The Darkness of God: Book Three of the Shadow Warrior Trilogy Read Online Free PDF

and antiques, and the aroma of money hung close. Wolfe followed, saying little. Part of him was remembering another woman, named Lil, in another hotel on another world; the rest of him was concentrating on — something else.
    “You know,” she said, “I almost think you’re trying to seduce — I mean, convert me away from what I believe in. There is no rationale for this luxury … but it certainly feels nice.”
    Wolfe didn’t answer. He had his eyes closed, facing one of the enormous windows that looked out over the smoky industrial city of Prendergast, Rogan’s World’s capital, toward the hills that ringed the port.
    “Is something the matter?” she asked.
    Wolfe’s eyes opened.
    “No. I was just trying to see if anybody’s watching or listening.”
    “Lucian, Max, and I all checked for bugs,” she said. “We’re
all
very well trained.”
    “In another life,” Joshua said, “I wore both belt and suspenders.”
    “What are suspenders?”
    “Something to keep the chicken from crossing the road. Never mind. We’re clean as far as I can tell.”
    Kristin turned away and appeared intent on the view.
    “Master Speaker Athelstan told us that everything depends on finding this person,” she said carefully. “I took that to mean our charade must be as perfect as possible.”
    Wolfe waited.
    “So if I’m supposed to be your — your popsy, then, or whatever you call it, well, then, we should …” She broke off, furiously coloring.
    “You blush too easily,” Wolfe said gently, not letting himself smile. “But don’t worry about it. You sleep anywhere you want to. If anybody happens to insert a spy-beam without me noticing, well, we had a fight and you’re miffed. All right?”
    Kristin nodded, still not looking at Joshua.
    “Which brings up a question,” Wolfe said. “How come the twenty-four-hour-a-day watch isn’t being kept? Did somebody decide I’m telling the truth and I’m not going to cut and run from you?”
    “I can’t answer that,” Kristin said. “But there have been additional measures taken that aren’t quite so obvious. And don’t think they’re trusting you any more than before.”
    “They, eh? Not us.”
    “What?”
    “Never mind. So we’re down, we made a big splash, yacht and all, and we’re in place as fools with money.”
    • • •
    “Rogan’s World,” mused Joshua. He lifted a snifter to his lips, sipped. “Where honesty’s a word in the dictionary between
hogwash
and
horseshit.
And everything’s for sale and they have everything you want.” He considered the snifter. “I never thought I’d find Hubert Dayton again. I’ve got one bottle hidden … somewhere, against the Day of Reckoning.”
    Kristin wore a thin blue robe, with a satin and lace gown under it in the same color. The remains of a lavish room service meal littered the linen tablecloth on the mahogany table.
    “To success,” Wolfe toasted.
    Kristin lifted her waterglass in return.
    “That’s a sinful practice,” he said.
    “Why? I’ve never liked alcohol,” Kristin said. “It distorts your judgment and makes it easier for you to do stupid things.”
    “Precisely why I’m quite fond of it.” He spun his chair and looked out over Prendergast. “I wonder why all commercial ports get so crooked so easy,” he said.
    “Maybe because when everything’s got a price tag on it, you start believing everything does have a price tag on it.”
    “Not bad,” Joshua said.
    “Thank you. And when everything’s just passing by,” Kristin went on, “maybe it’s easy to think you can do whatever you want, and pass on with the current, or else whatever you did’ll be washed away in the morning.”
    Joshua nodded. “I’ll buy into that one, tentatively, my little epigrammatist.
    “So, here we have a spaceport — shipyard — heavy manufacturing — and by the way, Rogan’s World produced half a dozen Federation politicians whose reputations, shall we say, spread a stain far beyond