sire?”
“Yes.” She touched his arm, a moment of contact. “She’s all alone, Sam, and she’s too young to have come all that way on a train by herself.”
Simon hadn’t told her much, but he’d said enough. Lizzy Montgomery might not have reached Lakeside if Nathan hadn’t been on that train and riding in the same car.
Sam looked at the ground between their feet before asking in a small voice, “Did something happen to her mom?”
Simon said there’s some dried blood on Lizzy’s toy bear, Meg thought. Sam is a Wolf pup. He’s bound to smell it.
“We don’t know what happened to Lizzy’s mom,” she said. “But Simon and Lieutenant Montgomery will find out.”
Now he reached out, a fingertip touch on her arm. “Are you going to have to bleed?”
He didn’t know about the cassandra sangue’s addiction to cutting, but he did know that she cut herself in order to see visions.
“No. Whatever happened has already happened. I . . . cut . . . when it’s important to see what might happen. Like when those men attacked the Courtyard and I knew before they arrived that you had to stay with Mr. Erebus because you’d be safe with him.”
“And you knew when that box of sugar lumps would make the ponies sick.”
“Yes.”
Apparently satisfied that nothing would happen to his pack, he eyed her head with unnerving interest.