Nightside 06 - Sharper Than a Serpents Tooth

gun."
    "Heh-heh-heh," said a soft breathy voice behind me. "I can always rely on you for a little quip, Mr. Taylor. Helps the business go down so much more smoothly. Yes, it is a gun, and quite a special gun, I'll have you know. An energy pistol from some cyborg's future that I acquired just for this occasion. Heh-heh . So don't even try your little trick of removing the bullets from my gun. Because it hasn't got any."
    "Sneaky Pete," I said, grimacing. "Bounty hunter, sneak thief, and all-around scumbag. How did you get past that locked door?"
    "I didn't, Mr. Taylor. I was already hiding in the next stall. Heh-heh. Sneaked over the partition while you were… occupied. Heh . You know no-one ever sees me coming, Mr. Taylor. I have trained with ninjas. I am a thing of mists and shadows."
    "You're a sneaky little bastard," I said firmly. "And lower than a worm's tit. What do you want with me, Pete?"
    "Why, you of course, Mr. Taylor. There is an awful lot of money being offered for your head, not necessarily attached to your body, and I mean to collect it. Oh yes. Now, we can either walk out of here together, nice and easy with not a word to your companions, to where I have transport waiting… or I can carry you out. Or at least, part of you. Heh-heh. Your choice, Mr. Taylor."
    "You mind if I flush first?" I said.
    "Always ready with a cheerful quip! I do so enjoy doing business with a fellow professional. Makes it all so much more civilised. Heh-heh. Be my guest, Mr. Taylor. But carefully, yes?"
    I leaned forward slowly and flushed the toilet. And while Sneaky Pete's attention was fixed on what I was doing with my hands, I fired up the spell I normally use for taking bullets out of guns, took all of the water flushing through the toilet and dumped the lot of it in Sneaky Pete's lungs. The thing pressing into my back disappeared abruptly as he fell backwards, making horrible gurgling noises. I spun round, ready to grab the energy gun, but his hands were empty. There never had been a gun, just a finger poking me in the back. Sneaky Pete. He sat down on the floor abruptly, water spilling out of his mouth, scrabbling frantically with his empty hands. I considered him for a moment. Bounty hunter. Sneak thief. Peeping Tom and blackmailer. He might not have killed me himself, but he would have handed me over to be killed without a second thought… I sighed, placed my foot against his chest and pushed hard. Water gushed out of him, and after a series of really nasty choking noises, he started breathing again.
    I let him live. I didn't like to think I was getting soft, but… maybe I needed to convince myself that I wasn't my mother's son.
    I left the toilets and returned to the bar. I gave Alex Morrisey my best hard look. "I just had a run-in with Sneaky Pete in the toilet, and not in a good way. Is there perhaps something you haven't got around to telling me yet?"
    "Ah," said Alex. "Yes, there's been a whole lot of bounty hunters in and out of here recently. Apparently the rich and very well connected families of the thirteen Reasonable Men you killed, for perfectly good reasons I'm sure, have got together and placed a truly impressive bounty on your head."
    "How much?" said Suzie. I looked at her, and she shrugged. "Sorry. Force of habit."
    I was about to say something sharp when fortunately my mobile phone rang. I answered it with my usual "What?"
    "Taylor," said Walker, in his smooth and very civilised voice. "So glad you've returned safely from your little trip into the Past."
    "Walker," I said. "Word does get around fast, doesn't it? I didn't think you knew my private number."
    "I know everyone's number. Comes with the job."
    "I am not going to come in and give myself up to you and the Authorities. I have important things to do."
    "Oh, I think you will, Taylor."
    There was something in his voice… "What have you done, Walker?"
    "Only what you have forced me to do, to get your attention. I have reluctantly given the order for your delightful young secretary Cathy Barrett to be kidnapped. By now she will be in safe hands, being held somewhere very secure. Turn yourself in peacefully, and you have my word that she will be freed unharmed. But if you insist on making life difficult for me by continuing to defy me in this manner… Well, I'm afraid I can't answer for the young lady's continued well-being."
    "You bastard."
    "I only do what I have to, John. You know that."
    "If anything happens to Cathy…"
    "That's entirely