Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 55510 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 278(@200wpm)___ 222(@250wpm)___ 185(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55510 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 278(@200wpm)___ 222(@250wpm)___ 185(@300wpm)
4
BENJAMIN
Ipushed four quarters into the snack machine, hearing the others mutter to each other behind me as we arranged a meeting in one of the apartment’s amenity rooms with snack and drink machines, a pool table, and a small television. They were stressing out behind me about the diva who refused to let us do our job, but I wasn’t worried. If she could shut us out, she could deal with nosy press and weirdos.
“So glad you can kick back and relax over there.”
I rolled my eyes at the familiar annoyed tone that belonged to none other than our group’s fearless leader. He acted like such a dad, but whenever I jeered at him about that, he slunk away. I supposed that was a soft spot.
“I think you guys need to relax,” I replied as I hit the buttons for A3, hearing the snack machine whir as it grabbed my bag of barbeque potato chips. Obviously, we weren’t working any time soon, so I was going to take advantage of the downtime.
Andrew moved over to me, giving me a pointed look.
“We were given a job. We still need to do it,” he said.
I leaned down and grabbed my chips out of the bottom of the machine, tearing the bag open so that I could fish out a folded chip.
“Oh, my favorite.”
Andrew knocked the chip out of my hand, making it break apart on the floor.
“I need you to take this seriously, Ben,” he told me firmly.
I clenched my jaw as I glared at him. He always had to be so damn serious, but I knew it was better to roll with him than against him. He was a terror when he was an enemy.
“Whatever,” I replied before moving to flop down on the couch next to Rhett.
Akio leaned against the pool table to supervise as usual. He was involved in every conversation, even if he didn’t always say something.
“We’ve dealt with uncooperative clients before,” Andrew stated as he stood between the couch and pool table. He crossed his arms over his chest, looking between all of us. “This one is… certainly going to be a challenge.”
I smirked and shook my head. I could tell she was going to be a problem when she started yelling at us through the door. She had a mouth on her, which piqued my interest, but it was annoying to deal with when I was working. Quiet and submissive was the way to go.
“I think we should take the money and leave Emery to it. She seems like the type to take care of herself. She already scared us off,” I replied with a shrug before popping a potato chip in my mouth.
“She didn’t scare us off. We gave her some space for now,” Andrew assured me, shaking his head. “We can’t just leave a client on her own.”
“We don’t even know what we’ve gotten ourselves into,” I said pointedly, my appetite fading. I tried not to overthink this job, but it was getting harder and harder, and it didn’t help that Emery wasn’t the easiest to deal with. Was she worth the trouble we might possibly find ourselves in?
“It’s most likely some money laundering. Her father got caught up with the wrong guy,” Akio commented. “I can’t think of any reason why the guy he dealt with would go after Emery unless her father starts giving up names.”
Andrew shook his head.
“From what I heard over the phone, he’d never do anything to put her in danger. He still thinks she may be at risk, but that might only be because he’s not around to protect her,” he pointed out.
“He sounds overprotective,” Rhett replied. “He may be working himself up.”
“Regardless, he sent the money and gave us a job to do,” Andrew said as he waved his hand dismissively. “Whether she has danger coming her way or not, we do the job the same as we’ve always done it. Most of the time, everything goes fine.”
I ground my teeth as I listened to them. I didn’t know what Andrew was thinking taking a job from a criminal who was involved in something shady. I told myself that I would stay out of trouble after having my own experience with breaking the law, and I refused to relive my past.
“I don’t trust him. It’s obvious his daughter doesn’t know what he’s gotten himself into,” I muttered as I lowered my eyes. Unless she did know and was trying to put on a strong front. She did a damn good job of doing so.
“She seems to know her dad pretty well,” Rhett said with a shrug. “She knows what he’s like. Maybe she’s trying to keep secrets for him.”
“So, we can’t trust her either,” I replied as I narrowed my eyes at Andrew. “They could be dragging us into a world of pain, but all you can think about is the money.”