"I think he's talking about me," Elly said to Lydia.
Lydia nodded. "Yes, I did get that impression."
Emmett ignored both of them. "The owner is a guy named Ormond Ripley. Said to have discreet ties throughout the underworld and also in the political sphere. He's been smart enough and sufficiently well-connected to stay out of trouble with the law, which is saying something, given that he's operating a casino. Used to be a Guild man."
"I get the picture." Absently, Cooper swirled what was left of his drink. "Now, all I have to do is find a way to get inside the club." He raised one brow at Emmett. "Got any suggestions?"
"Wyatt can pull some strings and get you in," Emmett said. "I'll give him a call in the morning."
Elly rezzed up a suspiciously bright smile. Cooper got a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.
"No need to call the local Guild boss," she said airily. "I go to The Road a lot. I know some people. I can get Cooper inside. We can go tonight, if you like."
Chapter 15
AFTER DINNER COOPER AND EMMETT WENT INSIDE THE house to put together a detailed plan for dealing with the blue freak.
Elly and Lydia stood at the edge of the deck and watched the men walk away, talking in low tones.
"Guild business," Lydia intoned darkly.
"Don't remind me," Elly said.
For a while they stood silently together, looked out over the mist-shrouded park. At the far end of the railing, Rose, Ginger, and Fuzz sat munching quietly on pretzels.
"Did you see the look on Cooper's face when I told him that I could get him into The Road?" Elly asked after a while.
Lydia laughed. "Priceless. Typical Guild-boss-caught-flatfooted expression."
"Doesn't happen often."
"Enjoy the moment."
"Thanks, I will."
Lydia tipped her head a little to one side. "Do you really know someone who can get you a pass into that club?"
"I have a couple of friends who have been members for quite a while. They own a very successful antiques business on Ruin Lane. I blend special tisanes for both of them, and in return they've invited me to go with them to The Road a couple of times. I'm sure they'll let me borrow their pass tonight."
"Under other circumstances, it sounds like it would be a fun evening."
"Yes." Elly leaned her forearms on the railing and linked her fingers, absorbing the night. "I get the impression that Cooper is sort of stuck having to take care of this problem for the Cadence Guild."
"Emmett told me earlier that blue freaks don't come along very often. Neither do the unique kind of dissonance-energy para-rezzes who can handle them."
"When you think about it, it's my fault Cooper got involved in the first place. If I hadn't asked him to help me find my friend in the tunnels last night, he would never have known about that blue vortex."
"Was it really as scary as Emmett and Cooper implied?" Lydia asked.
"I've never seen anything like it, that's for sure, and I've been into the catacombs on several occasions with my family. It looked spooky and very powerful, although I don't think I took it as seriously as I should have because Cooper was able to de-rez it so quickly."
"Emmett says he's good."
"I must admit, even though I was raised in a Guild family, I've always assumed that blues and enforcers were mostly hunter legends."
"Well, you're way ahead of me. I'd never even heard of blues or enforcers until today."
"Goes to show what a good job the Guilds have done keeping their secrets down the years."
"I know it isn't any of my business," Lydia said, "but Emmett told me earlier that you and Cooper had been engaged for a while. He said you called off the wedding."
"Yes."
"Let me guess, the job got in the way?"
Elly smiled sadly. "You're very astute."
"Not really. It's just that I've been there and done that. There was a time when I was worried sick that Emmett was going to become the permanent head of the Cadence City Guild. I wasn't sure if I could handle it. Luckily, it turned out that he didn't want the job."
"Unfortunately, Cooper does want the job," Elly said. "He's made it clear that being the head of the Aurora Springs Guild is very, very important to him."
"And you've decided you can't deal with being Mrs. Guild Boss?"
"When we first met I didn't know that he was even a candidate for the job." She unlinked her fingers and spread her hands. "I thought he was a librarian, for heaven's sake."
"A librarian?"
"He was brought in from out of town to organize the Aurora Springs Guild Archives. Or, at least, that's what everyone claimed. He has all kinds of degrees in history and archival research and information retrieval. But it turned out that the academic background, although genuine, was just cover for his real position as an enforcer."
"Ah."
There was a world of understanding in the simple exclamation.
Elly sighed. "Right after I started dating him, the old Guild boss, Haggerty, disappeared, and the next thing I knew the Council had appointed Cooper as the new chief. He asked me to marry him before I had a chance to adjust to the change in the situation."
"Got to watch out for those librarians," Lydia said.
"You can say that again. Well, to make a short story even shorter, I soon found out how important the job was to him. Cooper started showing up late for dates or even breaking them altogether at the last minute. He evaded any discussion that involved Guild business. It dawned on me that maybe the only reason he wanted to marry me was because of my family connections."
"Connections?"
"He doesn't have any of his own," Elly explained. "His people are all non-Guild. Very distinguished academic types for the most part. They don't even live in Aurora Springs."
"I see."
"I think Cooper also liked the fact that I was an instructor at Aurora Springs College. He wanted a wife who could give him some good contacts with respectable, mainstream institutions in the community."
"You're sure those are the only reasons he wanted to marry you?" Lydia asked.
Elly winced. "Yesterday he admitted that almost every move he's ever made in his life since the age of nine was aimed at establishing himself as the head of the Aurora Springs Guild."
"Why?"
Elly hesitated. "You know, I haven't asked him that question. I've been too busy being offended by the glaring possibility that he saw me as just another step to his ultimate goal."
"Well, I can't blame you for not wanting to be a stepping-stone."
"For a while, after I found out he was going to be made the head of the Guild, I was able to convince myself that we could still have a good marriage. Dad kept going on and on about how Cooper was the new, younger face of the Guild, a leader who would guide the organization into the future. I certainly believe that mainstreaming is a worthy goal. I told myself that I could be a partner in the effort, blah, blah, blah."
"Blah, blah, blah." Lydia nodded. "I know exactly what you mean."
"Give me a break, I was falling in love with the man, and you know how it is. You can talk yourself into just about anything when you think you're in love."
"True," Lydia said. "Been there and done that, too. So, what happened? Why did you decide it wasn't going to work after all?"
"I found out Cooper had engaged in a hunter duel."
Lydia groaned. "You've got my full sympathy on that issue. I can't believe that in this day and age supposedly smart, intelligent, well-educated Guild men still conduct occasional duels. It's such a stupid, immature way to settle matters."
"I couldn't agree more."
Lydia looked at her curiously. "What was the duel about?"
"Cooper challenged a member of the Aurora Springs Guild Council named Palmer Frazier. Palmer and I had dated for a while before Cooper and I got serious. According to the Aurora Springs tabloids and the rumors on the campus where I worked, I was the reason the duel was conducted."