He gives me a look and I’m afraid I’ve given him the wrong idea, like I don’t think he can do the job. But I know that he’s more than capable. We might not have found the bogans yet, and he talks way too much for my liking, but his skill as a tracker and his instincts as a hunter are astonishing. Where I couldn’t see a thing, Jack found the traces of the bogans’ trail that led us straight back to the city. Okay, so then it finally got lost in all the fairy traffic this place supports, but no one could be expected to sort through it all to find the one trail we were following.

Jack has an eye for an ambush, too, and while there were never bogans waiting for us at any of the likely sites, I have to admire the way he sifts through the possibilities. And let’s face it. I’d rather he errs on the side of caution than for us to walk unsuspecting into a firefight.

I don’t think these skills are necessarily just canid traits. I’ve met others of the dog clan who don’t have near his smarts. I figure it’s because he can be so single-minded when he puts his mind to it. Sure, it’s obvious that he likes to talk and joke—there’s always humour dancing in his eyes—but he also seems to know just when and how to get a job done, and then follows through.

“Look,” I start to say.

But Jack just claps me on the shoulder. “Patience. You blackbirds don’t know how to hunt. Mostly it’s a waiting game.”

“I can wait.”

“Yeah, but are you patient when you’re waiting, or are you chomping at the bit? See, that makes all the difference. Now, I’m not the most patient canid you’re going to meet—I mean, Cody can take a hundred years to make sure a deal plays out just the way he wants—but I’ve learned that calm persistence gets a man a lot further than a lot of aimless running around.”

“Which is what we’ve been doing all night,” I have to say.

Jack shrugs and holds the door open for me.

“Except,” he says, “we also paid our respects to Walker’s daughter, and we now know a lot of places where these bogans aren’t.”

I smile. “I could name you a thousand off the top of my head.”

“Sure. A thousand unlikely places—but unless you actually check them out for yourself, you’ll never know for sure. Now, are you coming in, or do I have to hold this open for the rest of the night?”

“I’m coming.”