Read Online The Wiz Biz II: Cursed & Consulted by Rick Cook - Free Book Online

tire her out. And if the supervisor comes around, you snuck by me. Okay?"
    "Did you catch the ass on that nurse?" Mikey asked in an undervoice as they headed for Judith's room.
    Judith had a roommate now, an elderly Italian woman who lay spread-eagled beneath the sheets and breathed in great, wracking gasps. Otherwise everything was exactly as it had been on Craig's first visit.
    "Hi, Judith," Craig said brightly. "This is Mikey. He's a friend."
    There was no response from the bed. Mikey glared at Craig.
    "It takes a little bit to get her talking," he whispered. Then he turned back to Judith.
    "Mikey's interested in dragons, Judith. Dragons and wizards and magic. You know, the stuff you saw in the other place."
    The woman's eyelids fluttered.
    "You remember the dragons you saw. The ones you could ride on."
    Judith's lips moved. Out of the corner of his eye Craig could see Mikey sitting impassively.
    "You remember the flying dragons, don't you, Judith?" Craig went on with a tinge of desperation. "The ones you rode?"
    " . . . not ride," Judith mumbled. "Mad at me . . ."
    Craig threw a triumphant look at Mikey, but Mikey's expression didn't change.
    "Magic, Judith. You did magic there."
    " . . . spell compiler . . . full of spaghetti code. Worked asses off to fix it." Her arms twitched restlessly against the soft restraints that tied them to the bed.
    "The magic compiler, how did it work?"
    "Weird language . . . hacked together." She drifted off into incomprehensibility.
    "Have you got a copy of the code?" Mikey put in sharply.
    Judith tossed and mumbled. " . . . secret. All secret . . ."
    Mikey leaned closer to the bed.
    "Have you got notes?" he demanded. "Where are your notes?"
    " . . . notebook . . . projects."
    "Where's the notebook, Judith?" Mikey persisted. "Where did you put it?"
    Judith began to move her whole body against the bed.
    "Hey, she's getting upset. I think we'd better leave her alone."
    Mikey ignored him. "Tell me!" he hissed, grabbing Judith's hand and squeezing hard. Judith moaned and tried to pull away from his grip.
    "Hey! You're hurting her."
    Mikey squeezed harder, bearing down on each word. "Where. Are. Your. Notes?"
    "Home," Judith gasped. "Desk." She was thrashing from side to side and breathing hard now.
    Mikey released her hand. "That's fine, Judith," he said gently. "You did real good."
    He turned to Craig. "You heard her. She's got stuff back at her apartment. Can you get in?"
    "Well, yeah but . . ."
    "Then come on." He stood up and headed for the door without another look at Judith. Craig followed more slowly. At the doorway he looked back. Judith was still moving restlessly, panting with hard, regular gasps.
    It was almost like she was sobbing.
    * * *
    Judith's apartment was on the ground floor of a two-story complex in a quiet residential neighborhood. There were maybe fifty apartments grouped around a big central terrace and pool. They had obviously been built in the '60s, before San Jose land values went crazy, but they were well-maintained. Probably not a bargain, Craig thought as he led Mikey through the wrought iron gate into the court, but still the sort of place that was passed down from friend to friend.
    The apartment was dark and the drapes were drawn. One of the nearby apartments had a television game show on, but no one was in the courtyard.
    "There's a key in the planter by the door, under one of those phony rocks," Craig said. "She showed it to me when I stayed here."
    Mikey gave him a knowing smile.
    "Not like that! I just crashed on her couch a couple of nights." He didn't add that it had been while his mother had been in the hospital and he couldn't face going back to the house alone. Somehow that wasn't the sort of thing you told Mikey.
    He groped around, picking up rocks from the planter.
    "Shit. It's not here."
    "May I help you?" a voice demanded sharply.
    Craig jerked erect and whirled. A middle-aged woman was glaring at them from perhaps