Free Faded Steel Heat by Glen Cook Page B

it.”
    “We can talk to them, then. Don’t beat on those two anymore, Garrett. And what should we do with the rest of them?”
    “Whatever you do with trespassers.”
    “Keelhaul’em,” the Goddamn Parrot suggested.
    I continued, “Beat them some more and toss them into the canal. Hello.”
    “What?”
    “All of them have one of these armbands tucked away.” I lifted one. It was the black and red and blue common to all the human rights groups. This one boasted a black two-headed dragon on a red field as its main device. “I don’t recognize this.”
    Nobody else claimed any knowledge, either. Ty said, “Lance, get them up and get them out of here. Ike, Mays, lend a hand.”
    I asked, “Is there any reason one of the nut groups would want me to stay away from here? I’m part of the scenery.”
    “Who knew you were coming?” Right to the point, old Ty.
    “Nobody,” I fibbed. He should know, though, unless he didn’t talk to his intended. Nicks wouldn’t be hiding what she and Alyx were doing from her fiancé, even if Alyx wanted. Or would she? “But I’ve been here long enough for somebody to send out for help. Only, what would political guys be afraid that I’d find?”
    “These people are mainly lower-class veterans, Garrett. You need money to become a political force. Did you check to see if someone’s been skimming again?”
    “I did. I didn’t catch any bad smells.”
    “I’ll reexamine the accounts myself. I’ll let you know if I find anything. You say my father wanted to see you?”
    “Gilbey caught me on the dock. Soon as I finished I headed for the big house.”
    “Dad’s probably grumbling about you taking so long. I’ll let you know what these two have to say. If they don’t talk, they’ll be looking for work.”
    The unknowns were headed for the street already, partly under their own power. Those boys would have a fine crop of aches and bruises in the morning.
    Not me, though. I’d saved myself all that by moving fast and hitting hard, first. Just what Morley has been preaching for so long. Pretty soon I’d be leaving them with their throats cut.
    Ty muttered, “I’m going to be late again.” He worked his chair around until he was right in there with the brewery employees, both of whom were conscious now. “Lance. We’ll question Hanbe first. No sense upsetting Skibber Kessel if we don’t have to.”
    The Goddamn Parrot dropped out of the gloom, satisfied that it was safe to show his ugly beak around me again.
    Ty started. Then he grinned. “Put one on the other shoulder, too, Garrett. Add a tricorner hat, a bad limp, some facial scars, and an eye patch. You could pass yourself off as Captain Scarlet.” He smirked.
    The Goddamn Parrot brings out the worst in everybody. Except me.
    “I’ll just go see your dad now.”
    “Yo ho ho.”
     
     

18
    Manvil Gilbey was waiting for me. I barely finished cranking the bell handle before he stuck his bleak face outside. I was surprised. A stiffneck named Gerris Genord usually answered the door.
    His nose rolled up instantly. “What in the world?... Are you aware of the state of your apparel?”
    “Plenty. I was headed over here. I got ambushed in the stable. I’ll want to talk that over with the boss, too. But first, why don’t I go around back, shuck out of all this horse flavoring, and wash down? If you’ve got somebody who can bring me a towel and something else to wear.”
    “Thoughtful of you, Garrett. Take care you don’t fall afoul of any pigs or cattle on your journey.”
    “Careful is my new middle name.”
    The Goddamn Parrot decided that was his cue to laugh. He sounded like a donkey braying.
    I strolled around to the tradesman’s gate. I waited there for ten minutes. I started talking to myself, or maybe thinking out loud to the Goddamn Parrot. Gilbey himself finally showed up to open the gate and let me into a large paved courtyard that would have been the shipping point had the mansion actually become