Cashing In (Luck's Voice Book 2)

by Daniel Schinhofen

  “Pay. And. Leave,” he said harshly, his hand still clutching the straight razor. “Or do I get to take a pound of flesh?”

  Whittaker pulled out his wallet and tossed a coin to Otto. “There, paid in full. I’ll enjoy listening to your plea for understanding later.”

  Doc stayed silent as Whittaker stormed out, the door rattling when it slammed shut. “Bet that felt good.”

  Otto exhaled a shaky breath. “It did. Sadly, I know he’s going to find Grange and tell him some story.”

  “Too bad you have a witness,” Doc chuckled, “not that Grange will listen to me.”

  “Shave and a haircut?” Otto asked. “I can do my job, at least.”

  “Please,” Doc said.

  ~*~*~

  Doc was just paying Otto when Grange entered the shop. “Of course Holyday is here,” Grange snorted. “Otto, I’ve had a complaint of you threatening upstanding members of the community.”

  “No,” Otto said simply as he cleaned his tools.

  “That’s all?” Grange asked after a few seconds of silence.

  “I didn’t threaten any upstanding member of the community,” Otto replied.

  “Doctor Whittaker said—”

  “Oh, I’m sorry. If you’re talking about that walking pile of filth, I still didn’t threaten him. I asked him to pay his long overdue tab,” Otto said, cutting Grange off.

  “You brandished your razor at him, I was told,” Grange said stiffly.

  “No,” Doc interrupted. “He’d just finished shaving the doctor, so he had it in hand, but he didn’t brandish it at all. Well, not any more than he is right now.”

  Grange looked at the blade in Otto’s hand. “Is that what you want on the record?” Grange asked Otto.

  Otto shrugged. “It’s the truth. No matter how upset that pathetic slug is, fact is fact.”

  “I see. At the moment, there is no evidence of a threat and no crime has been committed, so you’re free, but you’ll likely lose a lot of business once word gets around.”

  “Then people can look like vagrants,” Otto said levelly. “That’s their choice.”

  Grange shook his head. “You’ve been warned.”

  When the door shut, Otto deflated slightly. “He’s not wrong. I’ll lose half my business over this.”

  “I’m sure it’ll work out,” Doc said as he got to his feet. “Have some faith,” he added, flipping Otto a dollar coin.

  Otto snagged the coin. “This is too much.”

  “And I disagree,” Doc said, his hand on the door. “Luck will help, but faith is required.”

  “You’ve shown me enough to know that she will,” Otto agreed.

  Chapter Twenty-one

  He took a detour over to the old saloon when he made it back to the Lily. Going through the back door, he could hear the pounding of hammers. When he stepped into the main room, he grinned at what he saw.

  “Damn, that’s some fast work,” Doc grinned.

  “Thank you,” Ursula said, putting down the hammer she’d been using.

  “Expert quality, too,” Doc said, looking at the plank she’d just finished placing.

  “It’s what we do,” Urik said from above him.

  Doc looked up and gave the man a grin. “And I can see why anyone with half a brain would want you to do the work.”

  Urik snorted. “What do you want?”

  “I wanted to see how things were going.”

  “Well,” Ursula replied, “it’s moving along smoothly.”

  “Good. Though now that Urik’s said something, I do have a small thing to ask of you,” Doc said.

  Urik jumped down from the second floor. “What is it?”

  “The ore from the mine was delayed a day. It’s being assayed today, which means I won’t have your first payment until tomorrow. Can I pay you then?”

  “By evening tomorrow,” Urik said stiffly. “A moment later than that and I’ll call it a breach.”

  “Understandable. I’ll bring the payment as soon as the money clears. I might still get you paid today if the bank will give us an advance on the money. I just wanted to cover my bases.”

  “We understand,” Ursula said, moving to stand beside her husband. “Lia speaks highly of you, so we’ll give you this chance.”

  “Thank you,” Doc said, bowing his head to them. “I’ll get out of the way. I do love the opening you’ve created.”

  “Just following the plans,” Urik said, looking at his wife proudly.

  “The original drawings made it easy,” Ursula said.

  “I think your husband has the right of it,” Doc said. “The plans you drew up were much better in many ways.”

  Ursula smiled, her large orange teeth prominent. “Thank you.”

  “Have a good day,” Doc said before leaving them to their work.

  “You, too,” the couple called back to him.

  ~*~*~

  Doc looked around the main room of the Lily. The tables were bustling, the drinks were flowing, and Jasmine hustled to fill orders. Doc gave Lotus a wink when he passed her table, getting a smile in return.

  Going into the back hall, Doc was stopped by Posy. “Doc, I’m supposed to tell you that Fiala and Sonya went out. They’ll be back by dinner.”

  “Okay. Thank you for letting me know, Posy.”

  She beamed at him and gave him a small curtsy before bounding away happily.

  Damned cute kid, Doc thought, then wondered about what he should do with his time. Get Henrick to come here so I can finish healing her? Yeah, best bet for right now. With his mind made up, he set back out.

  ~*~*~

  Once he’d gotten Henrick to go to the Lily, he healed her the rest of the way. Now, she had perfect vision and was no longer addicted to the substances she’d been on. When he’d finished with that, he started walking her out, only to be hailed by Heather just settling in at the piano.

  “There’s the newly married man,” Heather smiled. “I forgive you for not making it back out to play with me the other night, but I’d still like a bit of duo play with you.”

  “I just finished what I’d been working on,” Doc said. Henrick stopped walking for the exit. “A few songs are entirely possible.”

  “Good. Let’s make this place lively.”

  Doc looked around the room, which was already well past half full. “Livelier, anyway.”

  Henrick went over to the bar and waved Jasmine down to her. “Tea, please. Do they often play together?”

  Jasmine sighed. “No. Hardly at all, but it means I won’t get the chance to dance, since I’m working.”

  When the first few notes of music drifted from the piano, the conversation in the room dropped off and many eyes shifted to see who was playing. An excited murmur came from the poker players when they saw both Doc and Heather sitting at the piano, and a few started to cash out so they could move over to focus on the music.

  After the two did a small warm-up piece, Doc gave Heather a smirk and played the opening for their duel. Heather grinned as she watched his fingers move. When he finished, she copied his piece, adding three flourishes he hadn’t.

  The duel went back and forth, and Doc fell behind again. It was a foregone conclusion as to who was going to win, but Doc went down fighting as he always did. When he failed trying to follow up her last piece, he stood up and bowed to her as the room applauded them.

  “Can’t keep up with her. She’s too good for me,” Doc told the room, “but I happen to know a few songs she doesn’t. Let’s see if she can copy one before I stop playing tonight.” A cheer went through the room as Doc sat back down.

  “A new song?” Heather asked with bright eyes.

  “Maybe. Let’s find out,” Doc chuckled. “It’s called Collegiate.”

  Taking a moment, Doc could picture the movie where he’d first heard the song. Smile in place, he set his fingers over the opening keys and took a deep breath. Focused on the song, he blocked out everything around him and let his fingers glide o
ver the keys.

  As the song came to an end, Doc’s smile grew wider when he heard the thunderous applause. Standing once more, he gave the crowd a wave before taking his seat again. Heather was still staring at the ivories, clearly memorizing what he had done.

  “So, what do you think?” Doc asked her.

  “Again, please?”

  “A pleasure. Try to keep up.”

  Heather’s eyes narrowed, but she didn’t move them off the piano. “A challenge it is, then. I don’t lose challenges.”

  “Let’s find out,” Doc laughed. “Ladies and gentlemen,” he announced, “one more time, for Heather.”

  ~*~*~

  Taking a seat in the dining room, Doc massaged his hands. “Sorry... I got lost in the moment.”

  “I noticed,” Ayla said a little stiffly. “I have the final figures from the ores from the smelters, and I’ve paid the Beavertons what we owe them for now.”

  “You do wonders,” Doc said. “How do things look?”

  “Comfortable, and that’s before the mythrium and soul stones are accounted for. You’re about to be the third richest man in town.”

  “Well, this is going to snowball fast,” Doc said.

  Ayla nodded, pulling a stack of papers from her bag. “I have some ideas about where and how to spend a safe amount.”

  A knock on the door made them pause. They opened it to admit Rangvald and Lia. “Doc, might I join you?” Lia asked after Rangvald went inside.

  “I’m good with that,” Doc replied. “Ayla, how is the big business picture going?”

  “I’m working on it. The paperwork for everything is going to take me time. I’m not perfectly fluent in the legalese used on some of the forms, but we can’t use the lawyer in town. He’s under Suez’s thumb.”

  “Hell...” Doc sighed. “That’s going to be a problem. Can we get a good lawyer from somewhere that won’t break us?”

  “The clan has an anwalt, but he deals with dwarven conflicts. Barely dabbles in anything else,” Rangvald said. “The elders have harped at him for years to fix that, but he’s a stubborn old goat.”

  “So he isn’t a lawyer?” Doc asked.

  “More... counsel or advocate,” Rangvald replied.

  “Lawyers are a thing of humanity,” Lia said. “No tribe had them.”

  “Trying to find a good one and bring them here would be problematic,” Ayla said. “Finding anyone with schooling in law would be a good starting point, though.”

  “Okay,” Doc sighed. “That took us away from what we had been discussing: money from today. Ayla, why don’t you fill us in?”

  Ayla shifted her papers around. “Okay, let’s start with known debts, first.” A knock on the door stopped her again and made her purse her lips.

  Fiala opened the door. “Oh, is this a meeting?”

  “Come on in,” Doc said, standing up and pulling a chair out for her.

  “Sonya’s with me,” Fiala said, looking over her shoulder.

  “She can sit with us,” Doc said.

  Ayla’s lips thinned more. “Doc, business shouldn’t be shared with everyone.”

  Sonya had started to follow Fiala into the room, but stopped at the door. “She has a point.”

  Fiala looked from Doc to Sonya and back. “Doc, I do like her. We’re still talking everything over, though.”

  “Sonya,” Doc asked, “will you hold everything discussed here as private?”

  “As I hold the secrets you’ve already told me,” Sonya said seriously. “I still hold that I will do anything for you.”

  Ayla’s grimace was missed by most at the table, but not all. Her expression was neutral by the time Doc looked back at her. “It’s your choice, Doc.”

  “Pull up a seat next to Fiala.”

  Before Sonya could close the door, Posy was there with glasses and a tray with two wine bottles. “Momma said you’d need drinks, and dinner will be in an hour.”

  “Daf’s a smart woman,” Doc grinned. “Come on in, Posy.”

  Once the drinks had been served and Posy left, Ayla cleared her throat. “Okay… let’s try this again. Let’s start with known debts first.”

  Everyone listened as Ayla laid out the finances of the business. Ayla was concise as she covered every topic she had. Once she was done with the known, she started in on the various options she had outlines for.

  Doc had a faint smile on his face the entire time. Once she’d finished laying everything out, he spoke up, “Ayla, that was amazing.”

  “I could never hope to do any of that,” Fiala said softly.

  “She’s scary,” Sonya said.

  “No, she’s just focused on her task and has had the training to do it,” Lia said. “That was put together very well, Ayla. Your mother would’ve been proud of you.”

  Ayla stiffened in her seat for a moment. “I didn’t know you knew her, Lia.”

  “We talked only a few times. I never had the right moment to mention it before. I now know why she spoke so highly of you.”

  Ayla swallowed hard, her eyes misting for a moment. “She did?”

  “Very much,” Lia said.

  Rangvald coughed, clearly uncomfortable with the emotions in the room. “Which way is it going to be, Doc? You heard all the different options.”

  Doc thought about it. “Well, we brought in more than the bank can handle, which means they’ll have to send to the capital to cover what we have on hand. We should wait at least two weeks before bringing in the next load.”

  Rangvald nodded. “We could send a small group straight to the capital with the soul stone and have them deposit it up there. It’d be in your account in a day. That would help if you want to be aggressive about it.”

  Doc sat back in his chair. “The more aggressive I get, the more aggressive they’ll be in return.”

  “They’ll start to press, anyway,” Lia said simply. “You’ve become a threat overnight. It’ll start small, but they’ll ramp up quickly if they can’t force you out.”

  “We’ll be beside you,” Fiala said, placing her hand on his. “This is the path Luck set you on, but you aren’t alone.”

  “I was planning on going out to the mine,” Doc sighed. “I’ll have to cancel that if they’re going to cause trouble.”

  “Why go to the mine?” Ayla asked.

  “To let Rosa know what’s going on. Hm… I might be able to spin it as if the miners pulled too much too fast.”

  Rangvald nodded. “Tapping the mine too quickly. We can work that, maybe. You’d need to chew me out pretty harshly in front of people.”

  “The front room is full as normal,” Fiala suggested. “A prepared audience.”

  “That’ll only slow them, not stop them,” Ayla said. “They’ll still send people out to check the mine.”

  “If they haven’t already,” Doc said. “Okay. Take the moderate of the plans. Ayla, you’re in charge of executing it. Fiala… I’m sorry for—”

  “No. I’m going with you,” Fiala cut him off. “I need to meet her.” Her eyes went to Sonya. “Before anything else happens.”

  Sonya bowed her head. “I should go home, then. Is it okay if I slip out the back?”

  “I’ll show you the way,” Lia said, rising from her chair.

  “Doc,” Ayla asked, “if you’re going to chew Rangvald out as we leave, maybe include me in it a little? Goodman is undoubtedly watching what I do. He knows I’m capable, but if I’m being chastised by you for doing a bad job, maybe he’ll relax a little.”

  “Okay,” Doc nodded. “Sonya,” he said quickly before she left with Lia, “I’ll have an answer for you soon, I think.”

  Sonya’s face lit up, and she bobbed her head. “I hope so.”

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Doc picked up his gear from the ground beside the table. “Ready to go, Fiala?”

  Fiala nodded as she got to her feet. “I think so.”

  “You’re going out with the wagon, but you’ll be on a horse coming back,” Lia
said.

  “She’ll be riding a placid mount and following me,” Doc said.

  Fiala looked a little nervous. “I’ll be fine.”