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“To talk to someone I noticed earlier.” His gaze drifted to my sword and he scowled. “You might want to keep that hidden. It doesn’t exactly make us look friendly.” Without waiting for an answer, Collin walked toward the end of the building and stopped next to a sunken doorway. An older man in dirty jeans and a faded army fatigue jacket lay on his side, curled into a fetal position on a piece of cardboard. He wore a stocking cap even though it was already at least eighty-five degrees.
I kept to the side and put the hand that was holding the blade behind my back. But I was carrying a three-foot sword—if the guy paid any attention to me, he would see it. I’d make it work, because there was no way Collin was questioning the guy on his own and I wasn’t about to put the sword down.
Collin looked down at him. “I need your help.”
The man blinked, his clear blue eyes focusing on Collin. “I ain’t got time to help you. Can’t you see I’m sleepin’?” Then he closed his eyes again, curling up tighter.
Collin reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. “I’ll make it worth your while.”
The homeless man cracked one eye open.
Squatting next to him, Collin set a five-dollar bill on the concrete stoop. “Have you noticed anything unusual here in the last few weeks?”
The man pushed himself up into a sitting position and grabbed the money in his fist. “I keep to myself. It works better that way. That’s why I hang out back here.”
“I need to know if a big truck has been back here this week.”
The man eyed Collin’s wallet, his fingers fidgeting.
Collin put a ten on the pavement.
The man snatched it up. “Yeah, it was here last night. Big white truck with no words on the side. I had to hide in the corner because they’ve kicked me out before, and I was comfortable in this spot.”
“So, they’ve been here for a while?”
“Yeah, for about three weeks. The big truck came in and they unloaded lots of silver boxes. But last night another big truck came and took all the boxes away.”
Collin pulled another bill from his wallet and placed it in front of the man. “Tell me what you know, not what you think I want to hear.”
The man nodded and snagged the bill, bolder this time.
“Do you remember any defining characteristics about the people who came and went? Anything different about any of them?”
“The guys movin’ it all were just regular guys, but the cars were fancy, usually two of them. Two different men would come, both dressed in suits. Once there was a woman, all hoity-toity.”
“Was she older? Did she have white hair?” Collin asked. “A long stick up her ass?”
The man cracked a smile. “Yeah, that was her.”
“Did you hear anything they said?”
The old man shook his head. “Nope. I kept out of the way.”
“What about this morning?” Collin asked, shifting his weight and glancing toward the loading dock. “Did you see any activity back here?”
“Yeah, I saw a silver car leave just a bit ago. Didn’t see it come earlier, but like I said, I was sleepin’.”
The cry of a bird came from overhead. A shiver ran down my spine, but I took comfort in the fact that it was late morning, and the sun was beating down on the pavement. My imagination was getting carried away.
Collin rested his forearms on his knees, balancing on the balls of his feet. “Did you see who got in it?”
When the man hesitated, Collin started to pull out more money.
Another bird cawed, joined by a third. Anxious, I spun around, the sword still in my hand, and moved into the center of the street.
Collin stood and narrowed his eyes. “Ellie?”
Screaming filled the air and three large, black birds started to circle over our heads. “Raven Mockers. What are they doing here?” I asked, shading my eyes to look at them.
