A pause, then "Lelia, I'm really, really sorry to bother you on Monday but someone needs to collect two commissions at the shop and I don't want to bother Master Saldovado and I'm really sorry but he's pretty insistent." The words ran together.

  Oh kay, this counts as an emergency. When Sho stopped to inhale, Lelia asked, "Are both works at the shop already?"

  "No, one's here. He didn't think he'd get away until next week. It's framed and ready, just not at the shop, can you help, please?" She sounded on the verge of hysterics. "He said he'd be at the shop around two thirty."

  André had gotten up and opened the bedroom door, then ducked into the washroom. Tay wandered into the bedroom.

  "Yes. I'll come by the gallery just before two and get the second work, then meet him at the shop." I think I know which other painting he's going to want, and who it is.

  "Thank you! Bless you, Lelia, I owe you so bad. Bolts can't get off work, neither can Uncle Leopard, and I can't drive and don't have a key to the store." Lelia imagined Shoshana running a hand over her hair and dislodging a brush and two pencils. "I'm at the gallery right now, so whenever you want to come by, I'm here."

  After she hung up, Lelia looked at her increasingly intrigued Familiar. "A gentleman wants to pick up two of Shoshana's works, one of which is at the shop. A gentleman from," she raised her eyebrows towards Tay, "out of the area, who is very insistent. I said we'd get the work from her place, and then I'd meet the customer so he can collect the second painting."

  Tay's tail twitched. "Mr. Smith."

  "That's who I suspect, but we'll find out." She turned to André, now out of the washroom. "Love, I hate to ask you to come along, but I have to get the painting off of the wall, and I can't lift it and steady it at the same time." And I don't feel comfortable being alone with just Tay for help with Mr. Smith and his associate in the store. "Mr. Smith also pays cash, which I'll need to take straight to the bank."

  Any objection he might have voiced ceased with that statement. "Good thought. Let's stop by Too Brews on the way and get some dinner, then grab the painting. On the way home we can check the new kids' stuff store for baby gates."

  "Sounds good, love." Change of wardrobe plans. Instead of the well-worn and comfortable dress she'd worn that morning, Lelia put on work-appropriate clothes and makeup. That was, once her husband finished with his preparations. I guess he'll never stop being sensitive about me seeing him without a shirt on.

  By the time she finished and re-made the bed, it was a whisker to one. They opted for the pickup, since the air conditioner worked faster. The rush at Too Brews peaked around noon, such as rush was on Monday. She took her and Tay's order to the back and got Tay settled, then returned to help André with his order. His shoulder wanted to be cranky. "I wish Mom and Dad had gotten the extended warranty on me," he groused to Rodney.

  "Boss, you busted the warranty limits so bad, I don't think any manufacturer would cover either parts or labor." He hopped into the chair beside his mage. "At least it's the suspension and not the transmission or the engine block."

  The scowl directed toward the kit fox suggested that André found his Familiar's comments neither comforting nor helpful. The grin on the silver-white muzzle didn't improve matters.

  André glanced left and right, then limited himself to mouthing something unflattering, uncouth, and likely to attract unwanted attention from their fellow diners. Tay swallowed his bite of fruit tart and inquired, "Now who's being antisocial and immature, hmm?"

  All those at the table with Y chromosomes is who. Well, Tay hadn't done anything rude. Yet. When she finished her sandwich, she excused herself to wash her hands. She returned in time to save her seven-layer-bar from both her Familiar and her husband. "Excuse me?"

  "I was just protecting it, dear," he assured her. He sounded as convincing as Hiram had the last time the boy attempted to explain why he had cookie crumbs around his mouth long before snack time.

  After they'd finished eating and were enjoying the last sips of their drinks, André asked, "So, besides keeping a painting from plummeting, what do I need to worry about?"

  "Someone poking at us to see just how strong we are." Lelia set her cup down. "The art buyer, if he's who Tay and I suspect he is, goes by the name of Mister Smith. His assistant is very clean-cut, with a military-short hair cut, moves like you do, and acts as muscle and carries the money. I suspect both are magic workers, but neither one has worked magic in front of me or Master Saldovado."

  Tay tipped his head to the side and made a gesture with one paw. "The first time he came by, Master Saldovado had Lelia check the cash for magic, in case it carried a glamour or other spell."

  André and Rodney exchanged an odd, perhaps wary, look. "I can see why you're a little concerned," André allowed. "Does Mr. Smith know anything about us?"

  "He knows I'm married, and that you are also a magic worker. Nothing beyond that, unless he's done some research."

  Rodney leaned forward and rested his head on the table. "I'm getting odd vibes, boss, but not bad ones."

  "Likewise." André leaned back a little and folded his arms, with care. "The shop's neutral ground, so I won't do anything if they don't."

  Is it, really? She filed the question away. "I think we'd best get moving in case traffic's messed up again."

  They collected the second work from Shoshana and managed to get it into the cab of the truck, but it took some creative repositioning of seats and Familiars. "I'm sorry, dark sir, I should have asked about the size." At least it was an oil, not an acrylic, so it didn't weigh a ton.

  "We're parking in the alley, then taking it into the shop. Otherwise I foresee," he paused for a heartbeat or two, "difficulties unloading it."

  Like dropping it, or having to prop the front door open, and getting a parking ticket, and . . . Lelia ran through the short list. "Especially since I do not have a key to the front door, dark sir."

  Rodney's voice said, "Oh, no problem, we just do a lift-shift-transform on the glass in the door, move the painting through the empty doorframe, and then reverse the spell to put the glass back. Easy peasy."

  "Sure, Ears," Tay grumbled.

  Rodney sniffed. "Fiendishly difficult, full of complications, and likely to attract the attention of every magic worker in Riverton, but not impossible."

  The hands on the steering wheel had turned white from gripping it so hard. André said, "No. We are not attempting anything that complicated, blatant, and wasteful without a very, very good reason. This ain't it." Lelia raised an eyebrow at the vehement exclamation, but stayed quiet.

  Rodney muttered something faintly unflattering but subsided. The brown pickup rolled into the alley behind Belle, Book, and Blacklight, and André parked, hazard lights on. Lelia hopped out and unlocked the heavy steel loading door, turned off the security system, and muscled the rolling cart as far as the door. André let Rodney and Tay out, then stowed the loading ramp. The Familiars headed in different directions to do whatever they needed to do while their mages moved the large oil painting onto the trolley. "I'll go park," André told her.

  "Got it. I'll get everything ready." She let the Familiars in, then pushed the trolley into the main part of the shop. Lights, register, action. She giggled, unlocking the front door as she did. Once the sales computer and card reader acted cooperative, she retreated to the workroom and got the hooked pole. Nope, no other new paintings back here. It had to be one of the ones on the wall. André came in the front door as she removed the cover from the oil painting on the trolley and lifted it off, rotating it right-side up, and propping it up against the counter.

  "Wow." André breathed, eyes wide. Lelia backed up to stand beside him, Familiars in trail. "She's gotten really, really good. That's amazing."

  Lelia hugged herself. "Yes, it is, and, um, I think it's from life." She felt André's and Rodney's stares. "Um, I'm guessing that Sho's talents are appreciated, ah, Elsewhere."

  Tay tugged on her skirt. "Good way to phrase it, and a large black car is parking in front of the store."

  André and Rodney ducked into the workroom, while Tay clambered onto the counter and sat in his stuffed animal pose. The heavy sedan's front passenger door opened, and a young man with a dark brown crew-cut emerged. He wore a tailored navy blue coat and trousers. He opened the rear passenger door, and "Mr. Smith" stepped out of the sedan. Carl held the front door open and Lelia nodded as the straight-backed, slightly heavy man in an elegant pin-stripe suit entered the shop. The two men shared medium olive-tan complexions, light eyes, and prominent chins. Mr. Smith still wore his iron-grey hair swept back from his long face, lightly touching his collar. He glanced around, then saw the portrait leaning against the counter. "Ah!"

  He hurried over to inspect the oil. Carl remained by the door, as usual, watching. "Oh, yes, this is exactly what I'm looking for." He knelt, almost nose-to-canvas, inspecting the art, then stood and backed away. "She did a masterful job. Carl, come see for yourself." Lelia might not have been there, and she stayed quiet.

  Carl moved closer, but studied the work from several feet away. "Yes, sir. Mrs. Langtree has exceeded herself."

  Mr. Smith backed up as well. He seemed to notice Lelia for the first time. "Ah, Mrs. Lestrang. Would you perhaps be able to shine a light onto the work, as if it were illuminated from above in a gallery?"

  That was odd. Where was . . . She hunted around under the counter until she found a flashlight. She eased around the end of the counter and turned the light on, twisted to top to spread the beam a little more, and shone it down onto the portrait.

  "Even better. Yes, I must have this." Mr. Smith didn't quite rub his hands with glee. Then he glanced around the store, and up at the framed art on the walls. "Oh. That's a most unusual depiction." He stared up at the lurking hills acrylic.

  Lelia set the flashlight on the counter and walked to where she'd left the hooked pole. She leaned into the workroom doorway. "Sir, if you have a moment?" André emerged, Rodney at his side. "If you could help steady this, please?"

  "Carl," Mr. Smith commanded. Lelia worked the hook under the piece's wire, then braced herself and lifted. Once she was certain that the hook held all the weight, she eased the painting down from the wall hooks. André murmured under his breath. The painting grew lighter and steadied. Once she'd lowered it far enough, Carl caught one end. André moved two steps away until the painting descended to where he could grasp it. She removed the pole and carefully swapped places with André, carrying the work over to where she and Carl could prop it against the counter.

  Mr. Smith held his chin with one hand, expression most thoughtful. As André and Carl eyed each other, the older man walked back and forth. "How intriguing. To do it as a landscape . . . Hmmm." He backed farther away. Lelia tried the flashlight thing again for him. His eyes opened wide, and his mouth formed an O, then an enormous smile. "Brilliant! That's a brilliant presentation of the subject." He met Lelia's eyes. "I absolutely must have both of them."

  "Certainly, sir. Would you prefer them wrapped to carry, or wrapped to ship?"

  "To carry, please, Mrs. Lestrang."

  "Yes, sir." André got the idea and brought the wrapping material and padding from the trolley, and they packaged the upright portrait. Tay led André to the workroom, and he emerged with some of the packing things as she totaled up the sale. Then he waited as she fetched the rest of the roll of padding off the high shelf.

  Carl and Mr. Smith seemed to be watching André most intently. Lelia sensed magic moving, but not hers or Shadow's. Shadow caught her eye, and tipped his head a little toward the customers. She nodded a tiny fraction of an inch. As she pulled the padding taut, she reached for Tay, drawing power just in case.

  "Your associate, Mrs. Lestrang?" Carl inquired, a little too casually.

  André turned to face him, hands well clear of his waist and visible. "Mr. Lestrang, sir. My lady was uncertain about her ability to safely lower the painting, if you wished to look at it more closely. There was almost an unfortunate accident in April, when a wire snapped as Master Saldovado hung a work."

  Both customers winced, shoulders and upper arms tightening at the idea. "A wise precaution indeed, Mr. Lestrang," Mr. Smith said. He looked to Rodney. "Your Familiar, sir?"

  "Yes, sir," Rodney replied, standing and walking toward his mage.

  Carl looked from Familiar to mage and back, blinking a few times. He lifted one finger, a slight frown on his face. "Sir, were you in the US Army, in Southwest Asia, F.O.B. Ermey by any chance?"

  André had a similar look of almost recognition. "Yes, I was, with Ears." He started to smile a little. "Were you there for the mess in the mess?"

  "Oh gawd yes! You evil bastard, I was trying to forget that," Carl's smile spread from ear to ear, almost. He held out his right hand. "MARSOC."

  André took the hand and gripped Carl's forearm as well as they shook. "If you find a way to forget that doesn't involve street pharmacy, tell me, will you? I'll help you market it."

  Rodney shook his head and sighed. "Silver, do not ask, OK? Not because it's classified, but because even I, oh fu— gads, even the vultures and jackals wouldn't touch that stuff. I think it cleared the wildlife out of that sector for the next year." Tay boggled, then flopped onto the top of the counter and did his best impression of road kill. Rodney said, "Yeah, pretty much like that. I've never seen guys begging to go out on patrol in order to get away from the base before or since."

  Lelia finished taping the padding down, then replied. "Thank you for the warning, and I won't ask." That sounds worse than the Diaper from Hell, and I don't want to imagine such a thing, whatever it might be.

  Mr. Smith had been looking from Carl to André and back. "I take it you have met?"

  "Yes, sir. When I was in the Marines. We had the misfortune to be at the same place when a memorable event occurred." Carl gestured to Rodney. "Ears was darker colored at the time. So was his mage."

  Lelia moved to stand beside her husband as he explained, "Backlash bleaching. Ears and I got caught between planes when a gate collapsed on us. I don't recommend doing that."

  Mr. Smith shuddered. "No. That's the sort of thing one strives to avoid."

  "Just so, sir." André glanced to Lelia and nodded. He didn't need her touch this time.

  She returned to the counter and finished wrapping the landscape that was actually a portrait. Carl came to the counter and paid, cash as usual. "Is Master Saldovado out today?"

  "Yes, sir. Normally we're closed on Mondays," she said as she got his change. "Mrs. Langtree asked me to come in, in case you wanted to look at some of her other framed works." And you ought to remember that, maybe. Or maybe not.

  Mr. Smith reached into his jacket and removed a leather-bound memo book and looked at something. He blinked and turned the page, and closed his eyes in a "Oh crap, how could I forget!" sort of expression. "The fault is mine, Mrs. Lestrang." He replaced the memo book. "I apologize for taking up your day off."

  She smiled. "Thank you, sir. I'd rather come in than try to ship these pieces, to be honest. I'm not confident about how well the shipping services understand the word fragile."

  André helped her load the paintings onto the trolley, then held the door for her, Carl, and Mr. Smith. She and Carl eased the works into the trunk of the sedan. Carl opened the car door. Mr. Smith extended his right hand. "Again, I apologize, Mrs. Lestrang. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you need anything. I am in your debt."

  She shook. He had a firm grip, his palm a little dry and almost scaly. "Apology accepted, sir, and I certainly will do that, should a need arise." She curtsied and returned to the shop. Once the car disappeared, she locked the door and turned off the lights, then lowered the shades.

  André smiled, a bit wearily. "I'm not sure if I should be impressed or spooked that those guys would do business here," he pointed down.

  "Back, oh, I think we'd met but I'm not sure, an Italian-maybe gent from the northeast came in and bought some things. He told Mr. Smith about us, and they came in to see what was available. Tay made Mr. Smith laugh so hard that I kid you not, he had tears in his eyes, and Master Saldovado almost hurt himself trying not to laugh as well." She counted out the till, then counted it again, entered the sale in the big ledger, and turned off the computer and card reader. "Let's get this to the bank, then look at baby gates before we have to ransom our daughter, shall we?"

  "Heck yeah." Tay leaped off of the counter. "Someone's going to get curious. And I need out."

  André did the honors as she got a bank bag and made the deposit slip, then re-locked Arthur's office door. She heard a yell of, "Down!" through the door. Magic flared outside the shields on the store. She set the alarm with world-record speed and darted out in time to see André throw a dagger of shadow at a fast-retreating raven. "Naphtha's right, that's not just an oversized bird."

  Tay peeled himself off of the cement. "Me no likee." Lelia scooped him up and carried him, following André and Rodney to the pickup.

  "Are you OK?"

  He hesitated. "Yeah, I think so. Everything feels like it's still attached."

  They returned to the house with four more baby gates. Lelia left Tay to relax and rest while she collected Deborah. The lady at the nursery frowned as she checked Lelia's ID. "Do you work for a funeral parlor, ma'am?"

  Not yet, but it sounds pretty good some days. As long as she didn't have to be around upset living people, just nice, quiet, dead ones. "No, ma'am. I work at a store that caters to neo-Romantics and people interested in nineteenth century culture and customs."

  "How . . . odd." She took a deep breath. "Very good. Wait here, please." She disappeared, returning a minute later with a younger child-care worker who carried Deborah and her diaper bag.

  The younger lady smiled. "Here you are! She's had a nap and a full dinner, but no afternoon snack yet. She's a good little lady."

  Lelia smiled back and held her arms out. Debora did the same, and soon Lelia had baby and bag. "Thank you, ma'am. I'm glad to hear you didn't have any trouble."

 

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