“How so?”
“Because we’ll have to provide our home address, which is a pawnshop,” Mercedes said.
“Crud.” Carlita whacked the steering wheel. “You’re right. That’s not gonna work. We need another address to use.” She slowly turned to Autumn.
“You want to use my address?” Autumn squeaked. “You want someone to break into my apartment?”
“No, of course not,” Carlita shook her head. “The last thing we want is to put you in danger or any of us for that matter.”
“Hang on.” Autumn whipped her cell phone out of her back pocket and tapped the screen. “I bet Steve will help us out and let us use his tattoo shop’s address.”
“But what if they break into his place?” Mercedes asked.
“They’ll be sorry if they try. He installed some high tech alarm equipment.” She glanced up from the screen. “Did I tell you he moved out of his apartment? He’s fixing up the upstairs of the tattoo shop and Paisley, his girlfriend, is going to move in with him.”
“No, I had no idea, but I’m happy for him,” Carlita said. “I don’t want to drag Steve into this. I’m doing Tori a favor, but didn’t make any promises.”
“Ah. He already gave us the green light to use the tattoo shop’s address.” Autumn slid her phone back into her pocket. “I can handle the transaction since I know Steve’s address by heart.”
“Okay.” Carlita reached into her purse, pulled out a small black box and handed it to Autumn.
“What’s a good deal?”
“There’s a diamond and two decent sized emeralds. Tony said we should be able to get a solid thirteen-hundred bucks for all three. He said not to take less than twelve-hundred.”
“Gotcha.” Autumn tightened her grip on the box and slid across the back seat. “I love a good sting operation.”
The trio exited the car and gathered on the sidewalk.
“Ma, we need one of those signs.” Mercedes nodded her head toward the flashing neon Fast Cash sign in the front window of the pawnshop.
“I saw a similar one at Paradise Pawn, the pawnshop near City Market and mentioned it to Tony, but he doesn’t wanna put one up,” Carlita said. “He told me it might as well say, rob us – we have wads of cash on hand.”
“True. I never thought of that.” Mercedes held the door and waited for her mother and friend to step inside.
The layout of the Beachy Bargains Pawn Shop was similar to Swag in Savannah. The display cases for the weaponry and jewelry were in the back.
They passed several eye-catching displays of electronics, an array of metal detectors and a rack overflowing with metal lawn art.
Carlita stopped to admire one of the pieces. “Check out this peacock.” The whimsical piece was constructed of rainbow-colored glass bottles. “This would fit perfectly on our deck.”
“We’ll purchase it before we head out,” Mercedes said. “Work first, shop later.”
“Can I help you?” A gray-haired man standing behind the gun case leaned an elbow on the counter.
“Yes.” Autumn stepped forward. “I have a couple of loose gems I’m looking to sell.” She handed the box to the man. “Just to let you know, I’ve been shopping around.”
“I see.” The man lifted the cover on the box and peered inside. “Rough cut. I’ll need to take a closer look.” He grabbed a loupe off the counter. “You got some nice pieces here. How much you lookin’ to get?”
“Thirteen-hundred,” Carlita blurted out.
“Twelve-hundred,” Autumn said.
“We’ll settle for twelve-fifty firm,” Mercedes said.
“I’ll have to run the numbers before I can make you an offer. Be right back.” The man walked over to a desk area and began shuffling through some papers.
“We shoulda brought Tony with us,” Mercedes whispered in her mother’s ear. “Don’t forget, we have to look for Mrs. Montgomery’s weapons.”
“We don’t know what we’re looking for,” Autumn pointed out.
“True.” Mercedes tapped her fingers on the counter. “If we see anything matching a musket or sword, we’ll snap a picture of it.”
“Great idea, Mercedes,” Carlita said.
The man dropped the papers on the desk and wandered to the counter. “I’ll give you twelve-hundred, but that’s as high as I can go.”
Mercedes and Carlita exchanged a quick glance.
“We’ll take it,” Carlita said.
The man smiled and grabbed a sales slip from the stack. “I need a name, an address and a telephone number. I’ll also need to see a photo ID.”
“But Ton…” Carlita started to say Tony never asked to see identification when buying jewelry. She quickly caught herself and clamped her mouth shut, shooting Autumn a worried look.
“I recently moved,” Autumn said smoothly as she handed the man her driver’s license. “My new address is 615 Halston Street in Savannah, Georgia.”
The man raised an eyebrow as he took Autumn’s identification and studied the front. “I’ll put both addresses on the form.”
Carlita clenched her fist, resisting the urge to snatch Autumn’s driver’s license from his hand. The last thing she wanted was to put their friend’s safety in danger. She started to reach for it and Autumn grasped her elbow and squeezed.
The man finished jotting the information on the form and handed the license back. “I’ll go get the cash.” He walked past the desk, to a small wall safe. “Those are some nice gems. You had them long?”
“I uh…” Carlita’s mind went blank.
“I inherited them from my uncle,” Autumn blurted out. “He lived in Wichita…Kansas. He dug them out of the hills.”
The man glanced over his shoulder. “There are hills in Wichita, Kansas?”
“Oh brother,” Mercedes murmured and rolled her eyes. Carlita jabbed her daughter in the ribs.
“I…” Autumn laughed nervously. “I honestly don’t know.”
“So you inherited them.” The man counted out some bills, shoved
