The Price of Cash by Ashley Bartlett

Author:Ashley Bartlett [Bartlett, Ashley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781626397095
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Published: 2017-11-13T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eighteen

Nate directed me down an alley and told me to park where there was no parking space. Apparently, we were barbarians. Having finished his job as navigator, he handed back my phone.

We went in the large, open door as per Patricia’s directions. The hallway we entered was wide enough to drive a small truck down. It made sense. She moved furniture in and out of her space constantly. It would need to be big enough for large cargo. The building was an old warehouse split into smaller workshops. Presumably, the other mini warehouse units were occupied by similar businesses. Patricia’s unit occupied the southwest corner of the bottom floor. We found it and knocked on the doorframe.

“Who’s there?” Patricia called from the far end.

“It’s Cash and Nate.”

“Come in.” She popped up from underneath a wide oak dining table. “Sorry about the smell. I should know better than to strip paint when it’s too hot to open the doors.”

“It’s not bad. Just a bit stuffy.”

“You should have been here an hour ago. I think I’m still intoxicated.” Patricia came around the table. She was wearing lightweight coveralls, but had them unbuttoned far enough to show the flimsy cotton tank she was wearing underneath. “We’ve never officially met.” She held out her hand to Nate. He shook it. “I’m Patricia.”

“Nate. It’s a pleasure.”

“It certainly is.” They smiled at each other, a mutual acknowledgment that they were both pretty. It wasn’t sexual, necessarily. Just understanding.

“Cash said you have a plan to save us.”

“I do. Come sit in my office.” She led us to the outer corner of the space. Office was generous, but all of the furniture looked like it was both finished and used. Nate and I sat in spindly wooden chairs. Patricia went to the desk turned workbench and pulled a small gift bag out of the drawer. “Did Cash give you a rundown of everything we talked about?”

“Yeah. I’m a broke college student selling Grandma’s jewelry,” Nate said.

“Oh, nice detail.” She nodded in approval at me. “Here.” She handed him the bag.

Nate pulled out two sky blue jewelry boxes. They were worn. One’s velvet had been rubbed off the corner, the other was slightly bleached from the sun. He opened the smaller box. It held a pair of ruby drop earrings. They looked art deco to me, but I knew more about architecture from the twenties than jewelry. A matching necklace was in the bigger box. The central ruby was cut to the same shape as the earrings, but larger.

“These are your pieces, I take it?” Nate asked.

“Yes, but I inherited them so there’s no record of my possession.” Patricia crossed her arms and leaned back against the workbench. The movement stretched her already slender form. I noticed that the coveralls were cuffed halfway up her calf. A partially healed pink scrape across her ankle suggested that she commonly wore them that way and maybe it wasn’t a good idea.

“Aren’t you and Robert cataloguing your assets?” I asked.

She grinned. “Ah, yes.

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