Stay calm, I tell myself and look around.
It only takes a minute for my eyes to adjust, and I notice a dim light down the hall. I follow it to the next one and the next, and then there are two meatheads standing at a door.
“We gotta search you.”
“Your man at the door—” I stop talking when one of them glares at me. “Right.”
After that’s done, I’m let into the large open space. There are crates everywhere and better lighting, but it looks like no one is here.
“This way.”
Meathead leads me to an office where yet another meathead guards a door. They speak for a moment and then meathead one walks away. Leaving me standing. So I wait, and wait, and wait.
I’ve been standing here for twenty minutes, and I’m starting to get impatient. Who do these fuckers think they are?
I’m the son of one of the richest men in the city.
Hell, my father probably owns this dock space. One call, and I could have them evicted.
“The boss will see you now.” He opens the door and steps aside.
“Chad Hudson,” the overweight, greasy man behind the desk says smugly. “My, how the mighty have fallen. You must be truly desperate to come and see me.”
“You weren’t my first choice.”
“What? Your daddy couldn’t make the problem go away by throwing money at it?” he says in baby talk, and I want to punch him.
I did this to myself, and now I need to accept responsibility. Dad’s exact words.
“This problem won’t go away with money.”
“So why come to me?”
Here’s where I might lose him. I hear that they are enemies. “Alexander Hart.”
Instead of killing me or telling me to get the fuck out, he grins, and I try not to show my disgust. His teeth are yellow and black, or just missing altogether.
“Seems like we have the same problem.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, but this job won’t come cheap.”
“I’ll give you a hundred thousand dollars.”
He laughs. “Five hundred.”
My mouth opens, but I remember what Dad said. Never let them see you sweat. “And what would I get for such an outrageous sum of money?”
“Protection,” he says simply.
“Yeah, but for how long? I can’t run forever.”
“Smart man.” I wait for him to continue. “Word on the street is that Hart has a new boyfriend he’s very fond of.”
“Who fucking cares about him?” Although, I didn’t figure Hart for a fag.
“Rory also has a new boyfriend.”
