Rain wouldn’t lie, that tough tone kinda turned him on… even in his animal form. Damn, who knew that could happen?
Rob sat back brushing his head onto his shoulder to most likely wipe the bit of water that had trickled down his chin. He looked at Wyatt, saying, “Like I said, I was interested in the job when I saw it.”
“And just where did you see it again?” River asked.
Rob looked as if he might not answer, until Casper let out a low growl. “It’s a dark web site called FOR HIRE. It’s where we find jobs we might be interested in and… well, if you go to it, you’ll see what I’m talking about. You might have some problems. You have to be invited in, or…”
“I’ll get in,” River said, cutting the man off, immediately beginning to type on his computer he had sitting on a small table.
“You were saying?” Wyatt asked without hesitation.
Rob looked to Wyatt again, saying, “I saw the job. Like I said, I’m no killer. Normally I take the jobs that are to find someone that made themselves scarce or some shit. When I saw the one on the kid, I figured it would be easy enough. However, seeing it was put out by Danny and knowing who the guy is, I knew I had to do some homework on this one.”
“Why’s that? I thought there was honor among scum?” Ryan said with a snort.
Rob looked at Ryan with anger in his eyes. “You guys are bounty hunters. What the fuck makes you any different than me? Yeah, I turn my bounties into some low lives, and yeah, they might kill ‘em, but you turn yours into the cops and they end up on death row a lot of times. So, what’s the fucking difference?”
“Our bounties are legal,” Ryan spat out without missing a beat.
Shrugging, Rob said, “A man’s gotta eat.”
“Enough! Tell me what you have to say, or I swear I’m going to turn your ass over to Casper here and let him deal with your ass,” Wyatt snapped angrily.
Rob gave a quick look to Casper and then back to Wyatt. “I knew that shit might go down and I wanted insurance.”
“Insurance?” Ryan asked. “What are you talking about?”
“Word out there is Danny promises to pay you what you’re owed when you do a job for him, but his idea of what you’re owed isn’t the cash… it’s your life. I didn’t want to end up dead, you know?” Rob asked, then looked to Wyatt, Ryan and even Jude. When he got no answer or nod, he continued, “I did some digging. I figured if I could come up with a insurance policy, it would get me the money and I’d get to keep my life.”
“So, you’re saying you’re not as big a dumbass as we think you are?” Ryan asked in a smart ass tone.
Rob huffed, saying, “I’m no dumbass. Would a dumbass know that Danny has a kid no one’s heard about?”
Wyatt turned to River in confusion. “Danny has a kid?”
River shook his head, answering, “I didn’t find anything on a kid and neither did Wiz, or he’d have told me about it.”
“Who’s the dumbasses now?” Rob snapped, “I said it’s a kid no one knows about… well, no one but Danny, me, and a couple of people here in town.”
Wyatt looked as if he didn’t believe a word Rob was saying, but stayed quiet as the man spoke, “Danny was raised in this town named Amos. It’s about forty-five minutes from here.”
“I thought he was from Val D’or?” Wyatt asked.
Shaking his head, Rob answered, “He was born here, but he was raised by his aunt in Amos. The thing is, his aunt was a real strict bitch so he’d come here from time to time to raise shit and causetrouble… and it was during one of those times that he got a girl in trouble…” He smirked, saying, “If you know what I mean?”
“Yeah, asshole, we got it. So why would the fact that he has a kid be an insurance policy?” Ryan asked with a snort.
Rain watched Rob roll his yes as if Ryan was a fucking idiot, then spoke to him the same way, “Duh, asshole, the fact that Danny had a kid isn’t something a lot of people know about… as a matter of fact, very few know it at all. I got lucky when I found out about him.”
Wyatt sat in the chair across from Rob. “I’m listening.”
Rob took another drink of his water, before talking, “Danny was seventeen and the girl was sixteen when she got knocked up. Danny knew his aunt would kick his ass out or force him to marry her if she found out, so he tried to get her to get rid of it, but the girl refused. Word is, he threatened to have her killed if she didn’t get rid of it, but instead she took off to another small town named Rouyn. It’s about an hour and a half from here.”
“As interesting as this story is, I don’t understand what this has to do with Danny and using the kid to keep you alive,” Ryan said with a snort.
Rob gave Ryan another angry glare. “Because, as much as it might sound like Danny didn’t want the kid, it couldn’t be farther from the truth.”
“Explain.” Wyatt demanded.
