“Again?” Crystal asked. “Eduardo already went out there on Sunday. He said this lady had a giant tick eating her cats.”

“This was no tick,” Charlie said. “She said it flew. Ticks don’t fly.”

“Well, whatever it was,” Crystal said, “I know he killed it on Sunday, because he came back here to get paid, and then she called again on Monday and he went out there again. That’s the last I saw him.”

It was a repeat job. The client called the Guild the first time on Sunday about a tick, and Eduardo went out and took care of it. Then she called again, on Monday, probably because the problem recurred. He went out to that call and disappeared. Then the client called for the third time, today, which meant that either the creature bothering her had a large family or that Eduardo never made it to her job. But he did finish the Sunday job, which meant there would be a record of it.

“Did this lady say Eduardo showed up on Monday?” I asked.

Charlie shook his head. “She was at work, so she didn’t know if he showed up. But she was really heated it wasn’t taken care of.”

“When did Mac and Leroy leave?” I asked.

“Half an hour ago,” Charlie said.

We’d just missed them.

“Are they poaching in Eduardo’s territory?” I asked.

Crystal spread her arms. “He ain’t here to call them out on it, is he?”

“They’ve got a problem with him?” Curran asked.

Charlie shrugged. “They’ve got a problem with everyone. Ortego’s got good territory. They tried muscling in on him and he beat their asses for them.”

“He wasn’t worried about it,” Crystal said.

“You knew him well, huh?” I asked.

“She talked to him every time he came here,” Charlie said.

Crystal shot him a dirty look.

“Don’t stare at me.” He pointed at us. “They have issues with you. They have no issues with me. Don’t drag the rest of us in with your sorry ass.”

“I tried to know him well, if you catch my meaning.” Crystal made a sour face. “Apparently he’s one of those ‘got a girlfriend’ types. She was over here yesterday. Nothing special. And she’s a cripple.”

Oh, you sad, pathetic excuse for a human being. My fist itched. I really wanted to punch Crystal in the face.

“So you saw a young one-armed woman desperately looking for her guy. You knew Leroy and Mac took her car and you didn’t say anything. None of you assholes told her or offered to give her a ride back home?” I could barely keep a growl out of my voice. “You must’ve all had important shit to do like sitting here, getting drunk, and spitting on the floor.”

Nobody looked me in the eye.

“What are you, the morality police?” an older drunken-looking merc asked.