Aztlan: The Courts of Heaven Read Online Free PDF

by an artist whose name escaped me. “Please tell me.”
    “How well do you know Coyotl?” I asked.
    He held out his pudgy hands, palms up. “I’m his agent, for the gods’ sakes.”
    “That’s not what I asked.”
    Just then, a woman walked into the room. She was beautiful in a girlish way, with long, dark lashes, a long, graceful neck, and long, shapely legs.
    But there was nothing girlish about her demeanor. She had that look I’d seen before in women who worked in the Merchant City—a look that said, “Beans first, everything else second.”
    “Investigator Colhua,” said Oxhoco, “this is Calli Ollin. She’s working with me for a little while, getting to know the ball court business.”
    I extended my hand to the woman. Her hand was slim but her grip was firm—a lot firmer, in fact, than Oxhoco’s had been.
    “A pleasure to meet you,” she said, her voice soft yet rough around the edges.
    “Same here,” I said.
    “I asked Ollin to join us,” said Oxhoco. “She’s been working with Coyotl pretty closely over the last half-cycle or so. I thought she might be of some value to your Investigation.”
    I nodded. “Thanks.” Then I asked Oxhoco the same question I’d asked him before: “How well do you know Coyotl?”
    This time he said, “Very well. He’s like a son to me.”
    “They’re not just business associates,” Ollin interjected. “Coyotl depends on Oxhoco for everything.”
    “What do we mean,” I asked, “by everything?”
    “ Everything ,” said Oxhoco. “I picked out his apartment in Tonatiuh. I bought him his clothes. I even introduced him to his friends. He doesn’t trust most people, and for good reason: Most of them want something from him. I make sure he’s surrounded by people he can trust.”
    “Including women?” I asked.
    The agent’s eyes narrowed. “What are you suggesting, Investigator? That I line up temple women for him?”
    “Temple women” was an old-fashioned way of saying “prostitutes.”
    “Do you?” I asked.
    “You don’t know Coyotl,” said Ollin, interrupting a second time. ”He doesn’t have to pay for women. They’re drawn to him the way moths are drawn to a flame.”
    I knew how that went. After all, I had played in the Sun League myself. But I had never been as big a star as Coyotl.
    “Does he have any enemies?” I asked.
    “Not one,” said Oxhoco. “People love him.”
    “ Everyone has enemies,” I said.
    “Not Coyotl,” he insisted. “Even players on other teams admire him.”
    I couldn’t tell if he believed what he was saying or if it was just his agent’s brain working overtime.
    “All right,” I said, “what about his finances? To your knowledge, did he owe anybody beans?” I had already asked the question of Ichtaca and Xochipilli, but Oxhoco was in a better position to answer it than anyone else.
    “No,” he said, without a moment’s hesitation. “And before you ask, no one owed him any either. I made sure of it. I said if people take offense when you tell them no, you’re better off without them.”
    Good for you, I thought.
    “Did he have any health problems?” I asked. It was another question that I had asked before. But then, some ailments weren’t obvious even in the ball court.
    “Not one,” said the agent. “Any one of us would be happy to be as healthy as he is.”
    Agent’s hyperbole? It was hard to tell. As Coyotl’s representative, Oxhoco had every reason to present his client as the picture of health.
    I nodded. “That’s it for now. If anything else occurs to me, I’ll give you a buzz.”
    “I’ll be here,” Oxhoco assured me. He turned to Ollin. “Why don’t you show our guest to the door?”
    “Of course,” she said. She gestured. “This way.”
    I watched her unfold herself from her chair. It was by far not the most unpleasant thing I had done that day, or even that cycle. Following her down the hall was equally far from unpleasant.
    There was no question that Ollin was