Chapter 36

DAMAGED GOODS AND DIRTY DEEDS

Pawn of the Dead, Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, United States

“Did you know William Shakespeare?” Sully asked Gen as they headed into the pawn shop off Wilshire Boulevard.

Although she wasn’t supposed to be doing any Rogue Rider work, like shadowing, she was there with Sully and Jack on covert business. They had heard a rumor from the owner of Pawn of the Dead and thought that she might be interested in questioning the guy. Phil, the owner of the shop, wasn’t talking to anyone, but he’d agreed to share what he’d learned with them. It looked like it might be Gen’s first solid lead on the Commissioner of Los Angeles, connecting him to the major heist.

Jack laughed, shaking his head at his friend. “Shakespeare was before Gen’s time. And not everyone in that era knew each other. London was still a pretty big place.”

“I know all about London,” Sully bragged. “I’ve watched all of The Doctor Who series.”

“Isn’t that set in outer space and strange planets?” Jack questioned.

“Yes, but London pretty much gets invaded by aliens every Christmas,” Sully replied.

Gen looked between the two men. “Per usual, I have zero idea what you’re talking about.”

“You’re like the Doctor,” Sully said, continuing to confuse Gen. “You’re a time traveler. Oh, and he, or she, is the last of their kind. Just like you’re the last remaining Founder for the House of Fourteen.”

“Wait, the Doctor is a man and a woman?” Gen asked, although she was pretty sure she shouldn’t dive into this strange conversation.

“It depends on which season you’re watching,” Jack offered, waving for her to follow him through the strange shop of odd and random items.

When Gen had been there before, she’d learned that the pawn shop bought illegal or stolen items but had to report its dealings to Jack and Sully. Also, the store owner, Phil, reported information on other criminals and goings-on in the city. In exchange, the Rogue Riders allowed Pawn of the Dead to operate an illegal casino in the back.

“Hey, Phil,” Jack said, halting at the counter before the old toothless man. “You remember Gen.” He held out a hand to her.

Phil grinned, giving Gen a rather creepy expression. “Oh, I do, indeed. I had to promise to share some information that could get me in pretty big trouble, but my reward is that I get to tell it to you.”

“Your reward is that you get to continue to live and operate your illegal casino,” Sully amended. “Now, tell Gen what you told us.”

He pursed his wrinkled lips. “Yeah, fine. And I tell you boys everything that goes on under my radar. You know that.”

“You better,” Jack stated. “If we ever hear that you held out on us, then this place is toast.”

“Noted,” Phil muttered, turning his attention on Gen. “Anyway, darling, I’ll tell you what I told these guys. I had a new character in here, trying to unload some old stuff. I’m talking medieval era old.”

Gen cut her eyes to Jack. He nodded, knowingly.

“The guy said that he could prove the provenance of the stuff,” Phil continued. “That got me listening, but for such a large price on these goods, I was skeptical. I don’t buy from just anyone and had never heard of this guy before. I told him I needed some identification.”

“This is where it gets good,” Sully said, tapping Gen’s arm.

“I didn’t recognize that guy’s name so I did a quick search,” Phil went on. “That’s when I discovered that he worked for a supposed security company.”

“From there, we took over,” Jack cut in. “After some digging, we determined that the company was owned solely by a Mr. Charlie Sloane.”

“Really?” Gen asked, elated suddenly. “Is that enough to tie him to the LACMA robbery? And weren’t all the stolen items collected by the police?”

“That’s the thing,” Jack said with a sly grin, his dimple on his left cheek surfacing. “They would have been, and held in the LA Police Department headquarters.”

Gen’s mouth popped open. “So even though I stopped the robbery, I just sent the items straight to the Commissioner’s office.”

“Well, that worked in his favor,” Sully stated. “But his greed will get him caught. He’s still trying to offload some of the items still it seems.”

“Yeah, when I asked about them,” Phil explained, “these were ones not inventoried and supposedly damaged in the process of the robbery.”

“That crafty little jerk,” Gen said, but grateful that they finally had a lead on Charlie Sloane. Now she just needed to tie him to the Federal Reserve bank robbery.