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this,
or he’d be with the keep-it-in-the-family faction.”
    “Could be.”
    “Is he as nebulous as you are?”
    “Could be. You interested?”
    “Could be.”
    I winced.
    He grinned. “Suppose I just follow you around for a while?
You’re a chatty sort of fellow. I’ll let you know when
you’ve said enough to let me make up my mind.”
    “Oh, happy day! The pleasure of his company without having
to pay for it. All right.”
    “Who said anything about not paying for it?”
    “I did. No play, no pay.”
    “You got an attitude problem, Garrett. All right. What are
you going to do now?”
    “Go wrap myself around a couple of pounds of
steak.”
    He turned up his nose. “All that red meat is why you
people have such a peculiar odor. Where should I meet
you?”
    I raised an eyebrow.
    “Matter of some unfinished business,” he said
evenly.
    I glanced at the door to the other room. “I see.
I’ll be back.”
     
----

----

9
    Morley had pecked around the edges till I’d about lost the
restored good humor brought on by beer and a fully belly.
“You have a basic character flaw, Garrett. I think it’s
a self-image problem. Ninety-nine people out of a hundred will say
any damned fool thing that pops into their heads and not worry
about how other folks will see it. With you every damned word is a
contract with the gods.”
    I scowled up the street. There were lights inside my place.
    “You can talk without feeling you’ve committed
something, Garrett. Hell, you should do like me. Believe every word
you say like it was godsmouth when you say it, then forget it in
the morning. The appearance of sincerity counts for more than
actual truthfulness. People only need to believe for a few minutes
at a time. They know the name of the game. You take that lady I was
with tonight. Am I in love with her? Is she in love with me? Not
bloody likely. She wouldn’t be seen in public with me. But I
still had to say all the words.”
    I don’t know how he got onto that. He rambles. I ignored
it, mostly. “You on the payroll or not?”
    He looked at my place. “Company?”
    “Looks like.”
    “Could it be friendly?”
    “My friends have better manners.”
    “I thought you’d admit you don’t have any
friends. Are you going in?”
    “Yes. You behind me or not?”
    “Temporarily, anyway. My cash position isn’t what it
should be. I’ve suffered several financial setbacks
lately.”
    “D’Guni races again.”
    “You want to get rich quick, Garrett? Come down to the
pond and see how I lay my bets. Then bet the other way. No matter
what bug I pick, it zips out to the middle, then skitters in
circles while the plodders head straight for the other bank. Either
that or it gets eaten.”
    “The race is not always to the swift.” Only elves
would bet on the near-random results of water-spider races.
“Ready?”
    “Go ahead.”
     
    The door was unlocked. How thoughtful. There were four of them.
Two sat on my bed. The other two occupied my only two chairs. I
recognized three as cavalry veterans from Denny’s crowd. The
one called Vasco might be the V of Denny’s notes. They were
trying to look tough.
    I guess they
were
tough, inside their heads. They had
survived the Cantard. But they did not have the tough look that
comes from growing up on the streets.
    “Come on in, guys,” I said. “Make yourselves
at home. Fix yourselves a drink. My place is your place.”
    Vasco said, “See if he’s armed, Quinn.”
    “He’s armed,” Morley said behind me.
“Take my word for it.”
    One of my guests chuckled. “Look, Vee. A darko breed in
man’s clothing.”
    “Amateurs,” Morley said.
    “Amateurs,” I agreed. “But the pros all start
out as amateurs.”
    “Some have to learn their business the hard
way.”
    What he meant was, anybody on the shady side of the law who knew
what they were doing should know who he was.
    Vasco made a gesture that restrained the character with the
intemperate mouth. He said, “I figure