left inside. Unless you count the books.' He held up the one he carried. 'But somehow I don't see either of you as big readers.'
'Why'd you take those old books?' the other one demanded. His mask was trimmed with two white circles around the eyes, giving him a rather startling resemblance to a moon-rat. 'Somethin' special about 'em?'
'My friend, here, is a librarian,' Elly offered helpfully. 'He likes books.'
'Shut up,' Joe snapped. 'I don't like mouthy babes.'
'Elly,' Cooper said without inflection.
She went silent, but he could have sworn he heard the simmering. He could almost feel the steam.
He did a quick survey of his options. Neither of the two thugs had noticed Rose. Elly was holding her just out of sight behind the corner of the big trash container. The position blocked the men's view of the dust bunny's four eyes.
Rose, too, had gone quiet, he noticed. He didn't know much about dust bunnies, but he knew a lot about hunting strategy. Some things remained the same across species lines. When a predator, large or small, stopped growling a warning and went very quiet, it was time for the prey to start worrying.
'We grabbed the books because they looked valuable,' he said aloud, putting a shrug into the words. 'Didn't seem to be anything else left that was worth taking. What were you guys looking for? Drugs? Cash?'
'There wasn't any,' Moon-Rat blurted. 'We know he must have had plenty of both around somewhere. He always paid us with the chant.'
'Shit, Benny, keep your dumb mouth shut,' his companion rasped.
'Okay, take it easy.' Cooper slowly unfastened his jacket. 'I'll show you what we found.'
The small section of the glowing fog in the street behind Benny and Joe started to change color, shifting subtly from green to blue. Neither of the two men noticed.
Cooper probed hard for the blue psi energy he needed. Fortunately, this close to the Dead City there was enough of it around to serve his purpose.
'Hurry up,' Joe said hoarsely. 'We ain't got all night.'
Blue flames leaped out of the open trash container.
'What the hell?' Benny jolted backward a couple of startled steps and swung around to stare at the blaze. 'There's a fire in the garbage.'
'Shit.' Joe retreated a couple of paces. 'We've got to get out of here. Someone is going to see the flames and call the fire department.'
Cooper moved.
'Stay where you are,' Joe snapped. He whipped back around to face the spot where Cooper had been standing a couple of seconds earlier.
But Cooper was already on him, using the momentum of his body to slam him into the side of the heavy metal container. The gun clattered on the stones.
'What the hell?' Belatedly realizing that things were getting out of control, Benny swung around, knife in hand.
Cooper kicked out with one booted foot, catching him high on the thigh.
Benny staggered backward, trying to keep his balance.
Elly came out of the shadows, swinging the heavy herbal. The weighty tome slammed against the side of Benny's skull.
Benny shrieked in pain and sank to his knees. He lost his grip on the blade.
There was a sudden scampering noise on the ground. Four eyes glowed in the night, rushing toward Benny's leg.
Benny screamed. 'Get it away from me. Get it away.'
'Rose, no,' Elly said quickly. 'You mustn't bite anyone else, sweetie. Someone may call the pound.'
To Cooper's surprise, the dust bunny halted, albeit reluctantly, and dashed back to Elly, who grabbed her with both hands and tucked her close.
'Are you all right?' Cooper said, bending down to scoop up the gun.
'Yes.' Elly took a deep breath. 'I'm okay.'
Joe was on the ground, moaning. Cooper yanked off Benny's ski mask and discovered that the disguise had been an apt one. The guy actually did resemble a moon-rat.
'Now, why don't you tell me exactly how you came to be acquainted with the deceased,' Cooper said.
Benny's faced scrunched up in confusion. 'Huh?'
'What was your connection to the florist?'
'I'm not tellin' you nothin',' Benny stated.
'Let me put it this way,' Cooper said. 'You can talk to me, or you can talk to Mercer Wyatt.'
Benny looked horrified. 'Hey, all we did was a little off-the-books work for Griggs. This isn't Guild business.'
'It is now,' Cooper said quietly. 'Talk to me, Benny.'
'Me and Joe are a team,' Benny whined. 'Freelance. The florist hired us to take him down into the catacombs. Paid us with chant. We knew he was making the stuff, but we never found his stash, y'know? Anyhow, it was a good deal. We resold the chant and turned a nice profit. But this afternoon, word went around that Griggs was dead.'
'So you and Joe conducted another search in hopes of finding his supply of the drug?'
'Figured it was worth a shot,' Benny muttered. 'But we couldn't find the drugs or the money. There's a rumor going around that the florist had started working with someone else to sell the chant. We decided to hang around and keep watch tonight to see if anyone showed up. When you went inside, we thought maybe you were the new partner. That's all, man, you gotta believe me.'
'Oddly enough, I do, Benny.'
The small green ghost Cooper had summoned floated up behind Benny and touched him lightly on the back of his head.
Benny crumpled to the ground, unconscious.
Cooper maneuvered the ghost toward Joe. Joe moaned one last time and passed out.
'Now what?' Elly asked.
'This is Mercer Wyatt's town. We'll turn these two over to his people for questioning.'
Elly cleared her throat. 'I think I mentioned that it is not considered appropriate to refer to Cadence as Mercer Wyatt's town.'
'I'll try to remember that the next time the subject arises.'
Chapter 29
THEY WAITED IN THE ALLEY UNTIL THE LONG, DARK CAR arrived. Two hunters dressed in khaki and leather got out and loaded Benny and Joe into the backseat.
One of the pair nodded respectfully toward Cooper.
'Mr. Wyatt says to keep in touch,' he said.
'I'll do that,' Cooper said.
Elly was still feeling shaky from the aftereffects of adrenaline when she unlocked the back door of her shop a short time later.
Cooper followed her into the fragrant back room and turned to rez the lock. 'You sure you're okay?'
'Yes.' She headed toward the stairs with Rose and the Jordan herbal. 'But I could use a nice hot cup of Harmonic balm tea.'
'I was thinking of something a little stronger, personally.'
'All I've got is some leftover white wine.'
'Not exactly a real Guild boss drink, but a Guild boss is nothing if not adaptable. I'll take it. Remind me to pick up a bottle of First Generation whiskey tomorrow, though.'
He was certainly making himself at home, she mused. She paused halfway up the stairs and turned to study
