Into That Wild Blue Yonder

4. Prize of Success

Colm took his time to carefully place his hands and feet as he climbed the slippery scaffolding to Jerry's office. The city was still wet from the previous night's storm and everything under the cloudy sky became a slipping hazard. The light of the street lamps didn't travel upward thanks to the design, so he knew no one could see him and he could take his time. Not that he was in a rush anyway.

More people lined the streets tonight than usual. Sketchy bargains struck in shady areas, unsavory individuals seeking unsavory pleasures, graffiti artists muddling about causing trouble. Bored and hostile gangsters roamed the streets, pretending to look tougher than they were. No wonder Jerry maintained an office in this section of town.

Colm brought the necklace and paper shard with him to see if Jerry would be able to tell him anything about them. He figured they were important since they were in the same box as the figurine. Jerry was never one for small talk, but he did like to show off in any way he could, to include how much he knew about anything.

Colm rapped the window frame with his knuckles to alert Jerry to his presence. Jerry took his time answering like always, so Colm sat against the wall and looked out over the neighborhood. Jerry's building wasn't the tallest around, but it was up there for the neighborhood, and Colm could see all the way to the city walls.

He could easily distinguish the neighborhoods from the rooftops. Ornate, angled roofs showed where residences were, usually higher-end apartments. Bleak, flat-top roofs marked the business districts where shops and services did their business, open spaces for parks, and so on. The dingier buildings often represented low-income areas. As the city was built over time, neighborhoods of varying purpose and quality popped up, partitioning the city in a seemingly random pattern.

Colm sucked in the musty air of the largest unsavory district, but before he could let his thoughts wander off, impatient tapping drew his eyes to the window. Colm spun around, startled to see Jerry's big, toothy smile on the other side of the window and a hand waving at him. Colm turned onto his knees and gave a thumbs up, to which Jerry silently motioned a "huzzah!" and threw the window open.

"Colm, my boy, you never cease to impress," he said as he turned around and waltzed to his desk. Colm swung into the room with his hand cradling his bag.

"Not so hard," Colm said, pulling out the figurine.

Colm placed the minotaur on the center of the desk as Jerry took a seat. Jerry rubbed his hands together and gingerly picked it up, giving it a once-over to make sure it was the real deal. While he would never accuse the young man of stealing the target item, he always had to make sure Colm got the right item.

"Excellent work," Jerry said, sliding the item aside. He pulled a sack of coins out of a drawer in his desk. "You've more than earned this. I have to say, I expected it to be tougher; all you got was a few extra bruises!"

Colm had thought the bruises were minor and unnoticeable, but Jerry always noticed anything off in his space. You don't get to his position if you can't. Colm shrugged dismissively and looked all around the room. There were dozens of empty spots for more items like this one, and Colm knew they were all from deals made in the past. Hundreds of items, hundreds more to collect. The man had quite a history and a certain future.

"You pay me well for a reason," Colm said.

"That I do," Jerry said. He opened up his ledger, one-lined the shipper's name, and slammed it shut. "Now run along."

"Actually, I had some questions for you," Colm said. Jerry cocked his head curiously at Colm and placed his hands on his hips.

"You've never sounded so... insistent on a question before," Jerry said curiously.