That brought me back to earth in a hurry.
"Aahz? In jail? For what?"
"Murder."
"MURDER!" I shrieked, dropping all attempts to be urbane. "But Aahz wouldn't…"
"Don't shout at me! Oh, I knew I shouldn't have come. Look, I know he didn't do it. That's why I had to let you know what was going on. If you don't do something, they're going to execute him… and they know how to execute demons over here."
I spun around to face the others.
"Massha! Go get your jewelry case. Guido, Nunzio! Gear up. We're going to pay a little call on our neighbors."
I tried to keep my voice calm and level, but somehow the words came out a bit more intense than I had intended.
"Not so fast. Boss," Guido said. "There's something you oughta know first."
"Later. I want you to…"
"NOW, Boss. It's important!"
"WHAT IS IT!"
Needless to say, I was not eager to enter into any prolonged conversations just now.
"She's one of 'em."
"I beg your pardon?"
"The three that went out through the back door. The ones your partner is chasing. She's the broad."
Thunderstruck, I turned to the girl for confirmation, only to find the doorway was empty. My mysterious visitor had disappeared as suddenly as she had arrived.
"This could be a trap, you know," Massha said thoughtfully.
"She's right." Guido nodded. "Take it from someone who's been on the lam himself. When you're running from the law and there are only a couple of people who can find you, it gets real tempting to eliminate that link. We've only got her word that your partner's in trouble."
"It wouldn't take a mental giant to figure out that you and Aahz are the most likely hunters for the Deveels to hire. After all, they knew whose house they were cutting through for their getaway," Massha added. Guido rose to his feet and started pacing. "Right," he said. "Now suppose they've got Aahz. Can you think of a better way to bag the other half of the pair than by feeding you a line about your partner being in trouble so you'll come charging into whatever trap they've laid out? The whole set-up stinks, Boss. I don't know about strange dimensions, but I do know about criminals. As soon as you step through that door, you're gonna be a sitting duck."
"Are you quite through?"
Even to my ears my voice sounded icy, but for a change I didn't care.
Guido and Massha exchanged glances, then nodded silently.
"Very well. You may be right, and I appreciate your concern for my well-being. HOWEVER…"
My voice sank to a deadly hiss.
"… what if you're wrong? What if our fugitive is telling the truth? You've all been on my case about not doing anything to help Aahz. Do you really think I'm just going to sit here while my partner AND friend burns for a crime he didn't commit… on the off chance that getting involved might be dangerous to me?"
With great effort I forced my tones back to normal.
"In ten minutes I'm going through that door after Aahz… and if I'm walking into a trap, it had better be a good one. Now do any of you want to come with me, or am I going it alone?"
Chapter Four
"It's useless to try to plan for the unexpected… by definition!"
ACTUALLY, it was more like an hour before we were really ready to go, though for me it seemed like a lot longer. Still, even I had to admit that not taking the proper preparations for this venture would not only be foolish, it would be downright suicidal!
It was decided that Nunzio would stay behind so there would be someone at our base to let Tananda and Chumley know what was going on when they returned. Needless to say, he was less than thrilled by the assignment.
"But I'm supposed to be your bodyguard!" he argued. "How'm I supposed to guard you if I'm sittin' back here while you're on the front lines?"
"By being sure our support troops get the information they need to follow us," I said.
As much as I disliked having to argue with Nunzio, I would rather dig in my heels against half a dozen Mob type bodyguards than have to explain to Tananda and Chumley why they weren't included in this rescue mission.
"We could leave a note."
"No."
"We could…"
"NO! I want you here. Is that plain enough?"
The bodyguard heaved a heavy sigh. "Okay, Boss. I'll hang in here until they show up. Then the three of us will…"
"No!" I said again. "Then Tananda and Chumley will come in after us. You're going to stay here."
"But Boss…"
"Because if Hay-ner and his crew show up again, someone has to be here to let them know we're on the job and that we haven't just taken off for the tall timber. Assuming for the moment that we're going to make it back, we need our exit route, and you're going to be here making sure it stays open. All we need is for our hosts to move in a new tenant while we're gone… say, someone who decides to brick up this door while we're on the other side."
Nunzio thought this through in silence.
"What if you don't come back?" he asked finally.
"We'll burn that bridge when we come to it," I sighed. "But remember, we aren't that easy to kill. At least one of us will probably make it back."
Fortunately, my mind was wrenched away from that unpleasant train of thought by the arrival of Guido.
"Ready to go. Boss."
Despite the desperateness of the situation and the haunting time pressures, I found myself gaping at him.
"What's that?" I managed at last.
Guido was decked out in a long dark coat and wearing a wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses.
"These? These are my work clothes," he said proudly. "They're functional as well as decorative."
"They're what?"
"What I mean is, not only do people find 'em intimidating, the trench coat has all these little pockets inside, see? That's where I carry my hardware."
"But…"
"Hi, Hot Stuff. Nice outfit, Guido."
"Thanks! I was just telling the Boss here about it."
Massha was dressed… or should I say undressed in her work clothes. A brief vest struggled to cover even part of her massive torso, while an even briefer bottom was on the verge of surrendering its battle completely.
"Ummm… Massha?" I said carefully. "I've always meant to ask. Why don't you… ummm… wear more?"
"I like to dress cool when we're going into a hot situation," she winked. "You see, when things speed up, I get a little nervous… and the only thing worse than havin' a fat broad around is havin' a sweaty fat broad around."
"I think it's a sexy outfit," Guido chimed in. "Reminds me of the stuff my old man's moll used to wear."
"Well thanks. Dark and Deadly. I'd say your old man had good taste… but I never tasted him."
I studied them thoughtfully as they shared a laugh over Massha's joke. Any hope of a quiet infiltration of this unknown dimension was rapidly disintegrating. Either Guido or Massha alone was eye-catching, but together they were about as inconspicuous as a circus parade and an army maneuver sharing the same road. Then it occurred to me that, not knowing what things were like where we were heading, they might fit in and I would stand out. It was a frightening thought. If everybody there looked like this…
I forced the thought from my mind. No use scaring myself any more than I had to before there was information to back it up. What was important was that my two assistants were scared. They were trying hard not to show it, but in doing so, each was dropping into old patterns, slipping behind old character masks. Guido was playing his "tough gangster" bit to the hilt, while Massha was once more assuming her favorite "vamp" character with a vengeance. The bottom line, though, was that, scared or not, they were willing to back my move or die trying. It would have been touching, if it weren't for the fact that it meant they were counting on me for leadership. That meant I had to stay calm and confident… no matter how scared I felt myself. It only occurred to me as an afterthought that, in many ways, leadership was the mask I was learning to slip behind when things got tight. It made me wonder briefly if anyone ever really knew what they were doing or felt truly confident, or if life was simply a mass game of role-playing.