Shadows Linger

“Had an idea?” Bullock asked, about to enter a place called the Iron Lily. “You look like your brain is smoking.”

“Maybe. On something down the line. If it gets tougher than we expect.”

The Iron Lily looked like every other place we’d been, only more so. The guy who ran it cringed. He didn’t know nothing, hadn’t heard nothing, and promised to scream for Bullock if anybody so much as spent a single gersh struck before the accession of the present Duke. Every word bullshit. I was glad to get out of there. I was afraid the place would collapse on me before he finished kissing Bullock’s ass. “Got an idea,” Bullock said. “Moneylenders.”

Took me a second to catch it and to see where the idea had come from. The guy in the tavern, whining about his debts. “Good thinking.” A man in the snares of a moneylender would do anything to wriggle away. “This is Krage’s territory. He’s one of the nastiest. Let’s drop in.” No fear in the man. His confidence in the power of his office was so strong he dared walk into a den of cutthroats without blinking an eye. I faked it good, but I was scared. The villain had his own army, and it was jumpy.

We found out why in a moment. Our man had come up on the short end of somebody in the last couple days. He was down on his back, mummified in bandages. Bullock chuckled. “Customers getting frisky, Krage? Or did one of your boys try to promote himself?” Krage eyed us from a face of stone. “I help you with something, Inquisitor?” “Probably not. You’d lie to me if the truth would save your soul, you bloodsucker.” “Flattery will get you nowhere. What do you want, you parasite?”

Tough boy, this Krage. Struck from the same mold as Bullock, but he had drifted into a socially less honored profession. Not much to choose between them, I thought. Priest and moneylender. And that was what Krage was saying. “Cute. I’m looking for a guy.” “No shit.” “He’s got a lot of old money. Cajian period coinage.” “Am I supposed to know him?” Bullock shrugged. “Maybe he owes somebody.” “Money’s got no provenance down here, Bullock.” Bullock told me: “A proverb of the Buskin.” He faced Krage. “This money does. This money better, let’s say. This is a big one, Krage. Not a little let’s-look-around-and-make-a-show. Not some bump-and-run. We’re going the route. Anybody covers on it, they go down with this boy. You remember Bullock said it.”

For a second Bullock made an impression. The message got through. Then Krage blank-faced us again. “You’re sniffing up the wrong tree, Inquisitor.” “Just telling you so you’d know.” “What did this guy do?” “Hit somebody who don’t take hitting.” Krage’s eyebrows rose. He looked puzzled. He could think of no one who fit that description. “Who?”

“Uhn-uh. Just don’t let your boys take any old money without you checking the source and getting back to me. Hear?”

“Said your piece, Inquisitor?”

“Yeah.”

“Shouldn’t you better be going, then?”

We went. I didn’t know the rules of the game, so didn’t know how the locals would score the exchange. I rated it too close to call. Outside, I asked, “Would he have told us if he’d been paid in old coin?” “No. Not until he looked into it, at least. But he hasn’t seen any old money.” I wondered why he thought that. I didn’t ask. These were his people. “He might know something. Thought I saw a glint in his eye a couple times.” “Maybe. Maybe not. Let him stew.”

“Maybe if you’d told him why...”

“No! That doesn’t get out. Not even a rumor. If people thought we couldn’t protect their dead or them after they kick off, all hell would break loose.” He made a downward gesture with one hand. “Juniper like that. Crunch.” We walked on. He muttered, “All hell would break loose.” And after another half-block: “That’s why we’ve got to get these guys. Not so much to punish them. To shut them up.”

“I see.” We strolled back the direction we had come, pla

Bullock stopped. “What?”

I shook my head. “Nothing. Thought I saw a ghost. Guy down the street... Walked like somebody I used to know.”

“Maybe it was.”

“Nah. Long ago and far away. Long dead now. Just because I was thinking about him a little bit ago.”

“I figure we got time for half a dozen more visits. Then we head uphill. Don’t want to hang around here after dark.”

I looked at him, one eyebrow raised.

“Hell, man, it gets dangerous down here when the sun goes down.” He chuckled and gave me one of his rare smiles. It was the genuine article. For one moment then, I liked him.

Chapter Fifteen

Juniper

Death of a gangster

Shed had long, violent arguments with his mother. She never accused him directly, but she left little doubt she suspected him of hideous crimes.

He and Raven took turns nursing Asa.

Then it was time to face Krage. He did not want to go. He was afraid Krage might have lumped him with Raven and Asa. But if he didn’t go, Krage would come to him. And Krage was looking for people to hurt... Shaky, Shed trudged up the frozen street. Snow fell in lazy, fat flakes.

One of Krage’s men ushered him into the presence. There was no sign of Count, but word was out that the big man was recovering. Too damned stupid to die, Shed thought.

“Ah, Shed,” Krage said from the deeps of a huge chair. “How are you?”

“Cold. How’re you keeping?” Krage worried him when he was affable.

“Be all right.” Krage plucked at his bandages. “Close call. I was lucky. Come to make your payment?”

“How much do I owe, all told? You buying up my debts, I couldn’t keep track.”

“You can pay out?” Krage’s eyes narrowed.

“I don’t know. I have ten leva.”

Krage sighed dramatically. “You got enough. Didn’t think you had it in you, Shed. Well. You win some and you lose some. It’s eight and some change.”

Shed counted out nine coins. Krage made change. “You’ve had a run of luck this winter, Shed.”

“Sure have.”

“You seen Asa?” Krage’s voice tautened.

“Not since three days ago. Why?”

“Nothing important. We’re even, Shed. But it’s time I collected that favor. Raven. I want him.”

“Krage, I don’t want to tell you your business, but that’s one man you’d better leave alone. He’s crazy. He’s nasty and he’s tough. He’d as soon kill you as say hi. I don’t mean no disrespect, but he acts like you’re a big joke.”

“The joke will be on him, Shed.” Krage dragged himself out of his chair, wincing. He grabbed his wound. “The joke will be on him.”

“Maybe next time he won’t let you get away, Krage.” Fear crossed Krage’s features. “Shed, it’s him or me. If I don’t kill him, my business will fall apart.” “Where will it be if he kills you?” Again that flicker of fear. “I don’t have any choice. Be ready when I need you, Shed. Soon now.”

Shed bobbed his head and retreated. He ought to get out of the Buskin, he thought. He could afford it. But where would he go? Krage could find him anywhere in Juniper. Ru

He was in the middle now. He hated Krage. Krage had humiliated him for years, keeping him in debt, stealing food from his mouth with ridiculous interest rates. On the other hand, Raven could co

The Custodians were on the hunt, looking for somebody spending a lot of old money. Little had been said publicly, but Bullock being on the case told Shed just how seriously they were taking the case up the hill. He’d nearly had a stroke when Bullock walked into the Lily.

What had become of the passage money? Shed hadn’t seen any of it. He supposed Raven still had it. He and Raven were partners now...