“Are you kidding?” the troll gaped.
“Well, at least drop her off in the kitchen. I’ve got to have a few words with Skeeve in private.”
“I want to stay here!” Markie protested.
“Go,” I said quietly.
There must have been something in my voice, because both Markie and Chumley headed off without further argument.
“Partner, you’ve got a problem.”
“Don’t I know it. If there was any way I could ship her back to Don Bruce, I’d do it in a minute, but…”
“I’m not talking about Bunny!”
That stopped me.
“You aren’t?”
“No. Markie’s the problem, not Bunny.”
“Markie? But she’s just a little girl.”
Aahz heaved a small sign and put one hand on my shoulder … gently, for a change.
“Skeeve, I’ve given you a lot of advice in the past, some of it better than others. For the most part, you’ve done pretty well at winging it in unfamiliar situations, but this time you’re in over your head. Believe me, you don’t have the vaguest idea of the kind of havoc a kid can cause in your life … especially a little girl.”
I didn’t know what to say. My partner was obviously sincere in his concern, and for a change expressing it in a very calm, low-key manner. Still, I couldn’t go along with what he was saying.
“C’mon, Aahz. How much trouble can she be? This thing with Tananda happened because of Bunny…”
“… after Markie started mouthing off at the wrong time. I already had Tananda cooling off when Markie put her two cents in.”
It also occurred to me that Markie was the one who had spilled the beans to Tananda in the first place. I shoved that thought to the back of my mind.
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