Page 93 of Hidden Ties

“I got held up.” He waved at his stained shirt.

Ice gave him a leveled gaze.

“I flew in from Queen City. Had to rent a car, drive from across town, and I still made it on time.”

Ice being sarcastic was never a good sign.

“Sorry.” He found himself apologizing, which he rarely did. “I had two cases dropped on my lap unexpectedly.”

“Do I look like I give a fuck?”

Dealing with Ice was always a pain. Unfortunately, Ice was also excellent at getting certain jobs done no one else could do.

“What do you need badly enough I needed to fly in?”

Pleasantries over, they got down to business.

“I need Jackal to find some information for me.” He took a slip of paper out of his jacket and handed it to Ice.

Ice took the paper without opening it.

“I need some surveillance set up for the two addresses on there, too.”

“Anything else?”

“No, that’s it. How much?”

“No charge for the information. Plus, I’ll give your usual fee. I need you to supervise a deal taking place this Saturday night,” Ice told him. “Send me the address where you want the exchange to take place. I’ll have a bike waiting for you at the airport.”

“Who’s it between?” Kent asked.

“Mica is purchasing swag from the Phantoms.”

“Mica aware he can’t screw around with Wraith?”

“I’ve made him aware. He didn’t listen to me and made the deal, anyway. Now, he wants protection and is willing to pay for it to go smoothly.”

Kent gave a low laugh. “You mean to make sure he’s still breathing when it’s over.”

“That, too. I wish these up-and-comers would listen to my warnings before they fuck up.”

“You’re preaching to the choir,” Kent agreed sardonically.

Ice and he were in the same boat. Their advice came from hard-earned experience. They made their money exploiting other people’s mistakes. He didn’t feel bad taking their money, coming to the conclusion if they were going to pay a high dollar amount to get a job done, it might as well go in his pocket instead of someone else’s. Standing on a high moral ground would lead to you working a nine-to-five job and an occasional fuck on Friday nights with a woman who pretended she was fucking someone better-looking and richer than the man who was going down on her.

“Warn Mica if he plans to stiff Wraith, the only person’s ass I’ll be saving will be my own.”

“I’ll pass your message on.”

Ice opened the car door and got out.

Kent backed out of the parking spot and drove back out of the parking garage, heading to the jail.

All he wanted to do was go home, take a hot shower, then make himself quick dinner. When he checked the time on the dashboard, he sighed and revised his plan. He would buy take-out after he spoke to Valerie Monroe. He would add the amount of the food to the bill he planned to give Dante. Instead of making himself a hamburger, he would order Sushi from his favorite Japanese restaurant. God, he loved his job.

SIX

The door opening had Kent looking toward it, waiting for his client to come in.

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