Ultimate Nyssa Glass by H. Burke (best value ebook reader .txt) 📕

street, a two-story, brick structure with streaked windows. “The Cork and Screw.” Though it was only a bit past midday, raised voices and rowdy laughter echoed out of the tavern.

They do a brisk business I’m sure. Yes, this is just the sort of place Uncle Al would settle himself.

Then she saw it: a narrow, three-story house with crooked shutters, crammed between two more drinking establishments. A faded sign advertised rates by the week, day, and hour … and every board of it was covered in gaudy but sloppily applied blue paint.

Now what? I’m slightly overdressed for this part of town.

After a moment of lip chewing, she sloughed off her peacoat and tucked it into her satchel. Beneath she wore a crisp white blouse and a brown, corset-style bodice. She entered the front door and found herself in a smoke-filled office. Behind the desk a woman with impossibly pink-red curls chomped on a half-consumed cigar.

“You lost, girly?” She arched a black eyebrow.

I wonder what noxious chemicals did that to her hair. Maybe it’s a wig?

“No, I’m looking for my uncle. He said he would be staying here,” Nyssa said.

“Uncle, huh? If by ‘uncle’ you mean ‘client,’ my girls already reserved the ‘by-the-hour’ rooms. You know the house gets a cut, right? If you’re looking for a permanent place of business, though, I have regulars who pay extra for the continental type.”

Nyssa’s cheeks burned. Don’t take it personally. That’s just the world she lives in.

“No, he’s a guest not a client. He would’ve been here with my … cousin.” The word felt odd on her tongue, strangely sweet somehow, as if that tenuous blood connection tied Theo to her in some tangible way. “He’s just a kid.”

“We don’t do business with kids.” The woman scowled. “We have standards. We also don’t go sharing our client information.”

This isn’t going well. Nyssa scanned the desk. A ledger lay open beside the woman’s ashtray. Her uncle wouldn’t use his real name, but she knew his handwriting well enough. She just needed a look.

“I can make it worth your time.” She reached into her satchel and found a silver coin. The woman’s eyes glinted.

Nyssa held it towards the woman, then fumbled it. The madame flailed for the money, but it hit the desk with a clank then rolled onto the floor by her feet. She dove for the coin. Nyssa leaned closer and scanned the ledger. A. Smith—Room 302 jumped out at her.

“Sorry to waste your time. You can keep the coin,” she called over her shoulder as she exited the inn.

Outside she scanned the building.

302 probably meant 3rd floor. The top story of the house was under slanted gables. Even if they were closet-sized rooms, there couldn’t be more than three or four.

I’ve made worse climbs, but shock me, I didn’t dress for this today.

Looking about to be sure no one was watching, she backed into the alley between the blue inn and the brick tavern to its left. She could easily touch both structures without stretching her arms.

“Well, at least no one’s here to see,” she mumbled before undoing the eye hooks and stepping out of her ruffled skirt. It joined the peacoat in the satchel. She always wore leggings for just such an occasion—too form-fitting for good company, but better than committing larceny in her bloomers. Fishing in her bag, she found her beloved goggles. With those secured over her eyes, she grasped the rain spout and hoisted herself up.

There were windows along her route but most were shuttered.

Good. I don’t want to be seen or subjected to whatever goes on inside a place like this.

Her arms ached by the time she reached the third story.

Out of practice. I bet Ellis does some sort of exercises to keep his upper body like that … I should ask.

With one great breath, she swung herself up over the eaves to rest on the roof. Several chimneys sent dark pillars of smoke into the air, but she had a fair view of San Azula. There was the wharf area a single row of houses away—short houses so the water would be visible through the back third story windows. That was her best bet for Al and Theo.

It was odd how close this was to the finer areas of the city. She could easily make out the clean white walls and red-tiled roofs of the hotels on the boardwalk. The pristine sand and azure surf of the tourist beaches were a fifteen minute ride from the putrid, fish-gut tainted waters around the cannery. Two totally different worlds, and there was Nyssa with a foot in both.

Keeping her rump on the shingles, she shimmied down the roof top. She tried switching her goggles to x-ray, but couldn’t get a clear image. At the edge, she took out a rope and attached it to a chimney at one end and around her waist at the other. She then lowered herself next to the window and listened.

“I can’t believe it!”

She cringed at Al’s voice. Not only was it loud, but his words slurred. Drinking to celebrate his score, most likely.

“I’m sorry,” Theo squeaked. “I didn’t mean it. I won’t —”

“Everyone wants to leave me. And why? Haven’t I given you everything you’ve needed since I got out? More than your mum ever did, leaving you to that orphanage when she knew full well you wasn’t an orphan. And you want to go?” Something slammed against the wall. The shutters shook.

“No … I just … they took good care of me.”

“They won’t want you back. Best you get that in your head now. If they’d found out who you are, they’d have kicked you out anyway. You’re best off with me ‘cause I’m loyal, not like my prig brother who wouldn’t let me in his house after he married that church girl. Not like my old crew who couldn’t wait for me to get nabbed so they could have my share … or my stuck-up, ungrateful