I told Tallulah to be a good girl and wait before I jogged out of the car park. I looped behind the buildings and checked the exterior of each one until I determined that there were three possibilities.
There was an office block, one of those ugly seventies’ monstrosities that was more like a giant concrete box than a useful building, a low-rise set of flats and a small shopping centre with windows along one side that looked onto the car park. If I’d wanted to spy on someone, the shopping centre would be the easiest building to use. I headed inside.
It was only two storeys high and seemed to contain small stores that served the local residents rather than big chains that targeted a wider population. There were windows on the ground floor, but the view from most of them was blocked by the wall that separated the centre from the car park. With that in mind, I headed for the trundling escalator so I could check out who was hanging around the first-floor windows.
I marched past some shops, my shoes squeaking on the floor, then I veered left. A passage led towards the public toilets and a bank of windows where I immediately spotted a young woman. There was nobody else around.
Judging by the way she was perched on a narrow seat by one of the windows and was gently rocking the pram beside her, she’d been there for some time. Her stocky frame and colouring – not to mention the tell-tale tag on her arm indicating that she was zeta – told me that she was a wolf. A sigh of relief escaped me; a supe would be far more likely to speak honestly to me than a human, whether I was suspended or not.
I slowed my steps and approached her gingerly. She glanced up with the exhausted eyes of a new mother, then put her finger to her lips and nodded at the pram. ‘I’ve only just gotten him down,’ she whispered.
I stood to the side where the sound of my voice would hopefully be low enough not to disturb the slumbering baby werewolf. ‘I’m Emma,’ I said. ‘I’m—’
‘I know who you are. Everyone knows who you are.’ She wasn’t being rude, merely matter of fact.
I smiled ruefully in acknowledgment of her words. ‘Have you been here for long?’ I asked. ‘In this spot, I mean?’
She removed her hand from the pram and squinted at me, obviously puzzled by the question.
‘I’m looking for someone,’ I explained. I glanced out of the window. I could see most of the car park from here but only Tallulah’s rear was visible. Hmm. ‘They might have been hanging around here and looking out of the window.’
Her eyes widened. ‘Is this to do with that missing gremlin?’ she asked, forgetting to lower her voice. ‘And that human who was set on fire last week?’
The baby stirred and emitted a tiny grumble that was probably the cutest thing I’d ever heard. His mother flinched with alarm. ‘Sorry, bud,’ she whispered, reaching out with a practised hand to resume rocking the pram.
‘Have you seen anyone?’ I asked, deliberately not answering her questions.
She shook her head. ‘No. I’ve been here for almost forty minutes. I nipped into the bookshop round the corner but he began wailing his head off. He might be small and cute, but he sounds like a banshee when he gets going. I took him out of the shop and brought him here to settle him down. It’s my fault. It was almost time for his nap anyway.’
She looked in the pram. ‘Isn’t that right, my little bruiser?’ she cooed, smiling at her slumbering son. She brushed away a curling lock of hair from his face, then her nose wrinkled and she glanced back at me. ‘Actually,’ she admitted guiltily, ‘I’ve been focused on him. Somebody might have passed by, but I probably wouldn’t have noticed them unless they’d blown a trumpet in my face.’
That might have been true, but the bastard behind all this wouldn’t have risked hanging around. He might have come here first, but he wouldn’t have remained. He certainly wasn’t watching from here now; in any case, the angle wasn’t quite right for surveillance.
‘Thank you,’ I said. ‘I appreciate the help.’ I looked into the pram. ‘He’s a lovely baby.’
A besotted grin lit up her expression. ‘He’s hard work but he’s more than worth all the sleepless nights and screaming fits. You’ll see when yours comes along.’
I jerked. I’d temporarily forgotten about werewolves’ ability to sense foetal heartbeats.
‘She sounds healthy,’ the woman said.
‘She?’ Could she really tell?
Her grin widened. ‘I could be wrong, but I reckon it’s a girl. Congratulations either way.’
Sudden warmth suffused me. ‘Thank you. And thanks for your time.’
I moved away and looked out of the window again but this time I wasn’t checking the car park. There were two more buildings to investigate. While I could only see the corner of the ugly office block from this vantage point, the low-rise flats were visible. From here, I could see into the shadowy stairwell, which hadn’t been possible from the car park. If somebody could get inside the building, they could probably use the stairwell windows to spyintothe car park…
I peered more closely, searching for anybody standing still and staring out. I couldn’t spot anyone but they could be further back where they’d be less visible. That building would be my next stop; there should be plenty of time to scope out the public areas before Devereau Webb appeared.
As I smiled again at the woman and turned to go, a suggestion of movement from the flats caught my attention. My eyes flicked to the right and I saw that one of the windows was opening. One of the residents must be letting in some fresh air. It was highly unlikely that any of the inhabitants of that building was my target because I’d only parked in that tiny car park out of convenience.
I took a step back as a head emerged from the window and leaned out to look straight down at Tallulah. When I saw the narrowed eyes and familiar dark scowl, I went completely still. It was Stubman, the night-time bellman from the hotel next to Supe Squad.
ChapterTwenty-Five
It had to be a coincidence; after all, Stubman had to livesomewhere. But it seemed strange that somebody with such an undisguised hatred for supes lived deep within the supe community. It was also strange that he’d chosen to work in a hotel in that same supe community.
