Roses Revenge novel · Chapter 18 of 24

Chapter 18: The Pawnshop

Elliot's POV

The pawnshop was on a side street behind the courthouse, between a bail bondsman and a place that sold phone cases.

I had been inside it once before, on Tuesday, to look at a sapphire in a glass case and leave my card.

The pawnbroker was a heavy man in a cardigan, and he recognized me as I came in.

"Same guy," he said. "Same face. Different day."

"You called me."

"The other fella was in at eight." He leaned both elbows on the counter.

"Bandage on his hand, no watch on his wrist. He wanted that ring back in a hurry."

"How much did he offer?"

"Twice what I paid. Then a check, which I don't take. Then a very long speech about how he was a founder."

"What did you say?"

"I said I only take cash from founders." He smiled.

"He went out and bought a nineteen-dollar ring somewhere else. I heard about it on the radio."

I almost laughed.

I put my wallet on the counter instead.

"What do you want for it?"

He opened the case and took the ring out on a square of velvet.

It was a deep blue stone in an old-fashioned setting, and it had not been cleaned in a week.

Rose had worn it for two years, and she had set it on a fruit bowl without looking back.

"Four thousand," the pawnbroker said.

"You paid twenty-one hundred."

"I'm a businessman."

I laid out four thousand dollars in cash.

He put the ring in a small white box, and I carried it out into the afternoon with my hand shut around it.

Keep reading free with an account. Start Roses Revenge from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.