~6.11~

The man excused himself from Ed’s company after their conversation, having made Ed confirm that he’d be there by the steps of the downtown library just before sundown but making no promises as to who would be there to meet him. Ed found himself torn between thinking that he’d be meeting the Ice Man himself and that this was all too easy and the guy had just been jerking him around.

That seemed unlikely, though… pretending to be one of Ivan’s people for fun was probably one of the things that would get his attention, and not in the way that Ed wanted it.

He tried to just go about his business for the rest of the day like it was any other day, though he had the feeling a couple of times that he was being watched. Someone would be checking him out, he was sure. Someone would be asking around about him. Maybe not Ivan… probably not, probably nobody would bring something to him without checking it out themselves first. Though he imagined Ivan was the sort of man who’d want to check everything out again to make sure it was done right. There wasn’t that much to check up on… Ed had just been a regular guy before he lost his job, and he hadn’t exactly made waves since joining tribe. He tried to imagine what his acquaintances in the group might say about him: seems harmless, seems like a good guy… at least, he hoped they’d say things like that.

Could all the checking possibly be done in time for a meeting that very night? He hoped so. Being in tribe was better than being outside it, but when you came right down to it he was still living on the streets. He wanted to move up a little. He wanted to move out of the cold.

Ed had no idea where someone like Ivan might sleep, but he was willing to bet it was somewhere warm and comfortable.