Page 108 of Cash

“Hey there, Brick,” Ziggy said. “We’re real sorry to bother you, but we wanted to talk to you for a minute.”

Assuming the worst, Brick asked quickly, “Is Trixie okay?”

“Trixie’s fine,” Noah promised. “She’s actually why we’re here.”

“Hey there.” Ziggy waved to Jules, who was standing right behind Brick.

“Hi.” Jules didn’t budge and continued to stare Ziggy and Noah down.

“Oh! Right.” Brick grinned. “Jules, this is Ziggy and Noah. Guys, this is Jules.”

“A pleasure to meet you, sir.” Ziggy politely extended his hand to shake Jules’s.

“Likewise,” Jules said, stepping forward to shake Ziggy’s and then Noah’s.

“Do you remember anything from seein’ Trixie at the hospital the other day?” Noah asked. “Like maybe her talkin’ about some receipt?”

“A receipt?” Brick tried to rack his brain, but there were still several holes in his memory. He didn’t want to explain any of that to Ziggy and Noah, so he simply said, “Maybe? She was kinda out of it. Morphine, you know.”

“Yeah, but you did go see her, right?” Noah grinned crookedly. “Trixie told us you’d been up there, but she’s been pretty fuckin’ high so we won’t sure.”

“I did.” Brick chuckled. “I didn’t stay long though. She’s really doing okay?”

“Good, good.” Ziggy nodded. “She’s ready to bust up outta there as soon as possible, but she’s still got a few more days before they’ll turn her loose.” He reached into his pocket. “We just got back from seein’ her, and she says she remembered tellin’ you that you needed this.”

Brick had zero recollection of this conversation. “Uh, needed what?”

Ziggy handed him a folded piece of paper. “This. It’s a receipt.”

Brick read it, and then he laughed. “It’s the receipt for the little flamingo you guys got me. Thank you for that, by the way.”

“Sure, sure. There’s some kinda scribbles on the back there, but I’m not sure what that is either.”

Brick turned the receipt over. “MRR, twelve, ten o’clock? Wait, or is that the twelfth?”

Trixie had apparently jotted this down in a hurry because it was difficult to read.

“I thought those were K’s.” Noah shrugged.

“I’m not sure why she wanted you to have it, but she was very insistent,” Ziggy said. “Do with it what you will.”

Brick frowned and looked back over the scribbles again.

Knowing that Trixie had been attacked over her knowledge of Finch III’s death, Brick wondered if this was important. It probably didn’t matter since the ledgers had been recovered and Finchie was very much dead, but still…

“This doesn’t mean anything to you guys?” Brick asked.

“I’ve got nothin’, man,” Noah replied. “Trixie don’t even remember what the fuck it means. She just kept sayin’ that you needed it.”

Ziggy scratched his beard, clearly thinking, and then he laughed. “I can tell you that the twelfth was the first time I had to put on a fuckin’ suit in almost ten years.”

“Oh yeah!” Noah laughed.

“Wait, why?” Brick asked.

“Because that’s the damn day that old fucker Finch III died,” Ziggy explained. “Family called after the medical examiner picked up the body, raisin’ hell and already wantin’ to make the funeral arrangements. Ramp, our location manager, went out there… What time was it?”

“Somethin’ like close to midnight?” Noah suggested.

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