The Forever Drug (32 page)

Dass sighed. "Well, if the locket did belong to your Jane Doe, she's dead. I guess that closes your case."

"I guess it does," I said.

And that was just fine with me. I had no intention of putting my hoop on the line for some woman I couldn't even
remember
. I wasn't even curious about her. Curiosity can be a bad thing in this business— that's why they say it kills cats. Besides, I had biz to attend to. There were blackberry cats to contain—and I had an angry sergeant to mollify.

I got to my feet. "I guess I'd better ask Sergeant Raymond for the latest blackberry cat sightings," I told Dass. "Unless there's anything better for me." I raised my eyebrows hopefully.

Dass thought for a moment. "There almost was," she said. "A representative from the New Century Party came by yesterday and filed a missing persons report. One of their campaign workers disappeared two days ago, during a trip to Prince Edward Island. She'd been vacationing there and was trapped on the island during the uprising. The last time they heard from her was on the night of the hurricane. They're worried that the rebels may have kidnapped her as a political gesture. They wanted help in finding her, and asked for you specifically. They're willing to pay all of your expenses. But Sergeant Raymond told them you only handled local cases, and then only for Lone Star—that you weren't interested in freelance work."

I frowned. Hurricane? Rebels? I had a lot to catch up on. I was tempted by the offer of freelance work, and flattered that my reputation had caused a prestigious political organization to ask for my services. And I was a little miffed at the sergeant for making my decisions for me. But I hated politics even more than I did cats. And Sergeant Raymond was right: P.E.I. was outside of my jurisdiction.

"I'm not interested," I told Dass. "I have duties here to attend to."

Then I grinned. "And besides, chasing those little furballs is going to be a lot more fun."

About the Author

Lisa Smedman is the author of the Shadowrun® novels
The
Lucifer
Deck
,
Blood
Sport
, and
Psychotrope
. She has also had a number of short science fiction and fantasy stories published in various magazines and anthologies, and in 1993 was a finalist in the Writers of the Future contest. Formerly a newspaper reporter and magazine editor, she now works as a freelance game designer and fiction writer. Lisa was one of the founders of
Adventures
Unlimited
magazine. She has designed a number of adventures and written short fiction for TSR's Ravenloft and Dark Sun lines, and has designed gaming products for Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Cyberpunk, Immortal, Shatterzone, and Millennium's End.

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First Printing, June, 1999 10 987654321

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