Jeremy plopped down at the table again. "Deal me in," he said, nodding to the dealer.
"Back to fold some more?" asked Laura, with a sizeable pile of bills in front of her. Kyle had vanished, but the middle-aged guy was still there, and Julian himself had joined the table as well.
"Just lookin' for a quick out," he replied. He glanced up at Julian. "Got a question though."
Again, the toothy grin. "Shoot, friend. I like to think of myself as an honest proprietor."
"Know anyone who can give me a ride out to Seattle?"
"Long drive. I'm sure someone's headin' that way end of the night though—"
"Right now."
Julian scratched his chin. "Well, that all depends on what you've got to bid, don't it?"
Jeremy checked his cards. As he watched, the six printed on the card faded away, replaced by a king right under his fingers.
He grinned. "We'll see. Now let's play."
As expected, the cards seemed to line up perfectly for him with each draw. He didn't have much to bid with though, and Julian didn't seem to be biting on his paltry bait. He needed something more... enticing.
Jeremy dug into his pocket reluctantly and withdrew the little stone. He set it on the table, with the Korean glyph face-up.
"...It's a rock," said Laura dubiously.
Julian stared at it, completely silent. He's seen one of them before... I'd bet anything.
"This stone against that ride home," Jeremy added, watching Julian carefully.
The toothy grin got even wider. "Done and done," he replied.
The truck thumped over the edge of the asphalt as they mounted the road proper. To Jeremy's relief, he recognized the area. They really weren't that far out from Olympia. It was way past midnight though, according to his irritated and increasingly suspicious driver.
"So tell me, friend," Julian said, the first word he'd spoken since they'd gotten in the truck. "Where'd you find a trinket like that?"
"Found it on the ground," Jeremy said with a straight face.
"Uh huh."
"I'm surprised you let those two run your show while you're gone," he added, before the man could ask anything else. Julian had directed a subordinate to take over, and Kyle to take the place down at the end of the night if he wasn't back in time.
"I trust 'em." He left off pointedly, waiting for Jeremy to respond.
"Well, you seem to be runnin' a solid operation." Jeremy shrugged. "Who am I to tell you what to do?"
"You weren't in Rallsburg, were you?" Julian asked suspiciously. "I think I'd remember you."
Well, this is a nice fuckin' change of pace... "Nope. Not until after it burned down, anyway."
Julian snorted. "Burned down, as if. More like exploded, y'know?"
"Actually, I was wonderin' about that. How did the grocery store explode?"
Julian grimaced. "Bit of this and that. Sad to say that was my fault, actually. I owe my friend Hector a good chunk of change for his store. But I'll pay up, don't you doubt! Julian Black pays his debts, sure as sure."
"Wasn't the fault of your council, then."
He frowned. "Actually, when you put it like that... It was her fault they stored all them boxes in the store. I made 'em, but she was in charge of cleanin' em up. So yeah, I guess it is her fault too!" He shook his head. "Nah, it don't matter. I still gotta pay Hector back. I know she sure as shit ain't gonna, so I'll take care of it."
Julian continued rambling on about his debts and his history of clearing them. Jeremy leaned back and reclined his chair, watching the street lamps go by as they drove. Julian was the worst type of driving buddy, the kind Jeremy had spent far too many stakeouts with back in the day. He couldn't fall asleep though, not in the presence of a man he still couldn't quite trust.
They passed Olympia in good time, thanks to the late hour. It was still a good ways to Seattle, though, and Jeremy decided to try and get some more information out of the talkative man.
"You really think this market such a great idea?" he asked, interrupting a long talk about how Julian had practically invented the idea of trading money for a service like magic.
"Oh, absolutely!"
"But... seems a bit dangerous, doesn't it? Sellin' magic."
Julian shook his head, so enthusiastically that the car swerved slightly. "Nah, see. The way I figure, people are always gonna want to buy and sell this stuff. End of the day, they need someone to run the show, don't they? I've been around longer than most. I know the ins and outs. Hell, I was gonna be elected to the council once, didn't I mention?"
"You did."
"So yeah, I got the leadership skills and all that jazz. I can run somethin' as simple as a barterin' post."
"And you set it all up with your friend. Jerry, right?"
Julian sighed. "Yeah. Bad deal, what happened to him."
"What did happen, if you don't mind my askin'?"
He shook his head. "Jerry was scoutin'. Tryin' to find us some new paper, y'know? But... well, he ran into the other guy."
Jeremy nodded. "Sorry."
"Thanks." Julian smiled. "Truth is, Jerry was always a sonuvabitch, but he was a friend. I've got all his money stashed away for his kid. Just haven't figured out how to get it to him yet."
"He had a kid?" Jeremy asked, more to keep the conversation going than anything. In fact, after Jerry's body turned up so late, he'd gone to interview the ex-wife personally—little good it did him.
"Oh yeah. Cute little critter, can't remember his name for the life of me. I got it written down somewhere."
"What about the other guy? You know, the one who offed him?"
Julian frowned, hesitating a long while. "...I'm stayin' the hell away."
No honor among shifty fuckin' merchants, I guess. "So you got an idea where he is?"
"What, you fixin' to go after him yourself? You ain't even one of us."
Jeremy shrugged. "Doesn't mean I can't take an interest."
Julian shook his head. "I don't have a clue, and I'm happier that way. If I ever see that psycho, I'm bookin' it in the opposite direction and I ain't lookin' back."
"What about that council you mentioned? Think they'd do somethin' about him?"
"Shit, friend, if I see them I'm bookin' it too!" Julian snorted. "I'm... what do you call it. Neutral. I'm a neutral party in this mess."
Until Brian hunts you down and kills you anyway... "I get the feelin' there aren't gonna be any neutral parties."
Julian shrugged. "Well, in that case, I'll just side with the winner."