Page 88 of Guild Boss

“I’m starting to worry that people are going to start calling in some of those favors they’re doing for us. Moving right along, that was good work you did yesterday, both in the field and on the PR side.”

Aiden flushed. “Thank you, sir.”

“I noticed that you cleaned up my phone. I take it we have no pressing emergencies at the moment?”

“No, sir. A number of reporters are requesting interviews, of course. I’ll schedule them and make sure they are short.”

Gabriel groaned. “Interviews. I never had to do interviews when I was in security.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll coach you.”

“You know, the learning curve on this job is a lot steeper than I thought it would be.”

Aiden smiled. “You’ve got staff now, sir, and as I keep saying—”

“We need more. I know.”

“I’ve been sorting through a number of requests from hunters who would like to transfer to Illusion Town. I’ll let you know when I’m ready to recommend some people to you. I’ve already started hiring for the PR department, by the way. I can’t continue to handle that job and maintain the level of professional service expected of an administrative assistant at the same time—not for long, at any rate.”

“Staffing the PR department is as high on the priority list as hiring trained Guild agents?”

“Yes, sir. The Guild is off to a great start in terms of image and branding here in Illusion Town. We can’t afford to lose that momentum.”

“Right.” Gabriel went toward his office. He paused in the doorway. “Speaking of actual Guild work, there are some loose ends in the weapons case that I need to take care of this morning.”

“Yes, sir. Can I be of assistance?”

“We have to find the location of that liquid crystal that was used to fuel the suppressor. The hypnotist who interviewed Westover and the others we picked up says they don’t know. They told him that the client supplied the fuel for the suppressor.”

“What about that gray amber that was tuned for the rogues?”

“Westover discovered the amber himself. Turns out he’s ex-Guild, too. Spent a lot of time prospecting on his own. The amber doesn’t seem to have much use except as a signaling or ID device, but he used it to make his so-called security team feel special.”

“And then ordered the murder of the tuner to make sure the pendants couldn’t be traced back to him.”

“Yes. We are now looking for Westover’s client. There were some messages on Westover’s phone, but the number went straight into the dark rez-net. It may be impossible to trace.”

“What have we got to go on?” Aiden asked.

“Westover’s plans and, presumably, those of the client started to fall apart when they kidnapped Lucy. I’m going back to that point to take another look at the investigation that was conducted at that time.”

“Think the local cops missed something?”

“Or someone lied.”

Chapter Thirty-Five

“I can’t believe Luxton fired us, Otis.” Lucy edged through the fissure in the Storm Zone Wall. “He was really, really pissed. Gabriel was right about how he would react to me giving notice. So much for trying to be professional.”

Otis was several feet ahead of her, investigating the wreckage of a fallen tower. He did not appear to be concerned about having been fired on the spot. He chortled, waved his sequined dust bunny, and scampered through the ancient quartz ruins that littered the interior of the Dead City.

It was fifteen minutes after nine. At nine o’clock she had informed Luxton that she was giving two weeks’ notice and offered to come in for occasional weekend tours until he could line up another weather channeler. He had yelled at her for ten minutes, calling her ungrateful and accusing her of a lack of loyalty, before firing her. Now she and Otis were walking home through the ruins.

“He even wanted the stupid hat back,” she said to Otis. “For a minute there I thought he would demand your dust bunny, as well. Guess he figured out it looks a little too used. He wouldn’t have been able to resell it.”

Or maybe Luxton had been smart enough to realize it would be a very bad idea to try to confiscate Otis’s toy. She was pretty sure Otis would have been annoyed. An annoyed dust bunny was a scary sight.

“Too early for a pizza,” she told Otis. “Let’s go home so I can change out of this dumb uniform. I’ll pick up some of my old business cards and drop them off at a few of the smaller companies that work the Underworld. Remind them that I’m available in between Guild jobs and that, unlike Weather Wizards, I’m affordable and happy to take on the small projects. They’ll love the fact that the Guild has me on retainer. Makes me look top-of-the-line.”

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