Page 37 of The Job

It doesn’t take us very long to get to the lot by the gates and park, grab our shit, and head out of the gates.

“Hey,” I say to Alaric as we get in the car.

“Have a good night last night?” he asks, as he immediately starts the car.

I grin, “Yes, we did.”

“Sorry, we missed your call,” Rage adds, now a bit more awake.

Alaric chuckles, “No problem. It does put us on a little bit of a time crunch, so I’m going to have to debrief you now.”

“That’s okay; I prefer to get straight to it rather than wait around anyway,” I reply with a shrug.

“We will stop and get you guys some coffee in a second, we are going to need you two firing on all cylinders.”

“Sounds interesting, and you know I will never turn down coffee,” Rage replies.

After we have gotten our drinks and we are settled back into the drive, I ask, “So, what’s the job?”

“We have had some intel that says that one of Liam’s main people is going to be in the bar that I am taking you too. He is there to make a deal and we want to make sure that we either have the details of the dealer or get the guy himself.” Alaric explains.

“Okay, that sounds simple enough,” Rage replies, and then adds, proving that he still isn’t quite awake, “are we hanging around outside the bar, or are we observing from within?”

“Inside the bar,” Alaric confirms, “we are hoping that you will be able to overhear something.”

“When is the meeting due to take place?” I ask.

“At nine. We want you there for at least an hour before he is due to turn up so you blend in more and so that he is less likely to notice you,” he replies.

I look at the clock, “It’s only four now.”

Alaric nods, “Yeah, we are at least a four-hour drive away. I suggest that you boys get some sleep because I’m going to be driving you straight there.”

“No problem.” Rage says as he crosses his arms over his chest and slouches down in his seat. His eyes pop open for a moment, “It does make the fact you bought us coffee a pointless endeavor.”

Alaric chuckles, “Fair point.”

Rage just shrugs and closes his eyes again.

I’m still tired, I could sleep, besides we have no idea how long we’re going to be at the place for and we may as well get some sleep where we can. With this in mind I adopt the same position as Rage, and close my eyes.

**********

We actually managed to arrive at the bar just in time. Calling it a bar is a bit of a stretch; it’s more like a dive, and it is fucking tiny. It’s also packed full of people, so it’s popular. We sit ourselves at the bar with a good view of the entire place; it is really that tiny. We got a few looks when we arrived since this is obviously a local place, but people quickly dismissed us when we didn’t cause any trouble and just sat down at the bar.

Nine has been and gone, and I’m starting to think that Alaric was given bad intel because the guy isn’t here yet. Just as I am about to text him and suggest that we leave, our target walks through the door and takes a seat in the booth in the corner, the one located just behind where we are sitting, facing the bar. It has stayed empty despite how busy the place has been, and that’s why we chose to sit at this end of the bar; we figured that it might be kept for them. He scans the room, and Rage and I immediately turn back to our drinks and start up a conversation again, much like most of the bar is doing.

There is now a slight sense of nervousness in the air that wasn’t there before, and that only heightens when the guy that our target is meeting walks through the door. I don’t recognize him; however, I did recognize our target when I was shown a picture of him. He was definitely a part of Liam’s inner circle, and I’m hoping that he won’t recognize me. He shouldn’t, it’s been years since he may have seen me, and longer still since we know for sure that he did see me. Which is the reason why I was deemed safe enough to do this job, especially since he would have definitely recognized Alaric.

The room is obviously loud, but we are right in front of the booth, the only thing separating us is a hallway that goes to the restrooms. This means that if I concentrate, I can just about hear their conversation. Frustratingly though, the conversation has been kept to pleasantries for the last twenty minutes.

Alaric has said, we listen and find out what we can and then when he leaves, we take him in. We are not going to let him get out of here, a free man. He’s been talking pleasantries for so long now that I am not only bored out of my freaking mind but finding myself hoping that he gets up to use the bathroom or something soon so that I can grab him.

“This is not what I thought we would be doing tonight,” Rage says quietly, making sure that he doesn’t give anything away or say anything that could make them suspicious.

“Tell me about it,” I reply. “Makes you wish we had gone to the other party.”

I’m referring to one that we got invited to tonight, and that we had intended to attend but obviously haven’t because we came here instead.

---