Pawnbroker: A Thriller by Jerry Hatchett Read Free Book Online

man!” he said. He meticulously folded the receipt and somehow coaxed it into a wallet about three inches thick, then made his way out.
    As President was leaving, a nice-looking lady walked in. Make that very nice looking. Tall, sleek, shaped. Shoulder-length hair and stunning chestnut eyes, part black, part goddess. She looked to be around my age, early forties. I knew right away that she wasn’t there on shop business. Pawners present a lot of different images, but rarely one of composure and confidence. The lookers and shoppers have their own looks, too. She carried herself tall and proud, with purpose. She was her own category.
    LungFao was haggling with a customer over whether to loan eight dollars or ten on a VCR, and I instinctively looked to be sure it wasn’t Rasheeda Hobart. It wasn’t.
    “Can I help you?” I said to the lady.
    “I’m Penny Lane.” She extended her hand and I shook it. Firm, perfect. I drew a breath but before I could say anything she said, “No Beatle jokes, please.”
    “Gray Bolton. What can I do for you, Ms. Lane?”
    “Call me Penny. We’re going to be spending some time together.” She handed me a card that said PENNY LANE, INVESTIGATOR, SHEFFIELD-BENTON LAW FIRM.
    “I see.”
    “Mr. Benton tells me you questioned the accuracy of my report.”
    “Your report is flat wrong. Before now, I’ve never had more than a traffic ticket, and I’ve never even been pulled over in the state of Arkansas.”
    “You’re sure about that?”
    “Hundred percent.”
    She looked into my eyes, studying me, looking for subconscious clues that I was lying to her. There were none to find. After about fifteen seconds, she abruptly said, “If you’re telling the truth, and I believe you are, it doesn’t bode well.”
    “It doesn’t?”
    “I double-checked my research. There was nothing wrong with my work. The incident is right there in the NCIC, Mr. Bolton.”
    “Call me Gray. Since we’re going to be spending some time together.”
    That drew a smile. “All right. Here’s the problem, Gray.” The smile faded. “Mr. Benton says you were apparently set up—”
    “Not ‘apparently.’ I was set up.”
    “Calm down. I’m on your team.”
    “I’m a little edgy.”
    “My point is this: If someone has gone to the trouble, and has the means, to inject false information into a federal law enforcement network, what else have they done? I mean, this thing certainly doesn’t help your case, but they probably won’t even be able to mention it in court, so it’s of dubious value at best.”
    “I see your point.”
    “Great. You have a small table I can work from? I’ve set up a temporary office in my hotel room, but I’d like to spend this first day here with you.”
    “Sure, come on back. We’ll find you a spot.”

 
    Chapter 16
     
     
     
    Penny Lane worked from her makeshift office for the next several hours. Mid-afternoon, Xavier “X-Man” Miller walked in. He was even tougher to look at than Bill Berner. X was a happy sort and grinned a lot. All good and fine except for a mouthful of rotten black nubs that always made me queasy. He was one of the customers who had shown up the day after the robbery to pledge their undying loyalty should I ever need anything. X waved at me, then headed toward LungFao. The phone rang and I picked it up.
    “Gray’s Green Cash.”
    “Listen carefully,” RoboVoice said. “I won’t have time to repeat myself.”
    “All right.”
    “Go to your bathroom. Cover the motion detector with something; it’s a camera. Look in the tank on the back of the toilet. Flush what you find there.”
    “What—” I started to say, but he was gone. I walked to the bathroom, which did double duty as a storage area for pawned guns, and casually glanced up at the motion detector above the door. My heart skipped a beat when I saw that it was not the unit that had been there for years. It was similar enough that I hadn’t noticed the difference, but this one