It was supposed to be a simple job.
Sneak into the Northcrest Mansion, find a very specific artifact, Basso said that his client's description was literally, "You'll know it when you see it." As if that would help any.
Steal said artifact, sneak out of the mansion and return to Basso by dawn.
Easy right?
Garrett could have done it alone of that he had no doubt, but the last two words in the description brought the thief to an unfortunate pause... Northcrest Mansion was massive, it could take days to search every nook of the place, yet the client wanted the stone by dawn... He was willing to pay more than handsomely for such a tedious request sure…
But that still didn't make it feasibly possible for a single thief...
"If you can think of anyone willing to help, you could drag them along." Basso suggested from his workbench as he looked over to Garrett, clad in his thief garb, still as a statue, dark as a shadow, silent as a tomb.
"I work alone…" The thief replied simply.
The Boxman huffed, "Well what about that sister of yours?" He tried to suggest casually.
Garrett looked over to the fence at that, eyes narrowed slightly, "Basso." His tone was low with warning.
He had wept to the Boxman about his predicament with Erin, and he knew Artemus had paid Basso a visit regarding Erin... Basso knew that Erin was a painfully sore spot for Garrett...
But Garrett knew that Basso would have a good reason for treading so close to something so sensitive...
"Look Garrett," Basso sighed, "this is the largest gig I've found in a damn while, the shared cut alone would be enough to keep me afloat for years."
Garrett frowned at that, "Thief Taker?" He asked sourly, Basso groaned and nodded, "You heard about his new 'Blacktax' for fences?" Basso asked quietly.
Garrett pursed his lips and nodded slowly, he had heard of the new tax, a way for the watch to keep the city underbelly on a tighter leash.
"I need this jig to go through Garrett." Basso grumbled softly, "I offered you this jig because you're here, and because I know that out of all the blackhands in this damn hole, you're the one I personally have the most faith in actually finding this thing."
"How many thieves do you have working this job?" Garrett asked slowly.
"Three other groups of two." The Boxman admitted.
"Basso..." Garrett chided coolly.
"Yes, I know it's a bad call to send so many thieves to one jig, but Garrett, we all need this right now, and besides, you're not the only person out there willing to take on the Northcrest guards." Basso huffed bitterly.
A tense silence settled between the two before Basso groaned and raised a hand to pinch his brow.
"Look," He sighed, "you can say no if you want, I just thought you'd be interested to know that besides the extra thieves... I managed to rope in an assassin willing to dabble back into the blackhand business to cop some extra coin."
Basso could see the thief's eyes widen.
"If your interested, I'm having the rouge meet her partner out by Auldale."
Garrett left without a word.
He didn't return the parchment to Basso.