Free Aztlan: The Courts of Heaven by Michael Jan Friedman

“You’re crazy. You know how strong he is?”
    “Not strong enough to beat off two guys with knives. Or maybe three or four, who knows?”
    “So for all you know, he could be dead.”
    “The odds of that,” I said, “get better the longer we sit here.”
    That seemed to loosen her up a little. “What do you want from me ?” she asked.
    “Information. Specifically, anything you might know about the noblewoman Coyotl was seeing.”
    “Who told you he was seeing a noblewoman?”
    Malinche was loyal. Good for her. But in this case, it wasn’t doing Coyotl any good.
    “I’m not trying to hurt him,” I said. “I’m trying to find him.”
    She eyed me for a minute. Then she said, “I don’t know her name. He didn’t talk about her much—at least not when he was with me.”
    “Did he say anything ?” I asked. “Where she lived, where she dined, what kind of clothes she wore?”
    Malinche frowned. “He mentioned a dog one time. A ghost dog. Her old one had died, I think, so she went out and bought a new one.”
    Ghost dogs were rare, and very expensive. Only nobles could afford them.
    “Did she say where she got it?”
    “I don’t know her name, ” she snapped. “You think I know where she bought her dog ?”
    One of the guys who had entered with her came over to us. He didn’t look happy with me.
    “This lizard turd bothering you?” he asked, his eyes still fixed on me.
    “Watch your mouth,” I told him.
    An Investigator didn’t allow citizens to speak to him that way. Not even when he was outnumbered and had a hole in his back.
    “It’s all right,” said Malinche, putting a hand on her friend’s chest. “I’m fine.”
    The guy glowered at me a moment longer. Then he backed off.
    “How about when she got it?” I asked Malinche, resuming my line of questioning. “Do you remember that ?”
    She thought for a moment. “It was just before the start of the season. I know because Coyotl sent me out to get dog food that night, and I missed the High Priest’s blessing.”
    At the beginning of every season, the High Priest blessed the Sun League and all its players. He could have done a better job with Coyotl.
    “Before the start of the season,” I echoed.
    “That’s right.”
    So I knew that Coyotl’s lover owned a ghost dog, and I knew when it had been purchased. It was a start.
    “There was someone else you should know about,” Malinche said—though she still didn’t look like she entirely trusted me. “Someone Coyotl went out with. She was young. Very young. She died. It shook him up.”
    “Do you recall her name?” I asked.
    “I don’t think so. Wait—Xoque maybe? No. But something like that. Tzique? Yes . . . Tzique .”
    It was an unusual name. “You met her?”
    “No. Coyotl went out with her before I worked for him. But as I say, what happened to her shook him up.”
    “Did he say how she died?”
    “No. Just that it was a tragedy.”
    “Last name?” I asked hopefully.
    Malinche shook her head. “I don’t think he mentioned one.”
    “Tzique,” I said, making a mental note. “If I need to speak with you again, I—”
    “You know where to find me.”
    On my way back to the rail station, I got a call from Calli. She asked me how I was.
    “Tired,” I said.
    “Rest up,” she told me. “Tomorrow night, dinner is at my place.”
    It sounded good. I said so. “Unless something comes up, of course. And I may not be able to stay long.”
    “Who asked you to?”
     
    The next morning, I drew eyes as I walked into the office. After all, I’d been stabbed the day before. Some guys would have taken the day off.
    Then again, I was also the guy who had exposed the Knife Eyes. So maybe some of my colleagues were looking at me for a different reason, thinking how nice I’d look with two holes in my back.
    The first thing I did was search the name Tzique in our Imperial files. I didn’t find a single instance of it—not even one. It occurred to me that it might have