Page 39 of Alistair

“That’s right,” nodded Alec. “We’ve been told we need to lose a bit of weight to be more effective as bodyguards. We’re both strong and relatively quick. We just need to drop forty or fifty pounds.”

He stared at the men as if wondering if they’d lost their minds.

“Listen, this new drug helps people lose a lot of weight, but it might help you lose too much for what you want.”

“Let us decide that,” said Tailor.

He eyed the two men with interest and a healthy dose of suspicion. Seeing the sleek black SUV they were driving, he was pretty sure they’d have the money, or they wouldn’t have reached out to him.

“You gonna stare, little man, or sell us the shit,” growled Alec.

“Why do you two wanna lose weight?” he asked again.

“We’ve got a new gig as bodyguards, but the boss says we have to lose some weight. That’s all. We don’t have a lot of time, and I’m not a fan of running marathons.”

“Bodyguards, huh? You boys look like you could be bodyguards now.” He could see that Alec and Tailor were losing their patience, and he almost thought it was funny. Almost. “Listen, if you’re really interested in being bodyguards, maybe you’d like to come to work for me.”

“You? I don’t see that you need any bodyguards,” said Alec.

“Well, a man in my business gets into trouble sometimes. You never know when you need a little backup.”

“You know, the more I look at you and talk to you, the more I feel like you might not be the man running this show,” said Tailor. “The man running the show wouldn’t let me see his face. He’d be hiding somewhere behind closed doors. I’ve worked with some men like that in my day. Don’t appreciate the cowardice of it all. I prefer a man with balls. Big ones.”

“Everybody has a backer,” laughed Roper. “My backer prefers to remain anonymous. If you know about our stuff, you know it works, and we’ll be selling it to the highest bidder soon enough. We’ll all be rich.”

“That usually requires a lot of capital and someone flush with cash,” said Alec.

“You seem to know an awful lot about business for a bodyguard,” frowned Roper. “Maybe you’re not who I thought you were.”

“I’m more than just a man needing to lose weight, if that’s what you mean.” Alec reached inside his pocket and pulled out two rolls of hundred-dollar bills. He set them on the hood of the car and looked at Roper. “Ten grand. That’s what I want.”

Roper looked up at him and then over to Tailor. He took the money and reached inside his own vehicle, pulling out a sack that contained ten bottles filled with the pills. He handed them to Tailor, who counted the bottles and nodded.

“If you guys change your mind and want to come to work for me, call me,” he said.

“You mean work for you and your boss,” smirked Alec. “We’ve got a job, but if you need bodyguards, we know some good dudes that could use the work. They don’t need to lose weight, so they’re ready to go now.”

“Maybe,” nodded Roper.

“If we need more of these this week, will you be around?” asked Tailor.

“This week? That’s enough to last you two months!”

“We’re big dudes. It’s gonna take a lot to suppress our appetites. Will you be available if we need more?”

“Yeah, man. Yeah, I’ll be available. You’ve got my information now. Call me.” Tailor smiled at the man, shaking his head.

“We’ll do that.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

With a tracker placed on Roper’s vehicle, home base was tracking his movements around the mountain. He appeared to be making stops in a number of small towns, including a stop in the middle of the forest.

Hiro and Tanner manipulated the drones, passing over the location several times but seeing nothing except trees.

“It’s too dark right now,” said Hiro. “We can try again at dawn, but I do think there’s something down there. It could be the new manufacturing site.”

“Maybe,” said Tanner. “They haven’t found anything on their searches. Maybe this is where they are. But their dude, Roper, sure isn’t in any hurry to stop and rest for the night.”

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