Magic Shifts
Page 21
“Leroy,” Crystal said, tossing back her bleached blond hair. “Mac and Leroy.”
The names didn’t sound familiar. Curran quietly lowered the table back to Earth.
“Yeah, Leroy,” Charlie said. “I saw them getting into it this morning. They were going to do a job in Chamblee on Chamblee Dunwoody Road.”
I was pretty sure Chamblee used to be in Heyward’s zone.
“The cat lady?” a short skinny guy in a red sweater asked. “The one who called before?”
“Yeah,” Charlie said. “She’s got something with wings trying to eat her cats on Chamblee Dunwoody Road.”
That’s right, tell me more.
“Again?” Crystal asked. “Eduardo already went out there on Sunday. He said this lady had a giant tick eating her cats.”
“This was no tick,” Charlie said. “She said it flew. Ticks don’t fly.”
“Well, whatever it was,” Crystal said, “I know he killed it on Sunday, because he came back here to get paid, and then she called again on Monday and he went out there again. That’s the last I saw him.”
It was a repeat job. The client called the Guild the first time on Sunday about a tick, and Eduardo went out and took care of it. Then she called again, on Monday, probably because the problem recurred. He went out to that call and disappeared. Then the client called for the third time, today, which meant that either the creature bothering her had a large family or that Eduardo never made it to her job. But he did finish the Sunday job, which meant there would be a record of it.
“Did this lady say Eduardo showed up on Monday?” I asked.
Charlie shook his head. “She was at work, so she didn’t know if he showed up. But she was really heated it wasn’t taken care of.”
“When did Mac and Leroy leave?” I asked.
“Half an hour ago,” Charlie said.
We’d just missed them.
“Are they poaching in Eduardo’s territory?” I asked.
Crystal spread her arms. “He ain’t here to call them out on it, is he?”
“They’ve got a problem with him?” Curran asked.
Charlie shrugged. “They’ve got a problem with everyone. Ortego’s got good territory. They tried muscling in on him and he beat their asses for them.”
“He wasn’t worried about it,” Crystal said.
“You knew him well, huh?” I asked.
“She talked to him every time he came here,” Charlie said.
Crystal shot him a dirty look.
“Don’t stare at me.” He pointed at us. “They have issues with you. They have no issues with me. Don’t drag the rest of us in with your sorry ass.”
“I tried to know him well, if you catch my meaning.” Crystal made a sour face. “Apparently he’s one of those ‘got a girlfriend’ types. She was over here yesterday. Nothing special. And she’s a cripple.”
Oh, you sad, pathetic excuse for a human being. My fist itched. I really wanted to punch Crystal in the face.
“So you saw a young one-armed woman desperately looking for her guy. You knew Leroy and Mac took her car and you didn’t say anything. None of you assholes told her or offered to give her a ride back home?” I could barely keep a growl out of my voice. “You must’ve all had important shit to do like sitting here, getting drunk, and spitting on the floor.”
Nobody looked me in the eye.
“What are you, the morality police?” an older drunken-looking merc asked.
“Yeah, I am, Chug. Remember that time your leg was broken and Jim and I came to get you out of the hole under a collapsed building?”
“So what?”
“Next time you’re in trouble, don’t call me.”
“I’ll survive,” he said.
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.” I jumped off the table and headed for the Clerk’s desk. We needed job logs.
“Where are we going?” Curran asked quietly.
“To get the logbook. When a job is completed, it’s written into the logbook before the payment is authorized. According to those clowns, Eduardo had already gone to do a job at that address. On Sunday this lady called about a giant tick, and he went out and killed it, and he got paid. The logbook should have a record of it.”
The problem he had gone out to fix on Monday was still active, because the client had called the Guild again about it this morning and the car-stealing rednecks took the job. Sometimes that happened—you killed some creature but didn’t realize it wasn’t alone, so you had to go out the second time and complete the job. We had to talk to the client. Mac and Leroy would’ve taken the gig ticket with her address with them, so the logs were our best bet.
The names didn’t sound familiar. Curran quietly lowered the table back to Earth.
“Yeah, Leroy,” Charlie said. “I saw them getting into it this morning. They were going to do a job in Chamblee on Chamblee Dunwoody Road.”
I was pretty sure Chamblee used to be in Heyward’s zone.
“The cat lady?” a short skinny guy in a red sweater asked. “The one who called before?”
“Yeah,” Charlie said. “She’s got something with wings trying to eat her cats on Chamblee Dunwoody Road.”
That’s right, tell me more.
“Again?” Crystal asked. “Eduardo already went out there on Sunday. He said this lady had a giant tick eating her cats.”
“This was no tick,” Charlie said. “She said it flew. Ticks don’t fly.”
“Well, whatever it was,” Crystal said, “I know he killed it on Sunday, because he came back here to get paid, and then she called again on Monday and he went out there again. That’s the last I saw him.”
It was a repeat job. The client called the Guild the first time on Sunday about a tick, and Eduardo went out and took care of it. Then she called again, on Monday, probably because the problem recurred. He went out to that call and disappeared. Then the client called for the third time, today, which meant that either the creature bothering her had a large family or that Eduardo never made it to her job. But he did finish the Sunday job, which meant there would be a record of it.
“Did this lady say Eduardo showed up on Monday?” I asked.
Charlie shook his head. “She was at work, so she didn’t know if he showed up. But she was really heated it wasn’t taken care of.”
“When did Mac and Leroy leave?” I asked.
“Half an hour ago,” Charlie said.
We’d just missed them.
“Are they poaching in Eduardo’s territory?” I asked.
Crystal spread her arms. “He ain’t here to call them out on it, is he?”
“They’ve got a problem with him?” Curran asked.
Charlie shrugged. “They’ve got a problem with everyone. Ortego’s got good territory. They tried muscling in on him and he beat their asses for them.”
“He wasn’t worried about it,” Crystal said.
“You knew him well, huh?” I asked.
“She talked to him every time he came here,” Charlie said.
Crystal shot him a dirty look.
“Don’t stare at me.” He pointed at us. “They have issues with you. They have no issues with me. Don’t drag the rest of us in with your sorry ass.”
“I tried to know him well, if you catch my meaning.” Crystal made a sour face. “Apparently he’s one of those ‘got a girlfriend’ types. She was over here yesterday. Nothing special. And she’s a cripple.”
Oh, you sad, pathetic excuse for a human being. My fist itched. I really wanted to punch Crystal in the face.
“So you saw a young one-armed woman desperately looking for her guy. You knew Leroy and Mac took her car and you didn’t say anything. None of you assholes told her or offered to give her a ride back home?” I could barely keep a growl out of my voice. “You must’ve all had important shit to do like sitting here, getting drunk, and spitting on the floor.”
Nobody looked me in the eye.
“What are you, the morality police?” an older drunken-looking merc asked.
“Yeah, I am, Chug. Remember that time your leg was broken and Jim and I came to get you out of the hole under a collapsed building?”
“So what?”
“Next time you’re in trouble, don’t call me.”
“I’ll survive,” he said.
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.” I jumped off the table and headed for the Clerk’s desk. We needed job logs.
“Where are we going?” Curran asked quietly.
“To get the logbook. When a job is completed, it’s written into the logbook before the payment is authorized. According to those clowns, Eduardo had already gone to do a job at that address. On Sunday this lady called about a giant tick, and he went out and killed it, and he got paid. The logbook should have a record of it.”
The problem he had gone out to fix on Monday was still active, because the client had called the Guild again about it this morning and the car-stealing rednecks took the job. Sometimes that happened—you killed some creature but didn’t realize it wasn’t alone, so you had to go out the second time and complete the job. We had to talk to the client. Mac and Leroy would’ve taken the gig ticket with her address with them, so the logs were our best bet.
