Read Online Tomorrow, the Killing by Daniel Polansky - Free Book Online Page B

few years.’
    ‘Joachim Pretories ain’t Roland Montgomery.’
    ‘Let’s hope he knows it,’ Galliard said. From the open window I could hear two street children arguing over something. A brief scuffle decided the issue, the loser running off squealing. Galliard wiped his mouth with a napkin tucked into his collar. ‘Maybe it’s just the heat. Seems like the whole city’s gone crazy the last few weeks. We picked another hooker out of the canal this morning. Third one this month.’ He rubbed his hands against each other, crumbs falling to the floor, tits jiggling beneath his shirt. ‘Things will get worse before they get better.’
    ‘People say that – but in my experience things usually just get worse.’
    Galliard chortled, then fell silent.
    I stood to leave. ‘Well then, I’ve my duties to attend to, as I imagine you’ve yours.’
    The captain lifted his corpulent buttocks from his chair and shook my hand. ‘Quite right, quite right. See you next week.’
    ‘Next week,’ I agreed, and found myself out.
9
    I wasn’t expecting to come back to the Earl and find Hroudland and Rabbit waiting for me at the bar. If I had, I probably wouldn’t have showed – I’d have found my way to the docks, lit up a twist and hoped for a breeze.
    They were the only people in there, the rest of the coterie out for the morning, trying to take care of a day’s worth of errands before the sun made travel too uncomfortable. That meant I wouldn’t be able to count on Adolphus’s muscle if things went sour – but it also meant I didn’t have to bother with any pretense of amiability. ‘What the fuck do you want?’
    Rabbit belched out a giggle, and Hroudland answered me with an easy lilt to his voice. ‘You know, Lieutenant, there’s really no need to begin the conversation in such a combative fashion.’
    ‘I suppose that’s something else we’ll need to disagree on.’ I rolled up a cigarette. The flare of the match was an unnecessary aggravation in the heat. ‘Let me make it easy on you, because I know dialogue isn’t your strong point. Adolphus ain’t here.’
    ‘Not looking for Adolphus,’ Rabbit piped in, a smile swelling his lips, looking for all the world like a child spoiled with a secret. ‘We’re here for you.’
    ‘Why, Rabbit, is that you over there? You cheeky devil, hiding in the back, so quiet I’d never even notice! And then you start dribbling nonsense and ruin the whole effect! You don’t want to see me, Rabbit, because I don’t want to see you. I was fairly clear on that point, last time we spoke.’
    Rabbit laughed again, laughed and blushed, and Hroudland took over the reins. ‘The big man wants a word with you.’
    ‘I’m not sure who you’re referring to.’
    ‘Commander Joachim Pretories.’
    ‘Is he really what you’d call big? Guess we’ve got a different sense of scale.’
    ‘I don’t want to argue with you, Lieutenant.’
    ‘Well, I’m in no mood to dance, Hroudland – and since you don’t want to argue and I don’t want to dance, I’m not sure what’s left for us.’
    ‘The commander just wants a few minutes of your time. Surely that’s not such a sacrifice.’
    ‘You haven’t factored in the opportunity costs – a few minutes of my time is like a decade to you or Rabbit. Who knows all the extraordinary things I could do with a half hour? Write a sonnet maybe, or find a cure for the flux.’ I shook my head. ‘If you think about it that way, it’s actually quite a lot that you’re asking – more than I feel like offering.’
    ‘The commander said I was to insist.’
    ‘He said you were to insist now, did he? You hear that, Rabbit? The two of you are supposed to insist.’
    ‘That’s what the captain said,’ Rabbit agreed.
    ‘That’s what he said all right.’ I stubbed out my smoke. ‘You so sure you could compel my attendance?’
    ‘No,’ Hroudland said. ‘Not at all. Which is why I’m hoping you’ll do the smart thing, and come for a