It was a hunch in one early March morning. Corn picked up the phone and called that number. To his mild surprise, it was ringing. He didn't recognize the ringtone, so he couldn't be sure...
"Hey there. You found me. What do you want?"
Corn stood there for a moment, shocked to silence. That was the same voice.
"Still on the line friend? I can hear your breath."
"You... you didn't change the number?" Cocky bastard, Corn thought. That was Crypto alright.
"Oh, you must be the coffee-shop guy! Did the antique hunting went well? You know what, I don't really care. What can I... "

"You sold us out, didn't you? Sold the intel to others." Corn hissed.
"Oh, you wound me man, I told you then, this is bad rep for business. Look, I see you're pissed. I will be hanging out in [] as I have some errands to run. Come there and we can talk, aight?"
"Why should I..."
"Good. Then it is settled. See you in a bit, man. "
And the phone call was off.

While Corn got the same sleazy, cocky vibe, there were subtle differences this time. And the man was using the same number? Corn checked his watch. It would be 4 hours till Maria got back and 5 hours before he had to go to the bookstore. He didn't want to admit it, but he was intrigued and the place was not far. Not in the best area of the town, by any means, but it was day.

************************************************** *****************

Corn found Crypto sitting at a canteen's small, uncomfortable tables, sipping some coffee from a plastic cup. The other mage was dressed casually as if he was just visiting the grocery store, in sweatpants and muddy shoes and having a horrendously red small briefcase next to him. He waved him to approach. Corn didn't feel any active magic. He got a cup of coffee for himself and sat down with Crypto, cautiously and keeping his distance. Crypto's posture was somewhat different than the other time, although it was subtle. As corn took his seat, Crypto again waved and the sense of magic alerted Corn that the discussion was again private enough.

"Crypto." Corn said, unsure of what to think of the other mage. He seemed more sure of himself than the other time, less fidgeting.
"And you are?" Crypto said with a winning (not-really) smile.
After a momentary hesitation, he answered. "Corn."
"Corn?" Crypto said raising an eyebrow, not really impressed. "It is... original although not really inspiring."
"I don't really care whether it meets your approval. You sold us out, Crypto. You may deny it all you want but we were not the only ones there."
"You can parrot that as many times as you want, but it doesn't make it true. I sold you the info, the info turned out correct else you would be chewing my ear about that. How often do you get such info, that you would assume nobody else wouldn't find out? I expected you to be happy customers, corn. "
"We informed the consilium about you."
"Good, more potential customers for me then. I have broken no law. I would appreciate the heads-up more if it came before you spilled the beans, my guy." He doesn't seem to be fuzzed easily. Either he's very good or foolishly confident - or both, Corn thought.

"You certainly act different than the previous time, Crypto. "
"Oh you mean that?" His posture changed slightly. " 'Aight', you gotta play the costumer, give 'em what they wanna see."
So it was mostly an act, Corn thought, more than slightly impressed. Crypto seemed to be deeper and more complicated than he expected.
"Are you working alone or you're with an order or cabal?"
"Unless you want to do business with a Pentacle Order, my affiliations shouldn't matter." Crypto answered ... cryptically.
"Look, I get you have questions, I am an interesting guy. But I have places to be and things to do. So, do me a solid and let's pick this up for the road. Gotta be careful of the lingo, but you should manage, aight? It's 5 mins walk, no more. Stick with me and I will make it up to you for the inconvenience." Without waiting for his response, Crypto grabbed his briefcase and stood up.

On the way, that was more than 5 minutes walk, Corn and Crypto made small-talk. Crypto was an interesting guy, knew things and knew how to learn more things. If anything, Corn could pick up a few clues about how to not reveal anything while answering questions. Not a bad skill to have for someone that juggles sleeper and mage life. Crypto was in Sacramento but didn't commit whether he stayed there or was visiting. And he was 'respectful' albeit in his own way.
Got up with the discussion, that Crypto has skillfully turned towards superstitions - Corn's area of expertise -, Corn was a bit late to realize they were deeper in the "not good areas". In fact, deep enough to not be considered wise. There was a couple of vacant-eyed junkies slouching on a corner. A 'beyond her prime' prostitute with layers upon layers of make-up was making eyes to the pair, the scent of her cheap perfume reaching Corn all the way.
Corn felt like a fish out of the water here and wondered whether Crypto would take offense if he brought up mage shield.

"Shit, my shoelaces are undone, hold this for a moment." Crypto said and passed the surprisingly light, excruciatingly read briefcase to Corn as he bent to tie his shoelaces.
Corn frowning moved towards the alley Crypto was heading at to avoid the looks of the junkies...

... and regretted it the moment he turned there, coming face to face with two big thugs in cheap suits, with shaven hair and prison tattoos. The duo resembled gorillas more than men. Corn took a step back and looked for Crypto but the other mage was nowhere to be found!
He played me! Corn thought as the wide as doors men approached him with frowns.
"Where is the sleazy guy?" said the first guy in an accent that Corn could place from somewhere in the Balkans.
"10 more minutes and we would be gone, you hear me?" the other guy said in a similar accent after taking the red briefcase from Corn's hands. "It better be all here, or the boss won't be happy."
"It's all there." Corn found himself assuring the two gangsters. What is there? he wondered inwardly. But he didn't really want to know.
He turned to leave, managing to not break into a run.

Once safely in his car, he took several deep breaths and called Crypto. No answer. Figures.
Corn tried again 10 minutes later as he was going home. This time, the evil mage picked up.
"I will kill you!" Corn said immediately. "You set me up!"
"Chill, you are fine. See the positive side. Now you know where to hire muscle. The taller one is Boris, a Bulgarian friend of mine. The other..."
"I will hire them to break every one of your bones." Corn said, not in the mood for jokes.
"Ohh, come on dude. Don't be like that, you would my feelings. You know what? Meet me tomorrow in the city centre, whichever shop you want. I will buy you lunch."
"As if I will trust you again."
"Your loss. See you tomorrow, around noon."
The man is completely insane, Corn thought. He heard the key in the lock. Maria was back. Time to become Theodore again.