Small Favor

"Because we were using him to draw any other would-be usurpers into the open, where they could be dealt with."

"Hungh," I said, frowning. "Could he have put pressure on any of the people in the know?"

"The bookkeepers, perhaps, but I think it highly unlikely. Marcone has made it clear that they enjoy his most enthusiastic protection."

"Yeah, but Yurtle the Lobotomized isn’t all that bright."

Gard blinked. "Excuse me?"

"My God, woman!" I protested. "You’ve never read Dr. Seuss?"

She frowned. "Who is Dr.-"

I held up a hand. "Never mind, forget it. Torelli isn’t all that bright. Maybe he figured he could strong-arm a bookkeeper and knock off Marcone before Marcone got a chance to demonstrate his enthusiasm."

Gard pursed her lips. "Torelli has stupidity enough and to spare. But he’s also a sniveling, cowardly little splatter of rat dung." She narrowed her eyes. "Why are you so focused on him?"

"Oh," I said, "I can’t put my finger on any one thing. But my finely tuned instincts tell me that he’s hostile."

Gard smiled. "Tried to kill you, did he?"

"He started trying to put the muscle on Demeter while I was there this morning. I objected."

"Ah," she said. "I had wondered how you found us."

"Torelli’s goons tried shooting me up right before I came here."

"I see," Gard said, narrowing her eyes in thought. "The timing of his uprising is rather too precise to be mere coincidence."

"I’m glad I’m not the only one who thought of that."

She tapped a finger against her chin. "Torelli is no genius, but he is competent at his job. He wouldn’t be operating that high in the organization if he weren’t. I suppose it’s possible that Torelli might have secured the information if he applied enough mean cunning to the task." She glanced up at me. "You think the Denarians recruited him to be their man on the inside?"

"I think they had to get their information about Marcone’s panic room somewhere," I said.

"Worked that out, did you?" Gard said with a wan smile.

"Yeah. Turned your own hidey-hole into a fox trap. That’s gotta sting the old ego, Miss Security Consultant."

"You wouldn’t believe how much," Gard said, a flinty light in her eyes. "But I’ll deal with that when it’s time."

"You aren’t dealing with anything but more sleep for a little while," I noted.

Her face twisted into a scowl. "Yes."

"So let me do the heavy lifting," I said.

"How so?"

I glanced around the workshop. "Could we speak privately for a moment?"

Hendricks, who had been reassembling his gun, turned his over-developed brow ridges toward me, scowling in suspicion. Michael glanced up, his face a mask.

Gard looked at me for a while. Then she said, "It’s all right with me."

Hendricks finished putting the pistol back together, loaded it, and then loaded a round into the chamber. He made it a point to stare straight at me the entire while. Then he stood up, tugged on his coat, and walked straight toward me.

Hendricks wasn’t as tall as me, which cut down on the intimidation factor. On the other hand, he had muscle enough to break me in half and we both knew it. He stopped a foot away, put the gun in his pocket, and said, "Be right outside."

"Michael," I said. "Please."

He rose, sheathing the dagger, and followed Hendricks out into the snow. The two kept a careful, even distance between them as they went, like dogs who aren’t yet sure whether they’re going to fight or not. I closed the door behind them and turned to Gard.

"Give me what I need to find and question Torelli."

She shook her head. "I can get you his address and the locations of the properties he owns, places he frequents, known associates, but he won’t be at any of those places. He’s been in the business too long to make a mistake like that."

"Oh, please," I said, rolling my eyes. "You’ve got blood or hair samples for all of your people somewhere. Get me Torelli’s."

Gard stared at me with her poker face.

"For that matter," I added, "get me Marcone’s. If I can get close enough, it might help me find him."

"My employer keeps them under intense security. He’s the only one who can access them."

I snorted. "So get me samples from the second collection."

"Second collection?"

"You know, the one you’re keeping. The one Marcone doesn’t know about."

Gard brushed a stray lock of gold from her cheek. "What makes you think I have any such samples?"

I showed her my teeth. "You’re a mercenary, Gard. Mercenaries have to be more cautious with their own employers than they do with the enemy they’ve been hired to fight. They take out insurance policies. Even if Marcone didn’t have samples collected, I’m betting you did."

Her eyes drifted over to the door for a moment, and then back to me. "Let’s pretend, for a moment, that I have such a collection," she said. "Why on earth would I hand it over to you? You’re antagonistic to my employer’s business, and could inflict catastrophic damage on it with such a thing in your possession."

"Gosh, you’re squeamish, considering the catastrophic damage his business inflicts on thousands of people every day of the year."

"I’m merely protecting my employer’s interests." She showed me her teeth. "Almost as though I’m a mercenary."

I sighed and folded my arms. "What if I only took Torelli’s and Marcone’s samples?"

"Then you would still be capable of using that against Marcone in the future."

"If I want to hurt Marcone," I said, "all I need to do is sit down with a six-pack of beer and a bag of pretzels and let him twist in the wind."

"Perhaps," Gard admitted. "Swear to me that you will use none of the samples but Torelli’s and Marcone’s, that you will use neither of them for harm of any kind, and that you will return both to me immediately upon my request. Swear it by your power."

Oaths in general carry a lot of currency among the preternatural crowd. They’re binding in more senses than the theoretical. Every time you break a promise, there’s a kind of backlash of spiritual energies. A broken promise can inflict horrible pain on supernatural entities, such as the Sidhe. When a wizard breaks a promise, particularly when sworn by his own power, the backlash is different: a diminishing of that magical talent. It isn’t a crippling effect by any means-but break enough promises and sooner or later you’d have nothing left.