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Sloshing through a patch of wet snow, Ryan walked about halfway down the street and then stopped at the lackluster building that was lost a it Clearly, this particular structure was an “original” and pre-dated World War II with only thefor Ryan inside was a real shithole

He nodded at the security guard, giving hi here

No questions were asked

Ryan then took the elevator to the fourteenth floor, exited, and walked purposefully down the narrow hallway, stopping when he reached 1407

He glanced up at the security camera and pressed the buzzer

He got his return buzz, pushed open the door, and stepped inside The outer door closed behind hied between it and an inner door A second buzzer went off Ryan leaned against the inner door, gaining entry into the seon that served as the jewelry maker’s workshop Given the value of the merchandise he handled, the ownertheht

Ryan was greeted by the usual stench of cigarette smoke, stale air, and the acrid smell of solder and flux Piles of clutter were everywhere, and in the , broken-down piece of furniture that resembled a cobbler’s workbench Behind the workbench sat the scariest-looking motherfucker Ryan had ever met He was built like a brick shithouse, tattooed in every visible spot, with arms the size of tree trunks and a scarred face that would scare a kid at Halloween

“Yeah, Ryan, what’s so urgent that you woke o didn’t look up He was peering at a large diah a jeweler’s loupe

“Hi to you, too, Lago,” Ryan replied “And I need a ring”

Henry sneered “Getting engaged?”

“Nope Getting creative”

That piqued Henry’s interest He glanced up, levelling his bloodshot stare at Ryan “I’”

“Thought you ht be” Ryan warmed to his subject He and Henry were dead alike in that they both loved a challenge “I need a , size nine”

“Any school in particular? Going straight for the top ten? Been there, done that So have you Not worth the money or the bullshit”

Ryan nodded Another thing he and Henry had in common Ryan had spent a couple of years at MIT before he decided he needed the freedom to fly on his own Henry had spent less than a year there, realizing right away that his level of electronic genius asted in school