Dane
Berry has had a few rough days. He's been chased by rabid body
builders, accosted by a screaming fan, robbed and shot at. The one
bright spot in all this is Milla, but he won't consummate his
relationship with her while all this hangs over his head. He's
already put her in danger once, he doesn't want to be responsible for
her getting badly hurt. Now, he's having a conversation with the
managers of the hotel/ casino where he's staying. They are worried
about Dane, but more concerned about the impact these incidents might
have on their reputation. Dane's bodyguards are with him.
"I
have a question for you," Cam said from the table. He'd been
listening to all the discussion. "Who was the shooter?"
"The
shooter?" Mr. Phillips looked confused.
"Yeah,
the guy that took a shot at Dane. And why did your guys fail to stop
him?"
"I
don't know what you're talking about," Mr. Andretti looked
offended. "We hire good people. They know their shit. None of
them have less than three years of military or police training."
"Maybe
so, but I saw what I saw," Cam replied, standing up. "You
got a guy roughly my height, he's not as fat as he tried to look, we
figure that was padding." The other bodyguards nodded. "There
were half a dozen guards there and he barreled through like they were
nothing. The smallest guard there was Steve's size."
Steve
stood next to Cam. He was easily four inches taller and considerably
heavier.
"Now,
I didn't go to college, and I'm not up on my physics, so bear with
me. If I've got six guys his size and one guy my size,
and we don't like each other, who do you think is gonna fall down?"
He pointed from himself to Steve, spreading his hands toward Andretti
and Phillips.
The
owner and manager looked at one another uncomfortably.
"I
dunno about you, but I'm thinkin'—me."
"Did
they know the shooter?" Steve asked, folding his arms across his
chest. "And more to the point, Bill, can you trust your people?"
"Not
to mention," Jed added, coming up on Cam's other side. "Can
we trust them—or you?"
"Are
you threatening me?" Mr. Andretti looked highly offended.
"Should
we be? It's a few simple questions," Jed continued. "Seems
to me, we could find the answers if we asked nicely."
"I
don't have to stay here and be insulted," Mr. Andretti said,
turning pale. "If you're quite done?"
"Ain't
a matter of if I'm done," Jed said quietly. "It's a
matter of if Mr. Berry is done."
"I'm
done," Dane was furious. "Gentlemen, I keep my end of a
bargain. I won't bad mouth you, but don't expect my endorsement
either. Good day." He shut the door behind them with a distinct
bang.
"They
didn't hire the shooter, right?" Cam asked.
"No,
that came from Allie, if that's truly who is behind this," Dane
replied.
"Oh,
I think so. That part makes sense. Then why cover up who the shooter
was?" Steve added.
"Talk
about embarrassing. That had to have been their guy. Not only that,
their men know who he is and they didn't stop him, which makes you
wonder how many of Andretti's people are really on his ex-wife's
payroll," Jed mused.
©
Dellani Oakes 2015
No comments:
Post a Comment