Motherlode Read Online Free PDF Page A

face seemed to turn a shade paler. He realized he was probably giving her what Krysty called his wolf smile.
    “We’d rather take other people by surprise than the opposite, ma’am,” he said.
    He felt strong hands grip him by the shoulders from behind. Recognizing Krysty’s touch at first contact, he relaxed slightly and sat back in his own chair. She was letting him know that his tact was slipping, in her own very tactful way.
    “Do I take it that you have trouble of your own you’d like help resolving, Dark Lady?” Krysty said.
    “I see no reason to be coy about it,” the woman said. “Yes. A situation has come up, and you look to be just the people to help me solve it.”
    Krysty laughed. “I’m going to take that as a compliment.”
    “Oh, yes.”
    Ryan tried to keep his expression stone-like, but he couldn’t help noticing that the Dark Lady had let her cool reserve slip slightly out of place. Perhaps she wasn’t as in control of the situation as she liked to pretend. Or mebbe not so much in control of herself.
    “I must tell you I don’t much like violence,” Dark Lady said.
    “We don’t, either,” Mildred replied. “But we’re very, very good at it.”
    Dark Lady looked at her as she inhaled on her cigarette holder. The motion made her already rather hollow cheeks look positively gaunt.
    She nodded. Just a touch abruptly, as if she had come to whatever decision she had visibly just made against her own better judgment.
    “I have recently suffered a theft,” she said. “I would like to hire you to recover the...item.”
    “What exactly is this item?” J.B. asked.
    “It’s a metal box, perhaps fourteen inches wide by ten inches deep and six inches high.” As she spoke, she gestured with her hands to frame the dimensions.
    “And the contents of the box, Madam?” Doc asked.
    “Let’s say you have no need to know that,” she said.
    Then she smiled. It was a surprisingly engaging, open-mouthed smile. But she still was double-careful to keep her teeth covered.
    “And don’t call me madam,” she added.
    Ryan emitted a soft grunt. So she actually had a sense of humor.
    “Are you sure you can’t tell us anything about the contents of this box?” Ryan asked. “Seems like it could be important.”
    “Needless to say, it’s an item of some value,” Dark Lady said, waving her cigarette holder a little too carelessly to be credible.
    “But it could be important for us to have at least some idea what the box contains, Dark Lady,” Krysty said. “We want to be sure we bring back the right thing.”
    “Oh, you’ll know,” Dark Lady said. “And if you do perchance bring back the wrong item, I will pay an added fee for you to try again. Within reason, of course.”
    “Yeah,” Mikey grunted. “Nothing like trusting a bunch of random coldhearts from the outlands.”
    “For once I am compelled to agree with my brother,” Bob said. “I hate that feeling. It’s not a double-smart call, Dark Lady.”
    “About that fee,” Ryan said.
    They dickered. For all the little-girl-lost Ryan had thought to glimpse when her cool façade slipped, the gaudy proprietor proved hard as a blaster barrel when it came time to bargain. Then again, so was Ryan Cawdor. They were down to their last supplies and needed the jack from the Dark Lady. So the companions’ services didn’t come cheap. And in the end, Dark Lady was rather generous.
    “There is one stipulation,” she said, leaning back in her chair blowing smoke out her fine and narrow nose. “There must be no chilling. Indeed, I insist that violence be kept to the absolute minimum.”
    “We may find our opposition forces our hand,” Doc said.
    “Yeah,” Ryan said. “You aren’t paying us enough to wind up staring at the stars.”
    “I think what our new employer is saying,” Krysty said sweetly, “is that the people she suspects of stealing her...property are not of a violent character.”
    Dark Lady nodded. “That’s right, Ms.