Nightside 01 - Something From the Nightside

back to the far barricade, so she wouldn't see me smile. "I'm here looking for a teenage runaway, name of Cathy Barrett. Who may have got herself into more trouble than she realises. Name ring any bells?"
    "I'm not coming out while Suzie's still there," said the voice from behind the barricade.
    "You don't have to come out," I said patiently. "Just answer the question. Unless you want me to get a bit peeved with you too."
    "Cathy was here," the voice said quickly, "but she took off, a week or so back. Said something was calling to her. Something wonderful. We all tried to talk her out of it, but she wouldn't listen. And this isn't a prison, so... She said something about Blaiston Street. And that's all I know."
    "Thank you," I said. "You've been very helpful."
    "Not like we had much of a choice," said the voice. "Word's already going around about what you did to those poor bastards outside Strangefellows. They're still mopping up the mess."
    I just nodded. It wasn't the first time things had been attributed to me that were none of my doing.
    Eddie probably started this particular rumour, as a way of saying sorry. It helps to have a reputation for being a bit of a bastard. People will believe anything of you.
    "I'll leave you and Suzie to sort this out between you," I said. "Just give her everything she asks for, and you shouldn't have any more problems with her."
    "Thanks a whole bunch," said the voice bitterly. "I think I'd rather face the aliens again."
    I gestured for Suzie to step around the corner for a moment, so we could talk privately. I introduced her to Joanna, and the two women smiled at each other. I just knew they weren't going to get on.
    "So," said Suzie, "found another lost lamb to look after, have you, John?"
    "It's a living," I said. "Been a while, Suzie."
    "Five years, three months. I always knew you'd come crawling back to me someday."
    "Sorry, Suzie. I'm only here because I'm working a case. Soon as I find my runaway, I'm out of here. Back to the safe, sane, everyday world."
    She stepped forward, fixing me with her wild, serious gaze. "You'll never fit in there, John. You belong here. With the rest of us monsters."
    I didn't have an answer for that, so Joanna stepped into the silence. "What, precisely, is your connection with John, Miss Shooter?"
    Suzie snorted, loudly. "I shot him once, but he got
    over it. Paper I had on him turned out to be fake. We've worked together, on and off. Good man in a tight corner. And he always leads me where the action is. The real action. Never a dull moment, when John's around."
    "Is that all there is to your life?" said Joanna. "Violence, and killing?"
    "It's enough," said Suzie.
    I decided the conversation had gone about as far as it was safe for it to go, and turned to Joanna. "I know Blaiston Street. Not far from here. Bad neighbourhood, even for the Nightside. If Cathy has gone to ground there, the sooner we find her, the better."
    "Need any help?" said Suzie.
    I looked at her thoughtfully. "Wouldn't say no, if you're offering. You busy?"
    She shrugged. "Things have been quiet recently. I hate quiet. Just let me finish up here and collect what I'm owed, and I'll catch up with you. Usual fee?"
    "Sure," I said. "My client's good for it."
    Suzie looked at Joanna. "She'd better be."
    Joanna started to say something, noticed that Suzie's shotgun was pointing right at her, and very sensibly decided not to take offence. She ostentatiously turned her back on Suzie, and fixed her attention on me.
    "At least now we've got an address. What are the odds Cathy could have got into serious trouble there?"
    "Hard to say, without knowing what drew her there. I wouldn't have thought there was anything on Blaiston Street to attract anyone. There isn't anywhere lower, except maybe the sewers. It's where you end up when you can't fall any further. Unless things have changed dramatically, since I was away. Suzie?"
    She shook her head. "Still a snake pit. If you burned the street down, the whole city would smell better."
    "Don't worry," I said quickly to Joanna. "She's your daughter. You said yourself she can look after herself. And we're right on her heels now."
    "Don't put money on it," said Joanna, the corners of her mouth turning down. "Cathy's always been good at giving people the slip."
    "Not people like us," I said confidently.
    "There are no people like us," said Suzie Shooter.
    "Thank God," said the voice from behind the far barricade.

Seven
    Where the Really Wild Things