Gifted Thief (Highland Magic #1)(35)

It was pension day so even though it was already after midday, the place was busy with people waiting to collect their money. Pensions weren’t something that the Sidhe had to worry about, I thought sourly, as my gaze travelled the length of the waiting area. Everyone here was, unsurprisingly, Clan-less, from the short dwarf with wrinkles so deep you could probably hide coins in them to the stooped human in a headscarf.

Instead of joining the queue, I went to the side, pulled an envelope out of my pocket and scribbled out an address. I didn’t have a stamp but I didn’t really need one. I simply walked over to the gap marked ‘international mail’ and dropped it in. I made a brief show of looking round anxiously in case anyone had noticed me, then left again.

At the corner, as I waited for the lights to change, I used the glass front of a nearby shop to scan behind me. As I expected, one of my followers – all of whom were now helpfully on foot – peeled off and entered the post office, no doubt to try and retrieve my letter. The post office didn’t like people messing with their systems, even if those people were well-connected Sidhe, so it would take him some time to do it. One down. Two to go.

It was interesting to note that one of the remaining tails was Mr Dimples. I wondered whether he still had the Lia Saifire on him. There wasn’t any noticeable bulge in his pockets but you never knew. Whether he had it or not, there was another pleasing bulge in his trousers that I enjoyed. Handsome and well-endowed. Well, well, well.

The moment the green man appeared, I crossed over, maintaining my earlier speed. This time, however, I lengthened my strides so I covered more ground more quickly. They would be expecting me to keep the same pace and it would take them a minute or two to realise that I was pulling away. It was a simple trick, but a good one. It was also well-timed as there was a set of crossroads ahead.

I checked my watch. 12.28pm. Perfect. I kept to the side of the pavement so my shoulder was almost brushing against the tall buildings on my left. A minute and a half later, I was at the MacReedy building just as the glass doors opened to let the vast secretarial department sprint out for lunch.

I hunched down, taking my battered baseball cap from my jacket pocket –it was the very same cap that Taylor gave me all those years ago – and jammed it on my head, tucking my hair underneath. Then I pushed my way through the crowd, zipped round the corner and ran.

Del’s Coffee, a grubby dive of a place, was less than thirty feet away. I weaved my way in and out of the busy foot traffic and ducked inside. It might serve coffee that you’d be inclined to avoid if you didn’t want to end up juddering for the rest of the day on a serious caffeine high but, with two exits, the place was ideal for me.

I sped through, throwing out a quick wave to the eponymous Del, the one-horned Bonnacon who ran the place.

‘Hey, Integrity. Bit of a speed merchant today, ain’t ya?’

‘I only sell to friends,’ I threw over my shoulder as I opened the door opposite and continued. I ran into a nearby pawnshop to check on my pursuers. Running around on the streets like a crazy person would ensure they caught up with me again; hiding was far smarter.

‘You wanna buy something or not?’

I twisted round, spotting the shop owner behind the cage that protected him from his less savoury customers. He eyed me with a hard look that warned of trouble. His hand hovered somewhere beneath the counter. Either there was a gun or a panic button under there. Right now, I’d prefer the gun; I didn’t want to attract any undue attention. I weighed up my choices and made a decision.

‘Here,’ I said, reaching into my pocket and pulling out a five-pound note. ‘I’ll be out of your hair in less than two minutes.’

His frown deepened. I cursed under my breath and took out another one. ‘Will that do you?’

The owner didn’t answer; he merely turned and hobbled away. That was an expensive sodding two minutes. Rather than dwell on it, I turned round to get a decent line of sight on Del’s. It was just as well – I’d barely manoeuvred myself into position when Dimples burst out of the cafe, his head frantically turning from right to left. No prizes for guessing who he was looking for.

When the second tail didn’t appear, I grinned. They must have split up to better their chances of finding me.

I crouched down, still keeping an eye on Byron’s second-in-command. He couldn’t seem to make up his mind which way to go. There was a chance that he’d try the pawnshop but he had plenty of other avenues to consider. My luck was in. He went right, jogging away from both the pawnshop and me. Now all I had to was to get out.

I stretched up to the bell hanging from the door, yanked it off and tossed it away. I didn’t need it jangling; if Dimples heard it, he’d definitely turn around. Besides, ten quid for a dirty piece of junk like that? The shopkeeper was still getting a bargain.

If he heard what I’d done, he didn’t come back out to investigate. Smart move on his part, I decided. I didn’t fight but he didn’t know that.

I sneaked back out into the street, shivering as a gust of wind whipped my hat straight off my head. I lunged for it but it was too late. It flew away, tumbling down the quiet back street like a ball of tumbleweed in one of those old Western films. The ones where there was about to be a terrible shoot out.

That hat was an important part of my history and I didn’t want to lose it. I gave a quick look to see if Dimples was still in play. His shoulders were slumped and he was trudging away, not turning round. I smiled smugly. He knew he’d lost me.