Windfall Page 0,6

nodded and stuck his hands in his jacket pockets. Awkward with conflict, John. I wondered why they'd stuck him with the job. Maybe the more senior Wardens were busy. Or maybe they knew I had a soft spot for him and wouldn't be quite so difficult.

"You already know Shirl," he said, and gestured to her with an elbow, offhandedly, with a flat tone to his normally warm voice. Ah. He didn't like her either. Nice to know. "This is Maria Moore, she's come over from France to help us out."

Maria, the ghost-girl, was a wispy little thing in the real world, too. Older than she'd looked, up a level, but still a twig. I hoped she wasn't a Weather Warden; a good strong breeze might blow her out to sea. She looked more like a Djinn than most Djinn I'd ever met.

"Takes three of you to say good morning?" I asked.

"I need you to take a ride with me, Joanne," John said. He had an interesting voice, blurred with a North Carolina drawl; it always made him sound like he was in no particular hurry or distress. So I couldn't tell if this was a big deal, a little deal, or a consultation he thought I could help out with... or whether I was taking a ride that would end up with me dead or permanently disabled.

I decided I didn't really want to find out.

"Sorry," I said, not as if I in any way meant it. "I really need to get home. I have some appointments-"

"You're coming with us," Shirl said flatly. "Whether you like it or not. Get used to the idea."

I met her eyes. "Or what, Shirl? You'll get all skinhead on me?"

She'd been kind of hoping that would be my attitude, I could tell. Her hand cupped at her side, and a fireball ignited in her palm. "Or this is going to start loud and end badly."

I didn't want to fight. Really. Especially with John Foster in the middle, not to mention the French Ghost, who might or might not be someone I needed to piss off.

I glanced at John, who was stone-faced, and said, "Whoa, there, Sparky, I'm not picking a fight. I just would like a little warning if you're going to drop in and disrupt my day."

"Get in the car."

She wasn't taking any crap from me. That might have been because I'd kind of kicked her ass the first time around, and she was worried about a repeat; she needn't have been, as I'd been running on Demon-Mark Power then, and now it was just plain ol' me, and plain ol' me was tired and drained and really not up to a big, magical, hand-to-hand battle to the death.

Plus, I wasn't dressed for it. Stains would never come out of this top.

Maria Moore silently gestured me to a smoky silver Lexus, which I knew for a fact wasn't John's; Lexus wasn't his style. Must have been Maria's, and come with the ghostly self-image. She was probably aspiring to a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow. After just enough hesitation to let them know that I wasn't always going to be so easily handled, I turned and walked to it, opened the back door and got inside. It was cramped, but then I had longer legs than most women. Maria got in the driver's seat. I got Shirl as my companion in the back. Joy.

"You want to tell me where we're going?" I asked.

Maria and John exchanged a glance. "It'll take us a while to get there," he said. "I'd suggest you call and cancel your appointments. You're going to be out most of the day."

It was a little late to bitch about it, now that the car was moving. I pulled out my cell phone and postponed Mall Day by twenty-four hours, much to Cherise's disappointment, and settled in for the long haul.

Which, in a Lexus, wasn't a bad thing.

It was a quiet drive. I dozed, part of the way, because I'd been up since four A.M. and besides, talking to Shirl the Human Pincushion didn't make for entertaining conversation. She had all the power of someone like Marion Bearheart, and absolutely none of the charm. I missed Marion and all her centered, Native American, Earth Mother attitude. At least she'd threatened me with style and class, and she had a clear moral center. Shirl... well, I