"Naturally. But you are interested in stopping these men and women before they accomplish whatever goal it is that they are pursuing."
I shrugged. "You don't know that."
"Yes, I do," he said, his tone growing distant and cool. He met my eyes and said, "Because I know you. I know that you would oppose them. Just as you know that I will not permit them to take one of mine from me without punishment."
I glared back at him. I wasn't worried about a soulgaze. Those happened only once between any two people, and Marcone had already gotten a look at me. When he said that he knew me, that's what he was talking about. I'd seen his soul in return, and it had been a cold and barren place-but one of order, as well. If Marcone gave his word, he kept it. And if someone came for one of his people, he would go after them without hesitation, fear, or pity.
That didn't make him noble. Marcone had the soul of a tiger, of a predator protecting his territory. It only made him more resolved and more dangerous.
"I'm not a hit man," I told him. "And I don't work for you."
"Nor am I asking you to," he said. "I simply want to give you information that might help you in your efforts."
"You aren't listening. I am not going to kill anyone for you."
His teeth suddenly showed, very white against the tan. "But you will go up against them."
"Yes."
He settled back in his seat. "I've seen what you do to the people who get in your way. I'm willing to take my chances."
That thought, that attitude, was a little creepier than I was comfortable with. I wasn't a killer. I mean, sure, sometimes I fought. Sometimes people and not-people got killed. But it wasn't as though I was some kind of Jack the Ripper. From time to time matters got desperately dangerous between me and various denizens of the preternatural world, but I had only killed…
I thought about it for a minute.
I'd killed more of them than I hadn't.
Quite a few more.
I felt a little sick to my stomach.
Marcone watched me from behind hooded eyes and waited.
"What do you want to tell me?" I asked him.
"I don't want to waste your time," he said. "Ask me questions. I'll answer whichever I can."
"How much do you know about the deal that got Mendoza killed?"
He drummed the fingers of his right hand on his thigh for a moment. "Mendoza was getting ready to retire," Marcone said. "He had a final scheme to complete. I owed the man for loyalties past, and at his request I allowed him certain liberties."
"He was selling something independently?"
Marcone nodded. "The contents of an old storage locker. Mendoza had come across the key to it in an estate sale."
That was criminal-speak for purchasing hot merchandise from a mugger or burglar. "Go on."
"The key opened a storage locker that had been sealed since 1945. It contained a number of works of art, jewelry, and similar cultural artifacts."
I arched an eyebrow. "Loot from World War Two?"
"So Mendoza presumed," Marcone said. "He offered me my selection of the contents, and in return I allowed him to dispose of the rest in whatever manner he saw fit."
"What did you get out of it?" I asked.
"Two Monets and a Van Gogh."
"Holy crap." I shook my head. "What happened then?"
"Mendoza went about liquidating his cache. It had been in process for several weeks when he reported that one of the people he had approached regarding an antique book seemed to have access to resources that were well beyond the ordinary."
"Did he give you a name?" I asked.
"A man named Grevane," Marcone said. "Mendoza asked for my advice on the matter."
"And you told him about how wizards are technologically challenged."
"Among other things," he said, nodding.
"But the deal went south."
"So it would seem," Marcone said. "Since Mendoza's death, I have asked Miss Gard to collect information on recent events in the local supernatural community."
I glanced at the woman and nodded. "And she told you there were necromancers running around."
"Once that had been established, we attempted to narrow down the location of these individuals, particularly Grevane, but met with very limited success."
"I'm able to find where they've been," Gard said without turning around. "Or at least where they've been weaving their spells."
"And there are a number of hot spots of necromantic energy around town," I said. "I know that already."
Marcone placed his fingers in a steeple before him. "But what I suspect you do not know is that last night at the location on Wacker, a member of my organization had an altercation with representatives of a rival interest from out of town. There was a gunfight. My man was mortally wounded and left for dead."
"That doesn't add up to necromancy," I said, frowning. "What caused the hot spot?"
"That is the question," Marcone said. He took a folded piece of paper from his breast pocket and passed it to me. "These are the names of the responding EMTs," he said. "According to my man, they were the first on the scene."
"Did he talk to you before he died?" I asked.
"He did," Marcone replied. "In point of fact, he did not die."
"Thought you said he was mortally wounded."
"He was, Mister Dresden," Marcone said, his features remote. "He was."
"He survived."
"The surgeons at Cook County thought it a bona fide miracle. Naturally I thought of you at once."
I rubbed at my chin. "What else has he said?"
"Nothing," Marcone said. "He has no memory of the events after he saw the ambulance arriving."
"So you want me to talk to the EMTs. Why haven't you done it yourself?" I asked.
He arched his brows. "Dresden. Try to keep in mind that I am a criminal. For some reason it's quite difficult to get people in uniforms to open their hearts to me."
I gritted my teeth at another agonizing twinge from my leg. "Right."
"So," he said, "we're back to my original question. How serious is your injury?"
"I'll make it," I said.
"Do you think you'll need to see a doctor? If it's too mild a wound, I'll be glad to have Miss Gard make it look more authentic."
I looked at him for a moment. "I'm heading for an emergency room whether I need it or not, eh?"
"As luck would have it, we are near a hospital. Cook County, in fact."
"Yeah. The cut's pretty deep." I looked at the piece of paper and then stuck it in my pocket. "There's bound to be an EMT or two there. Maybe you should drop me off at the emergency room."
Marcone smiled, and it didn't touch his eyes. "Very well, Dresden. You have my deepest sympathies for your pain."
Chapter Nineteen
Marcone and company dropped me off a hundred yards from the emergency entrance to the hospital, and I had to hobble in alone. It was hard, and I was tired, but I'd been hurt worse before. It wasn't like I wanted to do this every day or anything, but after a certain point of ridiculous discomfort, the pain all feels pretty much the same.
Once I made it to the emergency room, I was a big hit. When you drag yourself inside panting and leaving a trail of bloody footprints behind you, it makes a certain impression. I had an orderly and a nurse helping me onto my stomach on a gurney within a few seconds while the nurse examined the wound.
"It isn't life-threatening," she reported after she cut away my pant leg and took a look. She glanced at me almost in accusation. "From the way you came in here, you'd think this almost killed you."
"Well," I said, "I'm kind of a wimp."
"Nasty," commented the burly orderly. He produced a clipboard layered in forms and a ballpoint pen and handed them both to me. "They'll have to cut this out."
"We'll let the doctor decide that," the nurse said. "How did this happen, sir?"