POV : Ron’s Pawns
Ron sat in his pawn shop office, fuming.
‘That motherfucker.’
Not only had Maluck shaken him down, but he’d stolen his damn car. His pride and joy. His rolling symbol of masculinity.
Oh, he was definitely going to do something about it.
Sure, the bikers were out, but Ron knew people.
People meaner. People worse. People who didn’t care about fair fights or who started what.
His mind was already spinning with revenge plans when he heard the shop bell jingle.
Not unusual. Customers came in all the time.
Then came the second jingle.
Then the third.
And then?
The sound of multiple footsteps.
Ron frowned. Too many people at once.
Then he saw them.
Suits. Badges. Serious expressions.
The kind of people who didn’t come in to buy cheap watches.
A stocky detective with a thick mustache stepped forward, holding up a folder of papers.
“Ronald Parker?”
Ron forced a smile. “Uh, yeah, that’s me. What can I do for—”
“We have a warrant to search the premises.”
Ron blinked.
“…Wait. What?”
The officers didn’t hesitate. They moved calmly but efficiently, opening drawers, checking inventory, flipping through ledgers.
“Hey, hold on!” Ron stood up. “What the hell is this? You guys looking for someone? Maluck? That guy is—”
“We’re here for you,” the detective said bluntly.
Ron froze.
‘No. No, no, no.’
“Okay, listen,” he said, forcing a chuckle. “If this is about some parking tickets or whatever—”
The detective dropped a stack of documents onto the counter.
Fraudulent payroll. Fake receipts. Tax dodging. Stolen inventory.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Years of bad decisions, all lined up neatly in front of him.
Ron felt his stomach drop.
“…Shit.”
And just like that, his entire world started collapsing.
For years, Ron had been skating by.
The police knew he was dirty. They’d dug through his records, sent in undercover buyers, even audited his books.
But Ron was slippery. His luck had always pulled him through. His paperwork always lined up just enough to avoid suspicion. His “donated” inventory always had just enough plausible deniability. Whenever heat started building, something else came along to distract law enforcement.
The guy was Teflon.
Until his luck ran out.
And all it took?
One really stupid, unlucky mistake.
It started three days ago.
Ron, being cheap as hell, decided to cut costs by hiring a new accountant. His usual guy had quit—probably because he couldn’t keep fudging the numbers forever—so Ron hired someone cheaper.
Enter Steve.
Steve was young, inexperienced, and most importantly, willing to overlook things for a little extra cash.
He had been a perfect hire. Or so Ron thought.
Because Steve?
Steve was a goddamn idiot.
On his first day, Steve tried to “fix” the payroll records but accidentally reported every underpaid employee as making DOUBLE their salary.
That single mistake triggered an automatic tax audit. The audit flagged years of financial inconsistencies. The flagged records got forwarded to the labor board. The labor board, now deeply interested, notified the fraud division.
The fraud division reopened several “suspicious” past reports. A few names got passed around. And just like that, Ron went from a guy who had always slipped under the radar to someone six different government agencies suddenly wanted to talk to.
By the time Ron even realized what had happened, it was too late.
The audit was already in motion. The labor board was already digging. And now today?
The police were inside his shop, tearing it apart.
When the cops opened his back office safe, Ron still hadn’t processed how bad things were.
Until they found:
A pile of stolen jewelry. Some “misplaced” cash. A Rolax that had been reported stolen six months ago.
‘Oh. Oh, shit.’
Ron could only sit in the back of the squad car, seething.
One stupid, unlucky hire.
One dumb mistake.
And now?
His entire life was in ruins
***
It even made the news.
LOCAL PAWN SHOP OWNER FACES FRAUD & THEFT CHARGES
Authorities uncover years of tax fraud, wage theft, and stolen goods operations
The headline ran everywhere. Local newspapers, online blogs, and even a short segment on the evening news. Reporters stood outside Ron’s now-sealed pawn shop, gesturing dramatically at the “crime scene” as if he had been running an underground black market for nuclear weapons instead of just overcharging for stolen jewelry.
A blurry, poorly lit mugshot of Ron flashed on the screen, capturing him mid-blink with an expression that was somewhere between mild confusion and complete defeat.
A news anchor, with the smug satisfaction of a man reporting a long-overdue downfall, read off the charges.
“Ronald Parker, longtime owner of Ron’s Pawns, was arrested today on multiple counts of fraud, wage theft, and possession of stolen goods. Investigators report that his business had been under suspicion for years, but it wasn’t until a recent tax audit triggered an in-depth financial review that authorities uncovered what they are calling ‘a widespread pattern of illegal activity.’”
The footage cut to a local man being interviewed outside the shop. He wore a wrinkled band t-shirt, looked directly into the camera, and scoffed.
“Karma finally caught up to him,” he said. “Dude tried to charge me an extra fifty bucks for a used Gamer-Box. Said it was ‘limited edition.’”
The reporter nodded as if this was damning evidence.
“Do you feel justice has been served?”
The man shrugged. “Yeah, sure. But if you ask me? They shoulda arrested him years ago.”
Another cut. This time to a woman shaking her head.
“I worked there for, like, two months. He paid me under the table and then ‘forgot’ to give me my last paycheck. He said it was a ‘clerical error.’ I hope he rots.”
Then, a final glorious moment.
B-roll footage of Ron being led out of his shop in handcuffs. His face twisted in rage, mouthing something clearly unfit for television as officers shoved him into the back of a police car.
At the bottom of the screen, the news ticker scrolled by.
“Pawn Shop Owner Arrested in Massive Fraud Bust – Investigation Ongoing.”
It was over.
Ronald Parker had officially become the town’s favorite cautionary tale.
**
