“They shot a few of my men. Killed them. Then they stole my SUV. Lucky for me, I left a tracker under the hood for such an occasion.”

“Did you provoke them?” Paxton asks.

“What’s it to you? They have something that’s mine.”

“You said they abandoned the SUV,” Paxton says. “Take it. It’s yours.”

“There was something very important in that SUV and it’s gone now,” the raider says. “That particular item is very important to our mutual benefactor.”

“Shadowface pays you?”

“Of course. Why else would I drop the name?”

“Why would Shadowface be working with marauders…thieves?”

“Oh, we’re much more than that. Think of me as more of a henchman. A person that likes to get his hands dirty. Sure I used to be a common raider - one of the best. But I graduated when I met Shadowface.”

“In person?”

“In the flesh.” I can almost hear the boastful smile come across the raider’s face, which, I’m sure makes Paxton look down at his desk in frustration as he plays this game of twenty-million questions.

“How do I know you’re telling the truth?” Paxton says. “Before I do anything, I will have to get the okay from Shadowface.”

I can hear the raider shuffle and finally set something down on the desk in front of Paxton. “You recognize that number?”

Paxton says nothing, but I assume he nods.

“The phone is all yours, Mayor. Call Shadowface if you want. I don’t personally think it would be worth getting anyone angry, though. Such petty things like this are not meant for Shadowface’s approval. I’ve been instructed to get this item from those three punks you let in here by any way possible. If you don’t believe me, call. Go ahead, call…call!”

“That won’t be necessary.” Paxton lets out a deep sigh. “How much time do I have? I’m not going to do this publicly. I want them to get out of Crestwood first.”

“That’s fine,” the raider says. “There’s an old railway factory about ten miles north of here, you know it?”

“Yes. Secure Transportation.”

“That’s it.”

“You want us to drop them off there?”

“That’ll be fine,” the raider says.

“That’s a hot area,” Paxton says. “Lots of greyskins.”

“It will be all right.”

There is a long pause.

“You aren’t going to kill them are you?” Paxton asks.

“You don’t worry your little mayor head about that,” the raider says. “We’ll get what we need and be done with them. I’m sure they didn’t even know what they took.” The raider’s chair scrapes against the floor as he stands, his footsteps are heavy as they make their way to the door.

“Two days,” Paxton says. “Give me two days.”

“Two days,” the raider says. “In the evening.”