Page 111 of So Steady

“What the fuck?” Gil put a foot to the ground, about to stand.

Noah put a hand on his shoulder, keeping him down. “I told you already, we’re here so you can make amends.”

“But that’s my stuff!”

“And who paid for that stuff?”

“I did!” Gil tried to get to his feet, but Noah pressed hard on his shoulder. His skin was damp beneath his t-shirt. He’d hit the panic stage.

“Calm down.”

But Gil twisted like a rat in a trap, turning to look at Scott. “Mate, you’re not gonna go along with this, are you?”

To his credit, Scott’s gaze stayed ice cold and he said nothing.

“Hey Scott,” Noah said. “How much money has this prick taken from Sam? Seventy thousand?”

“Close to eighty.”

Noah whistled. “That’s a lot of shirts.” He shook Gil’s shoulder. “Are you telling us you’re in a position to pay us out eighty grand right now? Today?”

“I….”

“Cash or transfer—we’re not fussy. We’ll even round it down to seventy, if that’s easier?”

Gil flinched. “I can pay you back, just give me some time!”

“We don’t want to give you time. And even if we did, you’re not coming near Silver Daughters again.”

“So, what do you want?”

He smiled. That was the fucking question to ask. “Money. But since you don’t have that, we’re gonna go through your house, take everything of value we can find and call it even. Sound fair?”

Gil’s eyes bulged. “You can’t fucking do that!”

“Not normally, no,” Noah agreed. “But you stole eighty-grand and a lot of people would say you can’t do that, so swings and roundabouts.”

Noah felt Gil swallow. “What if I go to the cops?”

Noah tightened his grip on Gil’s shoulder, feeling the bones and muscle shift. “You want to think hard before you say something like that again.”

Gil lowered his head, saying nothing.

Toby reappeared in the hallway and Noah jerked his head at a packed Corona box by the door. “What’s in there?”

Toby used his keys to slit open the tape and flipped the box open. “Sneakers. Fancy ones.”

“Take them out to the van.”

Gil shuddered, but still he said nothing. Noah checked his phone. They’d been there five minutes; they needed to move faster. He caught Scott’s eye. “Can you have a look around?”

Scott nodded and headed for the back of the house. He emerged a minute later with an armful of puffy jackets. “These are all Moncler.”

“I don’t know what that means.”

“They’re about eight hundred each.”

Noah grinned. “Chuck them in the van. We’ve got towels down.”

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