"Mainly he wanted to be sure that I wuzn't lying. That well... that you'd not put the scarers on me not to say anything. And how did I know you?"
"What did you tell him?"
"I told him you'd always been fair with me and I just do gofer jobs for you sometimes. Then he said that Juliana had gone to Brazil and you'd followed her." His eyes drop. "Some people said she'd snuffed you. I said I didn't believe that. Juliana was a nutter, but it'd take more than a nutcase to bring you down."
"The rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated, Mickey."
"Yeah... I can see that." He nods slowly, sucks at his bottle again, then his head jerks up. He spins on the spot, looking wild. "Juliana..."
"Will trouble you no more."
"That so?" He calms, then grimacing, presses a hand to his side. "Still a
