I don't own themes from Deadly Shadows or Garrett. But, then again, who really does?

I chuckled as the poor sap didn't know what hit him. He fell like a stone when my blackjack made contact with this unsuspecting skull. The sigh that escaped his lips did little to betray my position as the city watch made their usual rounds, coming inches from the darkened alley way and seeing a careful knife cut the purse from the victim's belt and a even more careful hand take the two silver rings off the victim's hand. I carefully drug the body through the alley until I came to my usual corner and proceeded to drop the man there. I needn't worry about him though; he would wake in the morn to discover that someone made off with his belongings for maybe the second or third time.

I snickered as I imagined the man's confused face as he stumbled home to his wife to tell her the news. Of course, this was only speculation and imagination. I didn't know if the man was married or even had a job, but I had a pretty good guess. No one carried at least fourteen gold pieces worth of silver and copper in their coin purse, nor did they have a fairly good sized gem on one of their rings without having some sort of income. Oh well, not my problem where my "customers" receive their goods. All I have to worry about is number one: me. I slipped out of the alley without being seen and did my best to blend in with the crowd.

Heartless Perry wasn't a picky man, but when he handed back the rings and shook his head, I knew I had the wrong form of loot in his department. I had his attention though when he started counting out the coins. Fifteen, twenty, no, thirty-five gold pieces worth he said was in the purse but I knew better, and judging by how much his hands were sweating, he knew it too.

"Now Perry," I began, "I'm no master thief like Garrett but I know a swindle when I see it. Now why don't you recount that for me, please?" I felt the corners of my mouth twitch up when the large man's eyes widened. He'd been caught. I watched the man count again and once again stop at thirty-five, pause, then continue up to the fifty I had originally estimated it was. "Thank you." I left the shop after he paid me and went home.

"Just another night of making money and another day of waitin' tables tomorrow," I muttered to myself, "I'll go visit Bertha tomorrow night if I don't get relieved of those rings before then."

I sighed as I pulled out the key to my room. As I pushed open the door, I saw a shadow flicker in my peripheral leading into the hallway. I sighed again, figured I'd be relieved of those rings sooner than I thought, and awaited the feel of the blackjack against my skull. No such luck, for the shadow dissipated a moment before I closed the door.

Hmm… I wonder what that was then. Oh well, I guess I got lucky…

"What do you do when someone who is smarter than you decides to pay you a visit?" a low voice asked from my bedroom. Slightly surprised though unfazed, I promptly pulled down my hood as I dropped the bag I was carrying on the chair next to my fireplace.

"I'd do what all people would do. I'd demand to know why they find themselves so smart and then kick them out. But I don't get to do that tonight do, now do I? What do you want Garrett?" I asked in a serious tone. The shadows in my bedroom shifted and revealed the master thief himself. He had a smirk playing on his features as he strode over to the other chair by my fireplace and sat down.

He leaned forward slightly, spoke in a low voice and said, "Listen carefully, because I rarely say this and then I'll only say it once."

A short pause.

"I need your help."