Page 41 of Baiting Kong

“Were they the reason your brother was in town?”

“No, sir,” Scout said.

“You can sir me all you want, but this would go a lot faster if you’d just tell me what your brother was doing hanging around here in his colors, and don’t tell me he wasn’t wearing them on the jacket Ms. Esperanza spotted.”

“He went with me to the shoots to make sure that no one tried to push me to do anything that I didn’t want to do,” Scout explained. “I had to fill out a questionnaire when I applied. It was basically a list of things I was willing to do and things I wasn’t. Figured anyone who would do that was at least somewhat safe to work with, but at the very first shoot, they asked to work in something I’d specifically said no to. Mr. Duchamp started pushing, then said we could cancel the whole deal if I really wasn’t willing to budge even a little, so I went ahead and did it. I can’t afford to get fired. We need that money.”

“So you told your brother.”

“More like he pushed until he got it out of me.”

Mark chuckled at that, as did Creature and Kong.

“It shouldn’t take pushing to get you to open up to the people who have your back,” Mark cautioned. “But, I get wanting to handle things yourself. It’s never a good look to go run and tattle to someone hoping they can fix it for you. It sends the wrong signal to people who’d look to take advantage of you. Assholes always find a way to exploit weakness, but then I think you know that.”

“Yeah.”

“So, he was in town for a shoot, shit popped off at the gas station, he took off, you came up with a cover story that seems to be unraveling a little, what’s your next play?” Mark asked.

“Axel said the cops wanted to talk to me,” Scout said. “When they catch up to me, I plan to tell them that I did see a guy in a leather jacket in the store, but that he ducked out the back with abox of condoms shoved in his jacket when things started getting tense.”

Kong snorted, Mark blinked, and Creature choked back a laugh, because damn, Scout really did have a quick mind and an uncanny ability to think on his feet.

“You have a backup plan for if that fails?”

“Yeah. I’m going to invoke my right to remain silent and ask them to leave me the fuck alone unless they intend to charge me with something.”

“And if they do?”

“Let ‘em prove it.”

“Oh, you’ve got balls, kid,” Mark said, the admiration in his voice unmistakable. “Alright, you run with your plan and see how it goes. It’s solid, and honestly, with no one to arrest and no one left to refute your story since the robbers all got themselves killed, I think they’re just trying to make sure there are no loose ends to wrap up.”

“Does that mean I get to keep my job?”

“You planning on taking off when you’re through with the porn?”

“Not unless you fire me.”

“I haven’t made up my mind yet,” Mark said. “How about you tell me why you’ve been walking since the incident?”

“Didn’t know if they’d written down my license plate or taken a picture of my bike,” Scout admitted. “On foot, I can easily blend in. Nothing I had on the day of the robbery was distinctive enough to give me away if they were out looking for me, so….”

Mark stroked his chin, one eyebrow raising a little at Scout’s explanation. “Smart. Very smart. But I think you’d have a better chance of your story flying if you went down to the station and told them that you’d heard that officers needed to reinterview you.”

Scout took a drag, seeming to really think about that for a minute, before nodding. “I can do that.”

“Can you also tell me what the deal is with the scrapyard?” Mark asked, diving in for the kill now that Scout was being reasonable and cooperating with him.

“Might as well, you know everything else already,” Scout said, only to Creature’s shock, his eyes started shimmering with tears. “The scrapyard is, well, my old man owns it; we live on the property; we were raised there. Sawyer and I help him run it.”

“And you didn’t want me to know that because?” Mark prodded.

“Teddy said….” Scout began before immediately clamming up.

“Teddy said what?”

“I don’t want to get him in trouble.”

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