9. Ollie

I always felt like a big man when one of my plots worked and none of us spent a night in the cells. Caitrin would have my arse if I landed Lance in the cells again. She'd probably box my ears if I ended up there, too.

But I didn't have to tumble with the law this time. I just had to take the risk that Neco wouldn't implode his little sister's name day by gutting Ronan for showing up and me for bringing him. I just figured Neco loved his sister, and he hadn't left any evidence yet, so there was a good chance he wouldn't kill us in front of witnesses.

I suppose he could always kill us in our sleep, but it ended up working out in the end. Ronan and Neco were at least being civil when I left. I was waiting for Ronan to come back from the party when Autar came in. He was a good guy, but he threw a tankard at my head, so I was about to toss him.

Lance swooped in and I could have sworn Lance was flirting with him. Lance was laughing and hitting him. I hadn't seen Lance look that happy in a long time. I was a little irritated about it because Lance never smiled at me like that. It was just that Autar was very much into women. I was pretty sure Autar fell in love with every semi-attractive woman who said hello to him

Before I could even think about it, our rush started spilling in because everyone was getting off of work. I went behind the bar and Lance started taking orders. A few of the regulars took a seat where I could keep the drinks coming.

I saw an outsider come in. He wasn't dressed like a Baron but he wasn't poorly dressed like he didn't have money. Probably a merchant looking for the brothel. He sat at the bar and looked utterly lost.

"Can I help you, friend?"

He slid four gold coins across the bar. That was way more than anything in here cost.

"Ale and information."

Sure, buddy. I didn't share Guttertown secrets to outsiders for gold. I'd take in what he wanted and probably lie about it. I got his ale and slid it over. He took a sip like he was expecting piss, but then his eyes lit up.

"This isn't half bad."

Dick. Caitrin and Lance made the best ale in Nestran. He could at least say that. I cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Has the Blight hit Guttertown yet?" he asked, leaning in conspiratorially.

Fuck me. Guttertown couldn't handle a blight. Even if our crops weren't hit, the Barons and merchants would swoop in and take our food. We'd starve anyway.

"Tell me what you know and I'll tell you what I know," I said.

My momma and aunt didn't raise no fool.

"They're calling him The Blight. He comes out of nowhere and slits your throat. No one knows who he is or why he's doing it. The Blight never leaves any clues behind and he doesn't take anything. It doesn't make sense!"

Ah. They'd given Neco a handy, little serial-killer name. At least, I was pretty sure it was Neco because I'd talked to Beck and we'd compared notes. We'd never actually seen Neco standing over a body. I didn't think we ever would. And if we did, it would probably be the last thing we ever saw.

Neco might have pulled away from us, but he was still a friend. And he was doing good work. Most of the men who visited brothels gave fake names except for the Barons, but they'd mention their trade to the girls. We might not be able to match up the names, but if someone mentioned a trade, I could confirm it with Beck.

I needed to protect Neco.

"Oh, yeah. We didn't have a name for him, but he started here. We don't think he lives here. Our houses are too close together and we know everyone. He picked off some people that were a little easier to get to. Probably to practice his trade on people the rest of Nestran wouldn't miss and then moved on. He's not one of us. We're up in everyone's business here and know when someone isn't right. We never could figure out why he was doing it, either. He didn't want anything, and the victims were all different. He left as quickly as he came. No one has been murdered like that in a while."

Neco better kiss my arse for this because I was going to have to figure out how to get the rest of Guttertown on this ruse so they didn't think it was me. It was one thing to end up in the cells for some harmless fun. They'd execute me if they thought I was butchering merchants and I wasn't prepared for that like Neco was.

The man nodded and drained his ale.

"I'm not a guard. I'm who they call to figure out where to point them. You ever see anyone in here late at night covered in blood?"

"Not like that, but if someone is killing outside of Guttertown, the chances of them making it through the Trulos District and the markets to get back here with blood on them without getting caught is going to be pretty slim. You have to walk near the palace to get from the Trulos District to Guttertown and the rest of Nestran has a lot more guards than we do. He'd need to pass through Lower Cutwart. They don't have a brothel, so they come here, but they do have two taverns. Drunk people are out late. Someone would see him."

"What's your name, kid?"

"Oliver. My friends call me Ollie."

"Well, Oliver, I'm Inspector Trevils. You've got some keen insights for a tavern keeper. You'd make a hell of a deputy. You're being wasted here slinging ale, but I know how this world works. If you see anything, find me," he said, getting up to leave.

What was the world coming to when I actually kind of liked a Nestran inspector? He didn't assume I wanted him to call me Ollie and instead of coming here and cracking my head for this information, he paid me pretty fucking well for it. He stroked my ego a bit and didn't act like he was better than me because I lived in Guttertown.

I almost felt bad lying straight to his face, but if I told him those men died because they abused Guttertown women at the brothel, nothing would happen. Even if he wanted to do something about it, he reported his findings to the Barons and they decided if the guards busted heads.

Still, I knew how to handle it. Guttertown protected our own. If the people knew someone was fighting back when Nestran hurt us, they wouldn't need a name. I wasn't lying about everyone being up in everyone's business. I knew some shit I didn't particularly want to know. But a vigilante getting justice? We were hardly educated, but we weren't stupid. People would happily look the other way and not dig into it.

A brothel and a tavern could easily handle this.