Building a Criminal Empire

by Logan Jacobs

  “Just kill me,” the dwarf grunted as blood dripped down his chin. “I’m not tellin’ ya anything, human.”

  “I think you will,” I whispered. “Don’t you, Penny?”

  “For his sake, I hope he does,” Penny uttered.

  “You’re going to kill me either way,” the dwarf remarked. “I’m not tellin’ ya anything.”

  I pressed my foot down on the dwarf's wound, again.

  “Shiiiit!” the dwarf hissed.

  “I can do this for hours,” I said. “Or you can talk to us, and we can kill you quickly. The choice is yours, dwarf.”

  “Fuck you,” the dwarf spat.

  “Alright.” I nodded and then slammed my knee down onto the wound, and I could feel the dwarf's blood soak into my trousers.

  “Arrgghh,” the dwarf gurgled as he shut his eyes.

  “Is Hebal at the store and is he alone?” I asked again.

  “You’ll have to see for yourself,” the dwarf panted. “Hebal is never alone these days.”

  “Good,” I said. “We’re getting somewhere.”

  “I didn’t tell you shit!” the dwarf retorted.

  I pressed my knee harder onto the dwarf’s leg and caused him to screech again.

  “What else?” I asked. “Is he at the store? And if he isn’t, then where is he?”

  “Like I said,” the dwarf groaned. “You’ll have to see for yourself.”

  “Wade.” Penny nodded down the alley, and she didn’t need to say anything else.

  I could hear the faint murmurs of a few dwarves talking on the road. They could’ve been ordinary citizens or the dwarven night guard. Either way, maybe we didn’t have all night.

  “Looks like we ha--” the dwarf started but couldn’t finish.

  I stabbed my knife into his gut, and before he could scream out, Penny finished him with a quick slice across the throat.

  “He would’ve given us away,” I whispered as the dwarf gurgled at my feet.

  “I know.” Penny stood, wiped her blade off on the twitching dwarf, and then sheathed it underneath her dress. “We should move.”

  “Should we just leave him here?” I asked as the dwarf stopped twitching and died.

  “We don’t have a choice.” Penny shrugged as she started to walk down the alley, picked up her shoes, and put them back on.

  “Alright,” I replied as I sheathed my blade, wiped off my trousers as best I could, and followed the pixie.

  Then we walked to the edge of the alleyway and peeked around the corner. There were a few dwarven guards gathered at the nearest intersection.

  “Where to?” Penny whispered.

  “I think we should take the dwarf's advice.” I turned around and faced the dead goon and then looked at Penny.

  “What was that?” Penny asked as she adjusted her dress and then noticed me looking at her. “Do I have dwarf blood on me or something?”

  She started to rub her face and check her arms and legs for anything.

  “No, no,” I said with a smirk. “Thanks for coming with me.”

  “I told you,” Penny widened her eyes. “I’ll always have your back. Now, what advice did that fucker give us?”

  “Ah,” I said as I peeked around the corner again. “That we need to look for ourselves.”

  “For Hebal?” Penny questioned as she looked at the guards with me.

  “Exactly,” I said with a nod. “He told us we need to look for ourselves if Hebal was at his store.”

  “You want to go there now?” Penny asked. “He also said that Hebal was never alone.”

  “Could be true, or it could be a lie.” I ducked behind the alley wall as one dwarf on the corner broke away from the group and then walked across the street.

  It wasn’t illegal for us to be in the Dwarf District at night, but it definitely looked suspicious for us to be there. Especially dressed as nice as we were.

  But this might have been the best time to act.

  “If it’s true …” Penny waited as the dwarf guard walked along the other side of the road. “I don’t know if we can take multiple dwarfs at the same time. We’d at least need another skilled fighter like Ava.”

  “I know,” I sighed. “I need to see for myself, though. Hebal is moving in on us, but I want to strike first. He still doesn’t know anything.”

  “He knows we’re looking for him,” Penny answered. “He’d be a fool to think otherwise.”

  “I agree.” I nodded. “That’s why we need to act soon.”

  “Alright …” Penny bent down and removed her shoes again. “Let’s pay our favorite dwarf a midnight visit.”

  “Follow me,” I said as I peeked my head out from the corner, saw the dwarven guards looking the other way, sprinted onto the road, and then headed right for Hebal’s store.

  Chapter 9

  Penny and I moved down the dark dwarven streets in unison. As we jogged, we dipped in and out of alleys to avoid being seen by any night guards. Thankfully, there weren't too many patrolling, and that helped our cause.

  We didn’t have to run for too long either as Hebal’s familiar store quickly came into my view.

  “This way,” I whispered to Penny as we moved across the street from the store so we could take a more extended look.

  I didn’t know what to expect.

  For all I knew, there could be twenty dwarfs inside and protecting Hebal, or it could just be him inside twiddling his thumbs.

  I doubted the latter, though.

  So, we dipped into another alley and scoped-out the dwarf’s small store in front of us.

  “I don’t see anyone,” Penny sniffed as she caught her breath. “Looks like the other closed businesses.”

  “I know,” I agreed as I eyed the entrance and the front window. There wasn’t any light on or any other goons standing outside. Either Hebal was alone in there, or he wasn't there at all.

  “Want to go inside?” Penny smirked. “We won’t know for sure just by looking at it.”

  “That’s why I lo--” I cleared my throat. “Yeah, let’s go.”

  Ever since we kissed, tension had continued to build between us. Not the kind that we used to have where the pixie pretended to hate me, this felt much different.

  I think she was done pushing away her feelings for me, but I didn’t think either of us knew what to do next. It took us years to get to this place in our relationship, but now Cimarra was involved, and that made it even more interesting.

  “You, uh …” Penny’s eyes widened as she looked at me. I knew she could tell what I would say before I caught myself. “You have your picks on you?”

  Fuck. That was shitty timing to almost say the “L” word, though. Even for me, it was getting harder and harder to contain just how I felt for both women.

  “Yeah,” I said as I tapped my satchel. “I don’t go anywhere without them now.”

  “Good,” Penny said as she nodded toward her outfit. “This dress doesn’t have any pockets, and a leather satchel isn’t the best accessory, so I had to choose between my dagger or my picks, you can see what I brought.”

  “I’m glad you did,” I said. “It would’ve been hard dealing with that dwarf without your blade.”

  “What would you do without me?” She asked as she peeled up her dress, exposed her moonlit thigh, and then unsheathed her knife. “Die?”

  “Probably,” I smirked and then turned back toward Hebal’s store. “I think you’d die without me, though, too.”

  “Ehh,” Penny chuckled. “Maybe … but this is a discussion for another time. What’s the plan to get inside?”

  “That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” I replied.

  “Well,” Penny began. “How’d you and Dar do it before? Use the back door?”

  “Nothing fancy,” I said. “We picked the lock in the front and walked right in, but he has a unique lock on his office door, and if we’re gonna find anything, or him, he’d be in there.”

  “Let’s do that,” Penny su
ggested. “No need to overthink it before we get inside.”

  “Alright.” I nodded. “Watch for any guards or dwarf thugs.”

  “Got it.” Penny followed me across the street, and then we crouched near the front entrance.

  It was a little funny how we had made a full-circle and needed to break into the shop that started it all for us. I wasn’t sure if that was a good or a bad thing. Either way, we had to do what we had to do.

  So, I pulled out my pick set and grabbed the same one I used before to get inside Hebal’s store. The pick had a hooked tip that would easily crack the lock.

  “Street still clear?” I whispered before I started to get to work on the lock.

  “You’re good,” Penny said as she tapped my shoulder. “One thing, though.”

  “Huh?” I glanced over my shoulder and looked at the pixie.

  “What if he’s not inside?” She wondered.

  “Then we search the place for anything that might tell us where he might be,” I breathed.

  “Isn’t that why we hired the halfling street kids?” Penny cocked her eye at me.

  “No,” I said as I shook my head. “They are watching the streets for us, not breaking into places.”

  “Alright.” Penny smirked. “Go for it then.”

  So, I inserted the pick into the keyhole, tilted it to the left, and then the right until I felt some friction. Then, I tugged slightly until the pick snatched onto the door’s pin.

  For a front door, this was a pathetic lock.

  After a few seconds and a few tugs, the rough-hewn door opened with a click, and the same old stale air blew into my face.

  “We’re in.” I opened the door fully, and the bell chimed above our heads.

  Fuck, I forgot about that damned bell.

  Both Penny and I didn’t move a muscle as we listened for any kind of movement or noise. I felt a bead of sweat drip down my neck, and I could hear Penny clench onto her blade handle as we held our breath.

  But, neither Hebal or any other dwarf came to investigate.

  So, I let Penny go inside first. Then I quietly shut the door behind us and turned around to face the darkened store that looked just like it always did. The dust on the floor looked like a thin layer of ice, and the entire place smelled like aged books.

  Penny and I remained as still as statues for a few more moments just to make sure no one heard us come in. That was a common thief practice, and I felt bad for any thief that didn’t have good ears or even a decent nose, especially with robbing a dwarf.

  Dwarfs could be surprisingly quiet if they tried to be, but they couldn’t hide their smell. Those unique blends of spices gave them away for miles.

  After a few moments, I nodded toward Penny, and we moved through the store. As we did, we remained crouched just in case a guard or pedestrian walked by and saw us.

  Then I moved behind the front counter and made my way to the office door with the elven brass lock.

  Penny remained behind the counter to stay out of sight as I did my thing. But before I started, I held my ear against the door to hear if Hebal or anyone else was inside.

  I knew the mirror man wouldn’t pose a threat this time around since the missing glass piece was back at the guild, but I didn’t know what other surprises could be inside that room.

  So, I held my breath and listened.

  After a few moments, I still heard nothing, so I started to do what I did best.

  Pick locks.

  I reached inside my satchel and pulled out a pick that looked like a miniature saw or sideways “M” and slid it inside the slim keyhole.

  “Oi, can you believe it?” A booming voice came from outside the store. “What a show, what a show!”

  I slid my pick out and slid back toward the counter next to Penny.

  “Is that Hebal?” Penny whispered.

  I shook my head because that didn’t sound like him, and I didn’t think he’d just be out and about as if nothing was new.

  Then, whoever it was leaned against the glass window with a dull thud.

  “This will change how we live our lives, lad,” another dwarven voice said.

  Even without looking, I could tell exactly where they stood based on the sound of their voices.

  “We’ve gotta go to every show,” the first dwarf said. “But, we’ll need to get our hands on more coin, soon.”

  Were they talking about our theatre?

  “Don’t you worry about that lad,” the second dwarf chuckled. “We’ll get that whi--”

  “Hush!” the first dwarf whispered. “Street guard is comin’ this way…”

  Ah fuck.

  I couldn’t tell if they were drunk or just excited. But they definitely came from our theatre. I hoped Rindell’s girls didn’t over-serve anyone, we really had to make sure they played by our rules.

  Both the dwarven voices trailed off as they moved down the road, and then I heard the heavy steps from the night guard outside the front door. The pair of feet stopped and shuffled as if something had caught his eye.

  Did I shut the door all the way?

  Maybe we left something outside?

  Does he smell us?

  I wasn’t sure how good dwarves could smell, but if they were like elves, then we might have an issue. All I knew was that they had incredible sight, especially in the dark. So we wouldn’t be able to move around much without being seen if he lingered outside.

  I turned toward Penny and saw her head tilted up as she listened to the footsteps too. Her eyes dropped to me as she pursed her lips.

  The steps continued to pace slowly around at the front of the store.

  What the fuck was he doing?

  We didn’t have all night, and I didn’t want to be here when Hebal and his crew returned if he wasn’t already asleep in his office.

  So, I slowly moved my head to the corner of the counter to get a look at where exactly the guard was. He might’ve had his back turned anyway, and we could be quiet enough to still do what we needed to do. It would be harder, and more of a challenge, but that was something I was used to.

  I inched my eye forward just enough to get a quick peek, and sure enough, the asshole was posted up right outside the store, and paced back and forth. The more I thought about it, maybe that was Hebal’s doing, too.

  “We’ll have to be quiet,” I whispered as softly as I could. “I think he’s guarding the store.”

  “Shit,” Penny hissed and then nodded.

  “Keep an eye on him for me,” I breathed.

  Penny nodded once more, and then she slowly lifted her head over the counter.

  Then I also peeked over the counter, made sure the dwarf had his back turned, and moved over to the office door in one quick motion. I trusted my skills enough to know that this wouldn’t take too long, but I needed the guard to cooperate with me for a minute.

  As good as the lock was, I remember it was a simple one to pick. That was the thing; I hadn’t come across a lock that was un-pickable.

  I was convinced there was no such thing.

  So, I inserted my pick and went to work. I tilted the tool to the side and lifted the first three pins, and only one pin remained, so I slid the pick in place, and with a flick of my wrist, the office door clicked open just like the front door did.

  “Penny,” I whispered and then gestured for her to follow me.

  Then I moved inside and almost gagged when the fresh smell of magic stung my nose. I gripped my hand over my mouth as I looked around to make sure no one else was in the wood-paneled room.

  I turned to the left and saw the cracked mirror still in the same place, but just like I thought, the mirror man was broken. Then, I turned to the right where there was a shelf full of goblin teeth and glass jars full of blinking eyes.

  Nothing out of the ordinary.

  It looked like we were alone.

  So, I stood to my feet and turned back to the door where Penny was, but as I did, a tall winged shadow appeared.

 
“Shit,” I unsheathed my blade and aimed it at the tall winged figure in the corner, and then I realized it was only a stuffed phoenix.

  “You okay?” Penny muttered as she shut the office door behind us. “We should be fine to talk a little louder now.”

  “Yeah,” I said as I sheathed my blade. “There is some magic in here that wasn’t here before, though.”

  “You smell it?” Penny asked. “So, it’s not just elven magic you sense?”

  “I don’t know,” I replied. “This could be elven magic I’m smelling.”

  “I wish we had more light,” Penny said as she moved over to one shelf full of ancient artifacts. “What are we looking for?”

  “Anything that’ll help us find the asshole,” I said as I moved across the thick carpet and around to the wooden desk in the middle of the room. There were a few documents scattered along the surface and a feathered pen in a silver inkwell.

  I sat down on Hebal’s chair and read the few documents on top of the desk. The first one was just a list of vendors who sold the same stuff that he did. He probably bought at a low price and re-sold the same objects, so I put that document back and read the next one.

  “Find anything?” Penny asked as she walked over and sat on the edge of the desk.

  “I think so,” I said as I looked over the new document. “We might have found his distiller ingredients.”

  “Are you serious?” Penny asked as she came around to the same side of the desk as me.

  “Look.” I pointed to the paper and showed Penny.

  “That fucker,” Penny sneered.

  “I know,” I agreed as I saw a list of random ingredients, and to anyone else, the items needed would mean nothing, but to a distiller, it was the items necessary to make a good whiskey.

  Crossed off at the top of the list was corn, and next to corn said:

  Get from dock shipment.

  “Looks like the grain he stole was corn,” I chuckled. “And we might have a distiller’s name here, too.”

  “What’s it say?” Penny squinted as she looked closer. “Bring to Kazmus by the middle of the week?”

  “Kazmus,” I repeated. “It’s small, but it’s something we can work with.”

  “We gotta find this Kazmus?” Penny guessed.

  “We do,” I replied as I took the list, folded it up, and put it in my pocket. “If he’s not the distiller, he might lead us to Hebal.”