A/N : Hank Riddle - oh dearie me! i love long reviews. never fear, your question shall be addressed in the next few lines.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Chapter Four
Family and Friends
It would have been a great vacation (for both of us). No one was trying to kill us, the pub was doing a steady trade and I had to send my PC home with Mala to keep Holmes from figuring out the internet. In short, life was good. This is the first sign that things are about to go to hell in one big-ass hand basket.
The lunch hour crowd of workers and tourists was filing out and the mercenaries were filing in, looking for their morning pick-me-up. Mala and I were behind the bar, cleaning up and getting ready for the dinner crowd.
"Hey Onyx?"
"Yeah T?" T (being short for three fingers of whiskey) polished off his namesake drink before replying.
"That boy a bouncer of yours?" He gestured at Holmes, who was currently relieving a pair of teenage hustlers of their money after they had mistaken him for a college boy. I'd never seen Holmes play pool before, but (naturally) he was quite good at it.
"Bouncer? What do I need a bouncer for? I got Mala here." Mala grinned in a wicked sort of way. She kept a baseball bat under the counter and had used it to good effect on more than one occasion.
Holmes finished his game and left the two boys good-naturedly blaming each other for the lost tenner.
"What do they call you my friend?" T asked.
"Holmes." T found this ironically amusing. Can't imagine why.
"They call me T." He paused to sip at his second whiskey. "And what is your business, Mr. Holmes?" Holmes glanced at me. I simply smiled back. Holmes' powers of deduction were somewhat hampered by the intervening century. He couldn't be sure if T was mercenary or simple bar fly.
"I am currently between projects." Smooth. T seemed to be contemplating hiring Holmes and I held my breath, not wanting to ruin it by bursting out in laughter. A pair of shady looking characters entered, glanced around suspiciously, then cleared a space for a third man and they all headed for a corner booth.
"Here's to you, love." T dropped a note on the counter and went over to the corner booth.
"He handles a great deal of tobacco and is often near pools of standing water." Holmes said quietly. "I'm afraid I'm not sure what that means in the context of this period. What is his 'business'?"
"Tobacco." I confirmed. "Rather, the smuggling of tobacco.Death may be inevitable, but taxes ain't."
"Is everyone in this establishment a criminal?"
"Not really, we got sports fans too. Besides, I seem to recall seeing you leading our youth down the path of gambling and delinquency." The bell over the door rang and I glanced up. You know that feeling you get when you don't know whether to be angry, scared or just run for cover?
" 'lo Onyx." If the man had been wearing a hat he would be clutching it in his hands. Instead he ran a hand through his brown hair. "I need your help."
"Keep looking. You aren't welcome here Robin." I began to feel under the edge of the bar for Mala's bat. Robin wasn't much of a threat, but his drinking buddies usually were.
"I'm in over my head this time." Nothing new there. Robin had a talent for getting involved in schemes that were doomed to failure.
"Please Onyx? Just hear me out." Damn. I always was a sucker for hard luck cases. I sighed loudly and waved Robin on.
"Yes, well, you see there was this gang…" Robin also had a talent for going off on tangents. In summary, he had been involved with the Tigers, a rather well known (in the underworld at least) gang of car thieves. About a year ago, they had been running your standard steal-and-sell scam. Steal the cars from London and ship them to Hong Kong, where they were sold. A gang in China did the same thing in reverse. Both groups wired the money (minus a small finder's fee) to a single, larger syndicate. Simple, effective, and highly lucrative. That is, until the bobbies got wind of their little scam and sent in a couple of undercover agents.
"I was the only one to get away." Robin finished mournfully.
"I'm sure all the money you got away with helped ease the pain." Robin winced and shifted uncomfortably on his bar stool. "You didn't get away with the money?" I asked incredulously.
"I got away with it," Robin replied defensively, "all one million pounds. I just...lost it. It was supposed to be a sure bet." Robin muttered to himself.
"So let me guess. One of your erstwhile partners has gotten parole and is coming for their cut of the money."
"Not so much got parole as staged a massive and rather destructive prison breakout. Skyler will…"
"Who?!"
"Skyler. It's been on the news all weekend." Robin replied, confused. "Where have you been?"
"On vacation." A stress headache was beginning to throb in my left temple.
"What am I going to do Aurora? You know him better than anyone. He'll kill me if he finds me and I don't have the money!" Well, Skyler probably wouldn't actually kill him. Probably.
"My advice to you, my friend, is to skip town." Robin deflated ever so slightly.
"I was hoping you'd let me crash here."
"Robin, the gods gave you brains, would it trouble you ever so slightly to use them once in a while? If Skyler has broken out, where do you think the first place he'll come to will be?" Robin started as this thought occurred to him.
"Oh…" It was a wonder Robin had lasted this long as a criminal. No brains at all. It was about this point in the conversation that I realized that Holmes was still listening in. Crap, crap and double crap.
"Listen Robin. Sell the house, get on a plane, and go very far away. If he can't find you in London he'll just give up." Robin looked doubtful, but kept any comments to himself. Instead he scurried back out into the London night. I continued to watch the door, painfully aware of Holmes watching me, waiting for an explanation.
"Who is Skyler?" He asked finally. Good question.
"You can't tell me?" I was aiming for lighthearted and fell somewhat short of the mark. Holmes took the challenge seriously.
"Obviously a criminal, and a rather dangerous one. You know him well, but have not been in touch with him for the past few years. You told me once that the only person you ever worked with was Mr. Wes, so that rules out a former partner." Holmes thought silently for a moment. "An ex-suitor?" Suitor? Yeesh.
"Sorry Holmes, nothing so simple as that. Skyler is my brother."
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Questions, comments, critisicms, complaints? Make your voice heard.
.•´¨`•»¦«•Kerowyn•»¦«•´¨`•.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Chapter Four
Family and Friends
It would have been a great vacation (for both of us). No one was trying to kill us, the pub was doing a steady trade and I had to send my PC home with Mala to keep Holmes from figuring out the internet. In short, life was good. This is the first sign that things are about to go to hell in one big-ass hand basket.
The lunch hour crowd of workers and tourists was filing out and the mercenaries were filing in, looking for their morning pick-me-up. Mala and I were behind the bar, cleaning up and getting ready for the dinner crowd.
"Hey Onyx?"
"Yeah T?" T (being short for three fingers of whiskey) polished off his namesake drink before replying.
"That boy a bouncer of yours?" He gestured at Holmes, who was currently relieving a pair of teenage hustlers of their money after they had mistaken him for a college boy. I'd never seen Holmes play pool before, but (naturally) he was quite good at it.
"Bouncer? What do I need a bouncer for? I got Mala here." Mala grinned in a wicked sort of way. She kept a baseball bat under the counter and had used it to good effect on more than one occasion.
Holmes finished his game and left the two boys good-naturedly blaming each other for the lost tenner.
"What do they call you my friend?" T asked.
"Holmes." T found this ironically amusing. Can't imagine why.
"They call me T." He paused to sip at his second whiskey. "And what is your business, Mr. Holmes?" Holmes glanced at me. I simply smiled back. Holmes' powers of deduction were somewhat hampered by the intervening century. He couldn't be sure if T was mercenary or simple bar fly.
"I am currently between projects." Smooth. T seemed to be contemplating hiring Holmes and I held my breath, not wanting to ruin it by bursting out in laughter. A pair of shady looking characters entered, glanced around suspiciously, then cleared a space for a third man and they all headed for a corner booth.
"Here's to you, love." T dropped a note on the counter and went over to the corner booth.
"He handles a great deal of tobacco and is often near pools of standing water." Holmes said quietly. "I'm afraid I'm not sure what that means in the context of this period. What is his 'business'?"
"Tobacco." I confirmed. "Rather, the smuggling of tobacco.Death may be inevitable, but taxes ain't."
"Is everyone in this establishment a criminal?"
"Not really, we got sports fans too. Besides, I seem to recall seeing you leading our youth down the path of gambling and delinquency." The bell over the door rang and I glanced up. You know that feeling you get when you don't know whether to be angry, scared or just run for cover?
" 'lo Onyx." If the man had been wearing a hat he would be clutching it in his hands. Instead he ran a hand through his brown hair. "I need your help."
"Keep looking. You aren't welcome here Robin." I began to feel under the edge of the bar for Mala's bat. Robin wasn't much of a threat, but his drinking buddies usually were.
"I'm in over my head this time." Nothing new there. Robin had a talent for getting involved in schemes that were doomed to failure.
"Please Onyx? Just hear me out." Damn. I always was a sucker for hard luck cases. I sighed loudly and waved Robin on.
"Yes, well, you see there was this gang…" Robin also had a talent for going off on tangents. In summary, he had been involved with the Tigers, a rather well known (in the underworld at least) gang of car thieves. About a year ago, they had been running your standard steal-and-sell scam. Steal the cars from London and ship them to Hong Kong, where they were sold. A gang in China did the same thing in reverse. Both groups wired the money (minus a small finder's fee) to a single, larger syndicate. Simple, effective, and highly lucrative. That is, until the bobbies got wind of their little scam and sent in a couple of undercover agents.
"I was the only one to get away." Robin finished mournfully.
"I'm sure all the money you got away with helped ease the pain." Robin winced and shifted uncomfortably on his bar stool. "You didn't get away with the money?" I asked incredulously.
"I got away with it," Robin replied defensively, "all one million pounds. I just...lost it. It was supposed to be a sure bet." Robin muttered to himself.
"So let me guess. One of your erstwhile partners has gotten parole and is coming for their cut of the money."
"Not so much got parole as staged a massive and rather destructive prison breakout. Skyler will…"
"Who?!"
"Skyler. It's been on the news all weekend." Robin replied, confused. "Where have you been?"
"On vacation." A stress headache was beginning to throb in my left temple.
"What am I going to do Aurora? You know him better than anyone. He'll kill me if he finds me and I don't have the money!" Well, Skyler probably wouldn't actually kill him. Probably.
"My advice to you, my friend, is to skip town." Robin deflated ever so slightly.
"I was hoping you'd let me crash here."
"Robin, the gods gave you brains, would it trouble you ever so slightly to use them once in a while? If Skyler has broken out, where do you think the first place he'll come to will be?" Robin started as this thought occurred to him.
"Oh…" It was a wonder Robin had lasted this long as a criminal. No brains at all. It was about this point in the conversation that I realized that Holmes was still listening in. Crap, crap and double crap.
"Listen Robin. Sell the house, get on a plane, and go very far away. If he can't find you in London he'll just give up." Robin looked doubtful, but kept any comments to himself. Instead he scurried back out into the London night. I continued to watch the door, painfully aware of Holmes watching me, waiting for an explanation.
"Who is Skyler?" He asked finally. Good question.
"You can't tell me?" I was aiming for lighthearted and fell somewhat short of the mark. Holmes took the challenge seriously.
"Obviously a criminal, and a rather dangerous one. You know him well, but have not been in touch with him for the past few years. You told me once that the only person you ever worked with was Mr. Wes, so that rules out a former partner." Holmes thought silently for a moment. "An ex-suitor?" Suitor? Yeesh.
"Sorry Holmes, nothing so simple as that. Skyler is my brother."
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Questions, comments, critisicms, complaints? Make your voice heard.
.•´¨`•»¦«•Kerowyn•»¦«•´¨`•.