Page 51 of The Company We Keep

Should he take the organization in a new, more profitable direction — one that came along with a fresh vision and a better opportunity for growth — or should he do his best to honor Riley’s legacy and never stray from that path?

After one more year of petty crimes and small-time jobs, Carrow doing his best to imagine what Riley would’ve wanted all the while, the new boss decided to follow his own vision.

TKS would take on bigger, higher-profile jobs.

Inclusion in the gang became more difficult, rules more rigid. He began to hire people from around the country who he felt would be a good fit for the crew, employing highly-trained professionals who could amplify their missions with their talents for demolitions, technology, extraction, and sharp shooting.

He scaled up their security and spent more time planning. It took just a few months to get the city of Las Abras in his pocket. He alternately bought and earned friends for The Kettle Syndicate. Carrow donated to the campaign of any rising political star who would accept his dirty money. He did favors for the ultra-rich who came to Las Abras to work andplay, whether they wanted a cheating spouse tailed or a debt settled.

He did good things, too. The men of The Kettle Syndicate punished criminals who looked to take advantage of the struggling classes of the city. They bought land in the “slums” of the city, clearing dilapidated buildings and provided the resources for the surrounding neighborhoods to have parks instead. And after a significant amount of legal work to protect the recipients, Carrow donated funds to the support systems that people had already put in place to help themselves: afterschool programs, rehab centers, soup kitchens.

His men laughed at him at first, joking that he’d gotten too caught up in wanting to be liked. But in months, they saw the landscape change. Heists were easier because common people kept their mouths shut about Carrow and his gang when the police came knocking.

Intimidation was one thing. Being respected and protected by the city surrounding you was quite another.

Under Carrow’s new policies, the rise of The Kettle Syndicate had been, in a word,meteoric.

And its end had been an abrupt nightmare, one that colored Carrow’s darkest fears for The Company.

11

June 2014 • AIIB Mission Month 1

Dust’s first contact with Abe after the museum job had gone… poorly.

“Charlie, sweet Christ,” Leiby said when she had him on the phone. “That goddamn anthropology museum! I’m just happy nobody can trace you back to us yet.”

Dust bristled immediately at the name.Charlie. He punched down the little voice in the back of his mind that insisted it wasn’t him — had never been him.

The conversation felt like an uncomfortable visit home.

Leiby was elated that he’d been accepted into The Company — but for all of the wrong reasons, it seemed. She wasn’t happy that he was liked or that he now had a beautiful place to live, that he had the guidance of someone who was a successful billionaire and the backing of some of the most powerful people in the country. She was only happy because now he could provide her with information about The Company.

(Information she hasn’t earned,Dust thought to himself, illogically. This was his mission, after all. Of course she wanted the goddamned information. She had put her ownreputation on the line to get him the assignment — had bent countless rules to help equip him to go into the field.

Or. At least… to help equipCharlie.)

She quizzed him, trying to fill in the holes in AIIB’s knowledge of The Company.

She wasn’t interested in any of the parts that reallywereworthy of interest though. She didn’t care that A.R. Carrow was in the midst of being bullied into being vegan by a group of criminals that were closer to him than family. She wasn’t delighted to learn that Herron Dent didn’t identify as male or female, that they preferred the pronoun “they” and that the entire crew honored this happily and never lapsed. She had no personal investment in swimming pools or dish duty or how much respect he’d gained through the improvised act at the museum, managing to get civilians out of harm’s way.

Leiby wanted to know who was funding The Company. She wanted to know if Carrow was in bed with any cartels across the border. She wanted to know where he kept his money — offshore accounts, complicated investments, or something more sinister? Were there associates that AIIB had never identified? Where were the weak spots in their security?

Dust found himself holding back.

It wasn’t even conscious at first.

He didn’t know Carrow’s business becausehe hadn’t asked.He hadn’t even attempted to overstep his boundaries with the man because he hadn’t wanted to do anything to get in his bad graces.

He was able to give Leiby some of what she wanted. He told her some of the security flaws he noticed at the penthouse — but at the same time he was silently cataloging the same information, telling himself that he needed to give Wayles the same list so that he could close the gaps.

She asked for more. She pressed for more. Dust told her that he needed more time.

In the end, Leiby was as she always had been: a hardass, but invested in Charlie. She said he could take more time, as long as he kept himself safe. He assured her that he was safe. They got off the phone, and Dust couldn’t get away from his old apartment fast enough.

Dust had runan errand back to his old apartment in the week after the museum job. Carrow didn’t begrudge him that. It would be a strange transition to go from paying his own bills and managing a place to… well, to everything being a part of The Company afforded him now.

It was easy for Carrow to remember the depth of shock he’d felt when he’d joined up with Riley’s crew. Since he was old enough to walk, Carrow had been stealing things. Fencing stolen goods had always been a way to get by — not a hobby, not a sport, but a way for him to contribute to the pot of money his mother used to make their rent every month, to keep them fed. When she was too sick to work, Carrow worked harder, took bigger risks. She hated it — but she wasn’t a stupid woman. She knew the value in what he was doing. The necessity of it.

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