“Nah.” John let out his breath in a whoosh as he entered the room. “Nelson is going to be pissed they got through, though.”
“It’s not like we c-could stop them,” Peter said, following.
“True enough—” John tensed and leaned forward in a rush. “What in the hell?”
The glass case had been left atop the stone pedestal in the center of the room. Instead of it being empty or broken, it actually hadmorein it than when the day started. The dangly earrings, the newest addition from their production cairn, had been pushed to the corner. In the middle…
Peter rubbed his eyes and looked again as John grinned and said, “No way, bro!”
Their bracelet was back! The bracelet from their production cairn that the female gargoyle had unlawfully taken, and that Tristan hadn’t forced her to give back, was returned to the case!
That wasn’t all. Displayed beside it were two new pieces: a large and intricate necklace with a bunch of fat and well-cut gems and a pair of earrings that put their latest creation to absolute shame. In fact, they put the bracelet to shame too.
“Bro…” John whispered, snapping photos with his phone. He wasn’t supposed to have that when he was on duty for one of these things—he was supposed to use the landlines. Not that he ever cared. He opened his text app and entered in a bunch of people.
“Wait, maybe we should wait for Nelson,” Peter said hesitantly.
“Why?” John loaded up the pictures and hit send before showing Peter his widened eyes in that comical expression. “Shebustedin here, beat all our people to do it, and put the bracelet back!” He hopped up and down, pointing at the additional pieces. “And those? Are you kidding me right now?” He bent with his fist to his mouth. “She didn’t need our bracelet at all. I heard she just left it on the table near the couch, out for anyone to take. She justleftit there. I didn’t believe it, but if she’s gotthiskinda stuff floatin’ around…and she breaks in here to hand it back?” He laughed with glee. “Maybe we need a job with her. How much money do you think she has? I mean…she picked up Tristan, right? He was Nelson’s pride and?—”
“What’s going on in here?” Nelson demanded as he strode in.
With a sleight of hand that really should’ve landed John with a thief job, he tucked his phone into his pocket as he and Peter quickly backed out of the way.
“What is this?” Nelson leaned over the glass case. He tensed before stepping even closer, looking down in disbelief. His angry flush turned into pale, incredulous shock. He rounded on them. “Tellno one! Do you hear me? Tell no one about this.”
“But sir, they’re going to know.” John gave a hesitant shrug. “She came in with stuff, but she didn’t leave with anything. I mean…see? There’s her bag…thing.” He pointed at the item on the floor.
“Tellno one,” Nelson fumed, spit flying. He snapped his finger toward the door. “Get out!”
Peter and John wasted no time. When they heard footsteps running down the corridor, the guardians probably rushing to see what was taken, the two ducked out of the way and hid until the coast was clear.
“You didn’t tell him about the pictures,” Peter whispered as they hurried up the steps.
“No, are you kidding? I don’t want to have anaccident, know what I’m saying? Nelson didn’t seem to be in his right mind.” John swallowed. “I think…” He licked his lips. “I think it might be time to get out of here. I’m tired of this detail, anyway. One of the smaller cairns will take me, I bet. I bet a garhette will even be interested. We hardly raid anymore. I need fresh blood.”
Or someone who hadn’t heard all his stories and jokes ten times over, Peter mused.
“Or maybe…” Peter scratched his head. “What about that female gargoyle? I heard once that she treats her cairn like a safe haven. I didn’t believe it, but…well, some of the other stuff seems true. Sheisreally powerful, and she clearly does have a bunch of money. Maybe she’ll take us.”
“Us?”
“Well…yeah. I saw the whole thing. He can claim those pictures are manipulated or whatever and get rid of the evidence.” He paused. “I’m part of the evidence.Weare.”
“Come on!” John tugged at his arm. “If we hurry, we can catch the fliers, or at least see where they land. There are only a few places they can set up a camp within the allowed distance.”
Peter started to jog with him. “What about the pictures?”
“I’ll tell everyone in this cairn to keep their mouths shut.”
“Thiscairn?”
“Yeah, bro. They don’t want to be silenced any more than we do. If they don’t say anything, no one will know about them knowing, follow me?”
“What other cairns did you send it to?”
“I gotta group of guys I see every year from a few different cairns. Look, who cares? It doesn’t matter. Nelson can’t mess with them, and we’re gonna be gone. Hurry up, we gotta get out of here.”
Nelson didn’t used to be like this. He didn’t used to be so…dirty in his dealings. The older he got, the more extremely he seemed to react. It probably was a good time to go. Besides, Peter liked the way that female worked. This was a pretty funny stunt. It surely flung dirt in ol’ Nelson’s eye. And she had Tristan. Everyone always said that gargoyle was the best they’d ever had. Nelson was dumb for letting him go. They seemed like the better team, if he had to choose, and it seemed he did.
