“Yes, he will,” I say with certainty. Dickhead thinks about stiffing us and he’ll be sorry. I’d hate for his bank to freeze his accounts on suspicion of money-laundering. That’d be a real shame.
“He was saying some shit. Made me nervous, I gotta tell you. Like he’s gonna get everyone at the party to sue Logan for not catching the stalker faster.”
“He tries that and he’ll be fucking sorry.”
I already have a search-and-destroy bot running to squash any mention of Rick’s name with keywords relating to his stalking, but I can easily alter that so he never gets another mention on the internet. That won’t do his fucking career any good. I make a mental note to get a search running for any mentions of the party. I’m betting half of the people there don’t know Rick personally and only a handful of them know Logan. I’ll make sure it stays that way.
Manny claps me on the shoulder. “Thanks, Maxie. Logan’s had a tough summer already. I don’t want anything else to go wrong.”
I fold his dirty shirt over my arm while he shrugs into the spare clothes I’ve pulled out for him. The shirt’s going to strangle his biceps, even though it’s loose on me. Serves him right for all those extra reps at the gym.
“I’ve been thinking about that,” I say. “You know how Logan suggested I join you guys last year?”
Manny tugs at the collar of the T-shirt while staring at me. “You said no. You were still too tangled up in other jobs.”
“Yeah, well, I’ve untangled myself. If the offer’s still open, maybe I could come in with you guys and help keep Logan off jobs like this. Maybe have him wiring CCTV systems for a couple of months.”
Manny grabs my shoulders. “Seriously,hermano? Hell, yeah, it’s still open. LMM, Inc.”
“Okay.” I pat him with my free hand. “You wanna take it to Logan, or should I?”
“I’ll talk to him this afternoon after I’ve gotten some sleep. You won’t regret this, Maxie. It’s the way it should have beenfrom the beginning, the three of us. Hell, the four of us when Mac gets here. A fire team. Just like we were in the service. You’ll help convince Mac, right?”
I nod, but there’s not going to be any convincing Mac. He’ll make his own decision, just like he always does, and he’ll do the right thing for everyone but himself. Since he loves Logan like a son, I don’t doubt he’ll join us.
“Yeah, of course. You’ll help me keep Logan outta this kind of shit, right? No more jobs for Rick-the-Dick, no matter what he offers?”
“Absolutely.” Manny hangs his head. “I can’t tell you how bad it was watching Rick hit him. It wasn’t anything like when we were in the Gulf. I don’t know. It was bad, man.”
I grip his shoulder. My fingers don’t even dent the muscle. He is such a solid fucker.
“We’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again. C’mon, let’s go play ball. Put last night behind us.”
Manny nods and follows me downstairs. I toss his shirt into the washer and get it going. Ty’s on his phone, grinning like a fucking loon into it while his girl looks back, red-faced but smiling. I throw an arm around his neck and scrub my hand through his sponge twists.
“Hi, Dakota. Are you coming to dinner?”
“Gerrof,” Ty protests.
I ignore him and smile into the phone.
“Yes. Are you Mister Max? Would you mind just speaking to my mom for a minute?”
“Happy to.”
The picture blurs as she walks and then a woman with her daughter’s pretty eyes, although hers are more wary, looks into the phone.
“Hi, I’m Max Bateman,” I tell her. “I’m cooking dinner for a friend and Ty tonight. We were hoping Dakota could join us?”
“Hi. I’m LouAnn Reed. Dakota’s mother.” She colors as brightly as her daughter. “Obviously. Yes, that’d be fine. Could I have a contact number for you and your address?”
I give them to her.
She clears her throat. “We’re on Tenth and C.”
A block away from the Riis projects. I’m guessing she wouldn’t want Dakota walking home on her own.
“Great. Ty and I can walk Dakota home afterwards. We’ll have her home by ten if that’s not too late.”
