By Hook or by Wolf

Turning, I leave the room. I don’t bother closing the door as I do. Let her worry about that. She’ll have to come check on the jewel when I don’t show up for our meeting tomorrow. Besides, this will give her a chance to know that I could have stolen the jewel, but that I decided not to. It was all out of the goodness of my heart, too, I think, shaking my head.

I leave the gallery the same way I went in, but I’m not so mature that I don’t push over a painting or two in my anger and frustration as I leave. I only knock over lesser-known objects and only small things that won’t break, scratch, or be damaged when they fall. I’m not a monster.

My grappler gets me to the next building and then I climb down the fire escape to the street.

This is it.

It’s over.

Finished.

Done.

I found the Gem of Malice and it had been every bit as magical as I’d thought it would be. Stealing it, even to sell to a rightful person, would have felt wrong. I realized as soon as I saw it that there was something really special and lovely about the gem. There was an almost magical quality to it that I couldn’t quite shake.

Taking it would have been a crime in many ways. I didn’t want to be the person who took it.

“So instead, I did something even worse,” I grumble. The portraits are heavy. Each picture is only about eight inches high, but the frames are heavy and bulky. They barely fit into my bag and honestly, if anyone looks twice at me, they’ll probably know I’m out getting into trouble. That doesn’t sit too well with me, but there isn’t much I can do. I march to where my car is parked, angry and annoyed at being tricked. I shove my bag in the front seat and drive straight home.

Angry.

Tired.

Worn out.

When I get back to the house, Jan, the babysitter, is waiting for me.

“Rough night?” She says, eyeing me.

“You don’t know the half of it.” I thrust a wad of bills at her. Her eyes widen, but she doesn’t say anything. I overpay Jan regularly because it means she won’t ask questions and won’t give me shit. It also means that she basically always makes herself available to me, so if I need a middle-of-the-night sitter at the last minute, there are no questions asked.

“Thanks,” Jan says, pocketing the cash. “She’s all tucked in.”

“Any problems?”

“None at all. You know she’s an angel, right?”

I sigh and looked toward Rebecca’s bedroom door.

“Yeah,” I say. “I know.

Jan leaves and I lock the door behind her. Then I triple lock it. Then, just for good measure, I super quadruple lock it. I turn around and lean against the door with a sigh. I didn’t do it it. I didn’t complete the job. I’m not going to get paid, my client is a liar, and now I have three new portraits to hang on the wall at my house that I definitely do not need or want.

Fuck.

I shake my head and go to my room. Tomorrow will be a new day and I hope for dragon’s sake that it will be better than this one.

Chapter Two

Lee

“What do you mean, robbed?”

There is no way that someone robbed the Claw Art Gallery.

There is simply no way.

It just isn’t possible.