Page 42 of Ivory

If I didn't know he was a demon, I wouldn't be able to tell by looking. He could pass for a normal human. One in a nicely fitting, expensive looking suit, with a stressed expression on his face.

I stood in the doorway and watched until he finally noticed me. When he did, he looked like he was going to jump out of his skin.

"Ivory. I… Didn't expect you… To drop by," he stammered.

I pressed a hand against the door frame and tapped my fingernail on the wood. "You didn't? Why is that? Perhaps you were hoping to be gone before I heard you sold the place?"

I saw from his expression that he was hoping for exactly that. Sucks to be him.

"Well." He shrugged. "I thought you might be, somewhat… Not happy. But…"

Jake crossed his arms over his chest. "Why did you do it, Haigwood? Didn't we offer you enough money? Did Dagen threaten your family?"

I looked at Jake sideways. "We did that, didn't we?"

He nodded. "Of course. Maybe we didn't go far enough."

I clicked my tongue. "That would be disappointing. You might need to step up your game."

Jake frowned. "I thought my threatening game was on point. Haigwood, where did I go wrong? Help a guy out."

Haigwood licked his lips. "Your threats were just right. Except I don't think you believed me when I said I hate my sister."

"You weren't convincing enough," Jake said. "But I meant what I said about your aunt."

"Oh I know," Haigwood said quickly. "It wasn't about the threats."

"What was it about?" I asked.

Haigwood gulped. "I owed his family a favour. They loaned me the money so I could buy this place. And they took care of some things for me. I thought they forgot about it but they didn't."

"People like that never forget," I said. I should know, I am ‘people like that’. "Did it occur to you to come to me? I could have bought this place and helped you to disappear."

"He said he would find me wherever I went. And that I would still owe him a big favour. Selling him the Lair, it seemed like the best way out."

Haigwood reminded me of a snail. Slimy, and if there was any kind of disturbance, he would hide in his shell. In this case, though, I actually understood where he was coming from. I didn't like it, but I understood it. Owing someone a favour could come back and bite you on the ass, hard. That was why I made sure I never owed anyone anything, except Jake. I owed him everything in a way I could never repay.

I grimaced. "At least tell me he paid above our last offer."

Haigwood smiled slowly. "Quite a bit above, actually. He seemed very eager."

Jake chuckled. "I hope the place goes right down the toilet. That would teach him."

I smiled. If Dagen's finances imploded before Alistair did anything, that would be okay with me.

"We could turn the garage into an underground fight club," I mused. "A little competition never hurt anyone." And if it did, then it was too fucking bad.

"We could call it Ruby," Jake said. "Or Garnet."

"Or Merlot," Haigwood chimed in.

"Or just Red," I said.

"Everyone gets what they want," Haigwood said.

"Not really," I said coolly. "I didn't want to bother with having to renovate. Well, not completely."

Haigwood sighed and stopped packing. "Are you going to kill me?"

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