Tomorrow, the Killing by Polansky Daniel

Author:Polansky, Daniel [Polansky, Daniel]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Hachette Littlehampton
Published: 2012-10-11T06:00:00+00:00

27

I slept poorly.

The dinner trade had been sparse and languid, a thin squad of losers out-drinking the coin in their purses. Violent though – twice Adolphus had been forced to leave his perch behind the bar and express to our patrons the necessity of tranquility in fashion both sanguinary and ironic. At the end of the night Adeline had soaked blood out of her mop. Hadn’t been the first time, wouldn’t be the last.

I’d spent the evening alternating shots of liquor and snorts of breath, and trying to convince myself that the death of Iomhair Gilchrist wouldn’t lead directly to my own. It had been dark in the alleyway – too dark, I hoped, to make out faces. The fact that the bowman had mistaken his own for me was proof enough of that. If he had recognized me, though, the whole thing was fucked sideways. Pretories less than half-trusted me as it was – if he heard I’d been freelancing he’d put me down, no sense leaving me around to make trouble. It would be the smart move and, despite his missteps, I didn’t think Joachim a fool.

Practically speaking, of course, it didn’t matter. I was in it to the hilt. That’s the thing about sprinting downhill – you run it out or you tumble.

Around one o’clock I’d climbed up to the roof, angled my feet off the balcony and rolled a spliff. Somewhere out in the darkness men were dying because of me. They weren’t very good men, I supposed – the thugs and bully-boys Artur Giroie the Second had hired to watch his shipment of poison. But then I wasn’t a very good man either, and perhaps shouldn’t be so casual with the lives of my confederates in immorality.

It was a long time before I’d gone to bed, and as I mentioned, I hadn’t had much success once I’d gotten there.

My morning schedule was light. Apparently Wren’s was as well, because I’d been up for a solid hour before he made an appearance, and I’m no early riser.

He came in finally from the back, yawning and shirtless, thin as gristle, skin stretched over bone. ‘Anything left for me?’

I forked a last morsel of egg into my mouth. ‘You’re a resourceful child. I’m confident you’ll find something.’

He scowled unhappily, then took a seat at my table.

I pulled out the armband Mazzie had given me and passed it over to him. ‘Wear this when you go to your appointment – make sure the local element knows you’ve been marked.’

Wren eyed it with discomfort bordering on disgust, like I’d dropped a turd onto the table. Then he stuffed it into his back pocket and muttered something.

‘What was that?’

‘I don’t see the point.’

‘I thought I clarified it during our last conversation.’

‘I don’t need any help. I can figure out what I need to on my own.’

‘You can’t, but that wasn’t what I meant. If you don’t go see Mazzie tomorrow I’m going to hang you out the window by your fucking ankles.

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