Wrong Side of the Law

Chapter 4-1

Chapter 4

It was barely eight the next morning when Dirk’s cell chimed. Taking it off the charger, he checked to see who was calling; relieved that it came from the pawnshop.

“Steele here,” he said, answering the call.

“Mr. Steele, are you available this morning?” Mr. Powell asked.

“Yep. I can be down there in an hour or less.”

“Perfect. I think we’ve decided to make use of your services. I won’t know for certain until I find out what it will cost us.”

“I can lay it all out when I get there.”

“Good. We’ll see you in an hour.” With that, Powell hung up.

After a quick shower, Dirk dressed and read over the notes he’d made when he had visited the security equipment supply store. Then he made the ten minute walk down to the pawnshop. He entered to find Jesse in the midst of a discussion with two men about items in one of the cases. Mr. Powell was in the cage and beckoned for Dirk to come over. Then, to Dirk’s surprise, he was buzzed into the cage.

“Pull up a seat,” Powell said, pointing to a stool beside a small floor safe. When Dirk brought it over and sat, Powell told him, “I figured if I was going to trust you to set up more security, I’d be an i***t not to let you back here.”

Dirk nodded, his first question being, “What’s behind that door?” He thumbed to the one behind them.

“Storage, a walk-in gun vault, though we use it for more than that, and a four-by-six jewelry safe.”

“Built-in or freestanding?”

“Built-in. The one thing we splurged on after we bought the business.”

“How long have you owned it?”

Powell frowned for a second before replying, “Ten years next month.”

“And the only upgrades you did were the safes?”

“Pretty much. The ones the guy had in here before? Two strong men could have picked them up and walked away through the back entrance.”

“You always been a pawnbroker?” Dirk asked while keeping an eye on two men who were looking long and hard at guns in the cases not too far from the cage.

“Nope.”

“What did you do before?”

Powell waggled one hand. “A bit of this, a bit of that.”

“And Jesse?”

“Construction, until he got a bee in his bonnet about us getting into the pawn business.”

“You talking about me?” Jesse asked, coming over to lean against the counter outside the cage window.

“Yep. I was telling him it was your idea to buy this place.”

Jesse nodded. “Worked out, too.” His attention, like Dirk’s, was centered on the two men by the guns. Pushing off the counter, he went over to talk to them.

Powell glanced at Dirk. “Think they’re trouble?”

After another look, Dirk shook his head. “They’re too relaxed. They’re just shopping.”

At that point the warning buzzer on the front door sounded and a family of three came in. Jesse turned to look at them and it was obvious from the expression on his face he was debating greeting them, but he didn’t want to lose a potential gun sale.

“Let me out. I’ll see what they want,” Dirk told Powell. With a nod, Powell did and Dirk went over to where the family was studying the cameras. He talked to them, helping them choose one that fit the teenaged boy’s budget, then sent them over to Powell to pay for it.

Dirk was about to return to the cage when a couple entered the shop. Without asking, he went over to them. A few more people drifted in and out, with Dirk and Jesse either dealing with them, or just watching to make certain no one tried to walk away with something.

Finally it slowed down. After accepting Jesse’s thanks for his help, Dirk went back to rejoin Powell.

Powell chuckled. “We’re not getting much done on why you’re really here.”

“Yes and no. I spotted a couple more weak spots.” Dirk went on to tell Powell what they were. When there was a lull, Jesse came over and Dirk laid out to him and his father everything he thought they should have, and the potential cost for each item. Jesse took him into the back room to look at the safes. Powell had forgotten to mention they were top-of-the-line. Seeing them only reinforced Dirk’s thoughts that the Powells were more than just pawn brokers. The fact that both the door to enter the back room, and the rear door of the building had much better security on them than the rest of the place, added to his suspicions.

When they returned to where Powell was sitting, the man suggested Dirk go get lunch for all of them from the pizza place a couple of blocks away. Dirk arched an eyebrow and Powell told him, “It’ll give us time to decide what we can afford of all this.” He tapped the pad with Dirk’s suggestions.

“Works for me. Pepperoni and sausage?”

“And hot peppers,” Jesse said, grinning when Powell groaned and said, “only on half of it. My stomach does not deal with them too well anymore.”

Laughing, Dirk headed out after Powell gave him some cash to pay for their meal. As he walked up the street, his thoughts were on the two men, and what they might or might not be involved in.

Best bet, Powell’s ‘this and that’ when I asked what he used to do did not mean he was embarrassed to say he’d been a short-order cook or a janitor. He was doing something less than legal. Something he didn’t get caught at or he wouldn’t be able to be a licensed pawnbroker. Dirk nodded, smiling slightly. I wonder how good a thief he was. Good enough that he was able to retire and go into the business of helping out other thieves.

His thoughts turned to the next item on his list, how he could use his talents to help improve the Powell’s business. He had a few ideas but he wasn’t about to approach either man with them until he was certain he was on the right track. And, with luck, I’ll find out if I am while I’m there working on the security for the shop. Presuming of course they decide to use me.