It takes a couple of hours to debrief and make plans. I know I’ll have to do additional training after my fuck-up.
“Okay, so as it stands, we need more information on Miles Burres and what we can do to bring him down,” Coal states. “Sterling, work with Bee and Nora, as they know these men best. Brass, Iron, and Cross, put together atraining plan. We start tomorrow. Is everyone good so far?”
We all nod our confirmation.
“Wet room,” Coal states, looking around the table. “We need one ASAP. We can’t keep using The Hole, even though the O’Sheas are more than happy for us to do so. They’re out of this business, and I’d rather not bring eyes on them. How do we go about building our own?”
“We’ll need to build it ourselves,” Iron states. “We don’t want anyone to know about it.”
“Is anyone good at building?” Jeanie wants to know.
“My family owned a construction company, and I spent most of my summers working for them,” Cross answers. “I can do the build, but I can’t do the electrics. We’ll need to hire someone.”
“I can do that,” Bee states, surprising us.
“You can?” Copper asks, looking at his Old Lady with surprise.
“Yeah,” Bee replies, looking uncomfortable. “I spent a lot of time at Abby’s when I was a teenager. You know I like to learn things, so she taught me. I’m not certified or anything, but I can make sure it's wired up and safe. But I’m not good at plumbing, so we’ll need someone for that.”
“I can do the plumbing,” Nora volunteers. “Like Bee, I’m not certified, but I know enough to get the job done.”
Cross nods. “I’ll draw up the plans before the next Church.”
“Okay, it’s sorted,” Coal says. “We’ll all pitch in to help. I want it underground, which means digging and shoring up. Everyone happy with the suggestions? Let’s vote. Nickel, tally up.”
We all pass the vote. Not sure why we bothered, but Coal likes to do things a certainway.
“We’ll meet back here in two days unless we receive any news about Burres before then. Let’s check on the businesses and make sure we’re not letting things slide. Copper has an idea I like, but we’ll bring it to the table. Bee will be working in the back office, taking over our accounts from Beau now she’s back.”
Bee raises her hand.
Coal grins and waves at her to speak.
“I’d like Nickel to work with me in the office.”
Surprise lights the faces around the table. Hell, nobody’s more surprised than me.
“Any particular reason?” Coal wants to know.
Bee looks perplexed, and her gaze slides to me. “They don’t know?”
“Know what?” I ask, confused.
“Nickel.” She sighs and shakes her head. “You’ve been running your investments since we took them over. Beau wasn’t sure why youwere using us because more often than not, you told him what needed to be done. All he did was move the money around. Honestly, you don’t need us. Beau dropped our fees, only charging the club an administration fee because you were doing all the work. Why does nobody know what you can do?”
The silence around the table is deafening.
“Nickel?” Coal demands.
I shift uncomfortably, hating that I’m under scrutiny.
Nora’s hand wraps around my thigh, squeezing gently, and I settle.
I’m not sure how to answer the question. I’ve always dabbled in finance, managing my money and the money I put aside for Opal, but I figured the club would want a company they trusted to do theirs. I mean, I’m not trained; I just wing it and make what I think are deductive decisions.
“Is Bee right, Nickel? You’re doing our investments?” Coal presses.
“Not really,” I admit. “Okay… sort of. I work with Beau to decide what's best for us.”
