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I checked over uards had been slowed down by the press of the crowd, and we had beaten them to the other side of the roo We need to ditch these guys and find Valets to her"

"Won&039;t security just follow us through the kitchen?"

"Not if Vanilla Martin diverts their attention before we leave the floor"

Susan&039;s eyes glittered and she kept dancing withthe tiny cell phone from her clutch "You have a devious mind"

"Call oons walk us out" A little luck came our way, and the band moved to a somewhat slower nu her cell phone I heard the phone dialing nus It hadn&039;t worked for long at the Larry Fowler studio, but if I could rein in my emotions, Susan should at least be able to make a call

It worked She spoke quietly into the phone for all of three or four seconds, then clicked it closed and put it away "Two ood I could pick out a couple of security guards at the main doors Marcone&039;s dark-haired hitter was closer He had trouble ed to gain a snal or anything?"

"I think ait for so to happen," Susan said

"Like what?"

The sudden shriek of braking tires cut through the band lass breaking, along with shrieks from the hotel lobby below The band stopped in confusion, and people crowded toward the exit to see as happening

"Like that," Susan said We had to swim upstream, so to speak, but it didn&039;t look like anyone was bothering to look at us I caught a gli out toward the ruckus The ass had his gun in his hand, despite any possible field of fire hefilled with rich and influential socialites At least he was holding the weapon low and against his leg

The staff were just as interested in the disturbance as anyone else, and ere able to duck back into the service hallithout comment from anyone Susan took a quick look around and said, "Elevator?"

"Stairs if they have them If someone shoots at us on stairs, we can screaraer over it "Here, down the hall and left"

Susan stepped out of her shoes while I did that It left her a lot shorter, but her feet were silent on the utilitarian carpet We went down the hall, found the stairs, and started down theain, I guessed I opened the door froy little elevator opened, and a couple of guys in the food-stained white of kitchen hands alking down the hallway, peering ahead and chattering I heard a siren or tailing outside

"I&039;ll say this for Martin," I muttered "When he distracts, he distracts"

"He has a strong work ethic," Susan agreed

"Keep an eye out," I said, and stepped back froaze flicked around the stairwell and over the hallhile I stepped back to kneel on the ground, drawing out what I would need for ic Marker and drew a s, all the way around me The marker squealed as I did, and as I closed the circle I willed it shut A gentle barrier, so I couldn&039;t see but could easily feel closed aroundout disruptive forces so that I could work my spell

"Is that a permanent marker?" Susan asked

"Thus do I strike a blow for anarchy whenever the mood takes me," I muttered "Just a minute" I took out the sample from Father Vincent and a windup plastic duck

Which isn&039;t as goofy as it sounds Stay with me

I touched the thread to the duck&039;s bill, then wound the duck up I muttered a low chant, mostly nonsense syllables, and focused on what I wanted I set the duck down on the floor, but instead of beginning to waddle, it instead waited, completely still I had to use a rubber band to attach the tiny thread to the duck&039;s bill It was too short to tie on I focused, brushing aside any thoughts besides those I needed for the spell, and let the gathered o with a whispered, "Seek, seek, seek"

The power poured out ofme a bit short of breath The little yellow duck quivered and then lurched intoabout in an aimless circle I nodded once, reached out a hand, and with an effort of will to support the gesture, I broke the circle The screen vanished as quickly as it had arrived, and the little yellow duck quacked and lanced up at Susan Her dark and lovely eyes watched the duck hat could charitably be termed extreme skepticism

I scowled at her "Don&039;t say it"

"I didn&039;t say anything"

"Well, don&039;t"

She fought down a smile "I won&039;t"

I opened the door The duck waddled out into the hallway, quacked, and turned to the left I stepped out, picked the duck up, and said, "It&039;s close Let&039;s move We just check the duck at intersections"

"Does the duck know about stairs?"

"More or less Co the spell will last"

I led the way I&039;htiest athlete, but I exercise a bit, I have really long legs, and I can walk faster than so hallways to a door with an EMPLOYEES ONLY sign on it

I opened the door, peeked in, and reported in a whisper, "Big laundry roo down another hallway Susan looked at me ide eyes I pushed into the room, Susan close behindit fro coive us away

The footsteps came closer, a couple sets of the close to the cracked doorway

"Hendricks and Gard," I murmured to Susan

"How do you know?" she whispered back

"Smelled the blonde&039;s perfu out The hallas clear I closed the door and turned on the lights The roo ainst one wall A bank of dryers faced them on the opposite side of the roo counters that held stacks and stacks of folded white sheets and towels I put the duck on the floor, and it waddled off down the row of counters "This is how they had it hidden on the yacht Concealed a laundry"

"And those professional-thief types tend to be so predictable?" Susan asked

I frowned and put the duck on the floor "Watch the door"

The duck waddled at once over to the far side of the roo sheets to one side, and found a large ventilation grate behind thees of the grate, and found a pair of holes where screws had been A quick tug on the grate had it off the wall, revealing a vent maybe three feet square I stuckbetween the walls The duck waddled in and took a deterht

"Air duct," I said I twisted out of the tuxedo jacket and absently ripped off the tie from around my neck I stepped out of the clu ht back"

"Harry," Susan began, her voice worried

"I saw Alien I&039;m not Tom Skerritt" I winked at Susan, picked up the duck, and entered the air duct,as quietly as I could

Evidently, it was very quiet The duct ran straight, grates opening into utility rooone past three of the grates when I heard voices

"This isn&039;t according to the deal," caes of a radio transmission to it

Anna Valmont&039;s smooth British accent answered it frorate "Neither was an early rendezvous I don&039;t like it when a buyer changes the plan"

A radio clicked Marcone&039;s voice cah it, smooth and cal faith with your organization It isn&039;t good business"

"When I have confiret the article Not a second before"

"My factor in Zurich-"

"Do you think I&039;m an idiot? This job has already cost us ained for Clear off the bloody radio and contactor I&039;ll destroy the bloody thing and leave"

"Wait," Marcone said There was tension in his voice "You can&039;t-"

"Can&039;t I?" Valmont answered "Don&039;t fuck withoff the deal if the money isn&039;t there in ten rate and found it sitting not quite squarely in its frame Valh the air shafts I peered out through the grate Valht in the rooreen shimmer that rose up from whatto herself beneath her breath, her eyes on the screen She earing a lot of tight-fitting black clothing and a black baseball cap She wasn&039;t wearing uess I couldn&039;t have expected to find everything wrapped up in a nice package

I checked the duck, setting it down facing toward me It immediately walked in a little circle and pointed toward Anna Valmont

The thief paced the room like a restless cat, eyes on the palmtop My eyes adjusted to the di, and I saw that Val strap The tube wasn&039;t more than five or six feet from me

I watched Val hard on the palmtop "Great Jupiter&039;s balls," she said quietly "He paid it"

Now or never I put ently as I could It slid soundlessly from the wall and I set it to one side Valmont was focused entirely on her little computer If the prospect of payment distracted Valmont for a moment more, I&039;d be able to slip aith the Shroud, which would be very James Bond of me Hopefully the tuxedo would help out with that I needed only a few seconds to creep out, nip the Shroud, and get back into the vents

I alain and Marcone&039;s voice said, "There As agreed, plus your additional fee Will that be sufficient?"

"Quite You will find your e closet in the basee "Please be more specific"

I slipped out of the vents, thinking silent thoughts A long stretch putstrap

"If you wish," Valmont replied "The article is in a locked room, in a courier&039;s tube The tube itself is outfitted with an incendiary A radio transer the device Once I am safely on my way from the city, I will disarm the device and notify you via telephone Until that tiest you do not try to open it"

I jerked ain you have altered our agreement," Marcone said He said it in a voice as serator

"It does seem to be a seller&039;s market"

"There are very few people able to speak about taking advantage of h "Co more than an entirely reasonable piece of insurance," Valood boy and your precious cloth is in no danger Atte"

"And if the authorities find you on their own?" Marcone asked

"You&039;ll need a broom and a dustpan when you come for the article I should think you would be wise to do whatever you can to clear the path for me" She turned the radio off

I bitfuriously Even if I took the Shroud now, Marcone would be upset when he didn&039;t get his hands on it If he didn&039;t have Valmont killed, he&039;d at least tip off the police to her Valmont, in turn, would destroy the Shroud If I took it, I would have to et the Shroud away fro the device out with ic It was as likely to o dead

I would need the transet it

I stepped up behind Valainst her spine "Don&039;t move," I said "I&039;ll shoot"

She stiffened "Dresden?"

"Let ht of the pal columns of numbers "Where&039;s the transmitter?"

"What transainst her a little harder "I&039;ve had a long day too, Miss Valmont The one you just told Marcone about"

She let out a small sound of discomfort "If you take it, Marcone will kill e seriously You&039;d be set protection from the authorities Nohere is the transmitter?"

Her shoulders slumped and she bowed her head forward for ahere with friends They&039;d been killed She was a young woardless of what happened, she wasn&039;t likely to coa a duck to her back I felt like a bully

"My left jacket pocket," Valmont said, her tone quiet I reminded myself that I was a professional and reached into her pocket to get the transmitter

She clobberedthe duck to her back and reaching into her pocket The next, I was falling to the ground with a bruise shaped like one of her elbows forht froht came on, and Valht followed the duck for a silent second, and then she laughed

"A duck," she said She dipped a hand into her pocket and came out with a small silver semiautomatic "I was fairly certain you wouldn&039;t shoot, but that goes a step beyond ridiculous"

I&039;ve got to get a concealed-carry peret up "So you un atand I let out an involuntary shout I grabbed at ht settled onI had a couple of smallish cuts, but I hadn&039;t been shot The bullet had hit the concrete floor next tochip or two

"Terribly sorry," Val important," I responded

"Ah," Valmont said "Well, it would be bad etiquette to leave a corpse here for h I&039;ll be hand-delivering to Marcone after all We can&039;t have you running off hat everyone is so excited over"

"Marcone is the least of your worries," I said

"No, actually, he&039;s quite pro to sprout horns and claws and start tearing you apart," I said "Or at least, I don&039;t think he is There&039;s another group after that Shroud Like the thing fro"

I couldn&039;t see her face froht, but her voice sounded a little shaky "What was it?"

"A demon"

"A real deh she couldn&039;t decide whether to laugh or sob I&039;d heard it before "You expect me to believe it was a literal demon?"

"Yeah"

"And you&039;re soel, I suppose"

"Hell, no," I said "I&039; for them Sort of Look, I know people who can protect you fros People on&039;t hurt you They&039;ll help"

"I don&039;t need help," Valmont said "They&039;re dead, they&039;re both dead Gaston, Francisca My friends Whoever these people, these things are, they can&039;t hurt me any more"

The locked door of the storerooes and out into the hall The hallway lights poured in through the gap in a blinding flood, and I had to shield ainst them for a second

I could see diht One was lean and crouched, with shadowy tendrils of razor-edged hair slithering around it in a writhing cloud One was sinuous and strong-looking, like a s in on the scaled body of an enormous snake Between them stood a shape that looked human, like a man in an overcoat, his hands in his pockets-but the shadows the shape cast writhed and boiledfashion

"Cannot hurt you any more," said the central shape in a quietly amused, male voice "No matter how e"