Page 82 of Playing for Keeps (Checkmate 4)

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Epilogue

Three Months Later

“Good morning, sugar. How you doing today?” The plump Miss Dolly jumps out from behind her desk and tries to railroad me against the wall. “It was such along, lonely night all by myself.”

I bite my smirk and try to bustle past Checkmate Security’s enthusiastic receptionist as all three-hundred pounds – two-hundred and fifty of which take up residence in her ass – tries to seduce me again.

It’s a daily thing around here, though she’s not loyal to just me; she tries to bed Eric and Spence every day, too. It’s like she increases her efforts the higher up the chain of command she goes; she calls me sugar and tries to hump my leg. More often than not, she humps my prosthetic and giggles in a way that makes my balls retreat, and when she misses my leg, she gets the cane Andi got for my birthday; it’s metallic, with hints of green and tiny flecks of sparkling gold when in direct sunlight.

When I first unwrapped it, I reverted back to the asshole version of me; canes are for old folks, and I didn’t need that shit in my life. But it didn’t take long to learn it was better than the chair or crutches, and better yet, it can be used to whack annoying people with. All in all, I’ll take the cane and be happy with my lot in life.

In her pursuit of Checkmate domination, Dolly catches me in the hall four days out of seven. She touches Eric’s ass most days, and there was the one time she licked Spence’s chest. But she saves her best moves for Kane, because according to her, they were meant for each other, she’s just waiting for him to wake the hell up and drop the hanger-on; Jess.

“I love my girl, Miss Dolly.” I lift my hand and turn my face away when she crowds me against the wall. I wear my newest prosthetic these days; it’s still a temp, because my leg is still changing shape, but Linc has me on the dynamic-response foot now, and it does everything the website promised it would. It’s almost –almost– like a real leg. I can pivot and escape Miss Dolly most days, which, despite my new job, is the most agile I need to be.

She’s the most dangerous part of my job, but she’s funny and sweet, and the day one of us agrees to her crazy and say yes, is the day she drops dead of a heart attack.

She’s playing. And the comedic relief is worth every second of awkward humping.

“Dolly, I’m gonna need you to take your hands off me before Andi finds out. She’s a jealous one, and she’s explosive. You don’t want that mess.”

“Pssht.” She backs away with a roll of her eyes and gives me space. “I’d snap that little girl like a twig. These itty-bitty girls around here don’t scare me.”

“Oh, stop it.” Jess walks out with her twin sister by her side. I can tell Jess and Laine apart by attitude only; Jess is the queen of this castle, and she carries her title as she should, whereas Laine is the quieter, softer sister. She enjoys Dolly’s antics as much as the rest of us, mostly because Dolly leaves Laine’s man alone. “Those phones are ringing, girlfriend, but you’re flirting with the rook again. Kane might fire your ass if you don’t get your shit together.”

“Excuse me, Miss Fancy, but you better watch your sass.” Dolly drops her hands to her hips and does the head bob every three-hundred-pound woman with attitude has perfected. “You’re just his temporary girl, so watch your back. Imma take your side of the bed soon.”

Jess shrugs. “Suits me. He’s a stubborn mule, anyway. He thinks he can boss me around and live with the consequences.”

“Blondie!” Kane stomps into the front reception of his new company with guns strapped to his body in ways X and Oz might take issue with, and points toward the front door. “Woman, you’ve been given your orders. Why didn’t you follow them yet?”

“Because I’m not a sheep who follows orders; I thought we’d already established that? We all know who’sreallyin charge around here, and it sure as hell ain’t you. You have no groundbreaking proof to back this up, and therefore, I’m not running away and hiding just because you’ve got a gut feeling.”

“My gut feeling has saved my life a thousand times, woman! Just do as you’re fuckin’ told. This one time!”

I was smiling at the shit-show that is this office. With Dolly on the phones, Kane at the helm, and none of the women listening when they’re told to do shit, it’s not a secret who runs this place. But now Bish is talking gut feelings, and his eyes twinkle with something that isn’t fun.

Out of habit, my hand drops to my hip. I don’t unclip my gun, but I’m ready. I’m waiting. “What’s going on?”

Kane turns to me. “Jess thinks I’m playing, but something is going on. Something doesn’t feel right, and until I figure it out, she’s been ordered behind the gates.”

“I’m not leaving you, dumbass. So try again.”

“Bish?” I wait for his eyes. Jess might brush him off, but I’m listening. “What’s the problem?”

He waves me through the front office, past a six foot plastic statue in the shape of an ice-cream cone – stolen – and away from the noisy Dolly and her unanswered phones. “Remember how your mom’s place had that lockdown recently? They said it was a routine lockdown, so everyone was up on the procedure?”

My eyes narrow as we enter the war room not a lot different to the one at X’s station. This one is bigger, grander, with smart boards instead of white boards and a coffee machine instead of hot water and coffee granules. It’s the difference between private money and state funds.

Turning when Eric follows us in, then Spence – Kane’s seven-foot monster friend who could break any motherfucker like a dry twig – I stand against the back wall on my right leg and take the weight off my left to give it a rest. When it’s an impromptu meeting witheveryone, plus their girls,andthey’re talking about my sweet momma, I know I need to remain standing, I need to rest when I can get it, then I need to break and run as soon as I get the word. “What about it?”

“Well, I’m starting to wonder if it wasn’t standard procedure after all.” Taking a remote control from the long table, Kane points toward a large TV and flips it on so we catch surveillance of the entire building we stand in, plus Kane’s house, plus the police station.

Alex won’t like that last one.

He drops the remote and pulls up a seat beside where Jess flops down. Her sister sits beside her, then the sister’s boyfriend, Angelo, drops down next. “We have eyes and ears everywhere, Rook, and I’m getting rumblings someone was searching that place for something. They were careful, they were quiet, and if they were searching for something, I don’t think they found it. But I sure as hell don’t like these rumblings. ”

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