“And what would be the name of this girl?” Rep. Wheezler inquired.
“Oh, Keelah. Keelah’s her name.” Bobbi’s heart was pounding. “Please tell me she’s still here. I can pay you well for her!” She pushed up the sleeves of her coat again and showed him the many thin golden bangles she was wearing on each wrist.
“Well!” Rep. Wheezler’s slitted yellow eyes grew wide. “Your husband-to-be must value you highly to gift you with so many lovely bracelets.”
“Yes, he does and I know he would love this gift,” Bobbi said. “Please tell me—do you have Keelah here? If not, can you get her back from wherever she is? I’ll be willing to pay for the transportation costs if necessary.”
“Well…she was scheduled to go to the spaceport for a special sale…” Rep. Wheezler frowned thoughtfully and Bobbi’s heart plummeted. “But she might not have left yet,” he continued, giving her a surge of hope. “If you wouldn’t mind waiting here, I’ll go have a look for you.”
“Oh, of course.” Bobbi nodded eagerly and put her hands on her knees. “I’ll be right here. I hope she’s still available!”
“I’ll let you know in just a moment,” Rep. Wheezler promised. He rose from the couch, made her an urbane little bow, and then left the room.
Bobbi sat there, nervously tapping her feet as she waited for him to return. She wanted to get up and pace to ease her tension, but there were still clouds of the dense blue smoke hanging in the air and she didn’t want to get caught in ‘the echoes’ again.
Echoes of the past, she thought. But I thought he said it had to be echoes of something that had happened to you. I wonder why I was able to see Dragon’s Kindred parents at all? Does dreaming of them count as something that happened to me in the past?
She supposed it must, or she wouldn’t have been able to see the big Kindred’s family as she had.
Earlier, when Rep. Wheezler had been explaining about the smoke from the dream weed, she hadn’t really considered the implications of what she’d seen but now she did. What she’d been seeing wasn’t just a dream—it was something that had really happened, here in this room. This area must have been a shop years ago, before it became the blue light district and Dragon’s parents must have settled here briefly to sell their wares before moving on to the next planet.
Or that was their plan, Bobbi thought. But they never got a chance to move on. Instead, they were murdered.
“Oh, God!” she gasped, sitting bolt upright as the full implications of what she had seen finally sank in. “They might have been murdered in this very room!”
Would she be able to see their deaths, if she went and sucked in another breath of the heavy blue dream weed smoke? Would she be able to see who had killed them? And would Dragon see the same thing if he happened to come into this room and take in a big breath of the smoke?
“What an awful thought!” Bobbi whispered to herself.
She must never tell the big Kindred that this was the building where his parents had lived…and had quite possibly met their untimely end. He had mercifully forgotten their murder, which he had told her had happened right in front of him when he was only small—when he was still “Tolor.” How horrible and traumatic it would be for him to come here and see it—to live it all over again! He—
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the front door opening.
Thinking it must be another customer, Bobbi looked around anxiously for someone to serve him. She certainly didn’t want to be mistaken for one of the Pleasure Girls herself! Knowing Saurian men, the new customer might decide to help himself first and ask questions afterwards.
“Hello?” she called anxiously. “Rep. Wheezler? I think you have a customer.”
“Bobbi?” The voice came from behind her, rather than the direction of the front door. Bobbi turned quickly and saw Keelah standing there. She was dressed like the first Pleasure Girl Bobbi had encountered, her face heavy with makeup and a dress that showed her slit. Her voice was shaky as she reached out her arms. “Bobbi, did you really come for me?”
“Yes, of course I came!” Forgetting whoever was at the front door, Bobbi jumped up and put her arms around her friend. “I said I was buying you for Dragon as a wedding present,” she murmured in a low voice in Keelah’s ear hole. “I’m going to smuggle you back into the house and hide you in the pantry until after the wedding. Then we can pretend that Dragon bought you for himself and you can stay with me and be safe.”
“Oh, Bobbi, thank you!” Keelah whispered, squeezing her tightly. “Thank you for coming for me! I was so afraid—they said they were going to sell me to the Rough Bloods Clan for a Spike Party!”