Page 37 of Givin' Me Fitz!
That was interesting. “Why’d you get arrested for trespassing?”
“I’m here on a job, and I accidentally propositioned an undercover police officer who I thought might want to have a date. I’ve never had good taste in women.” Mr. Wilcox popped the cuffs on his white dress shirt and stared out the window.
I glanced in the rearview mirror to see Jagger hiding his laugh behind his palm, the jackass. I wanted to give him the finger.
“There are places outside of Clark County where you can find that kind of company, though I find it hard to believe you’d need to pay for it.” I glanced at him to see Mr. Wilcox wasn’t as old as I thought.
The man was prematurely gray, much like me, and quite attractive. His skin was golden brown, and he had a few freckles over his cheeks. He was wearing a signet ring on his index finger, and his eyes were deep brown.
Mr. Wilcox chuckled. “Yes, so I’ve heard. I wanted to get arrested and go to jail. The guy I was sent here to find was arrested yesterday on a DUI charge, but he’s wanted back in Florida for domestic abuse. I needed to get eyes on him to ensure he’s the right person. I doubted they’d let me just go back there to look at the jailbirds.”
I laughed. “Yeah, I’m sure they frown on that. How will you get this charge dismissed?”
“That’s part of why I need to see Jesse.” He glanced at me and smirked before he turned to look at Jagger. “You boys don’t look like the usual bounty hunters I’ve run across over the years. You could easily pass for law enforcement.”
Jagger and I both laughed. “Guilty as charged. Former Nevada State Trooper. Patrolman for Reno PD before that.”
“Former Navy, US Marshal, and private security.” I took the highway exit for South Rainbow.
“Where are you staying in town, Mr. Wilcox?” I merged onto the Rainbow not far from the office.
“Please, call me Albie. I’m staying at the Gold Coast. My client is a cheap fucker.” We all laughed at his comment as I turned into the parking lot of the strip mall where our office was located.
“Why’d they charge you with trespassing if it was solicitation?” Jagger asked before we got out in front of the office instead of behind it. I was hoping I’d get to go home once I dropped the two of them off.
Albie laughed. “The lady cop liked me. If I wasn’t now banned from the Linq Casino Hotel, I’d go back and find her, but that might be pressing my luck.”
Jagger opened the door for us. “Yes, I wouldn’t recommend it if I were you.”
I went through the small gate dividing the waiting area from the swamp, which was empty, of course. It was after eight o’clock.
I walked over to Sparky’s closed door and knocked. “It’s me, Sparky. I’ve got someone to see you.”
“Hang… uh, hang…fuck… hang on a sec.” It was Monty, and the tone of his voice and the mumbling I heard through the door told me exactly what was going on.
“It’s Mr. Wilcox.” I walked away before I heard anything more.
Good for them for getting down and dirty at the office!
“He’ll be right out. Can I get you some water or coffee? We might have some soda in the kitchen.”
“Uh, a bottle of water would be nice. They just have a water fountain in the holding cell, and it looked like it hadn’t had a good cleaning in a while.”
I nodded and headed to the kitchen to get a few bottles of water. I was pretty sure Monty and Sparky would need them, too, after the workout it sounded like they’d just had.
As I returned, the door to Sparky’s office opened and Monty rushed out toward the bathroom. I glanced at Sparky, who was combing his hair with a shit-eating grin on his flushed face.
He walked out of the gate and over to Albie Wilcox. “Albie!What the hell did you do? Come on and tell me what the fuck you’re doing in town and why I had to bail your ass out of jail. When did you get to Vegas?”
I offered a bottle of water to Albie and handed the other two bottles to Sparky. “You need anything else from us?” I glanced over my shoulder to see Jagger put the file on Denise’s desk.
“Naw, you guys take off. Albie, my husband and I want to take you out for dinner.” He turned to Jagger and me. “You guys wanna join us?”
“I wish I could, but I need to get home. I call my parents on Wednesday nights, and I wanna get them before they go to bed. They’re two hours ahead of us.” I shook Albie’s hand, gave Sparky a fist bump, and headed out to my truck. It had been quite a day.
When I got home, a familiar Harley Softail Classic was parked on the far side of the driveway. I parked in the garage and walked around the side of the house to see Sawyer doing something to the gate for the backyard.
“You lockin’ me out?” I laughed as I said it so he could tell I was joking. I wasn’t sure where we stood, but I wasn’t about to ruin a chance we could maybe be friends. I didn’t have many in town.
