A brief history of Noimoire, by Chris Zinn: One of the more interesting things that happened with the discovery of the new world was what was thought to be the discovery of new gods—at first. Cards referenced beings that had never been mentioned in any card drop that occurred in the old world, and it was quickly discovered that cards existed in the new world that did not exist in the old. However, it was clear that the card set names were the same and the time that new mechanics and card types were introduced was the same.

Once the old and new worlds were discovered, however, the card releases standardized to both—but the languages stayed different in the new locations, with the result that the old world and new world gods were found to be the same, but with different names and manifestations on the differing sides of the ocean.

However, some of the absolute rarest cards in existence are the cards from old sets of cultures that existed prior to Columbus sailing the ocean blue—including numerous cards in and around Noimoire from various Amerind tribes. Even the weakest of them sells for far more than an equivalent card, simply because of their rarity.

Wolfe stared at the lieutenant for a long moment, forking another bite of the beans into his mouth.

Emmett must be trying to lay the foundation for paying me off to keep helping him, by claiming I’ve been working with him for a while… but this is twice now that telling the truth is making me look like a liar.

Wolfe swallowed, about ninety percent of his attention on Lieutenant Rhett, and ten percent on how good the beans were.

“Sorry, I must have misunderstood. I thought you asked how long I’ve been working on this case for, which is not at all. I work with Emmett, but I don’t have his files.”

“Well, we just picked a few files up,” Shel volunteered. “But we’ve never had his files before and haven’t even opened them.”

Wolfe glanced up and saw that everyone was paying attention to him now. While Wolfe wasn’t bothered by attention per se, he had to admit that the eyes of an entire party full of cops was a touch unnerving.

Rhett was staring at him. “You’ve been working with Emmett on the case more, now, then? Anything you care to share?”

In the background, someone quietly muttered, “By the Divine, Rhett, we’re at a party.”

Rhett glanced around. To Wolfe’s surprise, it seemed that most of the eyes had switched to Rhett, and everyone wore little frowns.

Rhett turned back. “Care to join me inside the house, William?”

Wolfe was tempted to refuse him, but decided fuck it. “Fine, but I’m taking the food. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but these are good beans.”

Rhett blinked at the non-sequitur, but didn’t say anything, walking into the house.

Wolfe followed him, and Rhett led them through the kitchen and back to the living room. When they entered, he turned to Wolfe, standing stiff and tall.

“I’m going to lay my cards on the table, William. I haven’t, formally, seen anything from you that would warrant arrest, or even indicate moral turpitude. But nothing adds up with you, and I’m beginning to suspect you’re not who you say you are… and that you might be a criminal, the worst of the worst.”

Wolfe raised his beer in a sarcastic salute. “Hurray!”

Rhett frowned but ignored Wolfe’s aside. “But even if I am wrong about all of that, you certainly know more about the investigation into the railyard trafficking than you’re letting on. Two people are dead, three wounded, and twenty people were found naked in medically induced comas. That kind of thing doesn’t happen in Joliet, and I, for one, want it to stay that way.”

Rhett paused, raising an eyebrow at Wolfe, as if he expected an answer. But Wolfe had no idea what Rhett wanted, so he just set his beer down before biting into his cheeseburger. It wasn’t as good as the beans, but it was pretty damn solid.

Weird that all these cops can cook.

When Wolfe didn’t answer, Rhett continued. “Have you thought about how all of this is affecting Shel?”

“What? Why the hell would anything be affecting Shel?” Wolfe asked.

Rhett smiled grimly. “Finally have your attention, huh? Well, think about this. Whatever it is you’re doing—and I’m pretty sure it’s illegal, whatever it is—could easily drag her down with you.”

Wolfe picked his beer back up and took a long drag before pointing the bottle at Rhett. “You leave Shel out of whatever…” Wolfe motioned the bottle back and forth between them, “This is. I don’t get why you dislike me, but it’s got nothing to do with her.”

A sudden thought crossed Wolfe’s mind. “Or does it? Is this a ‘you want Shel for yourself’ thing and now you’re just looking for a reason to take me down? You as corrupt as the rest of the cops on this?”

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Rhett spluttered. “I’m not after you to take Shel, whatever that means. But she’s first in her class. And the class she’s in isn’t just the card police—there are over two hundred people there! She’s going to go places and do things—unless some selfish asshole, happy he finally got one good thing in his life, drags her down!”

Rhett straightened further, something Wolfe hadn’t thought possible, and cracked his neck. “And if you’re going to make accusations against my fellow police officers, I’d ask that you bring proof or remain quiet. We get enough false accusations without your self-serving proclamations!”

Wolfe was feeling heated, and Rhett wasn’t a problem he could punch, shoot, or Cereboo his way through. “I know the cops in this part are frequently crooked. But forget that. As to your ironically equally unfounded accusations against me, you’re barking up the wrong tree, asshole. I haven’t done anything illegal in this case.”

Rhett’s mouth quirked up at one corner. “In this case?”

Wolfe almost slapped his face, angry at having been baited into even that much of an admission. He was also tempted to immediately deny any illegal activity ever.

But something stopped him—he wasn’t sure why, but he didn’t want to run from this cocksure cop, and that’s what lying would have been—it would have been running from Rhett.

Instead, Wolfe met Rhett’s eyes, his voice deadly serious. “You’re after the wrong guy in this case, I swear on all I hold holy. But you do you—wouldn’t be the first-time the supposed good guys, cops included, have absolutely wrecked my life for no reason other than their own selfish desires.”

Rhett held Wolfe’s gaze, and the two men stared at each other long enough that Wolfe’s anger started to fade, and the whole thing started to feel awkward.

Rhett turned away first. “Well, you’re either the best liar ever or you’re telling me the truth about those two things, at least. I’ll trust you for now. But if you’re telling me the truth, why not tell me what’s going on?”

Wolfe frowned. “I’ve told you everything I know, lieutenant. We have some boxes of Emmett’s files, and maybe I’ll know more later. But he didn’t tell me why we were going to that train station, I didn’t know what to expect, and I still don’t know what’s going on. But I’m gonna lay my cards on the table. Even once I learn what’s happening, I still may not tell you—Emmett wants things kept quiet.”

Rhett frowned harder, put his hands behind his back, and tapped one foot. “When I came out, you were talking about needing money, right?”

Wolfe blinked. “Yeah, why?”

“What if I pay you? Once you learn things about the case, let me know.”

“You want to bribe me? How is that not corrupt?” Wolfe asked, angry again.

Rhett let go of his pose and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m not bribing you, it’s information from a paid informant. Ask Shel, it’s perfectly legal.”

“Still shady,” Wolfe said, but held his hand up. “Whatever. How much?”

“If you bring me his information on the case, I’ll give you five thousand dollars.”

Wolfe snorted, and Rhett narrowed his eyes. I’ve got way more than that in the bank. Way more. And one of the weakest cards is worth ten times that.

“I’ll keep it in mind,” Wolfe said.

“Please do.”

There was another awkward pause, and Wolfe wasn’t sure what to say. But it seemed like the conversation was done. He pointed back to the yard with his mostly-empty beer. “You want to go back to the party? Charles is right—he makes some mean beans. You can fuck with me later, ‘kay? Let’s just eat now.”

Rhett rolled his eyes, but the ghost of a smile crossed his face. “He does make some good beans.”

***

“C’mon, admit it, you had fun at the party,” Shel said, smiling at him from the passenger seat as he drove his Suburu back to his house through the moonlit streets of Joliet.

Wolfe mock-growled, “Yeah, getting interrogated by Rhett was the highlight of my month.”

Shel’s smile slipped and she hung her head. “Sorry, I honestly thought you and him would get along more. I’m sorry that happened.”

Wolfe sighed. “I had a lot of fun at the rest of it, I’ll admit. And learned a bit, as well, listening to the cops talk stories. Tactics, methods—things like that.”

Shel smiled at Wolfe again, her green eyes shining.

“I have a question,” Wolfe asked. “Can Rhett bribe me to give him information on Emmett’s case?”

Shel nodded. “Yeah, he can. As long as it’s reasonably connected to a case, he can pay an informant—even to get information he can’t go after himself legally, like Emmett’s notes. Why?”

“He offered me five-k to give him exactly that info.”

“Why not give it to him?” Shel asked. “I mean, we don’t even know what it is, yet.”

“Emmett thinks the cops are dirty. Besides, we don’t need them. We can solve it ourselves.”

“Do you think Rhett is dirty?” Shel asked.

Wolfe sighed. “No. But I’ve been wrong about cops being good guys before, and I won’t be shocked if he turns out to be a self-ish prick, as opposed to a self-righteous one.”

Wolfe laughed at his own wordplay, mildly embarrassed when Shel didn’t join in. He continued. “Also, Rhett is a lieutenant in the Joliet police department, and most of this is happening in Noimoire according to the stuff I have managed to look at. The upside to helping him is very low.”

Shel nodded slowly. “Alright.”

Wolfe had another thought. “Plus, if we really are after Grimm family members, I’m not sure I want Rhett knowing about me when we take them in. That could become a whole thing on its own.”

Shel smiled at him. “I already said alright. You have to quit arguing when you win. That’s the rules.”

Wolfe snorted. “We weren’t arguing. Just trying to come up with a plan together."

“Of course. And whatever you decide, I’ve got your back.”

Wolfe felt a rush of warmth. “Thank you.”

They drove for a minute, Wolfe following the roads back to their house.

“Hey, so, while you were talking to Rhett, my mom called me. She needs to leave town on business for a month. Can Lucy come live with us?”

Wolfe pinched the bridge of his nose, then laughed quietly as he realized that was the same thing Rhett had done when talking to him. “Yeah, sure, the squirt can come live with us. I’m sure it’ll make Malviere happy to have someone to play with.”

“Besides our little apricot bundles of joy.”

“Yeah, besides them.”

Shel nodded. They drove in silence for a moment, until Wolfe pulled into the driveway to their house.

Shel raised an eye at him and licked her lips. “So, what’s next for the evening, my hero?”

Wolfe was fairly certain that she was offering him another tumble. He had to admit, he loved the fact that Shel was into him. A woman that truly cared for him was the most precious thing in the world.

But he wasn’t twenty-two anymore, and they had things that were more important, unfortunately. He needed to make sure everything went right, as soon as possible. “Let’s go over my deck, see what I can add from that assassin’s deck. If the Grimm family really is involved, I’ll need to be as prepared as possible. Then, we’ll take a look at the files, see what we’re up against. And make a real plan. Today was a good day, and I know it matters to your future that we go to these things. But tomorrow, we hunt—and we need to be prepared.”