They had to be the strangest children he’d ever come across. “Can either of you sense magic?”
“Yes,” George nodded. “I feel it, and Jack smells it.”
“If you sense a lot of magic coming, let Ling go and run to get Gaston. No waiting, no hesitation.” His luck had held out—without realizing it, they’d landed the wyvern only half a mile from Audrey’s house. He’d left Gaston there with instructions to be ready for takeoff at a moment’s notice. It would take the kids less than fifteen minutes to get there. “Just run to Gaston as fast as you can.”
“What, I don’t get to fight?” Jack asked.
Kaldar appraised the indignant note in his voice. Now was the time for finesse. “We have Audrey with us. If people are coming to kill us, we may have to get out of here in a hurry, and the best way to keep Audrey safe is to load her onto the wyvern. Make sense?”
Jack thought about it. “Yes.”
At the door, Audrey called, “Are you coming?”
“No, just breathing hard, love.” He glanced at her and was rewarded by an outraged glare, followed by, “Oh, my God!”
Kaldar took a moment to look at both boys. “No heroics. Do exactly as you are told. The mission is our first priority.”
“We understand,” George said.
“Good.”
They took off for the trees. Kaldar glanced at the object he’d taken from Audrey’s pocket. It was a simple gold cross on a chain. In the middle of the cross a tiny black stone winked at him. He wondered why she didn’t wear it. Pretty Audrey, full of secrets like a puzzle box. Now he’d have to find an excuse to touch her again to put the cross back.
The boys reached the trees and melted into the brush. Kaldar slipped the cross and the chain between his fingers, turned, and caught up with Audrey. “You could’ve warned me he was a giant.”
“And spoil the fun? Please.”
Kaldar swiped a chunk of rock and wedged it between the door and the frame.
Audrey raised her eyebrows.
“For your raccoon,” he told her. “In case of emergency, the kids will let her go. You said she always finds you, so she’ll run right back here.”
She gave him a long, suspicious stare that said plainly that she trusted him about as far as she could throw him. “I bet you scheme even when you sleep.”
“That depends on who I’m sleeping with.”
Audrey laughed and went inside. Somehow, it didn’t seem like a “with him” kind of laugh. More like “at him.” That’s all right, love. You’ll come to see my point of view.
Kaldar followed and found himself in a large room. Shelves occupied every available inch of wall space and cleaved the room in long rows, their content protected by glass. Some were filled with books; others held vials in a dozen shapes and sizes. Colored bottles, green, brown, and red, stood next to Weird gadgets and gears. To the right, two shelves contained teapots. Under them rested an army of aromatic candles, then a dozen sticks of deodorant, twenty bottles of assorted shampoo, kerosene lamps, Nintendo game systems, a Sony PlayStation, two or three hundred game cartridges and CDs, sun catchers, laptops, old toys, animal skulls, cowbells, Blu-ray movies, assorted metal parts from engines, and above it all a dried-up baby wyvern, mummified into a skeletal monstrosity, spread its dead wings, suspended from a ceiling by a cord. Each item had a tiny price tag. Not a speck of dust marred the place.
Charming. A pawnbroker’s paradise.
Gnome took another long swallow from the bottle and strode between the shelves to a beautiful antique coffee table, surrounded by plush red chairs. He settled into one and indicated the other two with a sweep of his hand.
Audrey perched in a chair. Kaldar sat next to her.
“So what can I do you for?”
Audrey leaned forward with a charming smile. “You’ve done business with Seamus.”
“Yeah.” Gnome shrugged. “What of it?”
“If he had to unload a hot item on the West Coast, where would he go?”
“How hot?”
“The Hand wants it,” Kaldar said.
Gnome grunted. “What the hell . . . Okay, what sort of item?”
“It’s a gadget,” Audrey said. “With military applications. He got at least forty grand for it.”
“US currency?”
“Mhm.”
“Well, he didn’t sell it to me, I can tell you that much. I won’t touch anything the Hand wants. Isn’t worth the risk. And if you and your fiancé have any sense, you will leave this thing alone.” Gnome rose and disappeared between the shelves.
“Fiancé,” Kaldar mouthed at Audrey and wagged his eyebrows.
She shrugged. “Don’t get any ideas.”
“Too late.”
Oh, he had ideas, and if the circumstances were different, he would explain them to her. In a lot of detail. With practical demonstrations.
Gnome returned, carrying an enormous book, four feet tall and at least six inches thick. He pulled a book pedestal from behind the shelf and lowered the book onto it. “There are about ten people on the West Coast who would buy Hand-hot merchandise.” He opened the book and flipped through the pages. “Of those, six could come up with forty grand on short notice. We can rule out Vadim Urkovski.”
“Why?” Audrey asked.
“He got himself jailed in Sacramento for running a stoplight while roaring drunk, then punching a cop.” Gnome grinned. “His wife refused to post bail. Apparently, he wasn’t alone in the car. He’ll get out of it, but it will take time.”
“That leaves us with five,” Kaldar said.
“That it does.” Gnome flipped the old page. On it a large photograph showed a woman with flowing brown hair. “We can rule out Vicki as well. Seamus is superstitious. He once did a deal with her and got pinched right after. Wouldn’t work with her since. So we’re down to four.” Gnome flipped another page. On it, a tall blond man in a pale fisherman sweater and jeans leaned against a Mercedes. “Kaleb Green. Operates near Seattle. Will buy anything for the right price.”