Sword Fight by Nathan Van Coops

Author:Nathan Van Coops [Coops, Nathan Van]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781950669011
Publisher: Skylighter Press
Published: 2019-10-31T16:00:00+00:00

21

Discovered

“Give me a name,” Jasper said. He stood amid the wreckage of the parking garage’s exit gate and glared at the security captain.

“We don’t know who the trespasser was,” the captain said. “But I’ve got my men scouring the area for anyone who knows something.”

“Let me be clear when I say that your career depends on it,” Jasper said. “If you don’t find me answers, you’ll be taste-testing chum in the dock district for the rest of your useless existence.”

The man bowed as he backed away, and Jasper turned his glare on Blaise. “And you may as well have just announced our plans to the entire city.”

Blaise was still rubbing his forehead. “That little bastard kicked me in the face.”

“You let them,” Jasper said.

“Listen, you’re the one who wanted the contract in writing,” Blaise hissed. “To hold over the other fighters’ heads. I advised against it!”

“We need to fix this,” Jasper said.

In the aftermath of the incident, the other fighters had been so amped up to chase the thief that they hadn’t had time to point the blame at him. But it was only a matter of time before they wanted to know what had become of their signatures.

They wouldn’t out him to the king. They had as much to lose as he did if it came out that they were planning to cheat the tournament, but they needed to solve this problem quickly.

“Whoever it was will make contact,” Blaise said. “Hold the briefcase for ransom. Or they’re just after quick cash and will dump it once they see there’s no money in it.”

“Don’t be dense,” Jasper said. “If they wanted money, they would have taken a car when no one was around or gone after the briefcase before we dispersed the payments. This is something personal.”

Footsteps pounded pavement, and the security captain and one of his underlings ran back up to them breathlessly.

“You’d better have something good,” Jasper said.

“My men located a suspicious vehicle,” the captain panted. “No registration. Junker. Must be from outside the walls. Found these inside.” He handed over a pair of colorful flyers.

Jasper unfolded the crumpled papers and read the announcement. “This is just some second-rate drag show.”

“Yes, sir. A clue, sir. Appears to be a tavern down in Tidewater.”

“Tidewater?” Jasper clenched his jaw. “That little welp.” He crushed the flyers.

“What is it?” Blaise asked. “That mean something to you?”

“Charlotte’s prodigal daughter telephoned from that pit-stain district. I’d hoped she would have turned up dead by now.”

“If she’s survived this long on her own, she could be trouble.”

“She’s a loose end,” Jasper said. “We need it cut.” He turned to the security captain. “Bring the car. We’re all going for a ride.”

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.