As Vince headed back over to Clyde's pawn shop, he had the errant ring in his pocket and some burning questions in his mind.

Who was this mystery woman? Why did she want this ring? He was determined the usually tight lipped Clyde would give him more information than he had revealed during the ring's initial purchase.

When he arrived it was just getting dark. Clyde was done for the day, closing up his shop.

"Clyde, I want to talk to you. Got a minute?"  As usual, Clyde was friendly. He seemed genuinely pleased to see Vince.

"What's the history on this rock?" In the last week it's been stolen, or nearly stolen, twice out of Ray's apartment." Ray placed the gold ring on the counter.

Clyde chuckled. "Only twice? Man, that kid's a magnet for bad luck with women and bling."

"This isn't funny, Clyde. I was tasered by the thief who broke into Ray's apartment trying to steal it."

"Seriously? Man this thing must really be hot! Glad I got rid of it."

"Clyde I'm losing my patience! Where did it come from?" Vince folded his arms across his chest becoming an unmovable wall.

Clyde walked around the room, finished locking up his shop, then turned to Ray. His face, Ray noted, was deadly serious. "Alright, come on. I'll tell you what I know, but not here." He peered out through the shop's blinds, before leading Vince upstairs to his apartment.

The apartment above the pawn shop was a comfortable bachelor pad.  A gold toned Persian rug with a nice chocolate leather couch, and matching club chairs gave it a luxurious grand hotel feel. Clyde nodded for Vince to have a seat while he pulled some glasses out of the kitchen cupboard. He held up a cut glass tumbler.

"You want a drink?" Clyde cocked his head inquiringly to the side. "No? Well suit yourself. Me, I'm having one."

Clinking ice cubes in his glass, Clyde started waxing poetic. "Hey, what did you expect in this business?" You know my motto. See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil!"

Vince gave him the evil eye.

"Ok, I admit that rock has some history."

"Just tell me where it's from." Vince placed the ring on the glass table top in front of him, then slumped back in the padded club chair, waiting for whatever tale Clyde would spin.

Clyde walked over to the ring, motioning with his tumbler. He took a sip of golden liquid before he began. "That little ring was originally lifted from the Vanderbilt estate fourteen years ago. It was pinched and then forgotten. I mean, it's just an amethyst knuckle duster. It doesn't have any real street value. Not like a diamond or a sapphire." He leaned forward holding Vince's gaze. "So let me ask you this. Why would it have been in the Vanderbilt collection, except for sentimental value?"

Vince was listening intently, but sensed there was something else Clyde wasn't telling him. "Go on."

"Ok, here's the thing. The guy who came in and pawned it, he was was the Vanderbilt estate butler. He had a story to go with it." Ray paused for effect, then added. "He claimed the ring came from the future."

Vince perked up. "The future?"

"Yeah, he said the ring was engineered to have some special power, but it was dangerous. Unpredictable. Got some of it's previous owners killed."

"You sure he didn't mean tasered?" Vince rubbed his chest where an angry red welt remained from his encounter with the aggressive beauty.

"No, wait a minute!" Ray looked upwards for a moment trying to recall the man's exact words, "He said if it didn't kill you first, then it would make you rich. Rich beyond your wildest dreams."

"Really?" Vince sounded skeptical.

"Well, you know my clientele." Ninety nine percent of them are either desperate, or higher than a kite. But not this guy. He was clean. No drug habit. Sober son of a bitch. Anyway, I'm not a social worker. I'm just an arbitrager."

Suddenly, Vince sat up, listening intently. Someone was downstairs in the pawn shop.

"Did you lock up, securely?"

Clyde looked at him. "Yeah, pretty sure I did." Besides, I don't hear anything."

Vince stood up, motioning for him to be quiet.

"I don't need to hear anything to know when there's a perimeter breach."

"Yeah, just like a dog in heat." Clyde laughed deeply, relaxed from the alcohol. 

Vince motioned for Clyde to stay quiet. "Stay here and be quiet!" Moving as stralthily as a cat, he cautiously crept down the steps to the darkened pawn shop.

Downstairs he flicked on the lights, exposing an intruder dressed in jeans, high heeled boots and a purple long sleeved shirt. The same woman from Ray's apartment. The one he'd fought yesterday! She stood angrily blinking in the fluorescent lights.

"Ha! I thought it was you." Vince took the ring out of his pocket, and held it up for Larissa to see what he was holding.

"Is this what you're looking for, Miss Tomb Raider?"

Larissa was thrown off her urge to attack the gothic Cretan because of the man's body language. He had an open stance, his left arm down at his side like he was physically holding up a white flag of truce. She could tell he was just curious about her. About the ring.

"Yes, actually it is." Her voice was modulated and perfectly unaccented. "My name's Larissa. Larissa Callay."

"Well I would appreciate it Larissa, if you would hold off trying to fry my ass again. Maybe you could explain why you want this ring so much?

She surprised him by answering brightly. "Actually, it's not for me. It's for my client."

"Figures. Now, please tell me something else."

"What's that?"

"Do you like Italian, Miss Callay?"