Chapter Fourteen
Tonight’s venue’s in-house security team had arranged themselves along one side of the conference table like they were expecting a fight, and Isaac was starting to think they might get one.
Endicott had changed his plans two hours ago. A last-minute pivot that had sent Zodiac scrambling to cover a venue they hadn’t advanced, working alongside a security team they hadn’t vetted. Not ideal under any circumstances. These circumstances were worse.
Six men. All built like bouncers because that’s what most of them probably were before this job. Thick necks, crossed arms, the collective posture of men who’d been told someone else was running their building tonight and weren’t taking it well.
Isaac kept the brief clean. “Zodiac will handle close protection on the principal and manage the floor. Your team holds the perimeter—entry points, service corridors, loading dock. Comms channel seven for coordination. Any contact with the principal or his wife goes through my team first.”
The biggest one—crew cut, tribal tattoo crawling up the side of his neck—stopped chewing his gum. “So we’re doormen.”
“You’re perimeter security. It’s the backbone of any operation like this.”
“Sounds like doormen with extra steps.”
Another one—shorter, red-faced, arms that strained the seams of his too-tight polo—snorted. “We’ve been running security at this venue for three years. Never had an incident. We don’t need self-proclaimed bigwigs trying to tell us how to do our jobs.”
Isaac didn’t take the bait. He pulled up the floor plan on his tablet. “Primary entrance, secondary entrance, kitchen corridor, loading dock. Each one staffed, each one covered by comms. Zodiac runs the interior. Your team holds these four points. Positions in twenty minutes. Channel seven.”
He turned to his own team and dropped his voice. “You guys know where you’re supposed to be. Keep comms tight. We’re guests in their house tonight, so let’s not make it worse than it already is.”
The room cleared. Crew Cut shouldered past Isaac on the way out, close enough that the intention was obvious. Isaac let it go.
One night. Do the job. Never see these assholes again.
Ryder fell into step beside him as they moved toward the main event space. “Those guys are a liability.”
“They’re a nuisance. There’s a difference. Ignore it. We’re here to keep Endicott safe. How they run day to day stuff isn’t our problem.”
“Agreed.”
They split at the main corridor. Ryder headed south. Isaac did a final walk-through, checked in with the close protection detail. Endicott and his wife were in a private room off the main hall, relaxed, unaware of the tension that had just played out down the corridor. Good.
He was heading toward his position near the main entrance when he passed two of the venue security guys in the service corridor. They were leaning against the wall, radios clipped to their belts, talking low enough that they probably thought no one could hear.
“—guy at that Dallas event last weekend. Same company runs that venue, too. They caught some dude going through coat pockets during the reception.”
“No shit. What’d they do?”
“What do you think?” A phone came out. The man tilted the screen toward his buddy, and Isaac caught a flash of it as he passed—a photo, close-up, a hand swollen purple-black with two fingers splinted and taped. “Took him out back. Broke two fingers, then told the guy if he showed his face again they’d finish the set.”
The other man studied the photo with the mild interest of someone looking at a sports score. “Nice.”
“Bruce sent it to the whole group chat. Said the guy was crying before they even started.”
“Before? That’s pathetic.”
“Right? Like, at least make us work for it.” He pocketed the phone. “Man, I hope someone tries that shit here tonight, especially since management approved of what Bruce did. I’m bored.”
“If I catch someone working pockets in my section, I’d be happy to handle it myself. No need to call the cops; by the time I’m done fingers won’t ever work right enough to steal again.
“Same. Give me five minutes alone with them. That’s all I need.”
“Fuck yeah.”
That wasn’t just bravado. These two weren’t just fantasizing. They were hoping.
Isaac kept walking. His pace didn’t change. His expression didn’t shift even when they nodded at him before putting away the phone. He rounded the corner and stopped.
