Angel Of The City Read Free Page B

dragons”, on the margins.
    Another forty minutes and the streets are so dense with people we’re shoulder-to-shoulder; right side of the street going in one direction, left side going the other. Reed says we’re all like lemmings but I’m not sure what a lemming is. I doubt Reed is entirely sure either.
    With every block, we pass another scanner. Three foot tall, three foot off the ground, usually imbedded in a wall or a post, like a fluorescent light hung lengthwise. They ’re dark now. They’ll start flashing about an hour before curfew, the flashing getting faster as time runs out. Once the flashing stops, you better run. If you’re tagged. I smile at the thought of what would happen if one of them suddenly burst on right now. Maybe not so funny, as I’m in the crowd.
    The scanners enforce the curfew without having to put Blueshirts and Counselors on every corner. It ’s the fear of the technology that keeps people in line, not the technology itself. The scanners are good, but they aren’t perfect. What is? Older ones can sometimes be tricked with certain clothing. It’s why Pen stripped. She knew that and wanted to impress me by letting me know she knew.
    Thinking of her makes me think of Devon, which reminds me I have business of my own. I ’ve been carrying this bracelet around for two days. I want to get rid of it before the meeting. Especially before the meeting. His men don’t search me every time, but why risk it?
    By the end of the next block, I’m into the ninety-third precinct. Not exactly upscale, but the poverty isn’t as obvious. This is where people living in the mid seventies dream of living. At the end of the street, I push my way through the crowd to a corner jewelry store. Not much to look at, but in this quarter it’s as high-end as it gets.
    The sales girl glances my way and smiles for a moment before ringing up a customer. The only other person in the store is an elderly woman who takes one look and pushes past me—respectfully—to get out. I pretend to purvey the wares and ignore the cameras. Just simple security devices with no tag sensors, but still, you never know who might be watching.
    A short time later, I glimpse up at the sales girl standing behind the counter. Alabaster skin; dark eyes with hair to match falling in a single layer to her shoulders.
    “ Can I show you something in particular?” she asks.
    “ Hello Reed,” I say softly, still bent over the glass. I straighten up and smile for the camera. “Yes, I’m interested in a bracelet.”
    She smiles back and leads me to another counter, one I could find on my own even if I was blindfolded. Reed is my favorite fence.
    “What type of stone?” she asks, as though I’d come into a place like this looking for diamonds.
    “ Turquoise, please.”
    She pulls out a tray with a dozen or so turquoise bracelets. Most are crap, but mine ’s no better.
    Taking my hand out of my pocket, I lift one up and examine it, making “uh-huh” and “ah-hah” sounds before putting the bracelet back—along with the one I was palming.
    “ How much for the other one?” I ask, pointing out the bracelet I just left her.
    “ Oh, that is nice, but of less quality. I could let you have it for say, one hundred.”
    I raise my eyebrows. “Really? I saw one like it in a store just the other day and the man wanted two hundred. Can you believe the mack of him?”
    She shakes her head. “That man was robbing you. Even at full mark-up, this bracelet should never go for more than one-thirty—tops.”
    “ One-thirty?”
    “ Absolute top price.”
    “ I see. Well then, I’m very glad I came in here. Your price is reasonable. May I come in later to close the deal?”
    “ Of course,” she says, still smiling. “I’ll hold it for you.”
    I get back to the street and squeeze into the crowd. A hundred and thirty isn ’t bad. I would have taken the hundred. I’ll stop by after hours and pick up my money. There’s always the chance that