He had a broken leg. He wasn't seeing more than double now, and nearly stuck me before I bopped him. I checked for other enemies. The only ones left upright were down at the front door, three or four just inside, arguing about how they were going to get out. That door was the only ground-floor exit. Anybody who used it ran into a crossbow bolt. I hustled back to help the others past the fire. It was growing, but we managed. Only Morley got singed. I couldn't restrain a chuckle at his pathetic appearance. He's one of those guys who spends hours on his appearance.
The problem of the ogres below solved itself. I went after them behind a bloodthirsty shriek, brandishing my knives, and they flushed like a covey of quail, hitting the street.
Now we'd learn the value of Morley's ally insurance.
I stuck my head out.
No bolt greeted me.
I stepped out carefully, looked around, frowned. What had become of the mob? I saw no one but the flying ogres and the grolls, who had clambered down the outside of the building. The coach came pounding out of its alley, swung in, and stopped. Crask growled, "Get them in here! There's soldiers coming."
Troops? No wonder the streets were empty. We tumbled inside, piling on the coach floor. Crask and Sadler took off before we sorted ourselves out. The grolls loped ahead, scouting.
I got myself seated. "This is weird, Morley. They don't call out the troops for squabbles in Ogre Town."
The coach thundered through alleys that had to be too narrow, around corners that had to be too tight. Whatever faults the boys up top had, lack of guts was not among them.
Morley grunted in response to my remark.
"They only come out for riots. And there's maybe only eight or ten people who can deploy them."
Morley grunted again. "You figure it out, Garrett. Right now I don't give a damn." He was in pain.
If Bruno hadn't gone down... Bruno was off the Hill. Bruno had been visiting Gorgeous. It took a lord from the Hill to order out the army. Maybe Bruno worked for somebody who thought enough of Gorgeous to call out the troops to save him.
The whole affair began to tilt in my head. Maybe Bruno and a few facts I'd ignored needed re-examining. "I've got to find out who he worked for."
Nobody bothered to ask what I was muttering about.
A frightening notion had crept into my mind. Perhaps Junior daPena, his family, and his keeper, were innocent of bloodletting. The coach careened onto a major street, scattering pedestrians, drawing curses from the other drivers. Around another corner. Then a slowdown to become just another vehicle in the morning flow. I never saw a soldier. Five minutes later we halted behind Morley's place. Sadler growled at us to get the hell out.
I was exhausted and hurt and about as tired as I could get of someone else taking control of what I had started.
"Easy, Garrett," Morley said. "Keep your mouth shut and get inside."
"Stuff it, Morley. I've had it."
"Do what I tell you. It'll improve your long-term health picture." He grabbed me and, with help from Saucerhead, got me through the back door. I was more amenable once I noted that our ally insurance had vanished. Morley had Saucerhead help get his men inside. Sadler crawled into the coach to baby-sit Gorgeous and Skredli. The coach rolled.
Morley suggested, "Why don't you go upstairs and make a list of questions you want asked? I'll have a messenger run it. Then go home and sleep. You'll feel more reasonable afterward."
I supposed if Saucerhead could endure not getting first crack at Skredli, I could live without an immediate shot at Gorgeous. "All right." But I had a feeling I wasn't going to get a lot of rest.
On the way upstairs I glanced out a window toward Ogre Town. A pillar of smoke stood like a gravestone over a ferocious fire. Maybe most of our grim handiwork would be erased, thanks to Gorgeous.
The last thing I needed was to get labeled a tool of the kingpin.
I made my list, pointless exercise that it was. The tricky part was wording questions about two hundred thousand marks gold so that my stand-in would not realize what he was asking and gleefully begin interrogating in his own cause. I solved the problem by mostly avoiding it and entering a plea for direct access to the boys, and maybe even possession of that trifle Skredli.
That done, I went back downstairs, where the survivors were getting patched up and trying to eat breakfast. I was so far gone I didn't comment on the platter they brought me, I just gulped a quart of fruit juice and stuffed my face.
I asked, "Saucerhead, you got anything left? I've got something I want you to do." After I finished with him I cornered Morley and talked him into turning the tables on Pokey Pigotta. If we let him go and shadowed him he might lead us to some interesting places—if he didn't lead us into deep trouble first.
______ XXXVI ______
Amber and Dean were in the kitchen when I got home. I went in and collapsed into a chair. Saucerhead thought my example so outstanding he copied it. Dean and Amber stared at us.
"Was it a difficult night, Mr. Garrett?" Dean asked.
"You might say. If you care to understate."
"You look like hell," Amber said. "Whatever it was, I hope it was worth it."
"Maybe. We caught up with the people who killed your brother and Amiranda."
I watched her carefully. She responded the way I had hoped, with no sign of panic or guilt. "You got them? What did you do? Did you find out anything about the ransom?"
"We got them. You don't want to know anything more. I didn't find out anything about the money, but I didn't have a chance. I'm still working on it. How well could you manage if you had a thousand marks to start your new life?"
"Pretty damn good. My needs are simple. You're up to something, Garrett. Spill it."
Dean muttered, "Been around him too long already. Starting to talk like him."
"I love you too, Dean. Amber, Domina offered me a thousand marks if I could find you and turn you over to her before your mother gets home. I've had word that she'll get here this afternoon. If you want the money, I'll take you home around noon and my friend here will stay with you till you're convinced you're safe."
She eyed me through narrowed lids. "What's your angle, Garrett?" The girl could think when she felt the urge.
"Willa Dount. She knows things she won't tell me. There aren't any sanctions I can threaten to pry them out of her. All I can do is find ways to put the heat on and hope she does something interesting."
"What about the ransom, Garrett? That's what we're supposed to be working on." Her eyes remained narrowed.
"I don't think there's much chance of getting it. Do you? Really? With your mother home?"
"Probably not. But you don't act like you're trying."
Saucerhead began working on a breakfast Dean had offered him. I gawked. He was putting it away like he hadn't eaten in weeks, despite having just eaten at Morley's. But rabbit food will do that.
"Domina offered you that money last night? And you didn't grab it?"
"No." Dean was pouring apple juice. I realized I was dry all the way down to my corns. "Give me about a gallon." Nothing like a good tense situation to sweat you out.
Saucerhead grunted agreement around a mouthful.
"It isn't the money, is it, Garrett?" demanded Amber.
Saucerhead tittered.
"What's with you, oaf?"
"She figured you out, Garrett." He chuckled. "You're right, little girl. With Garrett it's almost never the money."
"You want to talk, Waldo? How rich do you figure on getting in this?"
He gave the name a black look, then shrugged. "There's just some things you got to make right."
Amber knew we meant much more than we said. She scowled. "If you can be noble, so can I. I'll go home. But cut it close. All right?"