The Bride Wore Black Leather

find anywhere else. And to the fury of the owners, the Bar became more popular than ever, with visitors dropping in from Past, Present, and any number of possible futures.
    “The owners went ballistic. Took it as a personal affront. They tried everything to get rid of the ghost Bar. They called in heavy-duty exorcists; had Bishop Beastly curse it with bell, book, and candle; even got the old rogue vicar Pew in to give it a good scolding . . . I’m even told they quietly and quite illegally imported some barely trained poltergeists to go in there and tear the place down. Only to watch the poltergeists come running out, screaming. I believe a few of them are still at large in the Nightside, running their own security business. But the Hawk’s Wind Bar & Grille stood its ground.
    “You have to understand, John; none of us had ever seen anything like this before, even in the Nightside. The ghost of a building, so real and solid it was almost undistinguishable from the original. I always thought it came back simply because so many people loved and missed it . . . Anyway. Eventually the Bar’s owners shrugged, threw up their hands, and said
Have it your own way
, and went off to sulk in private. And count their profits, of course.”
    I frowned. “Could the owners have finally found a way to dismiss the haunting, and reclaim their property, after all these years?”
    “Unknown,” said Julien. “But unlikely. If they had, they’d be here now, dancing and celebrating and boasting how they’d finally won. And they were never more than a pair of minor business men. To do something like this . . . would take real power.”
    “Hold that thought,” I said. “I spy a pair of well-dressed city types heading in our direction, who look a lot like owners to me.”
    Julien looked round, nodded sourly, and gestured for the Troops to let them pass. The two men strode up to us and glared right into our faces, which was brave of them. They both looked prosperous enough, in an obvious sort of way. Two old men, well into their seventies, in good suits, coats, and gloves. Men with hard faces and harder eyes, and flat, determined mouths. The kind of business men who hadn’t been talked back to in far too long. The taller of the two men produced his business card with a snap of the hand, like a conjuring trick, and thrust it at me. I refused to even glance at it, on general principles, so he pushed it right into my face. So I took the card, tore it into little pieces, and scattered them over him like confetti. Start as you mean to go on, that’s what I always say.
    The tall man’s face went pale, then flushed a dangerous shade of purple. “We are Tattersol and Vane!” he said angrily. “We own this most valuable property, and we have a legal right to be here! I am Tattersol, this is Vane. Show him the documents, Mr. Vane!”
    While Vane hurriedly fumbled important-looking papers out of his briefcase, I took the opportunity to look the two men over carefully. Tattersol was well dressed in a casual sort of way, while Vane was well dressed in a careless sort of way. Tattersol had thin black hair with pronounced white streaks, while Vane was almost entirely bald. Tattersol had a hulking, powerful presence, while Vane had a shifty, detached presence. I was irresistibly reminded of Badger and Mole from
The Wind in the Willows
, but kept the thought to myself. I was Walker now. Dignity at all times. I was prepared to be tactful and polite, right up to the point where someone got on my tits, and I said
To hell with it
, and booted someone somewhere painful. I beamed on Tattersol and Vane in my most avuncular fashion.
    “So what can the Authorities and their newly appointed front man do for Misters Tattersol and Vane?”
    Vane finally fished out a handful of legal documents and shook them at me meaningfully. I ignored them, so he thrust them at Julien, who looked at him in a disturbingly thoughtful manner until Vane lowered his papers and looked away. Tattersol glared at Vane, then at us.
    “We have a legal right to this land! Isn’t that right, Mr. Vane?”
    “Of course we do, Mr. Tattersol! I have all the necessary documentation right here!”
    “Quite so, Mr. Vane. We are here to demand access to this location, our property. We also insist that you do
absolutely nothing
that might assist the ghost of the Hawk’s Wind Bar & Grille to return. It is gone, and we want nothing more to do with it. Do we, Mr.