Page 83 of Morally Gray Daddies

“Interesting.”

I tilted my head. “How so?”

“I’ve noticed in some instances you seem to take additional time before pushing product upstream.”

“She was ready for more formal training. I saw no reason to delay.”

“Well… let’s hope these new suppliers will be more stable than the Williams brothers were. As a resource, they filled a need, but their instability—especially young Marcus—left much to be desired. That said, the amount of money James Hawkins spent to have that young woman of his retrieved from Marcus, and then what he paid to have Anthony Williams killed, bordered on the obscene. I suppose I should be thanking both of the brothers for making our alliance with Dr. Hawkins as lucrative as it turned out to be.” There was a short pause. “Well, if either of them was still alive, that is.”

“I have a feeling working for Mr. Cane will pay out quite nicely, for as long as it lasts.”

“For as long as it lasts,” Colbie replied thoughtfully. “An accurate if not exactly ringing endorsement for the longevity of such enterprises.”

I shrugged. “High risk, high reward ventures rarely go on forever.”

“True, and yet here you are, Ric, how many years later?”

“I could say the same of you, Colbie.”

“Eh. Being a civil servant is the least risky employment option of all.”

“Civil servant,” I replied with a chuckle. “Is that how you see yourself?”

“I mean, I do have a CAC card, and I fall under the GS pay-grade scale.”

“Sure. Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

The line went silent for a few seconds until Colbie continued in a dry tone. “At any rate, discussing our age and employment status is not why I called.”

“I assumed not.”

“I have an op for you.”

“Color me surprised. Who do you want taken?”

“No one, actually.”

I raised my eyebrow. “No one? Okay, what then?”

“I need you,” he replied impassively, “to go torture a young woman whose father has strayed from the fold. Provide him a reminder of the consequences of thinking he can have it both ways.”

Now I narrowed my eyes. “Why me?”

“Why not you?”

“Much as I love playing these word games,” I grumbled, “isn’t this something more suited to Trey and his team?”

“While this is exactly what they excel at, unfortunately they’re indisposed at the moment,” he answered with a sigh.

“So, wait until they aren’t.”

“Bold of you to think you know the timeline of my needs better than I.”

“Okay, if Trey isn’t available, don’t you have another of your little obsidian ops squads that can handle this?”

“Again, bold of you to assume I haven’t already considered all my options,” he said drily.

“Well, I suggest taking a second look. This sort of thing isn’t in my wheelhouse. I’ll pass.”

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