Faded Steel Heat

"Venable."

Morley and Neersa ushered Tama and Singe and a short, incredibly ugly little woman into the room. Montezuma was more frightened than the ratgirl was. She had been in the clutches of the Guard for twenty hours, with nary a whiff of opium. The short woman pretended to be a terrified servant of some sort. Nobody bothered to explain her presence. I stifled a grin.

Relway made one truly repulsive woman. But he'd insisted that he couldn't loan out his prisoner if he couldn't come along himself. I hadn't had the nerve to disappoint the head of the secret police—particularly when I had no good reason to shut him out.

I do believe he nurtured some idea of making a co

Nagit never noticed Relway. He blurted, "You found Montezuma. How? We never caught a trace."

"Somebody out your way sure did, Ed. Some of the Wolves. Who'd gotten a word or two from Gerris Genord. Remember, they weren't wiped out, either." Nobody had a big enough grudge. Hell, the Wolves were heroes to a lot of men whose minds followed the same paths theirs did. Good old Bondurant Altoona was publicly very vocal about the treachery of The Call. Altoona might have profited more had he not been blessed with the personality of a toad.

I told Nagit the whole story, the way I saw it now, and added, "Tama says she'll cooperate. Reluctantly." She was a survivor. The only way she might get out of the pit she was in now would be to help save a man who might then hunt her for the rest of his days. I asked Nagit, "How's your status with North English?"

"It's weak. I know too much. He's reminded of that every time he sees me. But he does still talk to me. He doesn't have a choice—until he finds somebody dumb enough to want my job. I don't believe he's been replaced."

"Figure out how we could be alone with him long enough to check his reaction to silver, if we have to. Meantime, tell him whatever he wants to know. And you could isolate your senior officers and check them one at a time. That shouldn't be difficult. The real trick will be dealing with the shifter if you find him."

Nagit shook his head. He didn't want to hear it.

"There is one out there, Ed. Has to be. Otherwise, Tollie would still be chasing sheep and Mr. Venable would only be short the one hand."

Nagit rose. He made appropriate remarks concerning his invitation and the quality of the meal. He bowed in Neersa's direction to let her know he knew who was responsible for the latter. Then he asked, "Can I take Montezuma?"

Weider said, "No." Like it was his call. He was grim. In his heart Max had convicted Marengo of being a changeling already. The wounded Max within was looking for somebody to share his pain.

Nagit didn't argue. He did remark, "The boss will be disappointed."

Max observed, "Mr. Nagit, should you find that your employment with Marengo has become too honorous for your conscience, don't hesitate to contact Manvil. We can find a place for a man of your caliber. Don't you think, Garrett?"

"I can't see any objection to that." Well, except for a sudden sparkle in Alyx's eye and a little smile Nicks failed to keep corralled. And a dig in the ribs, in the same old sore spot, that I got for noticing those responses and maybe turning just the faintest bit dour.

Nagit headed for the street door.

Relway went after him. I didn't hear anything he said, but I assumed he was selling himself somehow, while Nagit was distracted by a headful of horrible possibilities.

"Satisfactory?" I asked Weider.

"Satisfactory. I'm going to turn in now."

As Gilbey rose to help Max, he said, "We'll be continuing those interviews tomorrow, Garrett. You and Ty will need to make yourselves available directly after sunrise." He smirked. He knew well my feelings about that godsforsaken chunk of the day forced in before the sun is sensibly standing directly overhead.

The Goddamn Parrot laughed and laughed.

I just sighed. Nobody promised me the world would be fair. Or even a little sane.

114

I thought that would be the end of it, as dramatically unsatisfactory as it seemed. I judged Nagit to be the sort who would save me the trouble I'd set myself up for, just to keep everything inside The Call's goofball family. But life—mine, anyway—doesn't come stocked with a surplus of dramatic unity. I resigned myself to the boredom of posing trick questions to men interested in replacing workers dismissed from the brewery. Everybody in town wanted to work for Max Weider. But halfway through the third day of tedium following that di

Or maybe just to visit my stylish shoulder accessory, I concluded, when her killer smile and sparking eyes seemed to be aimed off center of what I considered the appropriate target. She extended her hand. I started to take it.

"This came hidden inside a note I got from Ed Nagit. It's addressed to you. It might be important."

The Goddamn Parrot began charming her as she started scratching his head. I made a growling noise. She was getting letters from Nagit now? Brother Ed wasn't wasting any time.

Lieutenant Nagit wanted to meet. He offered suggestions as to how we could manage that without distressing Colonel Theverly, whose influence in The Call had swollen substantially lately. Theverly had strong ideas about how a freecorps should be run. Those included excluding contacts with outsiders as questionable as me, be those business or social. I might be dressed in human flesh but the True Believers could smell the Other hidden inside me.

"I assume you'll be answering your own mail. Tell him I'll meet him there."

It was a nice autumn day. Big hunks of cotton cruised around a deep blue sky. The birds and bees were extravagantly cheerful and the temperature was almost perfectly comfortable. It was almost possible to forget this was morning, that half of the day the gods laid on us as punishment for original sin.

Lieutenant Nagit awaited me in that same pasture where Ti

"Thanks for coming," Nagit told me.

"How could I resist?" His note insisted he had identified the last shapeshifter but claimed he couldn't do anything about it without help. And he wouldn't name names. "Why not handle this in-house?" I had an overdressed dwarf turkey riding one shoulder and a full-grown shrike of paranoia nesting on the other.

"Colonel Theverly insists the matter is closed. Very pointedly. There's no one else I can ask for help. Out here they all want to believe it's over. They want to get on with the mission. And they especially don't want to catch Theverly's eye by doing something he's forbidden."

"What about you?"

"He's a pain in the ass, not a god." A declarative statement which seemed somehow evasive. Lieutenant Nagit had something on his mind. And didn't want to share.

Gee. I never ran into that phenomenon before. "Why me?"

"Because you could bring her." He indicated Tama Montezuma, whom I had borrowed back from the Guard by sweet-talking Colonel Block and making several promises I have no intention of keeping. "And with her along we can get to the changer before anybody reacts."

He was right about that. He definitely held back on me.

Nobody challenged us at the gateway to The Pipes even though an increase in security had been mounted. Nor did anyone prevent us from entering the house. There was a lot of gawking and whispering and finger pointing because of Tama, though.