The Debt Collectors War

Chapter 37

“You must have some idea,” Ellie said to the boy. “Someone I can talk to. I won’t say who sent me.”

“I don’t know anything,” the boy said.

“Just tell me someone’s name and we’ll go away,” Ellie said.

“Why should I?” the boy said.

“Because I’ll hurt you all if you don’t. Badly.”

The boy swallowed, and seemed to suddenly remember to be scared.

Ellie looked at him for a moment, trying to decide if he was scared of her and terribly forgetful, or scared of whoever she was trying to get him to inform on. She suspected it was the second.

“Don’t be an asshole,” Ellie said. “Just tell me someone’s name and I’ll go away.”

“I don’t know anyone,” he said.

“Just a name.”

The boy was looking even more worried, Ellie thought, so he was probably scared of the person whose name he wasn’t telling her.

“I don’t know anyone,” he said, sounding a bit desperate. “We don’t know anything. We don’t know that guy in the picture, none of us do. And we don’t know who can help you, either.”

“Well, I’m going to hit you all then,” Ellie said.

The boy suddenly looked really upset. He was probably feeling a bit trapped, Ellie thought. A bit afraid of all the consequences suddenly looming over him.

He just needed a little push.

Ellie twisted the girl she was holding’s arm until she heard a wince, just to remind them all that she was a callous unfeeling monster. “Just tell me someone else who might know something,” she said. “Someone it’s worth asking, and I’ll go away and leave you alone.”

The boy hesitated, and seemed undecided. The girls were both looking at him, and seemed unsure too. Even the one who was having her arm bent.

All three were almost there, Ellie thought. Someone was going to tell her very soon. She just needed to keep asking.

“You must know someone,” Ellie said. “It doesn’t matter who. Anyone useful. Anyone will do.”

The boy didn’t answer, but the girl Ellie was holding suddenly decided to. “Mark,” she said.

The boy looked over, nervously, which told Ellie it was a name worth hearing.

Ellie grinned, pleased. “Tell me about Mark,” she said to the girl.

The girl tugged at her arm, and Ellie loosened her grip. “Who’s Mark?” she said again.

“He’s in the Brotherhood,” the girl said. “He might know something.”

“I don’t know what that is,” Ellie said.

“Militia,” Joe said. “Debt-resistors.”

“Would they know anything useful?” Ellie said.

Joe and the girl both said, “Yes.”

“Thank you,” Ellie said to the girl, and let go of her arm. The girl went a few steps away from Ellie, then turned around, and rubbed at her elbow, and then just stood there, watching, like the other girl was.

“You know someone in a militia?” Ellie said to the teenagers. They didn’t look quite the type, somehow.

“Not know,” the boy said. “But…”

“We went to school with him,” Ellie’s girl said. “He’s a friend of a friend and he’s older. But he’s in the Brotherhood.”

“Tell me,” Ellie said to her. “Give me an address or a phone number.”

“I don’t have it,” the girl said, and looked at the boy, and then stopped, as if she suddenly was wondering if she’d said too much.

She probably had, Ellie thought, but left her alone. Ellie was fairly sure that look meant that the boy knew the details, and the girl didn’t. She looked at the boy and said, “Tell me.”

“I can’t,” the boy said. “He’ll be…”

He stopped, and winced. Sameh had started twisting his arm.

“Please?” Ellie said, politely.

The three teenagers all looked at each other. The boy said, “Ow, fuck,” again.

“Just tell her,” Ellie’s girl said to him.

The boy hesitated another moment, wincing, and then said, “Okay.” As if being told to by someone else had made it easier, Ellie thought. It probably did. He’d made his gesture, and in a way someone else had given in first. And he wasn’t doing this on his own any more, either. Other people were responsible as well. Now, if anything went wrong, it had been a group decision to give Ellie the name. Hajji troublemakers felt the same way, and did the same kind of thing, Ellie had noticed. People everywhere did the same thing, she supposed.

Sameh let go of the boy’s arm, and he took out his phone and gave Ellie a number and a name and an address.

“If this is wrong,” Ellie said. “If it isn’t useful, I’ll come back.”

The boy looked at her, and said, “I know.”

“I mean it, I’ll come back. So tell me now if you’re trying to trick me.”

“No tricks,” the boy said, and actually seemed scared.

“And if this guy gets warned, mysteriously, before I get there,” Ellie said. “I’ll come back then too.”

The boy nodded.

“You understand?” Ellie said.

“Yes,” the boy said.

Ellie looked at the girls. “All of you?”

They both nodded too.

Ellie decided that would do. They were scared, and just wanted her to go away. She took copies of their IDs before she left, anyway, just to be sure, but she didn’t think she’d need them.

“Go,” she said. “Stay out of trouble,” and they all walked off quickly, not looking back at her.

She felt a bit grubby, a bit like the worst kind of bully, but she’d done what she’d needed to do. That way of asking questions worked, and had got her what she needed without anyone actually being badly hurt.

It was a success. She had a place to start.

She just felt a little nasty for having done it that way.