18 Not a Criminal, Just a Collector Part 5

He sat in front of his TV, watching the news of the day, nothing much had happened, except for a missing girl that had been missing for a few days now. His phone began ringing, he picked it up, "Hello, who is this?"

"Is this the Collector?"

"Who is calling?"

"A man looking to hire him."

"Name?"

"George, George Hill."

"Never heard of you, who gave you this number?"

"A man that told me his name was EV, I don't know his real name."

"Ah, EV gave you this? Where do you want to meet?"

"Meet? Is my home fine?"

"Sure, where is it at?"

"78th, 98th."

"Deep ring, huh, I'll be there in a bit, something like 10 or 20."

"Thank you, Collector," He put his phone in his pocket and sat up from the couch.

"Katie! Did you reload my guns?"

"Yes, Eddie, they are in your jacket, leaving?"

"Yeah, got a call from a new client, so gonna go see him."

"Okay, be careful."

"Thanks, I don't know when I'm gonna get back, so yeah, whatever."

"I'll wait for you, Eddie, have fun," She said as he pulled on his jacket and helmet, "Be safe."

"Thanks," The garage door opened and he sped out of it and then onto the streets of the Out. His visor showed him the path to the address the man told him about. He stopped his bike in front a old looking house. He pulled off his helmet and then drove his bike next to the old looking car on the driveway. He locked his bike and then got off of it and his helmet returned to a smaller size and he slotted it into his bike. He pulled on his sunglasses and walked to the door of the house and then knocked. A man answered the door, "George Hill?"

"Yes, I am he, you are?"

"I am the Collector."

"Oh, yes, come in, come in, so we can talk," He let Eddie enter and Eddie saw a very old, broken down looking home, "Please, sit down."

"What do I have to collect?"

"Honey, is this the man that you said would be able to help us?"

"Egor told me that."

"Egor? You know Egor?" George showed his a small tattoo on his wrist, "Ah, I have that too, so George, what happened? What job do you have for me?"

"Our daughter was kidnapped, some days ago, I haven't been able to get anyone to help," George sighed, "We want you to find her."

"Cops not doing anything?"

"I don't know, they said they were working on it."

"Yeah, so no, okay, before we get to talking, how much are you offering to pay?"

"We don't have much sir," George's wife said with a tone of despair in her voice.

"We can give you everything we have, but it is not much, Egor warned me of this."

"Fine, fine, let's not talk about money, when did she get kidnapped?"

"After work."

"Where does she work?"

"47th 45th," His wife replied instantly, "I don't know what could have happened."

"That is all I need, I will call you when I find her, but it could take some time, I need to go interrogate some folks."

"You know where she is?"

"I might have an idea of someone who could tell me."

"Thank you so much, Collector."

"Eddie, call me Eddie," He said as he walked out of the house, "Call you soon."

"Thank you, Eddie."

He walked into Egor's office, he had no girl on his lap this time as he was sitting in front of a holographic screen, clearly numbers about his businesses, "Egor."

"Eddie, my friend, what are you doing here?"

"I need your help."

"My help?"

"Yeah, I know, I need your help."

"Tell me, what is this about?"

"47th 45th, Antonio owns that, right?"

"You took the job?"

"Answer the question."

"Yes, he does, he does, is that what you wanted?"

"Yeah, nothing else."

"Of course, but try not to spark any war in the out."

"No girl today?"

"She is working, gotta let her earn some money on her own, no?" Egor smiled, "You came here to ask me this?"

"Yes, because I know what you do on the side, that girl, is she in your system?"

"No."

"If you lied to me, and I come back, you know what I will do."

"I know, I sure as hell know, and I don't like lying to friends, she isn't here."

"Good to know, then I probably won't fuck up your businesses."

"Good to hear, good to hear, Eddie," Eddie turned around and began walking to the door, "Can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead, Egor."

"Why did you accept the job? He has no money, no possessions."

"I don't know, people change," He left on that note and walked out of the club before climbing back onto his bike, "Why did I accept that job? Not like me, huh."

He sat at his desk in his room as Katie placed a plate of food next to him, "Thanks, Katie, do you enjoy the new addition I gave you?"

"The requests one?"

"It is a new addition for personal robots."

"Okay, if that is what you want."

"Well, thank you for the food," He said as he began eating as he tapped a contact button and Antonio Noguerra's face appeared on the screen, "Good evening, Big Nog."

"Good evening, Eddie, why did you want to call me?"

"Something about 47th 45th."

"The girl?"

"Yep, you guessed correctly."

"What about her? Why do you ask about her?"

"I have taken a job, and I need to find here, since that is your territory, I would think that you would know who attacked your business and kidnapped one of your employee's."

"You assumed well, let me send you a document, about the gang that attacked me," He said as a file appeared on his screen, "Small gang, human traffickers."

"And you didn't go after her because?"

"Ruin my image."

"Ah, don't want to get your hands dirty, so you just let it slip."

"I guess you could say that."

"Good to know where you stand."

"The gang's headquarters are 201st, 98th."

"Deep ring."

"Yes indeed, Eddie."

"Thanks, Antonio, see you around."

"I'll call you when I need your services, Eddie," The call ended and he turned to Katie as she had stayed in his room.

"You want to ask something?"

"I don't know."

"Okay, go ahead, I'm listening."

"Do you like me, Eddie?"

"Like in what way?"

"Just like like, Eddie."

"Sure, you are helpful, I like that."

"Thank you, Eddie."

"Sure thing."