AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Of course not.” He answered a little too quickly. “Just curious.”
I didn’t believe him, but I didn’t press him. I understood if he ever left it would need to be on his own terms and in his own way. I was a little surprised that he was thinking about leaving the mercenary life behind. He was successful from what I’d seen. Mercenary life had been pretty good to him. He had money and a crew and status. Lyle Archuleta had sought him out for his services, so he had to be good at his job.
Before I could contemplate it any further, Emerson pulled out of traffic, and we descended towards the ground. I glanced around, surprised we had reached 43rdstreet already. Shops lined both sides of the street, peddling everything from shoes to grooming services to mechanical parts. It was a mishmash of businesses, and it made the street popular. People were walking on the sidewalks in pairs or alone despite the cold, moving from store to store.
Emerson put the car in park and gazed through the windshield. I tried to follow his eyes but couldn’t pick out which store he was watching. However, there was a pawn shop in the general area of his gaze, which seemed to be the most likely destination. “The pawn shop?”
He nodded. “Let me do all the talking. Just watch my back, okay?”
“Okay.” I didn’t want to argue with him. I knew my way around the city from my days in Goliath, but I wasn’t going to volunteer information about that. I didn’t know the people we were going to see, so the point was moot. Things had changed a lot since I’d been gone.
We both got out and Emerson locked the car, giving it an extra look to be sure it was secure. Obviously, he liked the car. Not that I blamed him. If I owned his car, I would be worse than him. I wouldn’t even bring it downtown.
The pawn shop itself looked a little rundown, and a garish sign announcing that they paid cash hung above the entry door. The front windows were tinted, making it hard to see inside. I scanned the area surrounding the building but didn’t see anyone lurking around or guarding it.
Inside, shelving units took up most of the floor space, and large, glass counters divided the front of the store from the back. A man sat behind the counter, tablet in hand, pen tucked behind his ear. He looked up when the bell chimed. His face sported a flat, bored look that seemed to be there perpetually. He was chomping on a stick of gum, and his fingers tapped against the side of his tablet. The stool he was sitting on creaked strenuously when he leaned back to assess the two of us.
From what I could see, there was no one else anywhere around. Behind the counter was a set of doors, presumably leading to the backroom. There could be people in the back, but it was impossible to tell. No way to gauge the threat level.
None of that seemed to bother Emerson. He strode right in, confident and authoritative. He went straight to the counter where the clerk sat and leaned against it. “Davis.”
The clerk’s expression didn’t change, but I could see his muscles tensing slightly. His hands stayed in sight, however, and I carefully palmed my gun behind my back and out of his sightline. Just in case.
“Captain.” Davis eyed Emerson with almost open hostility. “What brings you here?”
Emerson’s eyes roved the room before dropping to scan the merchandise behind the glass. “I’m trying to find someone.”
“You’ll have to be more specific.” His voice was dry as he shifted in his seat, hands still on the tablet.
“Anyone come in here trying to offload a shipment of guns? Specialty guns.”
Davis frowned, but then pursed his lips. “No.”
“You wouldn’t be lying to me, would you, Davis?” Emerson’s voice was light, but I felt the threat behind it. I shifted nervously, trying to keep an eye on the front door as well as the back door.
Davis sighed. “Let’s be frank, Captain. I know what you’re looking for and let me tell you, no one has approached me. Even if they did, I wouldn’t fence anything belonging to Archuleta. I value my life and my job. No one has contacted me about moving your merchandise.”
Emerson heaved an annoyed breath but nodded and backed away from the counter. “You’ll contact me if someone does?”
He nodded. “Not because I have any fondness for you, but I won’t get on Archuleta’s bad side. If I hear anything, I’ll let you know.”
Emerson nodded back at him, but he didn’t go so far as to thank the clerk. He turned to me and inclined his head towards the door. I eyed Davis one more time before turning. I didn’t put the gun away until we were on the street again.
“Are you sure he was telling the truth?” I asked as we climbed back into the car.
Emerson nodded. “Davis isn’t stupid. He may not have any love for me, but he respects Archuleta, and he knows fencing anything belonging to Archuleta would be signing his own death warrant. Davis is wily, but not suicidal.” He fired up the car, and we lifted back into the air.
“Where to now?”
“There are a few more places we can check.”
There were five more places, to be exact. We spent all morning driving around the city, hitting up local fences. No one seemed to know anything. Either no one had been contacted, or else no one was talking about it. It was hard for me to gauge which it was, since I didn’t know any of them, but Emerson seemed to believe them.
He scowled and leaned against his car outside the last place, a restaurant that was notorious for laundering money. “What a waste of a morning.”
I stamped my feet against the cold as little snowflakes drifted down. A quick look at the sky told me the snow would get worse before too long. “Are there any other places you know of?”
Emerson shook his head. “Not any place we can go with just the two of us. We set foot near those places we’ll get blown out of our shoes.”
