Page 13 of The Study of Poisons
Sven waited for him outside his door. Valek unlocked it and led him to his desk.
“Whiskey?” Valek offered, hoping Sven would give him a reason to have a drink.
“No thanks,” Sven said as he settled into the chair opposite.
Sven had dyed his short hair gray and added wrinkles to his face in order to appear to be a man in his late fifties. The shopkeeper’s uniform was a nice touch.
“Have you received all your inventory?” Valek asked.
“The last shipment is due tomorrow.” Sven laughed. “I found out it’s much cheaper to purchase illegal goods on the Sitian side of the border because the risky part, which causes higher prices, is getting themintoIxia. Once we open for business, the other black market dealers are not going to know what hit them.”
“What about your staff?”
“Hired a bunch of local kids.”
“Kids?”
Sven waved a hand. “Young twenty-somethings. Anyone under thirty looks like a kid to me.”
“Is using locals wise?”
“Yeah. They’re known to the people in town and to the other sellers. And they don’t know they’re working for us. They think I’m a legitimate illegitimate.”
Still. “What do you need them for?”
“I can’t advertise that I’m open for business. Those kids are known as ‘baiters’ and they find customers and bring them to me. Eventually, word will spread, and they’ll go from selling to keeping an eye on the authorities. It’s also nice to have young backs to lift and move heavy crates.” He smoothed his hair. “I have to maintain my cover as an older gentleman recently arrived from MD-4. I’ll say it’s to take advantage of the warmer weather, but everyone will suspect it’s because the authorities were nipping at my heels.”
“What happens when you start getting heat from the other dealers? Will the baiters be in harm’s way?”
“I’ve a few of our people on staff for security. They’ll handle the heat. As for the kids, they’re safe. There’s a big group of them and they all work for the various dealers. They all know each other and change bosses multiple times. They’re paid by their abilities. Those who can bring in the most customers will fetch the highest prices.” Sven chuckled. “I enticed the best of the best away from his current employer by offering to double his fee.”
“Who’s the best?”
“Kid named Trevar. Good-looking, personable, can charm the most law-abiding citizen into buying illegal goods.”
“Is he worth recruiting to the corps?”
“Might be. I’m keeping an eye on him. I’ll let you know.”
“Good. When are you opening for business?”
“In two days.”
“Excellent. Keep me updated.”
“You got it.” Sven stood and left.
Pleased that the black market op was in good hands, Valek focused on his other major operation. Star. No one had approached Margg yet. Perhaps Star was smarter than he thought and suspected Margg would be working as a double agent. Maybe the castle’s gossip network wasn’t as efficient as he’d thought. Except, Brazell had found out about Yelena.
It wasn’t a secret, and Yelena had been traveling through the castle wearing a food taster’s uniform. The servants were bound to notice and talk. If she survived the poison, he’d assign one of his undercover spies to guard her.
Ifshe survived the poison. One day of unconsciousness turned into two and, by the morning of the third day, he dreaded Margg coming to deliver the bad news about his new food taster.Bad news? Come on, Valek. She’s fourteen years younger than you and she’s the food taster. A job basically forced upon her. What kind of relationship would come from that? Not a good one.
* * *
Weak morning sunlightbrightened his office, signaling sunrise. Not wanting to be late to taste the Commander’s breakfast, Valek hurried from his office and almost ran into Yelena.
“Yelena! You made it.” Valek smiled, genuinely happy to see her. She appeared healthy with no visible signs of any lingering effects of My Love. “It’s been three days. I was beginning to worry.” He glanced behind her. “Where’s Margg?”
