“Fine! Let Bill and his guys handle it!” Aaron protested.
“In case you forgot, I am one of Bill’s guys. I’ve been working and training with them for two years now. But there’s more to consider. I don’t want to give them any more reason to think of us as lucrative targets to extort. Of course, showing up with eight grand in cash in an armored car could do just that. But being able to hire people that can handle the whole thing for us would send a way worse message. Bill isn’t cheap.”
“I love you too, Kid.” Bill commented in played coyness, causing me to smirk.
“Still, I don’t like it!” Claire said, like the whole plan would fly out the window just because she didn’t approve.
“No, Mrs. Brown, your Kid is right. He knows how to handle himself and he’s the only one who knows how to look for the videos you’re worried about. Trust him, we trained him well.” Bill tried to reassure her. Then switched his attention back to me. “How do you want to make sure you got them all?” Bill finally asked.
“I think when he has the money, he’ll either talk about interest again or try to blackmail me with the videos. Either way, I’ll play dumb, laugh it off, and tell him to show me at least one of the videos. If I missed even a single copy anywhere, he’ll find it! Worst case, we’re back to where we started. If he doesn’t find any, I’ll know we’re in the clear.”
“Tim. What makes you think they won’t just beat the crap out of you when they find all the copies mysteriously corrupted? They’ll surely suspect something’s up.” John asked.
“That’s why I’m not just corrupting the videos, but also some of his other files, so it’s less targeted. But in the end, I’m kinda hoping I can just play dumb at that point and he won’t figure out that I’m actually just paying to make sure we got every copy. Like, ‘Why would I show up in person, with eight grand in cash, if I could’ve just deleted the files?’ ... something like that.”
Once again, they all thought about my explanations and most of them accepted the plan. Not all of them, though. Claire looked like she was ready to protest yet again. While I dismissed her concern as just another act in the beginning, she was so persistent that I started to actually believe her. It kind of made me happy to see her finally worry about me. But the timing was a little inconvenient in this situation, so I had to try and convince her.
“Stop worrying so much. Keep in mind, I’m the one who took on three of those guys and lived to boast about it.” I said.
“Says the guy who needed help lifting his coffee cup afterwards.” I heard Claire quietly comment with her arms crossed in front of her chest. It caused most of us to chuckle, but that didn’t seem to be the reaction she had intended.
“Seriously, though. I also think you don’t have to go alone. Take two of the boys with you.” Bill offered. “They can wait in the car and out of sight to not raise any suspicion, but if shit hits the fan, they can come running.”
“And what’s that gonna cost me?” I asked him, with a raised eyebrow.
“Oh, you’re one of us now, don’t worry about paying extra.” He smiled, and I was almost touched. “I’ll just deduct it from your next bonus.”
“Stingy old bastard.” I commented under my breath, causing him to laugh.
“So ... contingency plan. Any ideas?” Bill asked and I sighed again.
“I spent last night going through his files and found a lot of interesting stuff. Basically, I managed to compile an almost complete guide to their whole operation. There’s enough material to somewhat prove every aspect of it. I’m sure I’ll get the complete picture by the weekend. I’ll put it all on a USB-Stick and leave it in your office when I pick up the SUV for the drive. As long as I can just get rid of the videos, they...” I pointed at the family “ ... can let the police take care of those guys if anything comes up afterwards.”
“What!?” Aaron asked, shocked. “If you have something like that, why not use that from the beginning instead of going through with that dangerous plan?”
“Well, Mr. Brown,” Bill answered, “I took the liberty of asking around after John left this morning. Of course we don’t know anything for certain, otherwise those guys would already be in processing. But, as far as I can tell right now, gambling is only one of his business ventures. Smurfing dirty money through his bar seems to be his regular main business. Though he also shoots porn with ... uh ... less than voluntary women in the main role, if you understand what I’m saying. The people he cleans the cash for are way worse than him, though, so he has contacts to send after you if he doesn’t get what he wants, even from prison. Tim’s approach of getting him off your back, while offending him as little as possible, is the best approach. We should only use that evidence and the police as a last resort.”
“Is telling me just what kind of scum my son is planning to meet supposed to calm me down!?” Claire said heatedly.
“There is yet another angle to this, Mrs. Brown.” Bill continued. “Gambling is illegal in this state. That means both sides, the bookies and the gamblers, go to jail. It is highly unlikely the police wouldn’t uncover your oldest Son’s involvement with these people.”
“Oh ... Logan.” Aaron said, sinking back into the small armchair he was sitting in, while Claire let out a resigning sigh. “Yeah. I didn’t think of that.”
Bill threw me a glance. I just shrugged my shoulders while trying to keep my expression neutral, but when Bill saw that, his expression went from sympathetic to thoughtful. At least Danielle seemed to understand what just happened, because she looked at Claire and Aaron with knitted brows.
The entire time it’s ’This is too dangerous for you!’, or ’What happens to you if it goes wrong?’, but as soon as they realized their Golden Boy could possibly have to take responsibility for his own actions, all concerns about the dangers the plan held for me went out the window!
“Well, if that’s all taken care of, I’ll make my way home now, Boss.” I concluded and left without waiting for an answer. I was sure Bill understood already.
I went to my office, shut everything down, grabbed my stuff and made my way outside. The parents had waited for me and offered to take me home, which I accepted. Nobody attempted to speak during the quiet ride.
The sports bar had already opened its doors to let guests in, so I could finally identify the employees’ devices through their WiFi. I was absolutely exhausted from the all-nighter and my chest and stomach were killing me, to the point where I was asking myself if hitting Logan had hurt me more than him. So, after I had searched their Phones for the videos, I decided to take a little nap until lunchtime. I popped another Ibuprofen, leaned the backrest of my chair back, and closed my eyes.
I don’t know for sure how long I had been lying in the chair, but I was woken up by a soft feminine voice, accompanied by a small hand gently stroking my right cheek. When I opened my eyes, I recognized Granny.
“Is it lunchtime already?” I asked dozily and confused, I felt like I had just closed my eyes.
“Lunchtime? Pumpkin, dinner is ready.” she smiled at me.
Dinnertime meant that I was out for hours! When I tried to move, however, I knew why I still felt anything but well rested. These gaming chairs are not meant to be slept in. Now, in addition to my chest and stomach, my back hurt too, and my legs were numb. I tried to get up but could only do so sluggishly and accompanied by groaning noises not befitting my young age. Granny even had to hold me steady so I wouldn’t fall face first into my desk.