Faded Steel Heat

by Glen Cook

  One of these days, Morley Dotes. One of these days.

  “Aren’t you going to do something?” Alyx asked.

  “And admit I know that babbling vulture?”

  “But —”

  “He wants to run his beak, let him suffer the consequences. Manvil, do we have enough friendlies to watch all of the serving staff?”

  Gilbey made a noise like a infant’s whimper. He sputtered in frustration. The Weiders wanted to throw the social event of the season. Its legs were wobbling already. Any more security headaches and the thing might collapse. “Can’t you just stay in the middle of them?”

  “It’s a big ballroom and there’re eighteen guys.”

  Gresser had hung on. He protested, “There’s sixteen, sir. Sixteen. That was what was contracted.” Righteous indignation bubbled off the man. “I won’t provide more than my specific commitment.”

  “I counted eighteen heads, Gresser. Twice. You got many two-headed employees?” The difference might be why Gresser never heard of Trace or Carter, though. “Why don’t we take care of this? There’re at least two imposters in your crew. Collect them up.”

  “Oh, gods! This is terrible! I’m ruined! No one will hire me...”

  “Gresser! Please! We’ll lie for you on your wedding night. Just don’t hold us up now.”

  “Yes, sir.” Gresser hustled off to assemble his troops.

  “Changeable sort,” Gilbey observed.

  “Where did you find him?”

  Gilbey shrugged. “Genord picked him. He’s supposed to be good.”

  “Mr. Gilbey! Mr. Gilbey!” Gresser was back. Lance Mac was right behind him. Lance looked grim. Alyx, who had begun prowling out of boredom, headed our way, too. “Mr. Gilbey!”

  “Yes, Mr. Gresser?”

  “Mr. Gilbey, it is my sorrowful and shamed duty to admit that this gentleman was correct. There were more men here than I hired. They all agree there were more than sixteen. Estimates vary from eighteen to twenty. I can’t understand how that happened. I concern myself deeply with the sanctity of my clients’ persons and properties. I’m sure there were only sixteen of them when we entered the service gate.”

  I’ll bet. Gresser found himself in sudden deep sludge and wanted his butt covered when the brown stuff flew.

  Lance confirmed my suspicions. “A couple of waiters just did a dash into the kitchen. I couldn’t find them again when I looked.”

  Alyx said, “Garrett, I just saw a waiter take off.”

  “I know. Lance says two of them just headed into the kitchen.”

  “Not the kitchen. This one grabbed a food tray and went into the ballroom.”

  “Another one?” I asked. “Or one of the two?”

  Gilbey frowned at Gresser. “How many bandits did you bring?” I added my most ferocious glower to Manvil’s. Gresser glowered back, sullenly defiant. We weren’t going to make this his fault. We enjoyed a veritable glowerfest. Lance added his glower to ours and slid into position behind Gresser.

  “I only hire them!” the little man protested. “For big jobs like this sometimes I have to take on people at the last minute that I don’t know. I explained that.”

  I asked, “Anybody think the man is too enthusiastic in his protests?”

  “Yeah. Way too. Bet you he never saw any of those men before today.” Gilbey acquired a remote look. “Lance, stick close to Ty. Garrett, I’m going to send some men to watch over Max. Check in when you can.”

  “Will do. Meantime, I’ll prowl. Wherever these villains go, they’ll stand out.”

  I was worried. Those guys had to have a definite plan. Stockwell and Wendover didn’t look like commando types but didn’t have to be. Had I not been here they wouldn’t have been found out.

  Which was cause for speculation: How much had I been calculated into their plans?

  I had to be. First, they tried to enlist me. Then they tried to scare me. Black Dragon Valsung had some strong interest in Weider brewing. I would worry what later. Right now we had baddies in the house, probably not inclined to be good guests.

  I glanced around. Lance and Gilbey had left. Alyx and Gresser awaited instructions. “Carry on, Mr. Gresser. Make this the best damn shindig you can. I’ll try not to bother you again. And I’ll stop thinking bad thoughts about you.”

  He bowed. Damn, was he eager to please.

  “You do realize that nobody is happy with you right now?”

  He bobbed his head, stared at the floor.

  “Scoot.”

  Alyx said, “I don’t trust that man, Garrett. He’s tiny and he’s slimy and every time he looks at me I feel like he wants to pull my clothes off.”

  “Wow! You’re as smart as you are cute. Of course he wants to pluck you naked. I’d worry about a guy who didn’t give it a thought.”

  That improved her mood. She began to look at me like she hoped I might indulge in some plucking myself.

  I didn’t need to open that hogshead of worms. Not tonight.

  I quipped, “Maybe he wants to wear your stuff himself. How about you keep an eye on him for me? What happened to Tinnie?” The redhead had become as scarce as Carter and Trace.

  “I don’t know.” She was irked that I would even ask when I was with her and some banter about getting more comfortable was on her own agenda. “She was here a minute ago.”

  Ah, well. Might be better not to have her underfoot. I said, “I’m going to prowl.” Before really big trouble caught up with me right here, right now.

  33

  I took the main stairs to the second floor. Bad guys headed up wouldn’t use an open route, though, so I set course for the back stairs after pausing outside Weider’s study door. Nothing loud was happening in there. And there was no one on the floor except the people in that room. I could hear nothing but the musicians tuning up downstairs.

  I climbed the service stair cautiously. The way these spooks faded out indicated a fair knowledge of the layout. That suggested inside intelligence, which wasn’t a thought I cherished.

  I had no weapon sharper than my wits, which meant those guys might not have much trouble disarming me. And the ones I’d bested before would be laying for me.

  Somebody fooled somebody. Or maybe I fooled myself. I was sure I would run into an ambush getting to the third floor. But nothing happened.

  I didn’t find anybody on that level, either, though I didn’t check one suite. The Old Man’s own was sacrosanct. Hannah was in there, committed to the long, slow process of dying miserably. Everyone else was downstairs.

  A spine-stiffening scream clawed its way downstairs. Tom would not join the festivities, either. But this shriek seemed different. Had the devils in his mind taken concrete form?

  I didn’t abandon caution. I did feel naked without my head-knocker. But that thing just didn’t go with formal attire. I needed a fancy-dress something, maybe a cane, that could be applied to admonitory effect in genteel surroundings. Maybe a sword cane, good for thumping and stabbing. Morley carries one of those.

  I saw nothing useful around me. The Weider house is sparsely furnished above the second floor. Not even an old mace or morning-star decorated the walls. All the stuff from downstairs was piled at one end of Weider’s study now, out of temptation’s way.

  Another scream. This one spoke of true physical anguish. Were my missing servants torturing Tom? Why bother? Assume somebody had a grudge left over from the Cantard. How could he get any satisfaction out of hurting somebody who didn’t know who he was? Tom lived in a world no one else could enter.

  Nothing made sense.

  That was only because I didn’t have enough information. So the Dead Man would remind me. The bad boys wouldn’t be confused about what they were trying to do.

  I heard a light step on the stair below me, just out of sight around one of the tight turns. Somebody was being sneaky without being good at it. Easy meat — if I could get out of sight.

  I sat down and waited.

  Alyx appeared on the t
ight little half-floor landing. She was watching her feet as she moved with exaggerated care. She squealed when she noticed me.

  “Got to watch where you’re going, darling,” I told her. “Which, by the way, would be where?”

  “What?”

  “Why are you up here?”

  “I’m looking for you.” She made big eyes. She could do cute and dumb really well. But she couldn’t work that one on me, no sir, not even when she leaned forward so the view down her bodice was open all the way to her waist, not much. I was onto her tricks. “I saw you go into the back stairs.”

  “You’re just as dangerous as you think you are, Alyx. Or maybe more so. You get me boiling like an unwatched pot. But we’ve both got to get along with Tinnie.”

  Alyx squeezed down beside me. Those stairs were tight. And warm. They were awfully warm.

  “Alyx...”

  “Don’t hurt me now, Garrett.”

  I clamped my mouth shut. There are times when I can do that. Alyx’s tone suggested that this time would be a good one.

  34

  “Shh!” Alyx rested a warning hand on my knee.

  I nodded. I’d heard it. Someone had entered the stairwell above us, carefully, barely making the door whisper. I signed Alyx to stay still. She nodded. I shifted my weight slightly.

  They made enough racket up there to let me rise without giving myself away. I helped Alyx rise, too. I pointed downward. “Slow. Careful,” I mouthed, not even whispering. Alyx was pale now. This was no game.

  Carter didn’t see me till it was too late to help himself. He was burdened with the downhill end of a body, backing downward.

  “Hey, Carter.”

  He jumped. At the body’s nether end, Trace froze. I popped Stockwell under the ear. He sagged. I thumped him a few more times while Wendover gaped. Somebody still out of sight barked, “What’s happening?”

  I climbed over Carter. Trace groaned. He was trying to hold all the weight at his end. “It’s me again,” I told the guy from the stable. “I need to see your invitation.”

  Wendover went right on trying to keep the body from falling — whether dead or alive I couldn’t tell. The guy from the stable came down behind Trace. He was angry. I thought he might jump over Trace to get at me.

  He settled for slamming his fist into a wall so hard he dented the plaster. He retreated, whimpering and blowing on his knuckles. Trace finally let go and took off himself. I was almost close enough to grab him. I leapt, got a pinch of his trouser leg. Not smart, Garrett. Even a clerk can hurt you when he’s scared. Good old Trace kicked me in the chops. Oh, that hurt! And me with bruises on bruises already, still not recovered from my last adventure.

  My eyes watered. Trace seized the day. He undertook the one-man version of the retrograde action the Corps would call an attack to the rear.

  I was beginning to think that me and Trace weren’t ever going to get to be good buddies.

  Somebody grabbed my leg the way I’d grabbed Wendover’s. I fell on the body. Lying there, face-to-face with it, I decided that it had to be Tom the Screamer. The face was that of an older, less vigorous Ty Weider.

  Was he breathing?

  Maybe... No time, Garrett. Somebody is trying to pound you.

  Actually, the somebody was climbing me like a ladder. Carter wanted to get back up the stair. Bright boy. He only needed to get by Alyx on the downhill side. I sat up so I could pretend to defend myself.

  Alyx, who had not listened and gone downstairs, yanked off a shoe and clouted Stockwell alongside the head with its heel. Thwack! Carter went down for his second nap.

  “Thanks.” I wriggled out from under. “Is this Tom? And why didn’t you go when I told you?”

  “Yeah.” She didn’t answer my other question. “Garrett, what the hell is happening? Why would anybody want to kidnap Tom?”

  “It makes no sense all right. Let’s tie this clown up. We’ll ask him about it later.” I wanted to chase the others.

  I’m no math genius. Obviously. There were still two or three of them and one of me and there was sorcery in it. I shouldn’t forget that factor.

  “Tie him up with what?” Alyx asked. And she had a point. There wasn’t one single coil of rope hanging on a convenient hook.

  “All right. I’ll find something upstairs. Whap him again if he gets frisky.” I wasn’t feeling charitable toward Mr. Carter Stockwell.

  I hit the fourth floor reluctantly. I’d worked out the math part now. It wasn’t impossible for a gang of clerks to beat up on a solitary Marine if he’d lost a step since his glory days.

  The clerks, however, failed to discern their opportunity with equal clarity. They were in evidence no longer. The fourth floor was as still as a crypt.

  This was my first visit in years. The Weider sprats and some senior servants had quarters there, suites for the former and ratholes for the latter. One door stood slightly ajar. I approached carefully. Must be age making me cautious.

  I miss the old Morley Dotes. Used to be, whenever I went into something tight, Morley would be right behind me — or even out front if the mood was on him. But he was changing. He might even go legit — really — and slide away from the underworld. He seemed concerned about growing too old to keep up.

  Nobody jumped me when I did dash through that doorway. The bad guys were elsewhere, handling their business, snickering because they’d left me coughing in their dust.

  This was Tom’s room. The furnishings were spare. A selection of restraints were available on pegs beside the doorway should Tom get frisky.

  The air was ripe enough to gag me.

  Maybe they should try Tom in a different setting. Something pastoral or sylvan. Wondering why I bothered, what with this world being just one endless bleak season milemarked by pain and death, I held my breath and dragged myself out where there was air that was fit to inhale.

  I stood gasping in the hallway while my head cleared, amazed that a place could become so infected by its tenant’s madness. Or was it the other way around? Had the room created Tom? Could it be that stifling air?

  Someone started to step onto the floor from the main stairway, spotted me, ducked back. I caught just a glimpse of red fabric vanishing. I tried to dash over there but a terrible lethargy slowed me. I needed me a double shot of ambition just to keep on breathing.

  There was nothing to see when I got there. Of course.

  I checked the other rooms and suites, found no one and nothing interesting.

  Where was Alyx? I’d expected her to be underfoot again by now, despite my instructions.

  35

  As the mists of depression dispersed I grew more alarmed. I headed back to the stairwell.

  You’re seldom disappointed when you always expect the worst but sometimes you’re pleasantly surprised.

  This wasn’t one of the latter occasions.

  Alyx was out cold. Somebody had bopped her upside the head and was beating feet down the stairs. Mr. Carter Stockwell was no longer in evidence. Tom Weider was gone. Somebody had started undressing Alyx before I interrupted, not a project any red-blooded Karentine boy would disdain but I wouldn’t consider a stairwell the most romantic site. Nor are unconscious lovers much to my liking.

  “Wake up, sleepyhead,” I said. “Alyx! Snap out of it!” I considered swatting her the way they do in stories. Not a bright idea here. I had plenty of people unhappy with me already.

  Alyx tried to sit up. I helped, asked, “What happened?”

  “Are you stupid? Somebody slugged me.” I could understand her mood. “They came from downstairs. Didn’t you hear me yell?”

  “No.” It was true. I hadn’t heard a thing.

  “Well, I did yell. Loud as I could. And when I tried to run away I tripped over Tom and got hit before I could get back up.” She became aware of the state of her clothing. “What’s this? You only need to say when.”

  “It wasn’t me. I like my girls awake.”

  “I don’t know if I should be glad or
have my feelings hurt.”

  “I wouldn’t presume to tell you.” Women always take me the wrong way. I assume they do it on purpose.

  “I’m wide-awake now.”

  “Sweet as that sounds, there isn’t time. There’re bad guys in the house. We don’t have a clue why. Any idea what happened to Tom?”

  “They must’ve just gone ahead with whatever they were going to do.”

  “Probably. Come on. Get yourself together. I’m going to go see your father.”

  “Don’t leave me here.”

  “I don’t intend to. That’s why I want you looking less frazzled.”

  “Oh.” The merry hoyden reappeared briefly. Fright chased it away again. “What do you think is happening?”

  “I can’t even guess. I hoped Stockwell would help us out.”

  “Stockwell?”

  “The one who got away. I’ve run into him before. His name was Carter Stockwell.”

  “Do I still look like we just crawled out of the hayloft?”

  “Not quite.”

  “Darn.” The hoyden was back. “I kind of hoped somebody would think I got lucky.”

  “Lucky for you now would mean deep slop for me later, girl.”

  She’d changed a lot in the last few years. “I won’t tell if you don’t.” She was a little bit forward now.

  I’ll bet, I thought. She seemed like a girl who would want to celebrate her conquests publicly.

  36

  Despite Alyx’s efforts at self-reassembly, she drew a hard look from Belinda after we invited ourselves into Weider s study. Belinda was head to head with Marengo North English when we arrived. Their discussion seemed very amicable. Marengo’s niece was not in evidence.

  The dark side always did get along well with the business community.

  Weider rumbled, “Garrett! Perfect timing! We were just talking about you.”

  “We’ve got problems, boss,” I said. “They just tried to kidnap Tom.”

  “They did,” Alyx reminded me.