Anna Peregrine--A Map of Days

Chapter Fourteen

I don't remember how we got from the theatre to this office in New York City in the 1930s or 1940s. The whole experience was traumatising for me, as the whole time I was thinking about what the Ymbrynes would say to me.
I stood in a line with Jacob, Emma, Millard, and Bronwyn, this Leo man in front of us. Noor was nowhere to be seen. Then Wreck, Angelica, and the two people who were with Wreck were dragged in.
"Leo, good to see you, been too long," Wreck said, making a hat tip gesture even though he didn't have a hat on.
Angelica bowed, "Hello, Leo."
Leo pointed the letter opener he was holding to her, "You better not rain in here, angel face. I just had this carpet steamed."
"I won't, sir."
"So," Leo aimed the opener at us. "This them?"
"That's them," Wreck said.
"Where's the dog boy?"
"He got away," a tall man standing next to Leo said.
"That' ain't good, Bill. People are gonna get the idea that we're soft on crime."
"We'll get him Leo."
"You better," Leo looked at Wreck and Angelica. "Now, as for you. I heard you were attending an illegal auction."
"Oh, no, nothing like that," Wreck said. "These peculiars here? We were trying to hire them. It was a . . . job fair."
"Job fair! That's a new one. You sure you weren't trading them under the table? Inducing them via threats or intimidation to render services to you free of charge?"
"No, no, no."
"We'd never do that," Angelica said.
"And what are you supposed to do with outsiders?" Leo asked.
"Bring them to you," Wreck answered.
"That's right."
"Frankie though they were nobody special, that's why–"
"Frankie's a mental midget! Sorting out who's nobody and who's an infiltrator ain't her department. You bring outsiders to me and I sort 'em out! Got it?"
"Yes, Leo," the two said in unison.
"Now, where's the light-eater?"
"Cooling her heels in the lounge," the tall man said. "I got Jimmy and Walker with her."
"Good. Don't be rough on her. We want to try and make friends first, remember."
"Got it, Leo."
Leo turned to us, "Where you from? You're Californios, ain't ya? Meese's people?"
"I'm from Florida," Jacob said.
"We're from the UK," Bronwyn said.
"We don't know who Meese is or understand any of what you're talking about," I said.
Leo nodded. He looked down at his desk before looking back up at us with anger, "My name's Leo Burnham, and I run this town."
"Whole East Coast," the tall man said.
"Here's how this is gonna work. I ask you questions and you answer straight. I'm not a guy you lie to. I'm not a guy whose time you waste," Leo said before stabbing the letter opener into his desk. "Read the charges, Bill."
The tall man, Bill, opened a pad of paper, "Trespassing. Resisting arrest. Kidnapping an uncontacted peculiar."
"Add lying about their identity."
"Got it, Leo."
Leo stood up from his chair and walked around it, setting his forearms on its trim, "After the wights and shadow beast skipped town and things started to open up, I knew it was only a matter of time before somebody tried to make a move on our territory. I figured they'd start by tryin to pick off one of the podunk loops on the outskirts. Missy Fineman's outfit out in the Pine Barrens. Juice Barrow's joint in the Poconos. But to come after one of the most powerful ferals we've seen in I don't know how long, and to do it right in our backyard in broad daylight, that's not only brazen, it's an insult. That's the Californios saying, 'Leo's weak. Leoi's sleeping. Let's just waltz into his house and steal his piggy bank, because we can get away with it'."
"You're clearly quite upset," Millard said. "and while I certainly don't want to upset you further by disagreeing with you, we simply aren't who you seem to think we are."
Leo came out from behind his chair and stood in front of Millard, who had been forced to wear a striped gown, almost Holocaust like, so the invisible couldn't easily slip away.
"Are you from here?" Leo asked.
"No."
"Were you trying to remove that feral?"
"What's a feral, exactly?"
Leo punched Millard in the stomach who doubled over and groaned.
"Stop it!" me and Emma yelled.
"Bill, tell 'em what a feral is."
"A peculiar who don't know they're peculiar and ain't yet allied with any particular clan or crew."
"She was in danger. We were trying to help her," Jacob said.
"By taking her out of the five boroughs," Leo said.
"To our loop in London. Where she'd be safe from people like you," I said.
Leo's eyebrows went up, "London. See, Bill, it's worse than we thought. Now we got limey peculiars coming after us, not just Los Californios."
"She's not one of you, and she's not yours. It was her choice to come with us."
Leo straightened his collar and came right up to me, I didn't realise one of his goons had a hold on my arm, but I realised it when a grip tightened.
"I don't know if you're really ignorant or just pretending to be," Leo said quietly, "but it don't matter. The law is the law, and it's the same law all over this country. That light-eater's a local, and inducing her to leave is a crime–one you've admitted to. I got no choice but to make an example out of you."
He raised his hand and slapped me. I didn't have time to prepare myself for it, and the force of it almost knocked me over.
"Bill, get these punks out of my office. Find out who they are, and don't be afraid to put the screws on. We're done looking soft."
"You got it, Leo."