Massacre And Margins by A C F Bookens

Author:A C F Bookens [Bookens, A C F]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2022-09-06T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

When we got back to the guesthouse after grabbing a pizza for dinner, all of us piled into Beattie’s and my room again. This time, I set the laptop on my bed and my three friends sat around me so they could see my screen. And as soon as I opened my new email account, I found two messages, one about each of the book inquiries I’d sent.

My initial messages had just expressed interest in each book, suggested a place and time to meet (the café across the street from where we’d met Swagley, at 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. respectively), and offered a cash purchase at that time if the books were to my liking. I would have to work out how to get the cash, but I presumed that Weber could get me anything I needed.

The first email agreed to my terms and said they would meet me at 10 a.m. “I’ll be wearing a purple pocket square,” the message said. I was relieved to have fifty percent of the plan down.

Unfortunately, the second message wasn’t as accommodating. The seller demanded to know more about me – my actual name and the supply of a photograph – as well as a meeting, on their terms, only after they vetted me. I didn’t like the sound of that, and apparently Aaran didn’t either.

He uttered a few explicit terms under his breath. Yet the whole time he kept his face neutral just in case anyone was watching, not just listening, or so I assumed.

“I don’t like that at all,” Beattie said.

“Me neither,” Adaire added. “That doesn’t sound safe in the least.”

“I’m not telling them my real name, especially since I only know them as BooksAreLife2233. And if they want to see my actual face, they can come to the café tomorrow to meet. I feel like that’s reasonable,” I said trying to feel confident even as I heard the wobble in my voice.

“That’s more than reasonable,” Adaire said. “Swagley wouldn’t gain anything from you being in harm’s way, and I’m certain – given what he said this morning about the exception he made about seeing us in person – that he wouldn’t make this arrangement either.”

“That’s a good point,” Aaran said. “Maybe you should explain the situation to Weber?”

I thought about that for a moment, decided Aaran was right, and picked up my phone. Once again, Weber answered on the first ring. “Give us a few minutes. I expect you will hear from the seller shortly.”

I don’t know what happened in the next seven minutes, but when my email dinged with a new message, the seller had suddenly become quite amenable to my terms. Just like that, I had two new appointments to buy two books, and I was about to get Swagley that much closer to being arrested.

Another quick call to Weber confirmed that I could pick up the cash for the purchases tomorrow before the first meeting, and she also assured me that there would be “more than adequate” security available for the meetings.

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