Raven’s Instinct (A Day Care for Shifters #6)

23. Kendra

23

KENDRA

N ot un natural , Kendra thought to herself. Un normal .

Then it sunk in that the woman, Veronica, was talking about Amy’ s day care, and clearly she knew something about the kids that went there. At that moment, thanks to Clarice’s frantic eyebrow wiggles, Veronica realized that Kendra was there, and her whole demeanor turned on a dime.

“Hello!” she said expansively, turning as if she hadn’t just come storming in threatening to close a day care. “I’m Veronica Chase, how can I put you in the perfect home?” Even her accent was different, suddenly smooth and careful, with a company drawl.

Kendra was glad that she’d switched her bloodstained work coat for a nicer (and cleaner) wool coat, and she’d brushed her hair and put it back in a tidy braid before releasing Rita mournfully to Mason, even if she hadn’t put on make-up. She shook the hand that Veronica pressed to her. Veronica clearly did not associate her with Tiny Paws, and Kendra was glad that her memorable truck was not parked out front. “I’m just starting to look for a forever home,” she said mildly. “Two bedrooms, maybe three. Quiet neighborhood, big back yard. The American dream, you know?”

Veronica gave her an appraising look and Kendra thought she was probably calculating the value of her shoes and noting the lack of jewelry. Veronica, by comparison, was carrying a flashy name brand purse and had diamonds in her ears. Her boots looked couture, and her jacket was an impractical white with pearl-inlaid buttons. She wasn’t wearing a hat, and the tips of her ears looked uncomfortably red.

“We can certainly find something in your price range,” Veronica said, her voice skirting condescending. “Clarice, the binders!”

“She has them, ma’am,” Clarice squeaked.

“Do you have an area of town you’re looking at?” Veronica took a seat next to Kendra. She smelled like vanilla and syrupy perfume. She opened one of the binders to the back.

Kendra leaned into incompetence. “I don’t know,” she drawled back. “I hear the Bluffs are nice.”

“Oh, those houses are terribly overpriced,” Veronica said, as if she was sharing a secret. “You can get something just as nice for half the price in the Grove neighborhood.”

At least she hadn’t tried to sell Kendra directly into the Tails. “That sounds nice,” she said agreeably. She let Veronica lead the conversation, oohing and awing over refurbished bathroom fixtures and new hardwood floors without committing while her mind raced. She wanted to get more information about Veronica’s plans for Tiny Paws and to figure out how much she knew. But Kendra couldn’t just come right out and ask if she knew about shifters, and she knew she was losing Veronica’s interest rapidly.

She was glad when Veronica’s phone rang. “Oh, let me get this in my office,” she said, glancing at the number. “Clarice can answer any questions you have…”

“I have that contract…” Clarice volunteered.

Veronica swept the paper up off the counter and marched past without thanking her. “Where the hell have you been?” she said angrily into her phone. “You just vanished and left me hanging for nearly a year—” The office door shut behind her.

“Goodness,” Kendra said, coming to the counter with the pile of binders. “She’s certainly something, isn’t she.”

Clarice gave her a timid smile. “She’s very…busy.”

“Well, these binders are great. Very well organized. I love the stickers. Can I get a print out for this property?” Veronica had flipped past it, probably sure it was out of Kendra’s budget.

Clarice flushed happily. “Yes, of course!” Her fingers flew over her keyboard, and the printer gave a little whir and spit out a double-sided summary of the property in color.

“What’s Tiny Paws?” Kendra asked innocently as she took it. “Why does Veronica want to shut them down?”

Clarice glanced at the closed door. “Tiny Paws is a super exclusive day care.”

“Exclusive?”

“I know some moms who have been trying their kids into it since it opened, like a year and a half ago.”

“Expensive, huh?”

Clarice shrugged. “I don’t have kids, but I don’t think it’s that expensive. But Veronica says all the kids are…special.”

Kendra leaned close on the counter and dropped her voice. “I’m guessing you don’t mean special needs .”

Clarice shook her head and chewed her lower lip. Just as Kendra was trying to figure out how to coax more from her, she blurted, “No, like magic special.” Her eyes widened behind her glasses. “I mean, I know, that sounds crazy, right? But Veronica is so sure that Cherry is a witch , and that all the little kids are…I don’t know, part of some cult or something. There are weird noises, sometimes, and the kids sometimes come in and out wrapped up so you can’t see them.”

That was irony, Kendra thought, since Cherry was the one person there who wasn’t the slightest bit magical. But since she’d been one of those moms with a wrapped-up kid, she was more than a little alarmed that Veronica knew even that much. “Does she have any proof?” Kendra asked.

“Like video evidence?” Clarice shrugged. “I don’t know. I said she should try to get that cryptic hunter out to see if there was something to it. She researches all kinds of paranormal phenomena. Have you ever seen her show on the Internet? Mary Fresh? No, Molly Flash! She’s so cool and confident.”

“That’s a great idea,” Kendra said, privately thinking, That’s a terrible idea.

Her owl gave a thoughtful hoot. No, it is a good idea.

This is why I don’t trust your judgment with men , Kendra said wryly. That is the worst idea I’ve ever heard in my life.

You said that about bringing the raven dead mice , her owl pointed out. And he said he’d like them.

His raven would like them , Kendra said. But I am not trying to drum up a romantic life. She couldn’t help but remember his kiss, and the feel of his hands.

Clarice blathered on about Molly Flash and an episode on Bigfoot in the area, clearly starved for friendly conversation. “It was filmed down at Belle Lake, have you been to the lodge out there? I haven’t, but it sounds so nice. There might be a sea monster in the lake, I heard. It’s kind of a long drive, but it’s not as long as the drive to Las Vegas. That’s where I’m from, and it was a lot further to go than I thought it would be.”

Kendra listened with her mind racing, trying to filter the important bits from the chatter, until she found an opportunity to escape…and ran straight down the street to Alan.