“Which leaves me the brainy side, obviously.”
“You live around here?” Bill asked.
Camden, or rather, ‘cousin Joe’, jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “Truck driver, just passing through, making sure Cuz is settling in to his new life. My auntie asked me to check on her little man.”
So I guess the FBI is now Auntie FBI. Jake smirked. “Who you calling little?”
“I didn’t, she did, just like every other woman in your life calls you little.”
“That’s funny, your girlfriend says the opposite about me.”
“Which one?” Camden winked at Bill. “Smells like you got a grill going. I been driving all day and I’d sure love a cheeseburger and some fries.”
Bill nodded. “Cheeseburger and fries. I’ll get Jeff right on it.”
“Oh, and no tomato, no pickle, no lettuce, no onions. I don’t eat anything that grew in the ground. Just meat and cheese on a bun, side of fries.”
Bill caught Jake’s eye like,Is this guy for real? before looking back at Camden. “Potatoes grow in the ground.”
Camden frowned. “Yeah, but French fries don’t. And you get enough ketchup on ’em, you can’t really tell.”
“Ketchup comes from…never mind. Jake, you want anything?”
“Same, but double the veg, thanks,” Jake said just to yank his partner’s chain. They headed for the table. “I thought your mom was a vegetarian.”
“Lifelong. That’s why I’m not. Grow up eating lentils at every meal, you’d understand.” Camden pulled out his chair and sat down.
“Must be something to it. Your mom’s a beautiful silver fox.” Jake sat across from him.
“Damn, glad we’re not real cousins. Otherwise, that’s sick, thinking about your auntie that way.” Camden kept his voice low even though no one was in earshot, at least no one they could see. But both had learned a long time ago not to take things at face value. A sloppy soldier was a dead soldier.
“How isAuntie?” Jake finished off his beer.
Camden picked a sugar packet out of the holder on the table and fiddled with it. “Auntie’s the one worried about you. How’s life in Little Vernon?”
Jake smiled at his partner’s reference to Vernon, California, one of the most corrupt company towns in the nation—though forced to change these days, thanks to work done by guys like him. “You hit it on the head, brother. Ernest Deal runs the entire place like his own little fiefdom, and we’re not talking about a fairytale kingdom. More like something outtaThe Walking Dead.”
Camden grinned. “But I like the king in that one. Motherfucker had a tiger.”
“Yeah, Daddy Deal’s more like the old Negan, only eighty pounds heavier and not as charming. People there are totally cowed, pardon the pun.”
“Ha. That’s funny because it’s a meatpacking plant.”
Jake ignored the condescension in Camden’s voice. His buddy hated puns. “They all either work at Deal’s plant or at businesses paying rent to Deal’s real estate company. They all live in Deal-brand tenements and shacks. And drink piss in Deal’s bar.” Jake put his hand over his heart. “I can attest to the superbly shitty quality of both the beer and the housing situation. But hey, all the Oxy you can OD on, courtesy of Daddy, I’m sure.”
“Oooh, a medical plan. So how’d your week go?”
“Week went great. I had an audience with the king himself.”
Camden dropped the sugar packet. “Yeah? He still buying it? Buying you, Mr.Spiro?”
“He is. Oh, he didn’t come out and say it, but he’s sniffing around my ass, making sure he hired the right kind of muscle.”
“And did you flex your cheeks for him?”
“You are so funny. Yeah, I told him I was the man he needed for special projects. There’s this prick foreman, his second-in-command, guy called Hank Winters.” Jake watched his partner make a mental note of the name to hand over to a profiler back at the office. “Guy got beat up, so I told Deal I saw his face and wanted that action next time. Only, I wouldn’t be the one coming away with any bruises.”
“Look at you swagger.” Camden finished his beer.
