“Oh? You have an idea?”
“I was just ruminating on the common linkbetween the names I know. Superior athleticism.”
“Why don’t you let me go to the stadium withBasilard today? I’ll see if I can get a copy of the list ofentrants and match these two unknown names. If it turns out they,like Sicarius, are not athletes that might give us more to goon.”
“Agreed,” Amaranthe said. “If we can figureout exactly why these people were taken, we might be able to get abead on who might want to take them. Akstyr’s going aroundto the apothecaries in the city to see if any of them has that rootin stock and if they remember anyone buying it recently. If youfinish early, you and Basilard can join up with him. He may needhelp researching and finding all the apothecaries.”
“Huh, and I thought it was going to be alight work day,” Books said, but he smiled, and she suspected hewas happy for the chance to do research.
“I’ll take Maldynado and go back to theminer’s flat to see if the family is back or if anyone hasinformation on where those men meet. Maybe if we work this fromboth ends we can find the kidnappers’ lair somewhere in themiddle.”
“Assuming we are dealing with kidnappers andnot someone who merely wants to kill irritatingly gifted people,”Books said.
She stared at him. “This would be a case whena grunt or a nod would have been more appreciated.”
“Oh. Sorry.”
CHAPTER 8
Under the light of day, the brick buildingwhere Raydevk and his wife lived seemed poorer. Every few minutes,a train chugged through, shaking the ground. Surly men hunkered indoorways, drinking from ceramic applejack mugs stamped with theThree Legged Dog logo, a homely mark for the satrapy’s cheapestdistillery. Some said the outfit used the bruised worm-filledapples left in the orchard grass after the other distilleries hadtheir pick.
“Charming neighborhood,” Maldynado drawledafter a gaunt old man stepped out of an alley, buttoning his pants.Amaranthe hoped all he had been doing in there was peeing.
As she and Maldynado approached the building,they stayed near the wall, so the wife, Pella, would not see themcoming if she glanced out the window.
“This is the kind of place Sicarius takes youfor evenings out, eh?” Maldynado added.
“Actually, I took him here,” Amaranthesaid. “And got him kidnapped. I’m not a very good date.”
They reached the front door, and Maldynadoheld it open for her.
“Fortunately, Deret likes an adventure,” hesaid.
“Is there some reason you’re intent onmatching us up?” she asked as they headed up the stairs.
“He’s a good man, mostly, and you’re a goodwoman, mostly. And he’s in a position to help us reach our goals,so that doesn’t hurt. Maybe he’s not in love with you yet, but I’llwager you could talk just about any man over to your side, giventime. I mean, emperor’s warts, you’ve got Sicarius workingfor you.”
Her lips twisted into a dry smirk. “Gettingpeople to go along with my schemes and getting men to fall in lovewith me aren’t the same.”
“Sure, they are,” Maldynado said as theystepped out onto the third floor. “You just make the former yourpriority. If you tried as hard to woo a man into bed as you did towoo me into joining your mission, you’d never sleep alone.”
Amaranthe speculated on the idea of puttingeffort into “wooing” Sicarius, but shook the notion from her head.She had more important things to focus on. She hoped Pella hadreturned home, so she could question her.
Two doors away from the flat, Amaranthehalted and stretched her arm across the hallway to stop Maldynadoas well. An uneasy feeling raised the hairs on the back of herneck.
The door to the family’s flat stood open.Gouges marred the wood of the jamb near the lock, and splinterslittered the floor beneath.
“Think Sicarius is in there?” Maldynadowhispered.
A thump sounded inside, like a drawerclosing.
“You think Sicarius would leaveevidence of entering or make noises once inside?” she whisperedback as she slipped her short sword from its scabbard.
“Er, no.”
She would like to think it was he, thatperhaps he’d spent the night tracking the miner, lost him, and comeback to question the wife, but Amaranthe doubted it. She easedforward, sword in hand, stepping lightly on the hall’s threadbarerunner.
A faint rasp of steel sounded as Maldynadodrew his rapier and followed her.
Before she could peep around the doorjamb,footsteps came from within. Heavy footsteps. A scruffy young manstrode out, carrying a canvas tote stuffed so full the contentsthreatened to burst through the material. When he saw Amaranthe andMaldynado, he threw the tote at them and bolted down the hallway inthe opposite direction.
Amaranthe turned her shoulder, but Maldynadolunged and caught the bag before it hit her.
“Get him,” she said. “Bring him back.”
Amazingly, he dropped the bag and sprinteddown the hall without stopping to make comments about how hard sheworked him for so little pay.
Another thump came from inside. Amaranthepeeked past the door, did not see anyone, and eased into the room,her back pressed against the wall. Several of the purposelyarranged clutter-piles-turned-into-walls had been tipped over. Foodcans, cooking utensils, and clothing scattered the floor. All thecabinet doors were open on the credenza where Raydevk had storedhis applejack. One dangled from a single hinge. No bottles ofalcohol sat inside the cabinets now.
Footsteps came from the corner of the roomnear the window, but one of the partitions hid the area. A curtainhanging from a rod marked the “doorway.” Amaranthe eased closer andpeered around it.
A man knelt before a dresser, shovelingclothing and knickknacks into an apple crate on the floor. His backfaced Amaranthe. The hilt of a dagger poked up from his belt, butshe did not see any greater weapons on him. No thoughtfulconsideration went into the items chosen for the crate, and shesuspected they had stumbled across a mere burglary.
She crept forward and pressed the point ofher sword against the back of the man’s neck. “Aren’t thievessupposed to ply their trade at night?”
The man froze for a heartbeat, then doveforward into a roll. He twisted and came to his feet, facingAmaranthe. His hand went to the dagger, only to find it missing.Bewilderment widened his eyes.
Amaranthe held up the blade and raised hereyebrows. “Mind if we skip further attempts at complicating my day?If you tell me how you found out this place was vacant, I imagine Ican look the other way over this robbery.”
“Velks!” the man shouted.
“I see, you wish to complicate my day.”
“Velks!” he cried again.
A grunt sounded in the living area. The mangave Amaranthe a you’re-in-trouble-now look, to which she shook herhead sadly. This fellow, barely older than a boy, judging by thethinness of the goatee he aspired to grow, did not seem toobright.
When his comrade, Velks presumably, came tostand beside Amaranthe, his arms were twisted behind his back,courtesy of Maldynado who loomed behind him. Velks appeared littleolder than the first young man, and they shared a squareness offace. Brothers?
“Got him, boss,” Maldynado said.
“Tie them up, please,” Amaranthe said.
“Gently or roughly?”
“Neither!” Velks blurted with a heroicattempt to twist free.
Maldynado yawned, unperturbed by the slenderman’s efforts.
“Yes, neither.” The younger man eyedAmaranthe’s sword, but with Maldynado blocking the exit, he did notattempt anything physical.
“That depends,” Amaranthe said. “Are youworking for someone I shouldn’t annoy, or are youindependent…entrepreneurs?”
The old enforcer in her hated the idea ofturning her back on a crime because the criminals were working fora gang leader or another influential underworld figure, but she hadspent the last few months trying to establish connections with afew of those types, and she would look the other way if it meantkeeping contacts happy. If they were independent thieves, she sawnothing wrong with trussing them up and sending a tip to EnforcerHeadquarters so they could be collected.