'All right,' said Fisher. 'Let's get him.'
'Hold your horses,' said Hawk. 'We want whoever he's here to meet as well, not
just him. Let's give him a minute, and see what happens.'
One of the bolder whores advanced aggressively towards the spy. He smiled at her
and said something that made her laugh, and she turned away. He can't just stand
around much longer, thought Hawk. That would be bound to attract attention. So
what the hell's he waiting for? Even as the thought crossed Hawk's mind, the spy
turned suddenly and walked over to a building on the opposite side of the
street. He produced a key, unlocked the door and slipped quickly inside, pulling
the door shut behind him. Hawk counted ten slowly to himself and then stepped
out of the alley, Fisher at his side. The house the spy had gone into looked
just like all the others on the street.
'I'll take the front,' said Hawk. 'You cover the back, in case he tries to make
a run for it.'
'How come I always have to cover the back?' said Fisher. 'I always end up in
someone's back yard, trying to fight my way through three weeks' accumulated
garbage.'
'All right. You take the front and I'll cover the back.'
'Oh, no; it's too late now. You should have thought of it without me having to
tell you.'
Hawk gave her an exasperated look, but she was already heading for the narrow
alley at the side of the building. Sometimes you just couldn't talk to Fisher.
Hawk turned his attention back to the house's front door as it loomed up before
him. A faded sign hanging above the door gave the name of the place as mistress
lucy's establishment. The sign boasted a portrait of the lady herself, which
suggested she'd looked pretty faded even when the sign was new. Hawk casually
tried the handle. It turned easily in his grasp, but the door wouldn't open.
Locked. Surprise, surprise. Maybe he should have let Fisher have the front door
after all. She was a lot better at picking locks than he.
On the other hand… When in doubt, be direct.
He knocked politely on the door, and waited. There was a pause and then the door
swung open, and a hand shot out and fastened on his arm. Hawk jumped in spite of
himself, and his hand started towards his axe before he realized the person
before him was very definitely not the spy Fenris. Instead, Hawk found himself
facing a large, heavy-set woman wrapped in gaudy robes, with a wild frizz of
dark curly hair and so much makeup it was almost impossible to make out her
features. Her smile was a wide scarlet gash and her eyes were bright and
piercing. Her shoulders were as wide as a docker's, and she had arms to match.
The hand on his arm closed fiercely, and he winced.
'I'm glad you're here,' said the woman earnestly. 'We've been waiting for you.'
Hawk looked at her blankly. 'You have?'
'Of course. But we must hurry. The spirits are restless tonight.'
Hawk wondered if things might become a little clearer if he went away and came
back again later. Like maybe next year.
'Spirits,' he said, carefully.
The woman looked at him sharply. 'You are here for the sitting, aren't you?'
'I don't think so,' said Hawk.
The woman let go of his arm as though he'd just made an indecent proposal, drew
herself up to her full five-foot-nine, and fixed him with a steely glare. 'Do I
understand that you are not Jonathan DeQuincey, husband of the late and much
lamented Dorothy DeQuincey?'
'Yes,' said Hawk. That much he was sure of.
'Then if you have not come to see me in my capacity as Madam Zara, Spirit Guide
and Pathway to the Great Beyond, why are you here?'
'You mean you're a spiritualist?' said Hawk, the light slowly dawning. 'A
medium?'
'Not just a medium, young man; the foremost practitioner of the Art in all
Haven.'
'Then why are you based here, instead of on the Street of Gods?' asked Hawk
innocently.
Madam Zara sniffed haughtily. 'Certain closed minds on the Council refuse to
accept spiritualists as genuine wonderworkers. They dare to accuse us of being
fakes and frauds. We, of course, know different. It's all part of a conspiracy
by the established religions to prevent us taking our rightful place on the
Street of Gods. Now, what do you want? I can't stand around here chatting with
you; the Great Beyond calls… and I have customers waiting.'
'I'm looking for the gentleman who just came in here,' said Hawk. 'Tall, thin,
wears a green cravat. I have a message for him.'
'Oh, him.' Madam Zara turned up her nose regally. 'Upstairs, second on the left.
And you can tell the young 'gentleman' his rent's due.'
She turned her back on Hawk in a swirl of billowing robes, and marched off down
the narrow hall. Hawk stepped inside and shut the door quietly behind him. By
the time he turned back, Madam Zara had disappeared, presumably to rejoin her
clients, and the hall was empty. A single lamp shed a dirty yellow glow over a
row of coats and cloaks on the left-hand wall and a tattily carpeted stairway
that led up to the next floor. Hawk took a small wooden wedge from his pocket
and jammed it firmly under the front door. That should slow Fenris down if he
made a run for it. Hawk carried lots of useful things in his pockets. He
believed in being prepared.
He drew his axe. The odds were that the spy Fenris was alone with his contact.
He wouldn't want to risk unnecessary witnesses. So, two-to-one odds. Hawk
grinned, and hefted his axe. No problem. Things were looking up. If he and
Fisher could bring in both the spy and his contact alive and ready for
questioning, then maybe he and Fisher could finally get transferred out of the
Northside permanently…
He padded silently forward, and made his way slowly up the stairs. With any
luck, even if the spy had heard him at the door, he'd just assume Hawk was
another of Madam Zara's clients. Which should give Hawk the advantage of
surprise if it came to a fight. Hawk firmly believed in making use of every
possible advantage when it came to a fight. He ascended the stairs slowly,
checking each step first to see if it was likely to creak. He had a lot of
experience when it came to sneaking around houses, and he knew how far a sudden
sound could carry on the quiet.
He reached the landing without incident and padded silently over to the second
door on the left. Light shone around the doorframe. He put his ear to the wood,
and smiled as he heard a voice raised loudly in argument. He stepped back,
hefted his axe once, and braced himself to kick in the door. At which point the
door swung open, revealing the spy Fenris standing in the doorway with a
startled expression. For a moment he and Hawk just stood there, staring at each
