Page 89 of Cosmo

“Yeah, Tally. Yeah, it did.”

It settled in his chest for days, that realization. He saw Taran on and off, but more off because of the threat. Taran had to go to Washington with his partner and they were arguing to get more men in Denver to help.

That likely wouldn’t happen. Budgets were stretched thin, and so were the law enforcement officers that weren’t in some terrible cartel.

When he finally returned and spent an hour railing on his superiors, Liam told him that he had help, when and where he needed it. “We’re not feds, but we’re better in a lot of ways. We don’t have to follow laws or report to committees.”

“I just cannot believe there are more important things.”

“That’s because you’re in the middle of this. I’m sure a fed in Oklahoma is concerned about what is going on in Oklahoma and so on. It’s a big country with a lot of fucked up people in it. The feds can only be stretched so far.”

Taran sat beside Liam on the bed, petting Daiq. “This cat is addictive.”

“Isn’t he? You can’t stand not to pet him!”

Daiq was purring happily as Taran pet him and Liam laughed, kissed him, and then they heard a light tapping on the door.

Abs stuck his head inside the door and said, “Hey. Murphy wanted to give us an update on that building.”

“I’ll be right down.”

“Both of you,” Abs said. “The fed guy, too. Murphy’s got a grand idea, he said, and he’ll need the fed’s input. His words.”

Liam took his hand and led him out of the room and laughed a little when Taran kept peering back at Daiq. “Will he be okay?”

“Are you kidding me? It is the cat. You fell for the cat.”

“Well! He’s so…sweet. And you’re really not.”

He could admit that.

In the basement, they sat around the table, Ryan and Tally there, too, while Eazy watched the little kids. “Well, my boys, this is the deal. I have three subcontractors to do the work on the building, and the bank pre-approved the loan.” Everyone first sighed then hollered in joy as they heard the news. It was the first step to beating the BBC.

“Hold on, folks! This is not all of it.”

For once, they all were quiet. Tally was smiling, however, and that gave Liam a lot of hope. She knew everything before any of them did.

“The building has to come up in value. Now, that won’t be hard. The place is a fucking dump. Talk about a slumlord for an owner, and he wants top dollar for it. I can pay it, but I don’t want to, so…”

Taran spoke next and Murphy seemed to wait for it. “There are a lot of laws against slumlords, city, state, and federal.”

“I was hoping you’d say that. If he…I don’t know, gets an idea he might get hit with an investigation, we could buy it cheaper and raise the value quickly.”

“Done.”

Liam reached for and grabbed Taran’s hand.

“Okay, good. Now, just because we’re not exactly playing fair with that turd, it doesn’t mean we’ll take a lot of shortcuts on raising the value of the building. We need to have it pay for itself, though. I’m thinking rent controlled for those that live therenow, but if an apartment becomes available, it’s going to be more than the current prices. Maybe not that much, but still. We have got to get this before some big corporation grabs it. If someone else gets it, all those people lose their homes and with the prices today everywhere else, they’ll likely add to the homeless population.”

“Whatever we have to do,” Abs said.

“Well, we’re gonna do a lot of the work to make it better. I must have real plumbers, electricians and such for code, but we can clean, paint, lay carpet and flooring. We raise some money, too, for those tenants that are staying. I’d like to maybe make their places nicer, and it would also raise the value. Wins all around.”

“Why don’t we do a charity night?” Goldie suggested. “We bring in a lot of tips, but we could, I don’t know, offer to match donations with our tips, and you could match us, maybe.”

“That’s a great idea,” Mims said, slapping the table with both hands like a bongo. “We could do an extra special night.”

“I could get a band, maybe, so we’re not the only entertainment,” Hippy offered. “And, no, not blues. I can find a popular band.”

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