Fate’s Edge (The Edge #3)(16)
Author: Ilona Andrews

They started down the forest path.

George’s leather boots creaked as he walked. He needed to oil them or something, Jack reflected.

If George came with him, they would both be in trouble.

"You don’t have to do this," Jack said. "I can do this by myself."

"You remember when you beat up Thad Mosser?"

Thad was a mean Edger kid. He had it in for George, but it was years ago, back when they lived in the Edge. Besides, it only took one fight and some stitches to get it settled. "Yeah."

"We leave tomorrow evening," George said.

They didn’t talk any more until they got home.

THE cabin was cramped. Jack stirred in his small space, squished between the wall of the cabin and the wall of wicker trunks Gaston had stuffed into the cabin. Across from him, George leaned against the cabin wall. His eyes were closed.

They had been flying for most of the night. At first, Kaldar and Gaston talked. Something about some thieves from the Edge stealing a magic thing from West Egypt and trying to sell it to the Hand. Things didn’t go well because they broke a fountain, and one of the Hand’s people had been blown to bits. Kaldar had found something called a crack pipe, whatever the hell that might be, and taken it to the cops in the Broken. They found a fingerprint on the pipe, and it belonged to someone named Alex Callahan, who was checked into a "rehab" in the Broken’s California.

"How much did that nugget of information cost you?" Gaston had asked.

"A few trinkets from the Weird," Kaldar had told him. "Turns out our boy has a rap sheet a mile long. The State of Louisiana got him for possession and burglary. He also earned a couple of warrants in Florida: theft and possession with intent to distribute. And his rickety 1990 Nissan Sentra was involved in a high-speed chase and somehow gave the cop cars the slip."

"That tells me nothing," Gaston had said.

"He outran a racehorse on a donkey."

"You think he went into the Edge?"

"He had to," Kaldar had said. "The high-speed chase netted him another heap of charges. Then he popped up in Alabama and Tennessee, theft and possession again, and right now his fingerprints show him checked into the Rose Cliff in northern California. The Rose Cliff is where you put your addict relatives when you have money."

"This guy seems mostly small-time," Gaston said.

" ‘Seems’ is the key word here. We only know about the things he got caught on, and on each one, he was so addled, it’s a wonder he could find the ground with both feet. You and I were both Edgers once. You know how they operate."

"Family," Gaston agreed. "Somewhere in the Edge, someone knows him."

"Exactly. And that someone suddenly got a lot of money and checked Alex into rehab. Most Edgers don’t have forty grand lying on the shelf somewhere."

Gaston whistled. "That’s serious money."

"One has to wonder how Alex’s family came by it. If I had time, I would knock on some doors in the Edge around Macon where he first blazed a trail, but we don’t have that luxury. We know where he is, so we go to him and we ask him how his crack pipe ended up in the town square in the Weird next to the bits and pieces of the Hand’s agent."

None of it made a lot of sense, and now everyone was quiet.

Jack fidgeted. It would’ve been much cooler to sit up front, where he could see the sky and the clouds and the ground far below. The heat rising from the wyvern’s back and the blankets Gaston had given them kept the cabin warm, but it wasn’t exactly toasty. He fidgeted again. Bored. Bored, bored, bored. He’d slept, he’d read through the book he’d packed in his bag – it was all about the Weird’s nobles on the Old Continent fighting against the ancient raiders. The book was okay, and the hero got to cut the bad guy’s head off at the end, which was fine.

They had stopped a few times, and Gaston snuck them out to relieve themselves, but that was hours ago.

Jack stretched his legs, bumping his brother. George opened his eyes, and mouthed, "Stop it."

"You stop it," Jack mouthed back.

George raised his arm and pretended to scratch his armpit. "Ape."

Jack kicked him. George kicked back, and his heel landed on Jack’s thigh. So that’s how it is? Fine. Jack lunged across the space and grabbed George by his arm. George elbowed him in the gut. Jack rammed his fist into his brother’s side.

"Did you hear that?" Kaldar asked.

"I’ll check on it."

George sank a fist into Jack’s ear. Pain exploded in his head. Ow. Jack punched him in the ribs.

A huge fist landed on his head. The world got fuzzy for a second, and Jack went down. Half a second later, George sprawled next to him, clutching the back of his head. "Nothing, just some crates shifting," Gaston called out.

Jack pointed to the front of the cabin and put his fist into his palm. George nodded. When they got out of here, Gaston would be in for a treat.

"How long till we land?" Gaston asked up front.

"A couple of hours. Almost there," Kaldar said.

"So what’s the plan?"

"The plan is for me to visit Mr. Alex Callahan and ask him some questions."

"Do you think he’ll answer?"

"Not without some persuasion," Kaldar said. "As it happens, persuasion is my specialty."

"I take it I’ll be staying with the wyvern?"

Kaldar laughed. "Unless you want to panic the entire city of Red Grove with your serrated teeth."

"Are you sure? One look at me, and Alex will spill his life story. If that fails, I could always be convincing."

"By breaking one of his limbs?"

"If necessary."

"It may come to that."

"Is something bothering you, Uncle?" Gaston asked.

"This guy. Alex Callahan. He’s a junkie. A rap sheet a mile long, all of it with drug charges over the last six years."

"Aha."

"The Pyramid of Ptah is a tough nut to crack even for the best picklock. These guys walked in and out. Popped fourteen locks in record time. It would take me days."

"You’re thinking magic?" Gaston asked.

"Probably. That means if Alex is the picker, he would’ve never done the job."

"How do you figure?"

"Anytime he wants a hit, he can break into anything in the Edge or in the Weird, sell it, and get high. If this lock-picking talent is magic, then it only works in the Edge and the Weird. So why does Alex Callahan have a trophy wall of theft charges in the Broken? Why steal where you’re at a disadvantage?"

"Maybe he’s stupid."