We Give Him the Crystal

I clenched my teeth, but we both knew who had the advantage. "Fine."

Chrissie stepped from behind me and handed a cloth bag to the man. She gave me a sideways look as she did so. If we got screwed, it was going to be bad between us.

The man peeked inside the bag, then closed it quickly, obviously satisfied. He spoke again in that deep baritone. "Very well, then, girl. When you took those glass artifacts, they were sitting next to a large wooden statue. Proximity to that statue is the key, girl. Reunite the pieces with the statue, and your problems should disappear." He glanced at Tonya's swollen belly. "I suggest you do it quickly, however, or that one will have a permanent souvenir."

I rubbed my temples with stiff fingers. The statue. We were idiots. Of course it was the statue. We had left it behind because it was too big to conveniently carry, but it was actually the centerpiece.