He finished his coffee, brought his cup over to the counter, then signaled for Debany to join him as he left A Little Bite.

“Where to, Lieutenant?” Debany started the patrol car.

“Back to the station. No.” Monty got out of the car. “Wait here. I have to make a phone call. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

Monty went up to the efficiency apartment, where he would have privacy. Pulling out his mobile phone, he called his sister’s residence and wasn’t surprised when his mother answered.

“Mama? It’s Crispin.”

“Crispin? Are you all right? Why are you calling at this time of day?”

“I’m fine, Mama.” Monty took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’m fine. But I need you to listen very carefully.”

CHAPTER 17

CHAPTER 17

Windsday, Juin 13

A breeze danced over the Courtyard, softening the heat of the day as Simon and Sam trotted down the road. Meg and Tess had driven to the Market Square, so they had brought clothes for the two Wolves. Sam might remain in Wolf form, but Simon felt he should look human tonight as a courtesy to the humans who would be joining them.

<Remember, pup, we don’t howl during every song,> Simon said. <Charlie Crowgard will tell us when to participate.>

<I know,> Sam replied. <I know how to behave.>

Which meant someone else didn’t know. Did human pups tend to misbehave during public events? Should he warn Lieutenant Montgomery and Pete Denby that anyone disrupting music would get nipped? He thought the humans were attending the concert out of politeness, but he could be wrong. Theral was going to play her fiddle, and those songs would be familiar to the other humans. The female pack was excited about the concert, both to hear Theral play but also to hear Charlie Crowgard. And Kowalski and Debany had asked him twice if Charlie was going to sing the song about Meg and Merri Lee defeating the bad human, Phineas Jones.

When he and Sam arrived at the Market Square, Kowalski and Debany already had three short rows of chairs set up in the open area that made up the center of the square.

“Vlad told us to do it this way,” Kowalski said when Simon approached. “And Henry said to put some perches behind the chairs and around both sides.”

Not all the terra indigene would attend this concert. Some still needed to stand guard. But tonight was as much about mingling with humans as it was a chance to hear music. Charlie would give a private performance for those who couldn’t attend tonight—or didn’t want to mingle.

Tess came out of Meat-n-Greens, followed by Meg, Merri Lee, Ruthie, and Eve.