Страница 15 из 40
Chapter Eight:
"First, let's decide who's leading and
who's following."
—F. ASTAIRE
"BOSS, just where the hell is Pahkipsee?"
I found myself wondering if all bodyguards spent
most of their time complaining, or if I had just gotten
lucky.
"Look, Guido. You were there and heard the same
instructions I did. If Vilhelm was right, it should be just
up the road here a couple more miles."
"... 'a rather dead bedroom community, fit only for
those not up to the fast-lane life-style of the big city,' "
Massha quoted in a close imitation of the vampire's
voice.
Guido snickered rudely.
"Why do I get the feeling you didn't particularly
warm to Vilhelm, Massha?" I suppressed a grin of my
own.
"Maybe it's because he's the only guy we've met she
hasn't made a pass at?" Guido suggested.
Massha favored him with an extended tongue and
65
66 Robert Asprin
crossed eyes before answering.
"Oh, Vilhelm's okay," she said. "Kinda cute, too
... at least the top of his head was. And he did admit
that in general vampires were more partial to cities and
parties while werewolves preferred the back-to-nature
atmosphere of rural living. I just didn't like the crack,
that's all. I grew up on a farm, you know. Country
breakfasts have a lot to do with my current panoramic
physique. Besides, something inside says you shouldn't
trust a smiling vampire. ... or at least you shouldn't
trust him too far."
I had been about to mention the fact that I had grown
up on a farm, too, but withheld the information. Obvi-
ously, farm food hadn't particularly affected my phy-
sique, and I didn't want to rob my apprentice of her
excuse.
"If he had wanted to do us harm, all he would have
had to do was blow the whistle on us while we were still
in town," I pointed out. "Let's just take things at face
value and assume he was really being as nice as he
seemed ... for all our peace of minds."
I wished I was as confident as I sounded. We were a
long way out in the boondocks, and if Vilhelm had
wanted to send us off on a wild goose chase, he couldn't
have picked a better direction to start us off in.
"Yeah, well I'd feel a lot better if we weren't being
followed," Guido grumbled.
I stopped in my tracks. So did Massha ... in her
tracks, that is. The bodyguard managed to stumble into
us before bringing his own forward progress to a halt.
"What is it, Boss? Something wrong?"
"For a minute there, I thought I heard you say that
we were being followed."
"Yeah. Since we left the Dispatcher's. Why does. ..
you mean you didn't know?"
MYTH-ING PERSONS 67
I resisted an impulse to throttle him.
"No, Guido. I didn't know. You see, my bodyguard
didn't tell me. He was too busy complaining about the
road conditions to have time to mention anything as
trivial as someone following us."
Guido took a few shaky steps backward.
"Hey! C'mon, Boss. Don't be like that. I thought
you knew! Honest. Whoever's back there isn't doin'
such a hot job of hiding the fact that they're dogging
our trail. Any idiot could've spotted ... I mean...."
"Keep going, Dark and Deadly," Massha urged.
"You're digging yourself in further with every word, in
case you hadn't noticed."
With great effort I brought myself back under con-
trol.
"Whatever," I said. "I don't suppose you have any
idea who it is?"
"Naw. There's only one of 'em. Unless...."
His voice trailed off into silence and he looked sud-
denly worried.
"Out with it, Guido. Unless what?"
"Well, sometimes when you're getting really tricky
about tailing someone, you put one real clumsy punk
out front so's they can be spotted while you keep your
real ace-hitter hidden. I hadn't stopped to think of that
before. This turkey behind us could be a decoy, know
what I mean?"
"I thought you used decoys for ducks, not turkeys,"
Massha scowled.
"Well, if that's what's happening, then we're sitting
ducks, if it makes you feel any better."
"Could both of you just be quiet for a few minutes
and let me think?" I said, suddenly impatient with their
banter.
"Well, maybe it isn't so bad," Guido said in a doubt-
68
MYTH-ING PERSONS 69
Robert Asprin
ful voice. "I'm pretty sure I would have spotted the
back-up team if there was one."
"Oh sure," Massha sneered. "Coming out of a town
full of vampires that can change themselves into mist
whenever they want. Of course you'd spot them."
"Hey. The Boss here can chew on me if he wants, but
I don't have to take that from you. You didn't even spot
the turkey, remember?"
"The only turkey I can see is... ."
"Enough!" I ordered, having arrived at a decision
despite their lack of cooperation. "We have to find out
for sure who's behind us and what they want. This is as
good a place as any, so I suggest we all retire into the
bushes and wait for our shadow to catch up with us. ...
No, Massha. I'll be over here with Guido. You take the
other side of the road."
That portion of my plan had less to do with military
strategy than with an effort on my part to preserve what
little was left of my nerves. I figured the only way to
shut the two of them up was to separate them.
"I'm sorry, Boss," Guido whispered as we crouched
side by side in the brush. "I keep forgettin' that you
aren't as into crime as the boys I usually run with."
Well, I had been half right. Massha on the other side
of the road was being quiet, but as long as he had some-
one to talk to, Guido was going to keep on expressing
his thoughts and opinions. I was starting to understand
why Don Bruce insisted on doing all the talking when
the bodyguards were around. Encouraging employees to
speak up as equals definitely had its drawbacks.
"Will you keep your voice down?" I tried once more.
"This is supposed to be an ambush."
"Don't worry about that. Boss. It'll be a while be-
fore they catch up, and when they do, I'll hear 'em be-
fore. ..."
"Isthatyou.Skeeve?"
The voice came from the darkness just up the road.
I gave Guido my darkest glare, and he rewarded it
with an apologetic shrug that didn't look particularly
sincere to me.
Then it dawned on me where I had heard that voice
before.
"Right here," I said, rising from my crouch and step-
ping onto the road. "We've been waiting for you. I
think it's about time we had a little chat."
Aside from covering my embarrassment over having
been discovered, that had to be my best understatement
in quite a while. The last time I had seen this particular
person, she was warning me about Aahz's imprison-
ment.
"Good." She stepped forward to meet me. "That's
why I've been following you. I was hoping we
could...."
Her words stopped abruptly as Guido and Massha
rose from the bushes and moved to join us.
"Well, look who's here," Massha said, flashing one
of her less pleasant smiles.
"If it isn't the little bird who sang to the vampires,"
Guido leered, matching my apprentice's threatening
tone.
The girl favored them with a withering glance, then
faced me again.
"I was hoping we could talk alone. I've got a lot to
say and not much time to say it. It would go faster if we
weren't interrupted."
"Not a chance, Sweetheart," Guido snarled. "I'm
not goin' to let the Boss out of my sight with you
around."
"... besides which, I've got a few things to tell you
myself," Massha added, "like what I think of folks who
70
Robert Asprin MYTH-ING PERSONS 71
think frames look better on people than on paintings."
The girl's eyes never left mine. For all her bravado, I
thought I could detect in their depths an appeal for help.
"Please," she said softly.
I fought a brief skirmish in my mind, and, as usual,
common sense lost.
"All right."
"WHAT! C'mon, Boss. You can't let her get you
alone! If her pals are around...."
"Hot Stuff, if I have to sit on you. you aren't going
to...."
"Look!" I said, wrenching my eyes away from the
girl to confront my mutinous staff. "We'll only go a
few steps down the road there, in plain sight. If any-
thing happens you'll be able to pitch in before it gets
serious."
"But...."
"... and you certainly can't think she's going to
jump me. I mean, it's a cinch she isn't carrying any con-
cealed weapons."
That was a fact. She had changed outfits since the last
time I saw her, probably to fit in more with the exotic
garb favored by the party-loving vampires. She was
wearing what I've heard referred to as a "tank top"
which left her midsection and navel delightfully ex-
posed, and the open-sided skirt (if you can call two flaps
of cloth that) showed her legs up past her hips. If she
had a weapon with her, she had swallowed it. Either
that, or....
I dragged my thoughts back to the argument.
"The fact of the matter is that she isn't going to talk
in front of a crowd. Now, am I going to get a chance to
hear another viewpoint about what's going on, or are
we going to keep groping around for information with
Aahz's life hanging in the balance?"
My staff fell silent and exchanged glances, each wait-