Spy Glass

Cobwebs and dust coated every surface, and the linens would need to be replaced. I left my saddlebags in the one bedroom and spread out my notes and files on the prison in the upstairs office.

Living here would take a while to get used to, and I needed to change the locks and buy an extensive list of items, yet I felt…comfortable. Strange.

It was seven days into the warming season, and instead of meeting me at the inn per our routine, I had asked Nic and Eve to come to the factory in the morning. They were unhappy with my new location.

“Do you like being an easy target?” Nic asked. “There are too many points of entry, it’s too big to guard effectively and the neighborhood is too deserted at night.”

“You’re right,” I said and laughed at his shocked expression. “But I’m not moving. Can you make it safer for me?”

He grumbled and hedged and finally agreed to try. We walked to HQ and joined in with the morning training. While we practiced, a large group of men and a few women arrived. They bustled about the west end of the building, carrying shovels and pushing wheelbarrows.

“Construction crew for the expansion,” Eve said.

And jobs for the fired guards. I scanned the workers, looking for Cole’s cousin. Even though the prison guard at the Spotted Dog hadn’t taken me up on my offer, I had located his cousin, securing him a position with the crew. “Who are the people in the blue jumpers?” I asked.

“Prisoners,” Eve said.

“From Wirral?”

“That would be unwise. And I’m starting to think you’ve been hanging around Nic too long.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Nic asked her.

“It’s called thinking before speaking. You ought to try it sometime. It’ll reduce the number of bar fights I have to break up.”

Before they could launch into an exchange of insults, I stepped between them. “Prisoners from the low security prison?”