Book 13 - Gilded Latten Bones Read Free Page A

anything but sputter vile accusations.

6
    A big black coach sat twenty feet from our door, just up Factory Slide, the broad street running along the northeast face of the Amalgamated manufactory and the Annex that had been thrown up during the war with Venageta. Factory Slide saw very little traffic not involved with Amalgamated.
    This coach had nothing to do with the manufactory.
    There was only one coach like it. It belonged to an acquaintance. I hadn’t seen her in a long time. I didn’t want to see her now. Especially not when Tinnie would know I was seeing her.
    Belinda Contague, empress of organized crime, deadly sociopath, one-time girlfriend, briefly, and, theoretical current friend, owned that coach. And was the kind of friend you might wish you didn’t have because they can complicate your life to no end.
    Two armed men perched atop the black behemoth, behind a six-horse team. A brace of armed horsemen preceded it. Four more waited behind. Not a one looked pleased to see Mama Garrett’s number-one son.
    Though she had a few quiet shares in Amalgamated, Belinda was not here on business.
    The beautiful madwoman herself opened the near side door. “Hop in, Garrett. I’ll give you a ride.” From the gloom inside, louder, she said, “I need to borrow him for a while, Tinnie. I won’t keep him longer than I have to.”
    Tinnie outdid herself. For a moment I was scared there would be a skirmish between Belinda’s thugs and the draft-age cousins. That would not go well for the cousins but would be bad news for the thugs in the long run. The Tates have a lot of pull.
    But my honey was not as far out of control as she put on, which was often the case. She was fond of putting on the drama. This scene, though, could lead to some really unhappy reviews.
    Belinda seized the day. She announced, “Someone tried to kill Morley Dotes. He’s hurt bad. He may not make it. I need Garrett to help look out for him.”
    That fired Tinnie up all over again.
    “Who is going to look out for me? It’s his responsibility to look out for me. Garrett! I want . . .” She went on and on.
    I asked Belinda, “Is he really that bad hurt?”
    She whispered. “Yes. I really don’t think he’ll make it.” She surprised me by choking up a little as she said that. “Worse, I think there’s a better than even chance that somebody might try to make sure that he doesn’t.”
    It could be argued that the Outfit was capable of handling that without me. But if Morley was on his way out, I had no choice. He was my best friend. I had to be there.
    I went back to Tinnie, took hold of her shoulders. “You’re going to be all right. This is something I have to do. For my friend.”
    My attempts to make her understand didn’t have much success.
    She wasn’t going to let that happen.
    She was mad and she was scared and she was thoroughly accustomed to being the Tate princess who got whatever she wanted whenever she wanted it, even from me. She was the ruling goddess in her own little universe. Right now, because she was unhappy, the wants or needs of others had no meaning.
    This was not the first time I had seen her this way. Talking wasn’t going to do any good. Only time would have any effect.
    And she couldn’t get any more angry.
    “I’ll be back as soon as I can, darling. Midge, take good care of her.”
    The cousin who had not come inside nodded. Sweat fell from his forehead. He gave up a huge sigh of relief, suddenly sure that he would not have to become the first casualty in a war so small it wouldn’t be noticed while it was going on.
    I tried to kiss Tinnie. She wouldn’t have it. I backed away. “I do love you. But you can’t own me.”
    She managed to keep from saying something really awful.
    I got in. The coach rolled before I settled the back of my lap on the plush opposite Belinda.
    Time had been kind. She was as striking as ever. Her best feature was her long, glossy black hair. It accentuated her pallor and the red