And when there were jobs, there was payment.
“Listen, I can’t talk long. Got a hell of a morning in front of me,” Roger said, shuffling around on the other end of the line. “So, you guys interested in some protective services?”
I’d never seen Axe nod his head that fervently. “You know we always are.”
“Good. You heard of the charity ball taking place next week?”
“Of course, of course,” I said as I turned to Axe, whose stare would have burrowed a hole through God himself, “have you not already booked protective help for the masses?”
“We did,” Roger said as something dropped on his end. “Fucking Christ.”
“But?” I asked.
“But,” he said with a grunt, “the police only allotted two guards for the entire night. Two. For the whole fucking thing.”
I chuckled. “I told you to stop asking the police for a protective guard. They never take those events seriously.”
“So, you’ll do it? I can put you and your guys down?”
“For our regular price, plus fifteen percent for having to organize so quickly.”
Axe’s grin grew wild as Roger huffed in my ear.
“Fifteen percent? Seriously, Dee?” he asked.
“Seriously,” I said as a chuckle emanated from my mouth. “A week isn’t a lot of time for prep work, and you know how much goes into what we do.”
He paused for a second, but I knew he’d cave.
And cave he did.
“Fine, fine,” he said with a heavy sigh, “I’ll have contracts drawn up and ready for you to sign once you guys get here.”
“Perfect, we will see you in a week, then. Shoot me the basic details so my men can scout the venue and get some good vantage points going.”
My phone buzzed against my face. “Already done. Thanks a ton, Dee. I appreciate it.”
“Anytime, Roger. See you soon.”
“See you soon.”
I didn’t even get the phone hung up before Axe snatched it out of my hand and opened the text. I stood there as he swiped over the message with his eyes, and the frown on his face gave me pause.
“What is it?” I asked.
He peeked over at me. “Just a hunch.”
“Well, we all know about your hunches. Let’s hear it.”
He tossed my phone back to me. “Since when has Roger ever used the police department for protection?”
I shrugged and looked down at the text for myself. “It’s happened on a few occasions.”
“Okay, let me phrase that another way: when has Roger ever used the police for something as important as his charity balls?”
That gave me pause. “All right, what are you thinking?”
Axe clicked his tongue. “I’m thinking that it’s a big ass coincidence that we snatch the wrong girl off the street, make asses out of ourselves while trying to double back, and all of a sudden, we’ve got a paying job from out of nowhere that just so happens to take our sights off that bitch’s bounty.”
