Darren Shan - Procession of the dead

"Harry…? Oh, him. Yeah, could be. Not beyond the-"

"Y Tse," I cut in, suddenly thinking of something, "do you know Paucar Wami?"

There was a long silence. Finally, "How do you know Wami?" he asked quietly.

"I don't. Not really. I ran into him a while back and the name just jumped into my mind a second ago. He worked for The Cardinal, didn't he? He killed people for him, made them vanish?"

Y Tse hesitated. "People rarely see Wami coming or going, and he can eliminate a man without leaving a trace, but I doubt it's him."

"But he's worth checking out?" I pressed, not sure why my mind had linked him to this but certain somehow that I was on to something.

"I wouldn't," Y Tse said. "Wami plays his own games and they're not the sort you want to get mixed up with. If you want my advice, leave Paucar Wami well alone." But he said it with more hope than expectation. Y Tse knew I wouldn't let this drop.

We talked some more, about trivial matters, then he hung up. Thomas got stuck in traffic-this was a bad time to be driving-but eventually I made it to my meeting with Cafran Reed and breathed a sigh of relief as I stepped out of the car. It would be good to get back to some ordinary business for a couple of hours. I'd taken all the craziness I could handle for one day.

The sign above the door simply readcafran's. Inside there were rubber plants in a couple of corners, strong yellow lights, paintings of trees and rivers, pop tunes playing softly in the background. The pretty receptionist paged her boss and a waitress escorted me to a table by one of the walls.

Cafran appeared a couple of minutes later, smiling easily. He was short, plump and pleasant, bald as an elbow. His face was a mass of freckles. He wore large, red glasses. His suit was conservative but somewhat at odds with the orange suspenders andi love cafran's rosette pinned over his heart.

"So, Mr. Raimi," he said brightly as he sat, "you're the latest designated knight. It's been a while since my last. I remarked on it only the other day to Ama-my daughter-and voila! Here you are. Would you care to order? The steak is rather excellent this week."

"Steak would be great," I smiled.

"Two steaks, please," he said to the waitress. "I've had one already today," he told me confidentially, "but don't tell Ama if you see her-I'm supposed to be on a diet."

He prattled on while we were waiting for the steak, telling me about his doctor, the business, his customers. I smiled pleasantly, arched my eyebrows, threw him a question whenever he paused for breath. I hated this part of the sell. I couldn't wait to get down to the nitty-gritty. I kept glancing around, looking for the steak, taking in the staff and customers. There was a waitress serving dessert at a table by the window. A nice figure. Long legs. Cafran said something about a magician he'd seen on TV. Magic was a hobby of his-he knew lots of tricks and offered to show me a few later. I said that would be nice. My eyes flicked lazily at the leggy waitress again. She'd just finished dishing up the dessert.

The waitress turned and I immediately lost all interest in Cafran Reed, insurance deals and everything else. It was the woman from the stairs! She looked up from her cart, smiling mechanically, and saw me. The smile cracked. One hand dropped the knife it had been holding and it knocked over a small trifle. She recovered, carried on serving, and made her way across to my table.

Cafran beamed when she arrived. "Ama," he said, "I'd like you to meet Capac Raimi. Capac, this is my daughter, Ama Situwa."

"A pleasure," I said, reaching out a trembling hand to shake hers.

"Likewise." The instant our fingers touched I got a hard-on. She felt it all the way through my palm and smiled. "I think we've met before, Mr. Raimi." Her voice was exotic, an accent I couldn't place.

"Please, call me Capac. Yes, I think our paths have crossed. Once."

"Really?" Cafran was excited. "What a coincidence. Where?"

"I can't quite recall," Ama said. "Do you, Capac?"

"I think it was at a party," I said, smiling leanly. "Up in the city somewhere. The central region, maybe."

"Of course. We passed upon the stairs, as the old song goes."

"That's right."

She had a smile I wanted to frame. Her tongue had a habit of flicking past her front teeth between sentences. "We must get together again soon," she purred.

"Just name a time and place," I told her.

"I will." She turned to speak to Cafran. I felt myself throbbing uncontrollably. I gripped the edge of the table and suppressed a shudder. I missed what she said to her father and the next thing I knew, she was facing me again. "Nice to see you again, Capac. I might drop by later, perhaps for dessert."

"That would be nice." Hell yes! Her on a plate with a sprinkling of sugar and nothing else. The image set me drooling as she continued on her rounds, favoring me with short, wicked smiles every so often. It was going to be a nightmare trying to concentrate on work, but I had to make the effort.

"That's quite a pair of eyes you have on you," Cafran said drily when I finally looked at him again. "It doesn't pay to ogle a girl in front of her father."

"Sorry, Mr. Reed, I-"

He burst into laughter. "I jest. Ama is quite an attraction. I don't blame young men for gawking. I even take it as a compliment."

I smiled awkwardly. "You said her name was Ama Situwa. Is she married?"

"No. Her mother and I went our separate ways some years ago. It was not an amicable split. She returned with Ama to her home country, took back her maiden name and kept the two of us apart."

"Then how come…? " I nodded at his mesmerizing daughter.

He sighed. "Ama's mother died four years ago. She told Ama I was a monster, so Ama found it difficult to approach me, even when she was left alone. Finally she came to judge for herself, found me innocent, and we've been together since, making up for those sad, lost years."

The steaks arrived and we tucked into them. When we were finished we leaned back in our chairs and nibbled some mints. "So," Cafran said, rubbing his stomach and smiling with contentment. "You've come to try and sell me insurance."

"That's right," I smiled. "I've got some great policies lined up, at prices you're going to sing over."

"I very much doubt that. I've never paid for insurance, not since I got stung in my youth. It's a moneymaking racket. One of the main reasons I remain in this city is its lax insurance laws where businesses are concerned."

"And that's largely because of The Cardinal," I noted. "He keeps the law off the small entrepreneur's back. Without him you wouldn't be able to operate so freely."

"That's true."

"So why not pay him back? Take out one of our options. Call it a gesture of friendship. One good turn…"

He laughed. "The Cardinal doesn't set the city's insurance standards with me in mind. I owe him nothing, he doesn't owe me, and I like it that way."

"But-"

Cafran held up a silencing hand. "There's nothing better after a good meal than a magic trick." He dug into a pocket and produced a stick of celery and a finger guillotine. He placed them on a white napkin in the center of the table. "This is one of my favorites. Simple, classic, timeless.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" he boomed, startling me. I glanced around and noticed other customers smiling-they were used to these displays. "Cafran the Great is proud to present, all the way from anarchist France, Madame Guillotine! Severer of heads, the blade with the thirsty edge, the killer of kings, most lethal of stings, the steel which kisses and never misses. The victim goes in." He pushed the celery through the hole in the contraption. "The blade goes up." He pulled the small blade to the top. "The blood-hungry hags get ready to sup. The lever's released, the blade comes down!" He slammed it down, chopping through the stalk of celery. "The head of the victim spins around."