Page 107 of Red's Peril: Part 1

“Can we get this fuckin’ meeting started now?” Fox, clearly with something on his mind, scowls at the two men, then turns to me with his eyebrow raised.

Agreeing it’s time, I sit down. “Meeting in session,” I announce formally, bringing the gavel down. “You want to kick off, Fox?”

Normally he’d start church with a rundown of how our finances are looking, so I expect him to click on his tablet and start reading figures out. Instead, he pushes it away from him and seems more animated than I usually expect.

But it’s Crash who beats him to it. “Hey, Brother. Settle down. Let me set the groundwork.” He eyes the treasurer for a moment until Fox gives a sulky nod. He then turns to me. “There’s a new casino that’s opened up. Not on the strip, on one of the streets that run off it.”

I raise my chin thinking I’ve heard of it. “Lucky Fortunes?”

“That’s the one.” Crash nods enthusiastically.

“We going to try it out?” Cobra looks up excitedly. He does like playing his hand at the slots, but he’s got no gambling problem and knows when to stop.

Back before I transferred, the club had had a problem with gambling, so it’s something on which I keep a close watch. People come to Vegas for the casinos. Those of us who live here have been there, done that, and in truth, losing money soon becomes old.

“Might do.” Crash grins at Cobra, which makes Sarge start shaking his head. The loud sounds can set off his PTSD, as we’ve found out to our cost on a club night out before. “But that’s not why I’m raising this. We’ve been approached with a job offer.”

That makes me sit up. “Yeah?” I frown, wondering why it hadn’t come direct to me.

“Yeah,” Crash says. “One of our customers put our name forward, and as I was his contact, they got in touch with me first.”

I shrug it off. No matter if there’s more money coming our way. “What kind of job?”

“Providing security for the casino.”

Now I frown. “Sounds like a fuckin’ big job, Crash. We’d be spread thin if they want full-time bouncers.”

Crash shakes his head. “They’ve got their own security team, but they want us to oversee them. Check who they’re employing, shit like that. Be there to be called on should they have any problems and show our faces occasionally to make sure everyone behaves.”

I feel a glimmer of excitement. It’s taken years to build up our security business from the bottom up. Okay, this isn’t one of the major casinos on the strip, but if we do a good job, it could be a boost to our reputation.

“Hey, I like the sound of that,” Rope offers.

So do I. It means the rep we’d gained when our previous members had tried to rob a casino has at last been forgot.

“The figures look great.” Fox can no longer contain himself. “Crash gave me their proposal to look at. It could mean a lot to our bottom line.”

Again, I wonder why I’m only now hearing about it? I frown at Crash, and don’t have to explain my confusion.

Crash shrugs. “You were tied up in dealing with the fallout from taking the Crazy Wolves out.”

I suppose that I have. “Shit’s sorted,” I tell them. “Now, how far have you gotten, Crash?” I don’t need to worry he’d have committed to anything. It’s one thing checking it out, but only I can sign on the dotted line, once all the members are in agreement of course.

“Not far. I’ve told them we’re capable and interested. They’ve invited us in to look around and to talk.”

Nodding, I throw a grin at him. “I like the sound of that.”

Chapter Thirty-Seven

I’m not the only one who likes the idea of us picking up new work, and one which could put our security business on the map. Everyone starts talking, though most are more interested in having an evening out and wanting to know if they’ll get free tokens to play at the table. All except for Sarge who throws his hands up in a gesture clearly meaning he’ll leave it to everyone else.

Titch leans back, his hands in his belt. “I’m willing to sacrifice some of my time.”

“They got a buffet? Entertainment?” Hammer’s definitely looking interested.

Crash grins. “Buffet, yes. Entertainment, no. Unless you count the scantily clad ladies serving drinks.”

“Oh, I count that,” Petty says with a loaded look toward Roller who rolls his eyes.

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