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I turned back in surprise. My mouth formed an O. "Silas must've been in more debt than we realised."
"It's all on his computer. I forwarded you a copy. He was in a shit load of debt to Alastair Dagen." He gulped his coffee and made a face at how hot it was.
"It must be significant if this nephew would come here tonight." I blew on the top of my coffee gently. "It's not something anyone should do lightly."
"It's something someone would have to be desperate to do," Jake agreed gently.
I glanced down at the dark hardwood floor. "Yeah. I assume his alternative would be to be in debt to Dagen for the rest of his life?"
"And the lives of his children," Jake agreed.
"It's that much?" I asked.
"Not for you or me, but if all you have in the world is a chop shop, then it would be virtually impossible to pay all of that back." Jake sipped his coffee, which must have cooled enough by now.
I nodded. I remembered the days of living hand to mouth all too well. Sometimes it didn't matter how hard you worked, you would still always live that way. I was one of the lucky ones. Or one of the ruthless ones. Maybe both.
"I guess I know what I'll be doing tonight," I said. "You want to tag along?"
"I was going to wash my hair, but that sounds like a much better idea." He grinned.
"Good." Only now I was picturing Jake naked, with water and suds sliding down his body. I pushed away the thought. I needed to focus on more important things, like what I was going to wear tonight.
Jake must have read my mind, because he asked, "Do I have to wear a suit?" His lips curled at the idea.
"When you put it that way, yes," I said. "This is a Crimson event. You should have a suit ready for it."
"I do," he said. "But usually something comes up every time we plan anything like this. Last time it was that stupid motherfucker who tried to pass himself off as one of us."
"Right. He ended up part of the concrete in the foundations of one of our buildings, didn't he?" I asked. I couldn't possibly remember the way we disposed of everyone.
"That's the guy." Jake gulped down the last of his coffee and put his mug on the counter top. "The time before that it was the Onyx Ridge pack stirring up trouble."
"And this time we need to go because this nephew of Silas' is deep in debt to Dagen. It's never a dull moment around here." Once in a while, I could use a little boredom. Just for an hour or two.
"Run the biggest criminal organisation in the state they said. It'll be fun they said," Jake joked.
I laughed. "Who said that? I only did this because the Onyx Ridge pack murdered my parents and took over what they built. All I did was take it back."
Of course, Jake knew all of that. He smiled sympathetically. "You could have had a nice, quiet life. Become a teacher or a police officer."
I laughed harder than before. "Police officer? Wouldn't that be ironic?" I had a bunch of them on my payroll. The rest were oblivious. Or pretended to be.
Jake chuckled. "I would let you arrest me."
And we were back to that again.
"I don't think I could arrest you," I said.
"Because I'm so handsome and charming you would let me get away with anything?" he asked teasingly.
"No. Because you're an arrogant motherfucker. I'd shoot you on sight and save myself the trouble." I swallowed my last mouthful of coffee and put my mug down beside his.
He grunted. "You're a hard woman, El."
"I know," I said. "That's why I should probably fire you and make you go off and find a nice girl and a decent, legitimate job."
He barked a laugh. "You like me too much to inflict that kind of torture on me."
