Page 47 of Small Town Beast

“Speak plain,” said Saverin.

“You know the operation better than anyone but Roman. You can make it legitimate if he’s gone.”

“I’ve lost enough to clan politics,” Saverin answered harshly, knowing what he was gunning for.

“But you still want revenge on the Snatch Hills,” said Absalom swiftly. “Perhaps— ”

“Revenge, but not by your hands. Go home; I want no part of your intrigue.”

“You Baileys always saw the bigger picture,” Absalom said. “Blood and tradition– you know what that means. Change is coming whether you support it or not, Saverin. And surely we can come to an understanding.”

“Blood and tradition,” Saverin murmured. The man said he wanted peace, but those words were a battle cry.

Roman doesn’t know what they’re planning. Who’s to warn him? Me?

“He won’t betray the halfbreed,” one of the Green Trees piped up suddenly. Saverin recognized that one from the Turnkey. But it proved nothing; memories of that night were mostly of Tanya.

Blood and tradition.

Absalom put out his hand. He was giving Saverin a chance to stand down.

“Will you accept our deepest apologies for Sam and your father?” the young Green Tree said with the impeccable manners of a gentleman. “Let’s have no more strife between our clans.”

“I accept,” said Saverin, taking his hand. “But I make no deals with kinkillers.”

“I see none here,” said the steely-eyed man named Absalom. “Until we meet again,cousin.”

Accordingto the strange magic of small places, two people could live forever next to each other and never meet, but after the first introduction will see each other everywhere.

After the Green Trees left, Saverin sat on his porch and watched the yellow dog sniffing around the treeline down the hill from his house. The dog had appeared right after Absalom and his clansmen left. It had to be the same rogue who waspestering Wilks Johnny. He wondered if it had an owner or had been born feral. Saverin called to the animal but it just gave him a withering look and ducked back into the trees. Just as well; taking in stray curs was not on the mission board. No dog could replace Fang anyway.

Once the dog disappeared he soon forgot it and returned to his primary objective. After confirming a few things with the detective Saverin had formed a plan, but for its success he needed backup. What he aimed to do broke about ten different laws and one careless move could turn the whole situation nuclear. He went down the list of contacts and stopped at his cousin Crash Walker. If anyone could help with an honorable kidnapping it was the bird-fanatic bounty hunter.

He was about to call his cousin when another snapping noise came from the trees. At first he thought the small brown figure moving along the treeline might just be a fixation of his mind. Surely it couldn’t be…

“Tanya!” he called in disbelief.

The girl froze, framed against the trees like a painting. He stepped to it down the path, half believing she would disappear before his eyes.

She wore an old hoodie and jeans, and some dirty sneakers on her feet. Her eyes were puffy.She doesn’t sleep.And she still looked pretty as a picture to Saverin, but dazed, as if she’d been hit on the head.

“It’s like damned Disneyland on this hill today.”

“What?”

“Nevermind. Did you get lost picking daisies or what?”

“What areyoudoing here?” She retorted. “Are you stalking me?”

A laugh escaped him. Saverin saw the blue tips of her fingers as she pulled her hoodie up over her head. She had hunched over herself, arms folded against the cold. A scan of the trees told himshe was alone. His amusement stopped cold. What if she’d ran into the Green Trees?

“You shouldn’t be cutting through these woods by yourself. There’s worse things than mountain lions stalking the trails.”

“Like what? Bears?”

“Like men.”

“Likeyou.”

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