Page 28 of Statler

It went completely against his grain.

Not that insinuating himself closely into Eliza’s sphere would be a hardship. He already felt an attraction to the buttoned-up woman.

But using her for discovery purposes would most certainly leave a very bad taste in his mouth.

Perhaps one of his team…?

Nope.

Not going to happen.

If anyone was going to try and get close to Eliza, it was going to be him. The thought of any of his guys, especially Pipes the man-whore, trying to charm information out of the shy woman, didn’t sit right in his gut.

Statler made up his mind on the spot.

Tag. He was it.

Fuck.

Since he wasn’t a total loser however, before he made any moves he’d feel better running the idea by the team to see what they thought.

If he was way off base, they’d let him know.

A bit more settled, or at least comfortably resigned, Statler eventually pulled in behind the four trucks already at the site. His team stood in a loose circle, some resting their backs against their vehicles, some shifting eagerly from foot to foot, waiting on his ass with the building plans already spread out on the hood of Hazard’s truck.

That was something he didn’t see, often.

Normally he was the one to lead the charge.

“Nice of you to join us, boss,” Diz teased.

Statler barely refrained from flipping him the bird while he quickly made his excuses.

“Yeah, well, some of us like to put our belongings away, neatly, not pile them on top of the dresser in a heap.”

Dizzy grinned. “Aww, buddy. You’ve been peeking in my windows again, haven’t you?”

Statler snorted. “That’ll be the day when I want to spy on your ugly ass.”

Finished with small talk, Stat beckoned them closer.

It was now or never.

“Before we start our inspection, I want your opinions on something I’ve been pondering,” he began.

If that sounded ominous, then so be it. At least he had everyone’s attention.

“As you all realize, we’re going to need a lot of intel to put Flazer away. Which means not only running our undercover surveillance operations after the town has gone to bed, but also working our charms; trying to get close to anyone we might consider a player… Or someone who’s close to a person involved.”

His crew all nodded as he gave them more of his thoughts.

“That’s going to be a little tough, though, because there are no bars in town, and those are the places that people normally have loose lips. Which means we’ll have to see if we can find out where the alcohol seekers go, outside of town. We also need to get more creative; take advantage of making friends any way we can and with anyone we can.”

“Like maybe that Granny Edith person who makes food, or the people who work at the few, local establishments Eliza mentioned?” Sherbert questioned.

“Exactly,” Statler agreed. “Or if you take your lunch-break in the town square near the existing factory, try to approach any locals who might also be there, to see if you can establish friendships that might be useful.”

Blue narrowed her eyes at him. “I get it,” she snorted. “I know where you’re going with this. You’re laying out a strategy you’re going to use on Eliza, aren’t you?” she accused.