Page 10 of Tuck & Roll

“I agree to that part, but I still don’t know what the job is.” Kylie knew there were rules involved in an MC and she accepted that, but she needed to know if she was going to be doing something illegal. Not that what she did on her computer was completely on the up and up all of the time.

Race shared a look with Jed, took a deep breath and continued. “We’re having a problem with a particular officer of the Redemption PD. We would like you to investigate him. Find out who the hell he is. Where he came from. Where does he live? Close acquaintances? Family? Does he have a connection to the club? That kind of stuff.”

“Okay.” Seemed simple enough.

“You don’t have a problem investigating a police officer?”

“No.”

“What if you thought we wanted the information to do something bad to him? Would you be okay with that?” Race crossed his arms over his chest and continued to rock in his chair.

“I don’t know that I could do that. I live a lot of my life in the gray so it’s kind of hard for me to pass judgment. I also have a moral code I live by. I will not purposely or knowingly help anyone kill someone else. I couldn’t live with that.”

Race looked to Jed again, then nodded his head. “I appreciate your honesty. Now, I want to be completely honest with you before you make your decision. We might not be into some of the bad shit we used to be into, but make no mistake, we will always do whatever it takes to keep the people around us safe, no matter the cost. You get what I’m saying?”

“Yes, I think I do.”

“And you’re still on board?”

“Yes. I think I am.”

“Good.” He passed a piece of paper across the desk to her. She picked it up and read the name. Officer Bryson Miner. She slipped the paper into her purse.

“Anything else?”

One side of Race’s mouth kicked up. “Don’t you want to know how much you’re getting paid?”

Oh, for shit’s sake. How unprofessional was she? Of course, she needed to know how much money she’d be making. “Yeah. That would be nice to know.”

He pulled an envelope from his drawer and slid it across his desk. “This is to get you started. You can send me a bill when this runs out.”

The envelope felt somewhat heavy in her hand. She flipped up the flap and thought her eyes might pop out of her head. This was too much money for a simple background check. “What if I get finished before the money runs out? Do you want it back?”

“No, sweetness. You keep it because it’s going to run out. I also want you to design software to keep hackers out of all our businesses, including my computer here. Can you come up with something like that?”

“Yes, I can do that. Give me a couple of days and I can have something on Officer Miner.”

“Sounds good.” He shuffled papers around on his desk. “Before you go, I need you to sign a contract.”

“A contract?”

“Actually, it’s more of an NDA. Says you won’t talk about anything you see or hear. If you do, we can deal with you as we see fit. No cops.” He said all of this so casually, while looking for the contract. Was he serious?

“That’s it? If I talk you, what? Make me disappear without a trace?” Kylie wasn’t the kind of person to ever discuss her client’s business with other people, but this whole NDA thing had her worried. What if she accidentally let something slip?

“He’s fucking with you. It’s just a reminder that you have to keep your trap shut,” Jed told her as he got to his feet.

“Are you saying there’s no three strikes you’re out? Just silence or death? No consequences in between? That’s a little over the top, don’t you think?” She really needed to keep her mouth shut, before she gave them the idea she was a blabber mouth and would share their secrets far and wide. She really needed the money this job offered, but the strict consequences were a little alarming. Was death seriously an option on the table?

“Oh, there are consequences if you shoot off your mouth. Some of them worse than death.” He settled his hand on her shoulder and gently squeezed. “As long as you keep quiet, you’ll never have to know what the consequences are.” He winked at her and sauntered out the door.

She knew her eyes were huge in her face and her jaw was still hanging open when she turned back to Race. He was smiling at her as he pushed the contract and pen toward her. She picked up the pen, started to sign, then stopped to look up at Race again. “This doesn’t say anything about murdering me, does it?”

His smile grew wider. “Really? You think we’d put something like that in writing?”

She didn’t know what to think about any of this. Were they purposely fucking with her? Trying to yank her chain? The money was so freaking good she couldn’t pass it up. Her car was about to die and she couldn’t afford to get it fixed just yet. There was also the issue of student loans. She was beyond sick of paying on those. She’d love to be able to pay those off one day. Squinting her eyes at him, she thought whatever these mystery consequences were shouldn’t matter since she’d never speak about anything to do with the Sons of Redemption anyway. Mumbling “fuck it” under her breath, she signed the papers. “I get a copy of this, right?”

“Yes. Sign this one, too. It’s your copy.” She signed her name with a flourish and placed the pen on the desk. She folded the contract into thirds and stuffed it into her purse.

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