Free Legends of Dimmingwood 02:Betrayal of Thieves by C. Greenwood

could easily have taken elsewhere?”
    The heavy man laughed suddenly, a deep throat-clearing noise that fell harshly on my ears. “I see, I see. You come to bargain,” he said. “Do you really think you’re sharp enough to concoct any scheme that would tempt me into parting with my money? After all these years you should know better.”
    I could see the mockery was getting to my companion. Fleet’s composure cracked enough for his hand to move, as if of its own accord, to his coat sleeve, where a faint bulge betrayed the presence of a knife. The move wasn’t lost on Davin, but the big man only laughed again.
    “You cannot think to threaten me?” he asked. “You must realize I don’t fear you one wit, but you persist in showing your teeth, like a fox cornered in a hunt.”
    Fleet flinched at the words, as if aware of a hidden meaning. “And am I being hunted?” he asked quietly.
    It seemed a strange question to me, but Davin’s face immediately sobered.
    “Not yet, boy. You’re lucky that I like you, despite many of your stupider actions, past and present. I haven’t set your name on any death list, and I won’t, so long as you don’t force the issue. But I’m warning you to forget this debt nonsense and be satisfied to keep your neck. What would you have done with your share anyway? You’d have drunk and gambled it all away inside a week’s time.”
    “What I do with my money is my own business,” Fleet said. “I thought the glitters I’ve brought today would interest you, but now I see further dealings between us would be a mistake. I cannot trust you with such a valuable opportunity.”
    Davin frowned. “Glittery goods, you say?”
    “The best. I’ve never wasted my time or yours with cheap baubles.”
    “Doubtless you’re exaggerating what you have, but just the same, you’ve stirred my interest. Would it be out of the way for me to ask to see these shinies?”
    “Naturally, I wouldn’t expect you to buy what you haven’t seen,” Fleet said, as he fumbled inside his coat and withdrew a knotted kerchief. When he untied the small bundle to display a glittering brooch and a pair of ear ornaments studded with blood-red gems, I felt my eyes bulge and saw Davin’s do the same.
    “No wonder the chase last night,” I muttered. Fleet shot me an annoyed look and I realized he was telling me to keep my mouth shut. Clearly he didn’t want to talk about the source of these jewels in front of Davin.
    The big man reached for the gems, a greedy gleam in his eye, as he asked, “How’d you have the good fortune to get your grubby hands on these?”
    Fleet snatched the jewels beyond his reach.
    “Sorry, trade secrets,” he said. “What you should be asking yourself is how you might persuade me to part with them. To start with, I’ll be wanting to settle that old debt we just discussed.”
    Davin waved a careless hand, his smile calculating. “That small coin? Of course, it’s yours. That’s if these jewels prove to be the real thing. But you cannot expect me to put a value on the stones before I’ve been allowed to examine them. How do I know they’re not cheap imitations? Any fool can polish a bit of red-rind and pass it off as heartsfire.”
    Fleet’s expression was cool. “The lady who possessed these was not the sort to have her jewel box graced by pieces of red-rind. All the same…”
    He considered the jewels briefly before tossing the brooch to the big man, who caught the ornament deftly between thick fingers and held it up to his eye. When Fleet had brought a lantern close, the two leaned over the brooch. Davin’s expression had grown serious and it was clear he was in his element. He pried the jewel loose from its backing and lightly scratched the back of the stone with a thin blade removed from his belt-pouch. Grunting to himself, he then held it up to the light, flipping it over.
    “It’s real enough,” he finally concluded.
    “Yes, of course it is. Didn’t I say as