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Snow landed on my cheek, and I brushed it off. “There’s one place I know of that we can check.”
He eyed me across the top of the car. “You know a place? Here?”
I nodded. “Goliath does business here all the time. Esmuna is one of our biggest markets. I spent some time here in the old days.”
“You know a guy?”
I shrugged. “I used to. There’s no guarantee he’s still there, but we can check it out.”
“Fine. Let’s go.”
We climbed back into the car, and I gave him directions. The store was only a few streets over, in one of the shadier parts of town. Not that we hadn’t visited a few already, but this was worse. This was not a good neighborhood to get caught in by yourself.
The jewelry store still sat where I remembered it, retro neon sign flashing in the window. This time when Emerson locked his car, he glared at every face on the street, whether they were looking at him or not. He had a particularly fierce look when he wanted to, and it seemed to serve as a decent deterrent.
“I’ll take the lead on this one.”
Emerson didn’t argue. I pushed open the door and stepped into the brightly lit interior. The store was tiny and filled with glass cases and counters. A woman and a young girl stood off to the left, looking at some silver necklaces. I eyed them, but they didn’t even glance up. Emerson looked longer, eyes lingering on the girl. An odd look, something akin to sorrow, crossed his face, but he said nothing.
Tyrone stood in front of the counter, fixing a display. He was about my height with bony arms, and I remembered he always smelled like garlic. I was almost surprised to see him. A part of me had been sure he wouldn’t still be working there. Truthfully, I figured someone would’ve put a bullet in him long before then. But it was fortunate for us that he was still alive. He and I weren’t friends, but we had at least some semblance of a working history.
Carefully, I walked towards the counter. Tyrone caught sight of me, and his eyes widened. He spared Emerson a glance before scurrying behind the counter and putting something solid between us.
“Ethan.” Tyrone sounded surprised, but not necessarily welcoming.
I nodded at him. “Tyrone.” I kept my voice low so it wouldn’t carry to the woman and her daughter.
He sniffed, his eyes looking me over carefully. He also eyed Emerson the same way. His eyes darted around like he was looking for a way to escape. I caught a whiff of garlic and my nose wrinkled.
He licked his lips nervously. “What brings you here?”
“Making introductions.” I glanced back at Emerson. “A friend of mine is looking for some merchandise.”
Tyrone placed his hands flat on top of the counter, which I didn’t take as a positive sign. “I thought you were out of the game. Well, I honestly thought you were dead.”
I lifted an eyebrow at him. “No, I’m obviously not dead. We’re looking for some information on some special merchandise.”
His eyes pinged back and forth between Emerson and me. That was also not a good sign. “I don’t know anything.”
Not the answer I had expected. I frowned. “I haven’t even told you what we’re looking for yet.”
My instincts flared, warning me of danger just as Tyrone’s hands suddenly dropped behind the counter.
“Down!” I barked as Tyrone lifted a shotgun. There was no time for me to do anything but jump to the side. Tyrone tracked me, firing and just barely missing. Emerson swore and went for the woman and the girl. The little girl screamed when the gun went off, and Emerson grabbed her, grabbed her mom, and pulled them both behind a display case, covering them with his body.
There was no time for me to worry about them. I yanked out my own gun and scrambled to a crouch. Tyrone’s gun went off again, but I was tucked down and he didn’t come close to hitting me. I ran, still crouched, to the opposite end of the counter. I leaned around it and caught sight of Tyrone’s leg. I couldn’t take the chance that the little girl or her mom would get hurt so I shot him immediately, knowing I would only have the element of surprise for a moment.
Tyrone yelped and then cursed as his leg gave out and he dropped. I sprang towards him. He saw me and tried to lift the double-barreled shotgun, but it was too heavy and bulky for him to lift one-handed. I snatched it out of his hands before he could pull the trigger. I could hear Emerson yelling something. I stepped back and trained both guns on Tyrone. “Got him!” I yelled.
There was movement, and I looked up to see Emerson checking before standing upright. Then he ushered the two innocent civilians towards the door. The woman grabbed up her daughter and ran without hesitation.
Once they were safely outside, I returned my focus to Tyrone, who was groaning and pressing his hand against his leg where I’d shot him. I kicked him. “Get up. Stop whining. I shot you with a laser. It isn’t that bad.”
Tyrone glared at me, but he grasped the counter and started pulling himself upright. Emerson stomped towards us with murder in his eyes. He swore harshly, leaned across the counter, grabbed Tyrone by the shoulders, and jerked him up and half over the counter. Tyrone yelped again and flinched in pain.
“You stupid waste of space! What were you thinking, shooting a gun with a child in the room? What kind of monster are you? Sweet mother! If you had hit that girl, I would have chopped you into itty bitty pieces and set you and your shop on fire, you pathetic coward!”
Part of me wanted to tell Emerson to ease up, but the other half of me completely agreed with him. Instead of stopping him, I stepped closer, keeping my laser trained on Tyrone. “Why’d you try to shoot me, man?”
