Aahz’s voice was so soft I barely recognized it as his.
“Does this mean you’ll come back?”
“I . . . I’ll have to think about it.” he said, looking
away.’ ‘Let me get back to you in a couple of days. Okay?”
“I’d like to, but I can’t,” I grimaced. “I’ve got to leave
tonight.”
“I see,” Aahz’s head snapped around. “You could only
allow so much time for this little jaunt, huh? Work piling
up back at the office?”
An angry, indignant protest rose to my lips, but I fought
MYTH-NOMERS AND IM-PERVECTIONS 197
back. From what he knew, Aahz’s assumption wasn’t only
not out of line, it was a logical error.
“That’s not it at all,” I said quietly. “If you must know,
the local police have told me to be off-dimension by mom-
ing.”
“What!!?? You’ve been tossed off Perv?”
My old partner’s eyes fixed on Pookie with cold fury.
“What have you two been up to that could get you tossed
off a dimension like this?”
“Don’t look at me, cousin! This is the first I’ve heard
of it. The last thing I knew he was heading off-dimension
because he couldn’t find you.”
“That was before my last interview with the police,” I
supplied. “Really, Aahz, Pookie had nothing to do with it.
It’s a little mess I got into on my own over … the details
aren’t really important right now. The bottom line is that I
can’t hang around while you make up your mind.”
“Well some day I want to hear those ‘unimportant de-
tails,’ “Aahz growled. “In the meantime, I suppose you
can go on ahead and I’ll catch up with you after I’ve thought
things out.”
“Um . . . actually, if you decide to come, I’ll be over