Read The Pawnbroker for Free Online Page B

a quick look through the watches in the drawers and under the glass.”
    â€œFirst, Gordo, why don’t you try that combination on the Detroit safe?” Charlie suggested, coming back out front.
    Getting the combination to Baza’s safe was the reason Gina had met with Baza, and that had almost gotten her killed. Charlie was still trying to deal with the baggage of combat—of torture and death—but this was the first time he’d gotten a friend shot. This wasn’t supposed to happen—not on his watch, anyway.
    â€œDamn, I forgot all about that.”
    â€œIt’s written down, right?”
    â€œYeah, I meant forgetting about the safe—not the combination. If there’s anything inside besides stale air, I’ll let you know in just a few minutes,” Gordon said, stepping out of the small office.
    Charlie decided to follow and see for himself.
    Gordon crouched down in front of the waist-high, five-hundred-pound-plus, black Detroit Safe Company safe. A piece of blue plastic label tape that read “Computer Backups” was stuck on the frame just above the center of the door. He twisted to the first number Baza had given Gina, then turned the center wheel and stopped at the next number. He continued the process two more times.
    â€œI think I heard a click,” Gordon said, turning his head and nodding to Charlie. “Got your fingers crossed?”
    â€œJust open the damned thing.”
    Gordon reached to his left and turned the big steel lever. The heavy door moved easily, all the way open. The interior was stacked with labeled manila folders bulging with papers. On top of the stack were several plastic containers with old floppy disks and CDs, along with business software for long-obsolete operating systems.
    â€œCrap. Windows 95? This stuff is ancient. These are records from the owner before last,” Gordon said, rummaging through the boxes. “Baza ripped us off.”
    â€œYeah, well, karma evened things out for him today, I guess. Check out that locked compartment,” Charlie suggested.
    Gordon brought out the key and unlocked the interior door. On a shelf were four flash drives sitting atop two familiar-looking magazines.
    â€œFinally! Treasure!” Gordon yelled, setting the flash drives on top of the safe and bringing out the Playboy s. “March and April, 1967. Hell, these are older than me.”
    â€œI was hoping for gold coins and maybe emeralds, but we can put these jewels in our collectors section. They’re in mint condition. I bet they’ll sell within the week.”
    â€œDon’t you think we need to check them out first, page by page? Maybe there are secret documents inside,” Gordo said.
    â€œCarefully folded, in the center?”
    â€œRight,” Gordon said, placing them atop the safe, beside the flash drives.
    â€œNow let’s see what’s stored in the memories of those things. Maybe we’ll finally get lucky,” Charlie said.
    Five minutes later, Gordon looked up from the laptop he’d used to read the flash drive files. “We’re still missing the last six months of Three Balls, and the file labeled ‘Personnel’ is empty, probably deleted. So all we have is inventory and business current to May. Not a total loss, I guess, but there’s still that big hole in the records we need to plug.”
    â€œAt least we can remove these old folders and sell the safe. It’ll be good to get this beast out of the display area. Roger, at the Old Desert Inn, left me his card. He wants to put it on display in their lobby. If we give him the combination and key his offer goes up to five hundred instead of one fifty. We’ll call him first thing mañana,” Charlie said, carefully pulling off the plastic “Computer Backups” label.
    Gordon moved the Playboy magazines over to the counter, then locked up the inside compartment and closed the safe. “Until