Wes Traynor is off tonight, but another employee of Zack Jacobs is following Violet to her parents’ place later.
My brother is working for the Ferrano family doing security for Dario’s sister-in-law. I asked him details about that, but he’s said he’s under an NDA, so I haven’t asked any other questions.
All I know is that I’m looking forward to this shit being over with and for me to go back to business as usual with Jag handling security for all the clubs.
We’ve got double the security we had opening night as well as half a dozen plain clothes officers blending in with the crowd along with a team in not only the basement monitoring security cameras but also in my office being overseen by Jag.
I’m in the main bar at Numbers, talking to the assistant manager, Jose, who has worked for me for two years, formerly assistant manager at Law, and is now my frontrunner to replace Craig. I’ve already dropped hints he’s in the running for the manager job and he tells me he’ll step up any way he can to prove himself.
We’ll see how it goes tonight. Nobody that works for me other than Tony and Alana know the security beef-up is about anything other than it being a big night and of course they don’t know just how much additional security we’ve got because much of it includes people looking like customers.
Tony is shadowing Alana at Genesis tonight for our big annual high stakes poker game with all our take going to the children’s hospital.
Exodus is a typical night but with ticket holders getting an extra nice dinner and bottle of champagne.
Law is business as usual.
All four locations are closed tomorrow for New Year’s Day.
Five minutes until opening and I see Stephanie Whitley stroll in, looking rattled.
“Cuttin’ it close?” I ask, towel-drying some glasses from the dishwasher.
“Oh,” she smiles brightly. “I know. I’m here and I’m ready for the madness.”
“Glad to hear it.”
She bites her lip and tucks her dark hair behind her ear as she heads for the back room where the lockers are. She adds an extra sway to her hips as I watch her walk away and looks over her shoulder at me as she turns the corner.
Fucking cunt. I’m looking forward to getting my hands on her later. I’m certain she’s behind the dosing.
There are two cops and two of Jag’s team who will have eyes on her every move tonight.
***
My phone beeps with a text alert an hour later.
Jessa: Call your fucking guard dog off me or so help me.
Me: What does that mean?
Jessa: I’m not playing this bullshit macho alpha game. Tony is a jerk. Call him off.
I don’t know what’s going on with them, but I have no time for this shit, so I don’t bother to answer her. Instead, I forward her text to Tony and send a message.
Me: Sort your woman out. Don’t let it preoccupy you tonight. I need you focused.
Tony: Believe me, I will. Don’t worry.
I tuck my phone away, amused.
A conversation with Jag about this makes it even more fun. He’s fully on board with Tony and his sister. Tells me if this were the old days, he’d have happily paid a fat dowry to Tone for taking her off his hands.
***
It’s command central in my office and at a minute before ten thirty, shit starts to hit the fan and as suspected, but only because of how we started to map things out this afternoon, it starts with an armed robbery at Genesis, which we almost weren’t prepared for.
But we are prepared.
Two guys wearing balaclavas pushed their way in through the kitchen door, knocking out a dishwasher and headed straight into the private room where the high-roller fifty/fifty charity poker tournament is happening with guns in their hands.
Jag’s lead guy called to tell us Tony’s taken a bullet to the shoulder and would’ve taken one to the chest too, but was wearing a vest. Anyone on my team in the know tonight is, including Alana and myself.
Interestingly, reviewing the roster for tonight for all four of my clubs, the Genesis dishwasher rings a bell and it dawns this is the same guy who got injured at Exodus a few months ago by Hoffman’s crew. I never did get the chance to promote him because he quit right after that. I didn’t realize he re-applied to work at Genesis and tonight is his first shift. I give Jag those details and he orders his guys to watch the dishwasher like a hawk.
Tony is in an ambulance, en route to the hospital and a moment later, Carlson ends a call beside me, telling me the cops stopped three men in a van from taking three hundred grand in cash an intersection away at a red light. And that my dishwasher, the one who got knocked out, is known to associate with one of them. A setup.