Page 58 of The Burnt
“And I’m willing to pay for it,” Charlie added.
“So youarea perv.”
“Like I said, I’m just looking for some information, that’s all. I understand someone had you deliver a letter last week to the big house on Buffalo Street. I’m trying to find out who it was.”
The boy stopped and looked around. He was obviously either trying to figure out if anyone else was listening, or scoping out a place to run.
Declan had told Charlie that whenever he went into the field, he should always carry cash with him, because he never knew when a bribe would be necessary…and no one would accept credit. Declan had also said it should be at least a few hundred dollars. That way if he got mugged, the attacker would be less likely to kill him, especially if they felt their effort in robbing him had been adequately rewarded.
“A hundred bucks,” Charlie offered. It would be Griffin’s money, so he didn’t care. He could go higher if he had to.
The boy cocked his head like a dog processing a command. “A hundred bucks and I just have to give you information?”
“Yup.”
The boy chewed on his lip. “Must have been something important in that letter to be worth a hundred bucks.”
“Yup. And something you don’t want to be involved in. You give me the info, I give you the money and we’ll never see each other again, okay? Pretty simple.”
This is going well.
“A hundred and fifty,” the boy said.
What? This kid was a pro.
The boy added, “One-fifty or I start screaming that you touched me.”
“One-fifty it is. And no screaming.”
The boy nodded and walked a few feet closer. “So here’s what happened. This guy, probably in his twenties, came up to me in the arcade and offered me money to deliver a letter. That’s it.”
“That’s it? I pretty well could’a figured that much out on my own.”
“Then pay yourself a hundred and fifty.”
Charlie wasn’t going to give up. “Describe him.”
“Okay. He was about your height, maybe a little shorter. He was white. No accent.”
Charlie pulled out his phone and showed the boy the aged photograph of Milo. “Could this have been him?”
The boy glanced at it and shrugged.
“Have agoodlook at it,” Charlie said.
The boy stared longer at the image. “Nope. The guy I saw had long dark hair. Kinda looked like a hippie.”
Not much to go on there.
“What else can you tell me? What was he dressed like?”
“A parka. Had a few taped patches. He wore jeans and Kodiak boots. Real stylish.” He laughed. The boy was starting to relax.
Charlie nodded. “Did he ever mention his name?”
“Not that I can remember.”
“Anything else about that afternoon? Did he have a car?”
