The courtyard on the other side of his fence was watched by large dogs. That would be fun to navigate. Near feral dogs shredding her arms and legs. So fun.
That was an exaggeration. But how long could they stay busy with a slab of meat?
Brilliant plan.
“This human seems really annoying,” Holly whispered, but the comms picked it up.
“His file makes him look annoying, so I’m with you on that, Drake,” Darius said.
“Good morning or evening or whatever to you, Darius. Nice to have you here.” She lowered the binoculars. “What makes him look annoying?”
“His purchases.”
“Of?”
“Silk bed sheets, to name one.”
“Sounds slippery. Sounds like a great way to end up on the floor.”
“It’s nothing like that. He sounds like he has wonderful taste in bedsheets,” Shiro protested.
“You sleep in silk sheets? For real? I was joking about that yesterday,” Charly said, laughing.
“Well, now I know why that strikes me as annoying.” Darius’ evil chuckle filtered across the comms.
“I’d rather sleep in a canvas sack than in silk bedsheets,” Holly said.
“Same,” Charly inserted.
“An insightful reflection of both of your personalities,” Shiro said.
Says the one who’s been trying to get one of those personalities in bed, suddenly, Holly said to herself.
“He’s leaving,” Charly said, from her lookout position in the tree. Cicadas and night sounds rose from the forest around his compound. Joppa was too tropical, and Holly had hated it from as far back as when her parents lived there. It was wild, untamed, and it would always grow that way, returning to wildness quickly if someone wasn’t constantly gardening it.
The wooden gate opened and their mark rolled out in his near silent auto. They could see him through the windows in the light of the lampposts lining his street.
“Look at him go. Not a care in the world.”
“Trip you in position to pick us up and get us the hell out when we’re ready?”
“Affirmative,” Trip said over the comms.
“Then we’re going in,” Holly said.
Before the gate could close, Holly and Shiro ran inside. Charly would stay up in the tree, keeping watch for the collector to come back.
The three dogs came barreling around the corner from the shadows, speeding hunks of gristle and muscle.
Shiro unwrapped a steak and ran, waving the meat behind him. The dogs chased after him, while Holly went in the other direction. She caught one watching her, but it went after the meat in the end.
Her feet carried her to the main house in the compound and she leapt up the steps to the raised wooden porch and entered the home, which wasn’t locked. They’d determined that this fool was incredibly trusting. If he didn’t have the damn album Le Roi was looking for, Holly wasn’t sure what she’d do. But it wouldn’t be good. Or safe.
The home was built from bamboo and screens, and in another life, on another planet, Holly would likely love the vibe. But the humidity of Joppa seeped through her dark clothes and caused rivulets of sweat to run down her torso.
She crept over bamboo floors searching for the room she’d seen from the tree lookout.
Finally she’d circled through the house and back to the front through connecting corridors and entered the room with with the ancient stereo.
“I’m in the room,” Holly said, wondering if they could hear her over the pounding noise of her heart.
“Great. Find the record and blow that joint,” Darius said.
“So helpful.”
“Hey, you don’t want feedback like that, don’t report. I can see what you’re doing anyway.”
Oh yeah. She’d forgotten, like always, about the camera embedded in the comms.
An old system was pushed up against one wall. Wooden speakers with curves took up either end, each with a cone sticking out of the speaker. It looked like art, and not a functional thing. But the cabinet in the center held old looking amplifiers or some kind of object like that, filled with archaic light bulbs, the faces of them taken up with dials and meters. The thing glowed in the room lit only by one dim lamp.
There was, admittedly, something beautiful about its ancient look.
Holly wondered what it would sound like to play one of the vinyl discs from the shelves on the turntable, which was similar to the one in Iain’s shop.
But, she had no time to find out. She set to work sorting through the albums, looking for the one that Danielle had specified.
“I don’t believe it,” Holly said.
“What is it, Ms. Drake? Are you in trouble?”
“She’s not in trouble, I can see her,” Charly said.
“The album is here. And I’m OK. Just surprised.”
“About what?”
“For one, I can safely say that this thing did at one time belong to our client.”
“How do you mean?”
“Danielle Le Roi’s name is written on the back.”
“Get out of there, now. I only have one more steak and these puppies are beginning to get full,” Shiro said.
Holly scanned her surroundings again, wondering how he’d come to own an album that had at one time belonged to Le Roi. The room was a work of art, she realized, and best of all, it had a purpose beyond looking amazing.
The art was something he could listen to.
“I do wonder why this place doesn’t have better security.”
“Why would it? He’s got three mythical monsters out here waiting to kill us all,” Shiro said.
“Hurry it up, buttercup. Our mark is on his way back. I can see his auto gliding toward us.
“Maybe he has an alarm, after all,” Holly said, breaking into a run.
She navigated the corridors of his home and slammed the door front door open, broke out onto the porch, and leapt from it, sailing across half the compound. The dogs began barking and raced after her, leaving their buffet of steak gathered around the feet of Shiro, where he stood atop a pylon that looked like some kind of martial arts training device.
“Get the ship ready, Trip! How close can you get to us without raising alarms?”
“Meet me at the edge of his neighborhood,” Trip said.
The gate began to open and Shiro, who’d beaten her to the opening, slipped out. Holly hadn’t yet made it to the opening, but it was too late, the collector was already inside the property, stopping his vehicle and leaping out of it.
“What the hell!” he shouted, raising a fist as though he’d catch her and strangle her.
Holly held the album behind her and drew the Equalizer, which she’d begun to carry as an alternative to the whip.
“Back up,” she said. “Don’t make me shoot.”
“One album? Nothing else?” He seemed perplexed beneath the light from the aether streetlamp. He raised his hands in surrender.
“You want me to steal more from you?”
“I know what this is about,” he gestured at the album. “I can see what you have there. Danielle sent you.”
How the hell did he know that? The crew spoke all at once over the comms, but Holly ignored them.
She wasn’t about to give away her client, even if it was the sometimes amazing sometimes annoying Danielle Le Roi. “Who?”
He waved in dismissal. “Take it. I’ll just get it back.”
“That’s not my problem,” Holly said. She’d been edging her way toward the gate.
“It might be. Someday.”
“Don’t come after us.”
“I will, when you least expect it.”
He was clearly taunting her.
“I’m scared,” she said in a monotone voice, hoping that conveyed how little his threats frightened her.
“I’m waiting,” Trip’s voice came over the comms.
Holly turned and ran down the street, her crew joining her as they raced toward the hovering
Olavia Apollo at the edge of the residential area.
What a turn of events. The mark knew Danielle—so it wasn’t an accident that he’d ended up with an album with her name on it. Holly had plans to unravel this mystery soon enough.
21
At Popotes et Magie, Holly slipped the package across the table. Danielle Le Roi scooped it up, eyeing Holly suspiciously.
“Did you get it? I can’t believe you got it.”
“No thanks to you, who gave me no information whatsoever. But, something tells me you knew exactly where it was.”
“Yeah, it was kind of a test. You passed! I think. We’ll know in a minute.” Danielle unzipped the soft case of the package.
Outside the shop, the brilliant day was crystal clear. After being on Joppa, the cold was so deep that Holly felt slightly bitter about it being that deceptively gorgeous, yet biting her nose off the minute she walked outside.
Holly glanced around the shop, getting her bearings again.
Boris hovered beyond a shelf filled with glass orbs. At least this time, Holly knew to look for him.
A fire roared in the massive hearth that took up half of one wall. A few customers dressed in dark clothes like they belonged in a painting of peasants from old Earth milled between shelves, constantly gasping in delight at the treasures they found.
Danielle noticed Holly being distracted by them.
“Happens all the time. The first time anyone finds this shop, they can’t believe it exists. It’s magical.”
“What does the name mean?” Holly asked, wishing immediately that she hadn’t. She just wanted to get paid and leave, but her curiosity burned to know answers like that.
“Magic and popotes means something like food that’s home cooked. There’s not an equivalent—it’s an old French word. It’s like, warm your soul with family recipes.”
Le Roi gingerly pulled the album out of the case and smiled, studying it. “There it is. See? My name?”
She pointed at the name on the back.
“I noticed.”
“I still can’t believe you found it.” She shook her head. “And with so little information. I’m very impressed.”
“You should be. Because you certainly weren’t helpful.”
She tipped the cardboard sleeve to one side and a blue disc slipped out. “Still in nice condition. At least he was careful with it.”
Holly watched, biting her tongue. She imagined she could feel Odeon somewhere in the 6 Moons, waiting for her to come for him. He was strong. He’d be OK till she could get there. He had to be.
She put the vinyl disc down on the table and then pulled another insert from inside the sleeve. She squeezed the edges of this insert and squinted one eye to look inside it. “There it is.”
Holly was on high alert now. There’s what?
Le Roi reached inside. Her hand was full of a stack of novas when it appeared again.
“What the hell?”
“What?” Le Roi asked, looking at Holly. Her expression was total innocence.
“Did you know that was in there?”
“Of course I did, that’s why I wanted you to get it for me.”
“So you only wanted this ‘family heirloom’ for a wad of novas?”
“Of course I did,” she repeated. “It was one of my hiding places. Junior took it. He snuck into my house while I was off on my ship and stole it. I wasn’t sure it was him, but yeah, I kind of was sure.” She screwed up her face and nodded. “Yeah. I didn’t want him to get the money.”
“Junior?”
“Oh, that’s right. I didn’t tell you. So Fitz is my brother. Younger. Totally spoiled. Hasn’t worked a day in his life, unlike me. Acts entitled, lives on Joppa in that estate—which is family owned. Complete ass. Our parents have enabled him. Can’t stand him. Never want to see him again. That’s why I sent you.”
Holly groaned inwardly. The last thing she needed was to get in the middle of some ridiculous family feud.
“How much money is that?”
“A lot. A lot more than you paid me.”
“So you don’t even want the album?”
Le Roi glanced at the record sleeve on the table as though she was seeing it for the first time. “It is an heirloom. Came across the cosmos, that kind of thing. But I don’t really listen to music. If I kept it now, it would just be to spite Junior and rub it in.”
Holly clenched her teeth so that she didn’t say something she regretted. Le Roi still hadn’t paid her. The novas glowed in her hand—it looked there were denominations in the thousands. And that meant she had something over a hundred thousand. Potentially more.
“You can have it.”
“That’s not the agreement,” Holly said.
“Oh, well, in addition to what I’m paying you. You think I’d pay you with just that?” She laughed, then counted off seventy thousand.
Even at seventy thousand, the pile in Le Roi’s hand was substantial, which mean Holly’s assessment was way off.
“There you go, woman. And the album. Which, I should warn you, Junior may come after it. He’s just that idiotic that he’d put everything on the line for a silly record.”
Holly wondered if Le Roi realized that she was implicating herself as an idiot for going after an album like that.
And, she supposed, that meant Holly was also an idiot, in a way. But she’d been going after the album for money, for Odeon.
Hers was a nobler cause.
Holly left the warmth of the magic shop, exiting into the vicious cold. If she’d liked Joppa more, the transition between the hot and humid climate and the City of Jade Spires would have been more annoying. As it stood, it was only slightly annoying.
She carried the album in one hand, back in its bag, to hopefully protect it from water and the cold. She continued on through the Alley, heading to Angelo’s.
Soon she was taking the stairs two at a time and pushing the door open. The bell tinkled.
“Holly, dear! Back here, back here,” Angelo cried, his voice rising from the workshop in the back of the building.
Holly glanced uneasily at the three customers browsing the wares on the floor, nodded, and then strode to the back of the shop where he was busy working.
“Hello dear. Never mind the customers. They’ll buy something, or they won’t. In the meantime, this project is harder than I imagined, but I’m loving it. What a challenge!” The original galactic orrery lay in parts before him, with tiny labels beside each part. He’d made a sheet illustrating how everything fit together—a blueprint to return it to its original state. “I’ve been very careful, dear. As you can see I’ve documented the dismantling and once I have all the pieces, I’ll be able to easily put it back together while also constructing the new one. I’ve made the molds for the pieces, and what I need now are the metals”
She gave her old friend a one-armed hug and smiled at him. “I knew I could count on you, Angelo.”
He blushed and laughed, “Well, I don’t know about that. But well, I’ll always do my best to pull through for you.”
Relief washed over Holly. Finally things were working out. If this worked, she could relinquish the orrery—the replica—and get Odeon back.
“I brought you funds, Angelo—to pay for the expensive materials. What do you need? Do I need to fetch them for you or do you have suppliers who do that?”
He took the proffered novas and shuffled through them, assessing how much she was giving him. “This will do. If I need more, I’ll get in touch with you.”
She wanted to stay, to bask in the warmth of Angelo’s shop, unwind, and relax. But she had unfinished business and it was beckoning her from less than fifty feet away.
* * *
“He’s in the back,” Kaye said before Holly could ask. “And I’m grumpy. Sorry, Holly.”
“Do I dare ask?” Holly probed, pausing on the rug in front of the door.
“No. Men. Don’t worry about it.” Kaye leaned over, resting her elbows on the cou
ntertop.
“Oh, I hear you.”
“They’re the worst,” Kaye said, turning her head and shouting it as though it was Iain she was mad at.
“So it’s Iain?”
“No, he’s just the only one in here. So, he’s getting my wrath.”
“Seems fair,” Holly joked, with a shrug.
“You have a gift for him?”
“Sort of,” she said, lifting the bag with the vinyl in it.
“He’ll love it, no doubt,” she turned her head again, “Unless he doesn’t because he’s a man and they all suck!”
Holly laughed and finished kicking the snow off her boots, then crossed the floor, leaving a trail of footprints over the hardwood.
“Sorry,” she said.
“Gives me something to do. It’s fine. I’ll take my rage out on the mop. Cleaning therapy, I call it.”
Holly had never seen Kaye so grouchy. It was kind of nice—refreshing, to see that side of her personality, although it was unfortunate, whatever Kaye was going through.
But, that was life. And love. And Holly had her own relationship issues to work out. She still hadn’t spoken to Iain since she’d gone north to Elan’s. In fact, now that she was here, Holly wondered if any of that had bothered him at all. Was he over it? Had he moved on. The thoughts caused her to freeze before she reached the back office.
Kaye brushed past her on the way to the supply closet. “You OK?”
“I’m fine. I just thought of something.”
“Keep going. He’s in there. He’ll be glad to see you.”
Did that mean Kaye knew about their disagreement? What had been the problem, anyway? That he didn’t want her to go north? As though she was obligated to obey him? One of her primary reasons for being in a relationship with Iain—aside from how hot he was, and sexy, and how his smile and gaze could make her stomach do somersaults—was because he respected the hell out of her and knew that she could take care of herself and he didn’t try to control her.
He was suddenly standing in the doorway to his back office. Just seeing him, her stomach twisted into knots. She could never let him know this—that just the sight of him sometimes felt like a fist to her gut. The intensity of his eyes, the wildness of his hair, the five o’clock shadow at noon, the shape of his mouth surrounded by his mustache and goatee—wait, was that new?
The Colossus Collection : A Space Opera Adventure (Books 1-7 + Bonus Material) Page 138