"Hey, good-looking, you must be, what, six-two? Three?" Robin said.
"How much?" a rough voice said.
"I said maybe six-two or — three," said Robin.
"That's not what I meant," me voice said.
"I know. You trolls are way too impatient. Where'd you get that scar? Bump your head under a bridge?" said Robin. Murdock actually chuckled.
"Fucking fairies, think you're always better than everyone," the troll said. Then he laughed. "Well, you're getting yours now, ain't ya?" There was a long silence with only bar static.
"Do you recognize the voice, Shay?" I asked.
Beads clinked in the backseat. "No, it definitely wasn't a troll I saw. Don't you think I know what a troll looks like?" As if on cue, the troll swore again and left.
"He smelled like Roquefort cheese, too," Robin muttered.
"Only when they don't wash their hands," I said, knowing he couldn't hear me.
The hours crept by. As the evening wore on, more men hit on Robin with less and less originality. I had forgotten how dull stakeouts can be. The only relief came from Robin's caustic comments to prospective customers. The boy did know how to make people go away. He was also quite adept at getting us descriptions without arousing suspicion. Most of those who approached him were human. Only one elf though, probably looking to get off on a little interspecies animosity.
"This is boring," Shay said.
"I thought you were worried it would be dangerous," I said.
"I am. I just never thought danger could get boring."
"I was wondering, Shay, if you heard this guy's voice so clearly because he might have talked to you."
There was a long silence. "No. I would remember, wouldn't I? I only remember hearing him because I was standing next to Gamelyn when they hooked up."
Something about the sound of his voice made me turn and look at him. He had his head cocked to the side, a faraway look in his eyes as he gazed out the window. "I would remember," he said again, though to me or himself, I couldn't tell.
"Hey, get a load of this," Murdock said, bringing my attention back to the street.
A fairy strode down the sidewalk in full glory, her huge gossamer wings fanning out behind like great silver veils. She wore the traditional green frock of the lower classes, an almost ridiculous costume with the obvious power she had. Her lush red hair swirled around her head as if animate, an illusion made all the more by the tiny flits that hovered around her. Flits love a flashy fairy.
Shay snorted from the backseat. "Now that is slumming."
The fairy reached the front of the Flitterbug and stopped. As she turned to enter, I saw her face in the reflected glow of the streetlight. A flush of heat swept over me as I felt instant anger. Keeva.
"What the hell does she think she's doing?" I clawed at the door handle.
Horns blared as I cut across traffic. Even as I hit the sidewalk on the other side, Keeva's presence was having an effect. She'd been made as a Guild agent, or at least someone looking to make trouble. Patrons were practically running out of the bar. I muscled my way through the door and was bombarded with music and more people. Inside, I felt overwhelmed by the reek of essence colored by sex, anger, despair, and a little amusement. More people pushed their way out. I could see Keeva on the far side of the dance floor.
I rushed over to her and grabbed her arm. She spun toward me, pulling her arm away, her eyes glowing with white power. My body shields came up so fast, I felt a knife blade of pain in my forehead. The air crackled with energy. Several people around us stumbled away in fear.
"Knock it off, Keeva," I said.
The light in her eyes dimmed when she recognized me, but they remained bright with anger. She wrenched her arm away. "Don't touch me."
I could see Robin at the end of the bar in a cluster of anxious-looking customers. Stinkwort appeared behind Keeva, his face set with suspicion. The way he held his arm across his waist told me he was grasping the hilt of the sword he occasionally wore hidden by a glamour. I hoped his skills matched his determination.
"What the hell are you doing here?" I said.
"Working. Get out before you ruin everything," she said.
"Or what? I'll blow your cover? You might as well have come in here with a siren on your head."
"Get out of the way now, or I'll have you charged with interfering."
I leaned over to her so no one else could hear. "You're interfering. I've got something working in here."
She arched an eyebrow at me, then threw a glance over her shoulder. Stinkwort smiled grimly at her. She returned the smile and looked back at me. "Let's talk," she said. She pushed by me and strode toward the door.
Stinkwort flew in closer. "Everything okay?"
"Yeah. Thanks for the backup." I looked to the end of the bar. Robin was leaning in to hear someone next to him. "How's things back there?"
"Robin's a right fine prick. He's been teasing along some old guy for the last ten minutes."
I scanned the nearly empty bar. "Hang by the door while I talk to Keeva."
He followed me back across the dance floor and paused by the door while I continued out. Keeva stood about thirty feet away, her hands clamped on her hips.
"Were you trying to scare everyone off?" I said as I came up to her.
She smiled. "Actually, yes. I told you. I'm working a missing person."
"You have a funny way of doing it. You just wrecked my stakeout."
"How I operate is not your business. And you didn't file a stakeout."
She had me. Murdock was going to kill me if she reported our surveillance. "How I operate is not your business," I repeated back at her, desperately trying to think around the situation.
We stood glaring at each other.
"So, it looks like both our operations are blown," I said.
She poked me hard in the chest. "Thanks to you."
I took a few breams to calm down. "Blame isn't the point now."
"You just interfered with a Guild operation," she said.
"And you just checked the morning operations sheet without bothering to see if it was updated. Never mind the fact that the cheapest rent-boy would have spotted me sitting in a darkened car. You didn't even look around." The first part was a bluff. The P.D. didn't always let everyone know an operation was going down. Keeva had little use for the human police, so I hoped she wouldn't know that.
She narrowed her eyes at me. "Your point?"
"We're both going to look bad." I held my breath, hoping she'd take the bait. If I knew anything about Keeva macNeve, it was that she hated to look like she'd failed.
Her face became stony as her cheeks flushed red. "What are you proposing?"
I slowly exhaled and spread my hands in a gesture of reasonability. "We both report that our operations were unsuccessful. Nothing more."
I could almost see her mind whirling with options. "I won't be obligated to you," she said.
"If we both report nothing happened, it's done with. Quid pro quo."
"Fine, but you have to report all your future operations to me directly."
I shook my head with a smile. "Quid pro quo."
"Bastard."
"I miss you, too." She began to say something, then paused as she looked over my shoulder. Murdock pulled up to the curb. He leaned over and opened the door, then popped the passenger seat forward. Shay angrily climbed out.
Murdock waved me over. "Get in. It just came over the scanner. They've got someone in custody. It might be our man."
I exchanged one brief startled look with Keeva before jumping into the car. Murdock goosed his siren as he pulled a U-turn. Stinkwort popped up in the small space between the dashboard and me rearview mirror. Startled, Murdock hit the brakes. Stinkwort banged against the windshield and fell onto the dash.