Page 4 of Proposition 1

Pushing thoughts of the woman and her brother aside, I focused on why I had come. I spent a couple hours with my father, going over plans and issues he wanted me to handle. By the time I rose from my seat, I was ready to stretch my legs and think about something else for a while.

Before I left the office, Dad looked up at me.

“Did you get the event figured out for next week?”

“Mostly. There’s still a few things I need to set up, but the stage is prepared.”

“I want twelve quality girls.”

“Twelve? I thought we’d decided eight?”

He raised a brow.

“That was before we invited more people.”

I resisted the urge to sigh.

“I’ll get them.”

He gave me a nod and went back to his figures.

The old man never trusted anyone else to do the books for him, not even me, and keeping up with all our income streams took a lot of his time. He still got his hands dirty when needed, but he ruled by loyalty and respect instead of pure fear. If you take care of your men, they take care of you.

Walking out to the front of the building, I noticed the two guards that escorted the girl earlier. I had a few girls I knew would be willing, but I was short a couple, and thinking of the one who stood up to my father reminded me of the idea I’d had.

I walked up to the pair, both of them giving me respectful nods as I came to a stop in front of them.

“What can we do for you?”

“Did either of you catch that girl’s name earlier?”

The one on the left grinned.

“Was it Katy? No,” the other one shook his head before his eyes lit up. “Cadence!”

“Last name?”

I watched his face fall. With only a first name to go on it might take a while to track her down.

“What was the brother’s name?”

“Michael… Green, I think.”

The man shrugged, but I had what I needed. Thanking them, I walked over to my car and climbed in, hitting the dial button on the steering wheel. By the time I pulled off the property, I was explaining what I needed to one of our people.

“I need info on a Cadence Green. Early twenties. Has a brother named Michael.”

There was a pause as the man worked, but it didn’t take long for him to start rattling off information.

“Cadence Green, graduated from Swift High School, turns twenty-one in a couple weeks. Lives here in the city. Works two jobs.”

“Where?”

He rattles off the information and my brows raise. Someone her age is usually in college or working dead-end jobs and partying away what they make. She’s working two, and one of them sounds like a decent place, though the waitressing isn’t much of a surprise.

“Message me the address of the diner. Do you have anything else?”

My phone pings a second later before he replies.

“Not without digging. How much do you want?”

“Go ahead and send me whatever you can find.”

I’ve already got something to use to convince her with, but it doesn’t hurt to know everything. Some people can be stubborn.

“Will do.”

Smiling to myself, I headed off to take care of business.

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