“That's a no,” Claire shot back, not even letting him finish.
The old man narrowed his eyes as he sized her up. It hit him then-this girl didn't look like someone who'd back down from anything. Sure, her friend had jumped to the front and was ready to start swinging, all brash energy and zero fear. But Claire, standing there with her hand on the stone, looked calm and certain. When she said she wouldn't hand it over, you just knew she wasn't bluffing.
"Do you even understand how gemstone speculation works?" he asked.
The old man had been around forever, and he could read people pretty well. These kids were clearly out-of-towners, probably from families with money to burn. To them, this wasn't about making a profit. It was about the thrill, and maybe the story they could tell later. Getting the stone from them was going to be a challenge.
"Not at all," Claire admitted, giving her head a quick shake. She'd learned plenty in her life, but this was something completely outside her experience.
"Then to you, it's just a rock," he said.
Claire laughed. "Honestly, that's exactly what I thought at first. But the thing is, the moment you showed up wanting it so badly, I realized it has to be better than the other three. Someone with your experience wouldn't be interested otherwise, right?"
His expression changed. "You make a good point. But that stone was promised to me by Danny. I want it, that's personal."
"If he made you a promise, you should take it up with him." Claire smiled, a bit sharper now. "I bought the stone myself, fair and square. This was a normal purchase, not some back-alley deal. If you want it, we'll have to strike a new deal. What went on between you and him doesn't involve me, so you can't pin this on me."
"This is my son's stone. He sold it without my approval. You tricked him took something from a kid," Danny chimed in.
"Then call the police. Let them decide." Claire's gaze was steady. Honestly, she thought the guy looked sketchy. She wouldn't be shocked if the stone wasn't even his at all.
Sure enough, the moment she brought up the police, Danny froze, the words caught in his throat. Everyone in town knew about his gambling problem. His marriage had gone down the drain ages ago. The stone belonged to his
truth was the He just wanted to
ex wife, not him.
get rid of it and pay off some debts.
He'd already made a deal with Kendrick: ten grand for the rock. It wasn't
was proge price, since the stone
was pretty small, but he'd hyped it up as a family heirloom from his wife's side. Who knew if that was even true? Honestly, grabbing ten grand felt generous. But then his fool of a son went and sold it for two thousand, flat out refused to hand it over, hid it for ages, and now... just gone.
Claire watched the guy struggle with the truth, then nudged things along. "If you
aren't calling the cops, we'll be on our way now."
"Wait," Kendrick finally interrupted.
He turned to Claire, voice coaxing. "I'll give you five thousand. Just hand over the stone. You're not in this line of work, right? Probably just curious, maybe got caught up in the excitement? Five thousand could get you plenty of other stones to mess around with."
He thought he was being generous, but Claire was having none of it.
“I actually like this one. I'm just about to see what's inside.” She smiled, straightforward and stubborn.
Kendrick gave her another once-over. She came across as plain, but he could tell she came from money, and she wasn't naive. More than that, she had guts.
"Look, this is a place of business, but it's not all sunshine and honesty. You're young. If you open it up and don't find anything valuable, no one will blame you."