New Year’s Eve is a target that makes sense, though. People will be dressed to the nines, wearing expensive jewelry. And we have several in-house cash fundraisers happening with some of our arcade games for local charities, so the place will have extra cash on hand that night.
The cops want to put some plainclothes officers there. According to their informant, Hoffman plans to be at the edge of the parking lot calling shots to his stepsister and a couple ticketholders who are in on it.
This is a headache I don’t need on top of everything else I’ve got goin’ on, but of course I agree to help them catch Hoffman. I say I’ll put extra security on site that night, valet services that’ll be undercover cops instead of regular parking guys, and we’ll be having a briefing with my security and the cops before the planned heist unless they can catch Hoffman before that.
Little do they know the Hoffman problem is already dealt with. Two shitheads dealt with – with just one stone. Well, one dealt with and the other about to take the fall.
But I’m playing along, hoping the cops don’t get suspicious. Though, the way they keep turning up at my home unannounced has me thinking they already are.
***
I find Violet in my office, sitting on top of my desk while talking on the phone, staring out the window. She senses my presence and looks over her shoulder, her eyes hitting mine with unspoken questions as she wraps up her call.
“I’ll be there. Thank you so much.” She ends the call and turns fully to me. She’s dressed in yoga pants and a tank top. Her tits look extra scrumptious this morning.
“What’s all that?” I ask.
“What happened with the police? You can’t just glaze over that with me.”
I wave my hand dismissively. “They’re after Amber’s junkie dealer boyfriend. They’ve already got warrants. They have a confidential informant that told them he’s hatching a plan to rob Numbers on New Year’s Eve. They’re determined to catch him and then take him down for the other shit along with that.”
“You seem awfully calm about a ploy to rob your club.”
“It’s all gonna work out. No time to get into it right now, I’ve gotta catch a flight to Seattle for a meeting with Jag. I’ll be back tonight.”
“What about?”
“About what happened on the weekend and also now about this potential heist.”
“What about the weekend?” she asks.
“Jag used to run security for me. Has his own security company now. Tony’s been my head of security since Jag left just by default, but things were mostly quiet. I believe in risk management and the writing is on the wall about us being potential targets with Numbers, so I want to assess my security plan and see what he can do to take things up a notch with not only on-site security but screening employees, shit like that. Gotta make plans for him to provide security for New Year’s Eve as well as talk about an ongoing strategy. And I’ve got to talk to him and his sister about our other problem.”
“His sister?” she asks, but then there’s a knock on the door.
“Come in,” Violet calls out.
Patricia pokes her head in. “I was about to head out for your groceries. There was no list, so…”
“I’ll do the shopping tomorrow. I’m not working,” Violet says. “I already need to shop for my grandfather so if you could just take our dry-cleaning in, that’d be wonderful. Do you have time to do that? If not, I can do it.”
“Oh,” Patricia looks surprised. “I’ll do it, no problem. And I’ll be back soon and I’ll do the floors. Unless that’s not convenient. You both going to be here all day?”
“I’m heading out in five,” I say.
“I’m going Christmas shopping,” Violet says.
“With someone?” I ask.
“No. Everyone I know is at work.”
“I’d rather you go with someone,” I say.
“Christmas is in a few days so I’m running out of time.”
“Take the driving service. I’ll call Stan and ask him to be on call for you.”
“I can drive.”
“I’d rather you take my driver.”
“Okay. Patricia, would you like to go to the mall with me? You can skip the floors. I’ll do them.”
“Sure!” Patricia exclaims. “I have a few things I still need. Alana is off today, too. Maybe she’d like to meet us there.”
“Great,” Violet claps her hands.
“You can come back tomorrow and do the floors, Patricia,” I say.
Violet waves her hand dismissively. “They’re not even dirty. If they get intolerably dirty before you come again Thursday, I’ll do them.”
“I’ll be back in an hour,” Patricia leaves, looking excited.
My wife is hanging out with my housekeeper and doing her job for her. Not only is she the housekeeper, she’s about a decade Violet’s senior, but they seem like good friends already. She’s constantly surprising me.