Free Book 12 - Cruel Zinc Melodies by Glen Cook Page A

doing down here, Kip?’’
    I could guess. He was a teenage boy. With the financial means to indulge a teenage boy’s fantasies. The Tenderloin was a stone’s throw on down the street.
    Not smart. You could get dead. A dozen different ways. Not all of them sudden.
    Clever lad, he avoided answering by responding to what I’d asked earlier. ‘‘Mom is fine. Kind of doesn’t know what to do with herself now that she doesn’t have to work all the time.’’
    He has a significant interest in the manufacturing concern. Between them, he, his mother, and sister control the biggest chunk. He’d insisted.
    ‘‘You get her that house?’’
    ‘‘The one where she always lived. It’s all hers, free and clear, now.’’
    ‘‘That’s good. What are you doing down here? Not wasting yourself in the Tenderloin, I hope.’’
    Kip turned bright red. Brighter than when Tinnie worked her witchcraft. He sputtered. Then choked out, ‘‘I’m just hanging out with my friends.’’ He indicated the impatient boys across the street. He and those two looked like one socially challenged pod. The friends were tense and irritated and eager to distance themselves from the World. ‘‘I just saw you and decided to say hi. What’re you doing?’’
    ‘‘Killing bugs.’’ I pointed at the beetle by the wheel of Playmate’s coach.
    Kip’s eyes got big. ‘‘Wow! Well, I got to go.’’
    ‘‘Good seeing you again,’’ Tinnie told him.
    He gurgled, waggled a hand feebly, and headed out. Tinnie blew him a kiss, just to amuse his sidekicks. Who started in on him as soon as they could without having me hear what they said.
    ‘‘Having fun with the cruel and unusual, woman?’’
    ‘‘You ever make that mistake when you were a kid?’’
    ‘‘I didn’t know any beautiful redheads then.’’
    ‘‘Cute. Try again.’’
    ‘‘What mistake?’’
    ‘‘Trying to distract an adult’s curiosity with a preemptive move.’’
    ‘‘I don’t follow.’’
    ‘‘And you a skilled detective. He was going by. He didn’t want you wondering why he was down here. So he decided to establish his innocence ahead of time. Neither of us would’ve noticed him if he hadn’t pointed himself out. But now you have noticed. And now you’re curious.’’
    ‘‘Got you. Yeah. I made that mistake a few times.’’
    ‘‘Never worked, did it?’’
    ‘‘Nope. Turned around and bit me every time. I’m going to find Singe.’’
    Kip and his friends left quickly, all talking at the same time, all of them angry.
    The ratpeople inside the World weren’t pleased to see me. They figured I was there to micromanage. Like Max, though, I’d rather tell somebody what needs doing, then get the hell out of the way. Most of the time. ‘‘Singe. I need you outside.’’
    As we headed for the coach, she asked, ‘‘That’s the same boy who was involved with the silver elves?’’
    ‘‘The same.’’ She’d tracked Kip before.
    ‘‘What do I need to do?’’
    ‘‘Find out where he goes. And what he’s up to, if you can do that without getting caught.’’
    ‘‘You aren’t coming?’’
    ‘‘You aren’t ready to operate on your own?’’
    ‘‘I am ready.’’ Proudly.
    ‘‘Excellent.’’
    She picked up the trail right away.
    Tinnie asked, ‘‘Is that smart? Sending her off by herself?’’
    ‘‘The kid has to grow up someday. She manages ordinary household business on her own.’’
    ‘‘I suppose.’’
    ‘‘What happened to Saucerhead and Playmate?’’
    ‘‘They went down that alley over there. To check with a man about a mule.’’
    Together? That was a girlie thing to do.
    ‘‘You heard from Alyx? Or the others?’’
    ‘‘Not lately. Why?’’ Eyes all narrow.
    ‘‘You and Max should form a club. He’s also sure Alyx is in dire peril from the dread Garrett beast.’’
    ‘‘The beast isn’t that bad. But it better not get caught fondling any blondes. Of any kind.’’
    Kip’s mother and