Read Online Beyond Redemption by Michael R. Fletcher - Free Book Online

cut throats without flinching and for little or no reason, but business always came after you had your pint.
    â€œIs it done?” Bedeckt asked. His skin hung slack and pale. He looked like he’d been dead a week.
    â€œYou look like shite,” she said.
    â€œIs it done?”
    Fine, be like that . “Yes.” She flared her nostrils at Wichtig.
    â€œGood,” said Bedeckt.
    â€œYou smell worse than usual,” said Wichtig, sniffing at her. “And that’s saying something.”
    â€œBorrow clothes from the laundry room, chances are they’re dirty.”
    â€œThere wasn’t a pile of clean clothes?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œWe know how much you like the smell of sweaty old men.”
    â€œPlease.” Bedeckt shot Wichtig a warning glance, which the Swordsman pretended to ignore. “Everything went smoothly? No problems? No complications?”
    â€œNo. No complications. Smooth as silk.” She stared into her pint mug. The old fart feared complications more than death.
    Bedeckt sighed tiredly and asked, “What happened?”
    â€œNothing. Not much.”
    â€œAnd?”
    â€œRan into a priest in the hall. Had to kill him.”
    Wichtig’s smile grew and she wanted to put her fist in it. Bedeckt, however, on the scent of something, worried at it like starving dog.
    â€œYou hid the body, right?”
    â€œOf course!” Stehlen did her best to sound offended.
    â€œNo one will find anything until tomorrow at the earliest, right?”
    â€œYeah. Might even have a couple of days.”
    â€œOkay, one dead priest is not too bad.”
    Stehlen stared into her pint mug again.
    Bedeckt groaned. “Shite. What?”
    â€œKilled a scullery maid as well.”
    â€œA maid? Why?”
    â€œMaybe a couple.”
    â€œA couple?”
    Stehlen glared into the mug. Why won’t he just drop it? “Maybe four. Everything went as planned.”
    Wichtig guffawed. “The plan was to kill four maids and a priest and steal dirty laundry? See what happens when the two of you try and get anything done without consulting me first? You’re both hopeless.”
    â€œMight have been more than one priest,” Stehlen admitted grudgingly.
    Bedeckt’s eyes widened and he paused to take a long pull from his pint. He carefully replaced the mug on the table and signaled the barkeep for another. “Exactly how many people did you kill tonight?”
    â€œDon’t be ridiculous.”
    â€œ Exactly how many.”
    â€œCouldn’t possibly keep count. Too busy. Shite,” swore Stehlen, “how many people you kill today?”
    â€œNone.”
    â€œWell, how about that day back in—”
    â€œFine, forget it. We’d best leave.”
    Bedeckt made to rise from the table but Stehlen stopped him with a hand on his arm. He looked awful. Sitting awhile longer might not fix anything, but it couldn’t hurt. He looked like he was about to fall over anyway.
    â€œNo rush,” she said. “Might have days.”
    Bedeckt stared at her like she’d lost her mind. “Days?”
    What doesn’t he understand? “Yeah. Killed everyone in the temple. Dozen or so priests. Half-dozen maids and cooks. Couple stableboys.”
    â€œDamn, I’m impressed, girl.” Wichtig laughed, showing annoyingly straight white teeth. “Great plan. This way, if everything goes badly, we can turn you in for the reward and still make a handy profit.”
    Stehlen shot him a sour look. She’d have to remember to keep his robes somewhere stinky—maybe she could use them as a horse blanket—until it was time for him to wear them.
    Bedeckt accepted the pint from the barkeep, finished it, and ordered another before the man turned from the table. “I told you to steal some priest’s robes and make sure they wouldn’t be missed. I told you to keep it quiet.”
    â€œThe robes won’t be