Free Empire's End by David Dunwoody Page B

out and then gone
altogether.
    He looked up to find himself alone. It was
starting to snow.
     
    * * *
     
    Upon arriving back at his office—a warehouse
basement downtown—Meyer was informed that he had a couple of
sellers sitting upstairs. He liked to handle this end of the
business personally. He removed his coat, smoothed his suit and
headed up.
    The couple was sitting in a small windowless
room, isolated from the goings-on in the rest of the building.
Entering with the lieutenant who had summoned him, Meyer shook
their hands warmly and said, “First things first. How much are you
asking for?”
    The woman looked at the man, who cleared his
throat and said, “Ten thousand.”
    Meyer clapped his hands on his knees and
laughed. “Well, this must be quite a filly! Ten thousand? Let’s see
her. Where is she?”
    The lieutenant opened a narrow door into a
smaller room, where a few toys—dolls, blocks, crayons—were
scattered about on faded carpet.
    Lily looked up from her place against the
wall, arms and legs crossed, and said “When do I get to go
home?”
    Meyer licked his lips. He looked back at the
couple. “How old is she?”
    “Twelve,” Jack Calvert said.
    “Come on now,” Meyer said in scolding tone.
“I’ll need to see papers on that.”
    “She might be thirteen or fourteen. We’ve
only had her a few months.”
    Meyer said to Lily, “Just another minute,
sweetheart,” and closed the door to the smaller room. To the
Calverts he asked, “Why ten grand? You must know how steep that
is.”
    “Yes,” Jack said, “but we’re in debt—we owe
people and they want it all now. Or else.”
    “I see.” Meyer crouched in front of them and
said, “Maybe you should refinance with me. Wouldn’t that be better
than selling off the girl?”
    Jack and Molly looked anxiously at one
another. “You’re not really in debt, are you?” Meyer smiled
coldly.
    Jack stared at his feet, clearing his throat
again, trying to find the right words to say. “Just tell me the
truth,” Meyer said. “What are you into?”
    “You must know about the airfield,” Jack
said. Meyer frowned. “Airfield?”
    “They’re building an airfield east of the
city. The Senate. I think they’re going to have planes come from
somewhere and take them out of here. We just—I need to buy seats
for me and my wife. We have to get out of here. The girl—Lily—we
only took her in for the government support check. We can let her
go. We just want the money.”
    Meyer stood in silence, staring at them while
he sucked on a piece of candy. The room seemed to grow even smaller
to Jack and Molly, pressure building behind their eyes, hands
trembling... finally he spoke.
    “Seven thousand credits.”
    Jack nodded immediately. He’d probably
expected a lot less than ten. He put his arm around his wife and
said, “Yes. Seven. All right.”
    “Give this man here your account number.
Expect the transfer within the hour. It’ll be entered in as a tax
refund. Understand? You were never here. In fact, you never had the
girl—I’ll take care of it. All of that clear?”
    They both nodded. They looked like they
wanted the hell out of there. Meyer decided to suck his candy and
let them stew a few more minutes.
    What sort of person would sell their child,
even a foster child, into sexual slavery? Of course Meyer could
make it right on his end, but how did they live with themselves?
Heartless people. At least she’d be taken care of now. And she’d be
loved... oh, his clients would love little Lily with her budding
breasts and long dark hair. S.P.O. Casey would really love
her.
    “All right. Give my guy your account and walk
out of here, and then forget all this,” he said. They scuttled from
the room like spooked roaches.
    He opened the door to the smaller room. Lily
looked a bit more apprehensive. She hadn’t figured it out yet, but
she soon would.
    “My name’s Finnegan,” he said. “Want some
candy?”
    She shook her head.
    “That’s