“Wait—”
Calvin was already walking away, and my stomach dropped as if I were on the worst roller-coaster ride of my life.
Quinn looked at me.
I shook my head. “I don’t know.”
She frowned while fixing the collar of her coat. “I’ll make sure he goes home tonight.”
I nodded, feeling numb. “You can call me… if you need to.”
“I will.” She turned and left after Calvin.
I stayed behind to pay for the half-eaten meals.
THERE AREa surprising number of brick sellers in the New York metro area.
Sitting at the computer in my office, I squinted and leaned in. I had come back to the Emporium less than psyched with life and fell into one of my known nasty habits. When something is out of my control, I obsess about whatisin my control.
So if I couldn’t help Calvin and he didn’t want to talk to me, by God I was going to figure out who the fuck was harassing my shop. But this wasn’t sleuthing. I was just… researching.
I had thought maybe I could call a few companies and ask if they’d sold a large quantity of bricks in the last few days, since it would be hard to conceal a few hundred of them in New York City for an extended period of time. But not only did big chain stores like Home Depot sell bricks, there were a number of small mom-and-pop shops within the five boroughs that did as well.
And the bricks weren’t exactly unique. If they had been bedazzled with sequins, this search would be a hell of a lot easier.
I still tried calling a few places. Logically I stayed away from locations in Jersey, as they seemed the most unlikely. Home Depot said there was no way they could share sales information and hung up on me. A shop in the Bronx didn’t understand what I was asking, and after the old guy said, “Eh? Eh? What do you mean?” three times,Idisconnected.
Third on my list was a Brooklyn store, Mortar and More. I dialed the number on my cell and put it to my ear.
“Mortar and More. This is Louise. How can I help you?”
“Hi,” I said, sitting up. “I have sort of a strange request and was hoping to talk to someone in sales?”
“You can talk to me, honey. What do you need?”
“I’m wondering if you can tell me about anyone who may have bought about two hundred bricks from you within the past few days.”
She was quiet for a moment. “Why’s that?”
“Someone’s pulled a prank on my business, and honestly I’m just trying to find out who, since the police are sort of at a loss.”
“Unfortunately I can’t give out the names of our customers, dear.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Are you able to just say whether you’ve sold that number recently?”
“We sell thousands of bricks,” Louise answered. “Every week.”
“But I’m specifically looking for—”
“Sorry,” she said. “You understand, as a business owner yourself, I can’t just give out people’s names and contact information. Good luck.” She hung up.
I growled and put my cell down. This was a pointless effort. It was a good try, but this was going to be my response everywhere. Hell, if someone called me like this, I’d tell them to fuck off too.
“Seb?”
I turned to the door.
Max jutted his thumb behind him. “It’s getting kind of busy with customers and those construction dudes. Can you help me finish cleaning?”
