Framing Felipe (14 page)

were-‐mountain
lions.
I
only
recognized
one.
The
other
must
have
been
a
spotter
who
held

back.
I
feel
like
an
ass
for
admitting
it,
but
I’d
been
suspicious
for
a
while
about
the
new

FRAMING FELIPE
–
53
–
Holley Trent

guy,
and
turns
out
he
was
legit
and
one
of
the
long-‐term
members
was
the
Visa.
I
don’t

know
how
to
feel
about
that.”

Sarah
bobbed
her
shoulders.
“Sounds
like
a
typical
military
tactic
to
me.
Send
long-‐

term
sleepers
into
non-‐hostile
groups,
so
if
you
ever
need
to
exploit
the
groups
somehow,

you
already
have
the
intelligence
and
a
built-‐in
saboteur.
I
suspect
the
Visas
have
people
in

groups
like
yours
all
over
the
place.
They
probably
send
them
out
way
before
they
confirm

the
circus
stops.
There
must
be
hundreds
of
them.”

Sarah
and
Dana
looked
to
Felipe
for
confirmation,
but
he
couldn’t
give
them
the

information
they
needed.
He
had
no
idea
how
large
the
Visa
population
was.
He
didn’t

know
much
about
them
at
all.

“I’m
betting
they’ve
got
someone
planted
in
the
bear
group,
then,”
Patrick
said.

Sarah
grunted
agreement.
“They’re
just
amping
up
the
hostility
that’s
already
there.

Don’t
even
have
to
work
that
hard
because
they
know
we’ll
just
blame
each
other
if

anything
happens.
Patrick,
you
need
to
call
Billy.
If
those
new
cats
Jacques
has
are
Billy’s

granddaughters,
he
needs
to
know…even
if
the
nincompoop
is
just
going
to
shunt
the
chore

of
fetching
them
right
back
to
us.”

Ah.
Sarah’s
unwillingness
to
involve
Felipe
in
Shrew
operations
made
sense
to
him

now.
They
were
putting
out
fires
at
every
turn,
and
she
likely
thought
he
was
one
of
them.

Sarah
scraped
the
corner
of
her
beer
bottle’s
label
and
raised
both
eyebrows.
“Paddy,

you
should
have
overthrown
that
guy
when
you
joined.
I
would
have.”

Felipe
didn’t
doubt
it.
Everything
he
knew
about
the
Shrew
so
far
pointed
to
her
need

to
be
in
control…even
when
she
wasn’t
needed.

“I
didn’t
join.
I
got
fuckin’
drafted,”
Patrick
said,
and
he
stood,
collecting
the
empty
beer

bottles
from
the
table.

“Let’s
be
real.
He’s
the
leader
just
because
he’s
old
and
nobody
else
wanted
the
job.
I

know
you
don’t
like
the
politics,
but
you’ve
got
to
consider
your
own
personal
safety
at
this

point
since
obviously
he’s
not
considering
yours.
And
Dana’s
safety,
too.
She’s
tied
up
in

this
mess
along
with
the
rest
of
us.”

Including
Felipe
now.
He
disliked
this
Billy
character
and
he
hadn’t
even
met
him
yet.

Where
was
he,
anyway?
What
kind
of
leader
wouldn’t
come
when
his
people
were
injured?

Sure,
the
were-‐cats
were
probably
recovering
just
fine
from
the
Visa
attack
without

FRAMING FELIPE
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–
Holley Trent

medical
intervention,
but
shouldn’t
he
have
been
there
to
strategize?
To
promise
action
of

some
sort?
Why
was
Patrick
cleaning
up
the
mess
and
not
this
Billy
guy?

At
that,
Dana
rubbed
her
eyes
with
the
heels
of
her
palms
and
sighed.
“Let’s
not
go

there
right
now.
We
do
need
to
get
Billy
on
board,
though.
I
know
you
have
some
questions

for
him,
Sarah,
and
do
what
you
need
to
get
the
answers.”
She
put
her
hands
on
the
table

and
shifted
her
bleary
gaze
to
Felipe.
Another
tired
Shrew.
They
were
all
burning
the

candle
at
both
ends,
it
seemed.
“As
of
right
now,
the
Shrews
are
terminating
your
case.

Terminado.
”

Felipe
snorted
and
simulated
a
bow
from
his
chair.
“No
offense,
but
gracias
.”

Dana
narrowed
her
eyes
and
leaned
her
elbows
onto
the
tabletop,
tenting
her
fingers

and
tapping
the
tips
together.
“Don’t
misunderstand
me,
Felipe.
What
I
mean
is,
there’s
no

longer
a
case,
but
we
will
not
allow
you
to
engage
in
stupid
shit
before
you
reconnect
with

your
brother.
I
made
your
brother
a
promise.
It’s
merely
shifted
from
professional
to

friendly.
Does
that
need
translation?”

“No.”

Sarah
nudged
his
side
with
her
bony
elbow
and
gave
him
a
told-you-so
look.

Felipe
grabbed
her
wrist
and
held
her
hand
flat
against
his
lap,
preventing
her
from

repeating
the
action.
That
elbow
had
hurt.
He
switched
to
Spanish.
“I
am
an
adult.
It
is
my

neck.
I
choose
to
stick
it
out.
Listen
to
the
hateful
Romanian—place
me
as
you
see
fit.
I’m

eager
to
be
useful.
Besides,
I
have
connections
on
the
inside
that
can
help
get
your
cats
out,

and
any
others
that
may
be
there
against
their
wills.”

Sarah
translated.

“Fabian,
you
mean,”
Dana
surmised.

“Yes.
I
can’t
sneak
back
in,
even
invisible,
because
of
the
Gypsies,
but
that
doesn’t
mean

we
can’t
send
in
a
Shrew
that
hasn’t
been
seen.”

Patrick’s
jaw
slackened.
“The
Gypsies?”

Felipe
shrugged.
“They
work
as
fortune-‐tellers
in
the
side-‐show,
but
a
few
of
them
are

remarkable
psychics
and
natural
witches.
They
don’t
have
very
good
foresight,
but
if
asked,

they
could
tell
if
a
person
was
nearby.
And,
alas,
they
know
me
too
well.
Practically
raised

me
and
Fabian.”

“And
they’d
give
you
up
like
that?”
Sarah
asked.

FRAMING FELIPE
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–
Holley Trent

Her
tone
of
unvarnished
incredulity
made
him
turn
his
head
and
study
her
expression.

Of
course
she’d
be
angry.
She
was
an
outsider.
She’d
probably
grown
up
in
a
good,
solid,

normal
home
where
love
was
given
freely
and
she
slept
in
the
same
room
every
night.
His

upbringing
had
been
all
about
self-‐preservation.
The
same
had
been
true
for
the
Gypsies.

While
they
cared
very
much
for
each
other,
when
constantly
forced
to
choose
between
life

and
death,
giving
away
the
information
and
living
to
fight
another
day
was
the
usual
course

of
action
for
them
all.
There
was
plenty
of
guilt
to
go
around,
but
guilt
was
a
far
easier

burden
to
bear
than
the
pain
Jacques
inflicted
on
them
for
lying.

“So,
we
would
have
to
send
someone
in
who
hasn’t
been
seen
before…”
Dana
mused.

“Right.”

“Someone
who’s
not
recognizable
either
physically
or
psychically
and
who
the
Visas

here
haven’t
seen.”

“Correct.”

“And
Sarah,
you
can’t
shift
your
face
plates
enough
to
be
pull
it
off,
and
you’ve
already

been
near
the
circus…”
Dana
said,
thinking
out
loud.

Felipe
quirked
an
eyebrow
up
at
Sarah.
Her
face
plates?

She
caught
his
gaze,
but
didn’t
respond
to
the
unasked
request
for
translation.

“That
eliminates
everyone
here.
All
the
cats
have
met
all
the
Shrews,
and
for
all
we

know,
there
was
a
Visa
you
didn’t
catch
who’s
relayed
some
intelligence
to
Jacques
now.

We’re
shockingly
low
on
options.”

Sarah
tried
to
pull
her
hand
back
from
Felipe.

He
wouldn’t
let
her
and
ignored
the
resulting
growl.

“Maybe
not.
If
we
can’t
get
through
the
perimeter
without
tripping
the
alarm,
then

maybe
we
should
disable
it.”

Felipe
had
no
idea
what
she
was
going
on
about.
Must
have
been
a
metaphor
he
wasn’t

equipped
to
translate.
Dana
seemed
to
be
following
well
enough,
as
did
Patrick.
He
nodded

and
joined
Dana
in
her
pacing.

Sarah
poked
Felipe
with
the
hand
he
wasn’t
suppressing
and
drew
his
attention
away

from
the
pacing
couple.

“
Sí
?”

“Is
the
troupe
ever
permitted
to
leave
the
grounds
unsupervised?”

FRAMING FELIPE
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–
Holley Trent

It
was
a
smart
question.
Felipe
took
this
one
in
English.
“Very
rarely.
The
only
time
it

happens,
really,
is
when
it
benefits
Jacques
in
some
way.
Promotion,
for
instance.”

Patrick
stopped
pacing
and
snapped
his
fingers.
“One
of
the
cats
works
for
the
big
daily

paper
out
of
Asheville.
I
wonder
what
would
happen
if
one
of
their
reporters
took
a
sudden

interest
in
fortune-‐tellers.
People
love
that
New
Age
shit.”

“I
like
how
you
think.”

“Great.
I’m
going
to
go
see
what
I
can
rustle
up
and
check
on
the
hurt
cats.”
With
a
brief

farewell
kiss
for
Dana,
he
loped
out
of
the
room.

Sarah
wrenched
her
hand
free
of
Felipe’s
grip
and
stood.
“I’ll
see
if
I
can
squeeze
any

information
out
of
those
Visas.”

“Nope.”
Dana
crossed
her
arms
over
her
chest
and
shook
her
head.
The
hard
set
of
her

jaw
said
she
would
be
taking
no
arguments.
“You
need
sleep.
The
task
you
were
assigned
to

has
evaporated
and
the
stuff
with
the
circus
and
the
bears
is
on
hold
until
we
connect
some

dots.
I’ll
talk
to
Doc
and
deal
with
the
medical
stuff
here.
Take
Felipe,
get
a
couple
of
rooms,

and
check
into
the
usual
place
for
tonight.
I’ll
see
you
in
the
morning.
Bring
donuts.”

“But
I—”

“No.
Whatever
it
is,
save
it.
You’re
no
good
to
me
if
you’re
exhausted,
and
nothing’s

going
to
happen
here
in
twenty
hours
or
so
that’s
going
to
surprise
us
any
more
than
we

were
today.
Go
rest,
and
we’ll
debrief
tomorrow
at
seven.”

Felipe
expected
Sarah
to
rebut,
and
she’d
even
opened
her
mouth
to
say
something,
but