game? We’re partners, you’re going to
have to carry your half of the load.”
“Me? How can I help?”
“You can get me a chance to talk to your brother and
Amiranda.”
She looked puzzled. Not too bright, my Amber? But decorative.
Definitely decorative. “I haven’t dug up but one clue
yet, and it’s not worth squat by itself.”
“What is it?”
“Uh-uh. I keep my cards to my chest till I get a better
picture.”
“Why do you need to talk to Karl and Amiranda?”
“Karl because he’s the only one who had any direct
contact with the kidnappers—except maybe Domina Dount, when she
delivered the ransom. Amiranda because she works for the Domina and
might have picked up something useful. I can’t go grill Willa
Dount. She’d want the gold back herself if she knew we were
looking for it. Wouldn’t she?”
“Yeah. But Karl would want a cut if he knew what we were
doing. He wants out of that house as bad as I do. Amiranda, the
same way.”
“You get me a chance to talk to them. I’ll think of
some reason for it.”
“All right. But you’d better be careful. Especially
with Amiranda. She’s a little witch.”
“You don’t like her?”
“Not very much. She’s smarter than me and when she
wants she can make herself almost as pretty. Even my own mother
always treats her better than me. But I don’t think I hate
her. I just wish she’d go away.”
“And she wants to get away as badly as you and your
brother do? When she gets better treatment?”
“Better than awful is still bad, Garrett.”
“How soon can you fix it so I can see Karl?”
“It’ll be hard. He won’t be able to sneak out
right now. Domina has Courter watching him every minute. She says
the kidnapping won’t stay a secret and when the news gets out
how much the ransom was, somebody else might try it again. Would
they?”
“That happens. There are a lot of lazy, stupid crooks who
try to get by imitating success. Your family will be at risk till
your mother takes some action to make it plain that folks who mess
with her live short and awful lives.”
“She probably wouldn’t even care.”
She would
care even if she had no use or love for her offspring, but I had no
inclination to illuminate Amber about the symbols and trappings of
power and what the powerful have to do to keep them polished and
frightening. “The next step has to be your brother. If he
can’t come to me, I’ll go to him. You arrange
something. I’ll follow you home about a half hour behind you.
I’ll hang around outside somewhere. You give me a signal when
it’s all right to come in. Might as well set it for me to see
Amiranda, too. What will the signal be?”
I had chosen a conspiratorial tone. It worked. She got into the
spirit of doings shadowed and sinister. “I’ll flash a
mirror out my window. Give me five minutes after that, then meet me
at the postern.”
“Which window?”
While she explained, I reflected that she had this gimmick too
pat to have come up with it on the spur of the moment. I hoped it
was a device she used to sneak lovers inside. If she had been
getting away with that, the notion might be marginally workable. If
she was setting me up . . .
But she had no reason that I could see. It was plain that her
only interest was laying hands on her mother’s gold. You get
paranoid in this business. But maybe paranoids get that way because
of all the people out to get them.
“Better scoot along now,” I told her. “Before
they miss you up there and start wondering.”
“A half hour wouldn’t make any difference, would
it?”
“A half hour might make all the difference.”
“I can get real stubborn when I really want something,
Garrett.”
“I’ll bet you can. I hope you’re as stubborn
about the gold if we find things getting tight.” I guided her
toward the front door.
“Tight? How could it get dangerous?”
“Are you kidding? Not to be melodramatic”—like
hell!—“but it could get to be a
have to carry your half of the load.”
“Me? How can I help?”
“You can get me a chance to talk to your brother and
Amiranda.”
She looked puzzled. Not too bright, my Amber? But decorative.
Definitely decorative. “I haven’t dug up but one clue
yet, and it’s not worth squat by itself.”
“What is it?”
“Uh-uh. I keep my cards to my chest till I get a better
picture.”
“Why do you need to talk to Karl and Amiranda?”
“Karl because he’s the only one who had any direct
contact with the kidnappers—except maybe Domina Dount, when she
delivered the ransom. Amiranda because she works for the Domina and
might have picked up something useful. I can’t go grill Willa
Dount. She’d want the gold back herself if she knew we were
looking for it. Wouldn’t she?”
“Yeah. But Karl would want a cut if he knew what we were
doing. He wants out of that house as bad as I do. Amiranda, the
same way.”
“You get me a chance to talk to them. I’ll think of
some reason for it.”
“All right. But you’d better be careful. Especially
with Amiranda. She’s a little witch.”
“You don’t like her?”
“Not very much. She’s smarter than me and when she
wants she can make herself almost as pretty. Even my own mother
always treats her better than me. But I don’t think I hate
her. I just wish she’d go away.”
“And she wants to get away as badly as you and your
brother do? When she gets better treatment?”
“Better than awful is still bad, Garrett.”
“How soon can you fix it so I can see Karl?”
“It’ll be hard. He won’t be able to sneak out
right now. Domina has Courter watching him every minute. She says
the kidnapping won’t stay a secret and when the news gets out
how much the ransom was, somebody else might try it again. Would
they?”
“That happens. There are a lot of lazy, stupid crooks who
try to get by imitating success. Your family will be at risk till
your mother takes some action to make it plain that folks who mess
with her live short and awful lives.”
“She probably wouldn’t even care.”
She would
care even if she had no use or love for her offspring, but I had no
inclination to illuminate Amber about the symbols and trappings of
power and what the powerful have to do to keep them polished and
frightening. “The next step has to be your brother. If he
can’t come to me, I’ll go to him. You arrange
something. I’ll follow you home about a half hour behind you.
I’ll hang around outside somewhere. You give me a signal when
it’s all right to come in. Might as well set it for me to see
Amiranda, too. What will the signal be?”
I had chosen a conspiratorial tone. It worked. She got into the
spirit of doings shadowed and sinister. “I’ll flash a
mirror out my window. Give me five minutes after that, then meet me
at the postern.”
“Which window?”
While she explained, I reflected that she had this gimmick too
pat to have come up with it on the spur of the moment. I hoped it
was a device she used to sneak lovers inside. If she had been
getting away with that, the notion might be marginally workable. If
she was setting me up . . .
But she had no reason that I could see. It was plain that her
only interest was laying hands on her mother’s gold. You get
paranoid in this business. But maybe paranoids get that way because
of all the people out to get them.
“Better scoot along now,” I told her. “Before
they miss you up there and start wondering.”
“A half hour wouldn’t make any difference, would
it?”
“A half hour might make all the difference.”
“I can get real stubborn when I really want something,
Garrett.”
“I’ll bet you can. I hope you’re as stubborn
about the gold if we find things getting tight.” I guided her
toward the front door.
“Tight? How could it get dangerous?”
“Are you kidding? Not to be melodramatic”—like
hell!—“but it could get to be a
Similar Books
