Charon

Chapter 2

I snort. "No. Certainly not. I'm under no obligation to give you a ride."

Emily points to her purse. "But I have coins."

I glance at the chattering women in the mirror and turn my body even further away. "I don't know how you came about having even one coin while still alive, let alone a handful, but I'm not giving you a ride." I step away, but she grabs my arm.

Her eyes are wide as she begs. "Please! You don't know what's at stake here. My fiance, Paul, has gone missing, and I think he's being held in the Underworld. I need to find him."

"If he went, living, into the Underworld using an obolos, it's no wonder he's being held." I insist.

She scowls, shooting another glance at the women as she huddles us even further away. "Look. Paul and I have a legitimate reason for having the obolos. We have our jobs to do, too." She looks at me pointedly.

A few things click into place, and I arch a brow. "You and Paul are moneyers. You mint obolos."

She nods ever so slightly. She must be desperate to allow me to know this information. No one knows who the moneyers are. "Technically, only Paul is a moneyer. I only distribute the obolos."

She certainly has my attention. "And he's missing?" If a moneyer is missing, soon there will be a great imbalance in the system. The dead will be stuck in the Land of the Living, waiting for their coin to use to claim their ride into the Underworld. I can't take them across the Styx without an obolos; my car needs the special token to find the exit ramp for the bridge into the Underworld. The Crossfire simply will not function as the ferry without it; it needs more than gas to get there.

"He's been gone since Tuesday. He was supposed to get a shipment of supplies that afternoon. He texted me all day. The last thing I got was that the delivery guy was there with his box of stuff. When I got home, his phone and the box, unopened, were on the table. None of his clothes are missing, his car is still at home, and none of his hidden cash has been used that I can tell. None of his friends have seen or heard from him. He's flat out disappeared. Please. This isn't something I can bring the police in on!" The desperation in her voice is palpable.

"Okay, look," I say, working to keep my voice low without looking too suspicious, "I'm not saying that I'll take you, but I'm willing to talk about it. But we can't go right now. I promised Jane I'd stay at this party for at least another hour, and you can't get away until it's over."

"I know," she nods. "I have to keep up appearances. I get it. But, can you come by my place when I'm done?" A sheen of tears well in her eyes.

I contemplate for a moment. I hate staying out late. I'm not a night person, truly. But these were special circumstances. I mean, just look at her. She's borderline panicking. I check my calendar just in case; I have no appointments until tomorrow afternoon. Surely, that would be long enough to figure out something.

I decide. "Yes, I'll come by. Let me send you a text, and you can text me when you're done for the night with your address."

"Thank you. You're the only one I can trust right now." She rattles off her number, and I send her a message. She hurries back to the party, and I do one more check of my lipstick before following her. I find Jane and complain about a headache, so she's not mad that I'm ghosting when I go early. If I'm going to be searching for a moneyer in the middle of the night in the Underworld, I want to go home and change into comfortable shoes.

~💀~

I'm woken up from where I'd fallen asleep on the couch when my phone rings. I answer it, groggy. "Yeah?"