Goblin Precinct (Dragon Precinct) (15 page)

Then Broadsword cried out, “He killed Gavin!” showing that he had a facility for the obvious.

Longsword One then said the words Hawk had really been hoping he wouldn’t say: “Get him!”

What followed was a mass of arms and legs and blades and pain as Hawk found himself knocked to the floor and screaming with pain as fists collided with his face and against his body. The latter didn’t hurt so much thanks to his armor.

But all three were on top of him. He raised his arms to protect his face, but fists and booted feet collided with him constantly.

“Hold him down!”

Four hands pinned his shoulders to the floor. Hawk struggled, pushing against the restraint and failing to move.

Then he felt something cold inside his chest. Only after that did he notice that Broadsword had impaled him in the chest.

Oddly, while he ached from all the blows he’d just taken, being stabbed in the chest with a large sword
didn’t
hurt. He really thought it should have.

“
Hawk
!”

That was Dru’s voice, although Hawk couldn’t see him to verify it. He did see Broadsword—who, he supposed, would need a new nickname—get clobbered by someone wearing leather armor with a dragon emblem on the chest. And no one was pinning down his shoulders anymore.

And then there was Dru, kneeling by his side. “Oh shit, Hawk, what the hell happened?”

“Boss—” Hawk then coughed, the salty taste of blood accompanying the cough.

“Don’t try to talk.” He looked up. “Get a healer over here!
Move
!”

Hawk grabbed Dru’s chest, clearing his throat, trying to talk past the blood. “Gavin’s—boss—killed him. Workin’ with—Cap’n Bridgers—
Amarilla
.”

“Stop tryin’a talk, dammit, you need to save your strength.”

“Dunno why—why I killed—Gavin.”

“It’s okay, partner, really. You had your reasons. Don’t worry about it. We’ll get a healer down here and you’ll be
fine
, you hear me?”

Hawk could no longer see Dru, only knew he was still there from the sound of his voice and his own hand on his partner’s chest.

“Talk to me!” Dru cried.

“I—” Just that one syllable prompted another coughing fit, and now Hawk’s mouth filled with blood, so much so that he feared he would drown in it. A roaring started in his ears that made Dru’s voice recede into the background.

“C’mon, Hawk, stay with me. Where’s that damned healer?”

“Tell—tell—Dad—I—”

But Hawk couldn’t make the words come out. He wanted Dru to tell his father that he loved him, and he forgave him for all the years of living off Hawk and pretending to be sick.

Then he couldn’t hear anything at all, besides that awful roaring in his ears. The pain was gone, too, from the beating.

His last thought was regret that he never did figure out what to name the damn boat.

FOURTEEN

THE RAID ON KEMPOG’S PLACE OF BUSINESS WAS HELD FIRST THING IN the morning. The role that Bliss played in lothSerra’s death, as well as that of Iaian’s murder on Orphan’s Way, meant that Kempog was a person of interest in at least two cases.

Torin wasn’t too keen on the notion of referring to lothSerra’s death as a case, but they did have paperwork on it that would be filed with Ep, the imp who kept all their case files in inter- dimensional storage. Still, suicides and accidental deaths—and lothSerra was one or the other, Torin was sure of it—did not fall within the Castle Guard’s purview. It only mattered because of the elf’s status.

However, Iaian’s main witness mentioned a dwarf named Urgoth, and two of Goblin’s guards—Allard and Brenn— confirmed that Kempog didn’t take a shit without Urgoth offering him a wipe. Kempog was walking around with a lot more coin, Urgoth was connected to the sale of Bliss, and the sale of Bliss was what led to Elko’s death. So even if it didn’t matter to his and Danthres’s not-really-a-case, it did matter to Iaian.

So rather than report to the castle, Torin and Danthres—the latter having spent the night with the former, as they were wont to do on occasion—together went to Goblin, where they met Iaian and Grovis, along with a contingent of guards with goblin emblems. With Dru and Hawk off on their stakeout of the only Cliff’s End Bank branches not to be robbed yesterday, there was no formal roll call and morning rundown, which Torin knew had to be driving Sergeant Jonas mad.

“Why so many for this raid, again?” Danthres asked.

Grovis said, “If this Kempog fellow is turning into a bigger fish in the criminal pond, he might have some protection.”

“He isn’t a criminal,” Torin said impatiently, “he’s a flunky who’s gotten above himself. And while he’s probably connected to Elko and possibly connected to lothSerra—”

“And also connected to the robberies of Daddy’s bank!” Grovis put in. “Boneen
did
say that the thieves were high on Bliss, after all.”

“Half of Goblin’s high on Bliss. That doesn’t prove that Kempog did anything,” Torin said stubbornly.

“We still need to question him,” Grovis said.

Danthres sighed. “Much as it pains me to agree with Grovis, he’s right. In fact, he’s right twice over. If he’s suddenly throwing gold around, he’s painting a target on his face. If he’s smart, he’s hired people to protect him.”

Iaian shook his head. “I dunno, Danthres, I’ve met Kempog. That’s a
big
‘if.’ That shitbrain doesn’t have the smarts that Wiate gave a gnat.”

“Which begs the question,” Torin said thoughtfully, as this hadn’t occurred to him until just now, “how did he find himself a wizard to create unlicensed magic?”

“Only one way to find out.” Danthres let loose with her most unpleasant smile.

That fell fairly quickly when Fanthral entered Goblin Precinct’s front door.

“What’s
he
doing here?”

Torin grinned. “Only one way to find out.”

“Very funny.”

The elf approached the four detectives. “I’m pleased that I’m not late. I only learned of this raid from your sergeant this morning, and I got down here as fast as I could.”

Danthres regarded Torin. “Remind me to kill Jonas.”

“Don’t forget to kill Jonas.”

Rolling her eyes, Danthres said, “Thank you
ever
so much. Who fed you wit this morning?”

“Punch him in the stomach, maybe he’ll throw it back up.” Iaian smirked as he headed toward the exit. “C’mon, let’s get this over with.”

Torin followed Iaian, with Danthres and Fanthral trailing after them. Grovis and the five guards from Goblin that Sergeant Markon had assigned followed along as well.

One of those guards, Kellan, walked alongside Torin. “I’m glad I got to come along.”

Behind him, Danthres spoke before Torin could. “Why? I can guarantee that very little of interest will happen except that maybe we’ll get to beat up whichever thugs Kempog has hired to protect his precious pill.”

“I just like having a chance to help you all out. When Captain Osric transferred me to Goblin, he said this was the next step to joining you guys.”

Again Danthres interrupted before Torin could speak. “Osric said he’ll make
you
a detective?”

“When there’s an opening, yes.”

Danthres glanced at Grovis. “Well, they will make just about
anyone
a detective, so I suppose you’ll do. Better you than Manfred, in any event.” With that, Danthres used her long legs to stride ahead.

Kellan asked Torin, “I thought she and Manfred were . . .” He trailed off.

Torin shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine, and I spent last night in her bed.” Manfred, a guard currently assigned to Unicorn, had expressed an attraction for Danthres, which was rare indeed. They had spent some off-duty time together, but Danthres had refused to speak of it.

As nine people in the distinctive leather armor of the Castle Guard, four of whom were wearing the earth-colored cloaks that indicated the rank of lieutenant, strode down Old Port Way, accompanied by a fierce looking elf in armor of his own, people quickly moved out of their path. Torin saw fear in the eyes of many, defiance in the eyes of others. Whatever the initial response to their approach, it always modulated to relief when they passed by. Nobody wanted to be the target of whatever it was that contrived to get nine guards together.

“Why is this called Old Port Way anyhow?” Grovis asked. “It isn’t anywhere near the port.”

“It used to be,” Iaian said in the long-suffering tone he often used with his partner, “back before they built the new port where the docks are now. But the end of this road leads to a natural port that they used to use before the city-state got all built up and they needed something bigger. This used to be the path that led to it.”

“Huh. I had no idea.”

Iaian sighed. “Yeah, can’t imagine why you’d have any idea that Old Port Way was the way to the old port.”

“I see I’m not the only one who swallowed wit,” Torin said to Iaian with a smirk.

“Yeah. This is the place,” Iaian added as they came to a clapboard house with a small porch.

There were two very large young men sitting on that porch, and they got up as soon as they saw the guards approaching. Iaian and Grovis had taken point, since it was more about their case than the one Torin and Danthres were working.

One of them, the one with the mole on his cheek, said, “You can’t come in here.”

“Actually, we really can,” Iaian said.

Grovis added, “We are the Cliff’s End Castle Guard, here on the business of the Lord and Lady, and we may go as we please.”

“I dunno ‘bout that,” said the other one, who had a scar on his forehead, “but Kempog says we can’t let nobody inside, an’ if anyone tried to get in that he don’t want in, we was to kill ’em.”

The one with the mole added, “An’ Kempog definitely don’t want no Swords nohow.”

“All right,” Danthres muttered to Torin and the guards, “let’s get ready to take these two out before—”

Kellan stepped forward. “Hang on, I know these two.”

Danthres stared at him as if he were mad. “From where, the All Brawn No Brains Club?”

“No, from the old neighborhood. Their ma’s old Mags Barstow. She used to live next door.” Kellan stepped forward past Iaian and Grovis. “Walt, is that you?”

The one with the scar squinted. “Kelly? Shit, what
you
doin’ here?”

Danthres looked at Torin and mouthed the word
Kelly
? Torin just shrugged.

“I’m in the Castle Guard now. Look, we need to talk to Kempog.”

Walt shook his head very fast. “No. Nuh-uh. No way, Kelly, can’t do it. Kempog’s real partic’lar ’bout who he sees.”

“Yeah, well, the Guard’s particular about who they talk to, also. And we’re kinda allowed to talk to whoever we want.”

“Look, Kelly, I’m sorry, but it just ain’t gonna happen.”

“I’ll tell you what
is
gonna happen.” Kellan leaned in and stage-whispered to Walt. The other one, with the mole, he leaned over to hear what Kellan was saying, too. “There’s nine of us here. Any of us get hurt, the whole rest of Goblin’s gonna come crashing down on this place. But I don’t think we
are
gonna get hurt. Lemme guess, Kempog hired you and Borak here, and I’m bettin’ that he also got Lam and Zeek and Efram and the twins.”

Borak shook his head. “Not Efram. He done went an’ died on account’a he fell in the Garamin and drowned-like.”

Kellan put a look of sympathy on his face. “Oh, I’m real sorry, Borak. Efram was a good kid.”

“But yeah,” Walt said, “we all here.”

“So that’s, what, six of you? There’s nine of us. And I know Mags grows ’em big, but I still don’t think that you boys’ll come out on top of that one. And even if you do, eventually, you’ll just wind up in the hole. What’s Mags gonna say when that happens, huh?”

Borak looked at Walt. Walt looked at Borak. Torin could see them trying desperately to form a thought process and mostly failing.

“Ma wouldn’t get mad at us,” Borak finally said.

Kellan gave Borak a dubious expression. “C’mon, Borak, I went to the same spring and summer dinners you did, and what did old Mags always say?”

Speaking in frighteningly perfect unison, Borak and Walt both said, “‘If you get put in the hole, don’t come cryin’ to me, ’cause I ain’t gonna be your ma no more.’”

Pointing at them, Kellan said, “Exactly! Now if you don’t let us in to talk to Kempog, we’re gonna have to put
all six
of you in the hole. And then, poor old Mags ain’t gonna have
any
kids left. Do you wanna do that to her?”

The two behemoths shuffled back and forth on their huge feet. Torin watched the tableau with intense curiosity. If they could get in without any violence or having to arrest anyone, it would be a significant coup for them. Arrests would just mean more paperwork. Plus, if the whole family was like these two, they might not
fit
in the average cell in the hole.