Free Robert Asprin's Dragons Run by Jody Lynn Nye Page A

Parish for her. She said she was interested in meeting local business owners, and I told her about you. She said she had heard about you.”
    “In more ways than one,” Penny said. Her alto voice was musical. She shook hands with him. She had a firm grip. “And this must be your uncle.” She took Malcolm’s nerveless fingers in hers.
    “Yes,” Griffen said, belatedly and not a little lamely. “Penny, this is my uncle, Malcolm McCandles.”
    “I’ve been looking forward to meeting you, Miss Dunbar,” Malcolm said.
    “The pleasure’s all mine, Mr. McCandles. Call me Penny.”
    Fox Lisa looked taken aback and a little disappointed. “You know him already?”
    “Yes,” Penny said, with a million-watt smile. “This is the man who is going to save my life.”

Ten
    Penny and Malcolm had been at a small table in the corner for hours. Their voices were shielded by the voices of the crowd that had built up in the bar. Neither of them ate anything. Penny smoked two or three cigarettes. She and Malcolm drank cup after cup of black coffee.
    Griffen crumpled his napkin and pushed aside the basket of chicken bones. Fox Lisa held on to her tumbler of Jack Daniel’s and toyed with the last of her french fries.
    “I can’t believe you know her already,” Fox Lisa said for perhaps the eightieth time.
    “I don’t,” Griffen said. “Uncle Malcolm said he was coming to New Orleans to meet her. I have never thought of her as anything except a name on the news until this morning. You know I don’t pay a lot of attention to politics. I’m just too busy.”
    “What about your uncle? What does he have to do with political campaigns?”
    Griffen was all too aware the conversation with Duvallier was off-limits, but he had gotten into a lot of trouble in the past for keeping important information from the people in his life who might be affected by it. “I’m not sure. Maybe he works for her party?”
    “The Economy Party? I thought it was only in five states so far.”
    Griffen thought hard. He loved the debates among his friends in the Irish pub, especially at night over a friendly beverage, but politics was not one of his major interests. He could reel off the full cast of classic MGM movies, but he doubted that, if challenged, he could name his local councilman or both sitting Louisiana senators.
    “I honestly don’t know his connection, but he came here to talk with her.”
    “So what
are
they talking about?” Fox Lisa asked again. She challenged him with a look. “I’m not gonna let you drop yourself into a situation again, Griffen. Or me. I’m not even rested up from Mardi Gras. I know
you’re
not. Does it have anything to do with Val? Have you heard from her?”
    “No, and no,” Griffen said. “Look, what if . . . ?” He shot a look toward his uncle and decided to take a chance on making the older McCandles angry. He knew he could trust Fox Lisa with his life, or any secret. “What if I had heard something, about some trouble that might involve Penny?”
    Fox Lisa’s large eyes went round.
    “What kind of trouble?”
    “Well, what if I had heard something about someone who might want to . . . hurt Penny?”
    Fox Lisa threw back her head and laughed. “Oh, that old thing?”
    “What old thing?”
    “The assassination threats! Sweetheart, this is Louisiana! If a candidate didn’t declare a blood feud against his opponent, you knew you couldn’t take them seriously. It’s nothing. Makes for a good news report. Sometimes I think they call in the threats themselves.” She stopped and studied his face. Her expression became solemn. “You think this one’s not pure bluster, don’t you?”
    “I . . . have reason to believe there’s a legitimate menace.”
    “Who’s behind it?”
    “That I can’t tell you,” Griffen said, firmly. “Not until I’ve talked with Uncle Malcolm. Just . . . in the meantime, can you make sure she doesn’t take any unnecessary chances?”
    Fox Lisa