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“You know, I hadn’t thought of it like that. That’s a really good point. I’ll have a word with the others and get them to back off a bit,” Sawyer replies thoughtfully, and I like that he doesn’t dismiss what Mason said straight away. He looks at me and says, “Going back to the training thing, depending on which members are left, I should be able to tell you whether their training is up to date or not from what we know about them, which will save you from having to take them all out of jobs for too long. Anything else?”
Nodding, I then take a moment to think for a second, trying to work out if I’ve forgotten anything vital, “I think the only thing left then is, giving them the opportunity to ask me any questions and then tell them that any people who don’t want to be involved in the Ravens anymore need to sign the NDAs by the door and read the fine print very fucking carefully.”
Sawyer nods, “Yeah, I think that’s everything. If we’ve forgotten something, then you’re quite good on your feet, and if you’re okay with it, then we can step in to answer anything that you stumble across.”
“Yeah, I’m completely fine with that. I think it’s important that everyone knows that I’m going to take everyone’s opinions into account and not just dismiss them, especially considering that Treyton is who they were used to dealing with before.”
“I think that’s smart,” Rip replies.
“Out of curiosity, how many have already handed in the NDAs to say that they don’t want to be a part of the Ravens anymore?” Ace asks.
Sawyer pauses for a second as he pulls out his phone and flicks through it until he finds what he needs, “There’s going to be about twenty in attendance. Everyone else has handed in their NDAs. Although you have to understand that some of those are because they were forced into this life.”
Chapter Eleven
“Yeah, I can understand that completely,” I reply. “I’m glad that they’ve finally gotten the chance to get out if they want to. I don’t want people working for me who feel like they’re forced to be here. That doesn’t bode well for the quality of work or morale or loyalty.”
“Yes, I agree completely. I think you may have earned loyalty from those who you’ve freed, the majority of them were not made for this life, and some of them have been indebted to the Ravens for generations.” Sawyer replies.
“In that case, I am even more happy that they have gotten out, and I hate that they were forced into this in the first place,” I reply honestly.
“Me too,” he replies and then checks his watch, “are you ready to go?”
Nodding, I’m slightly surprised when my reply is truthful, “Yeah, I’m ready and feeling a lot more confident about how this is going to go.”
As we’re getting ready to head out, the guys all make sure to check in with me and ensure that I really am okay, which is ridiculously sweet.
“Alright, all in the same car, please, just in case another disgruntled Raven decides that they have a bone to pick with you. I’d just feel better if we’re all together,” Rome instructs as we all leave the house, each and every one of us heavily armed.
“Let’s do this,” I grin.
**********
The meeting went as well as could be expected, and by the time I was done, we’d ended up with the Conspiracy team, the Tech team that consists of three members. Then there’s the other team that Sawyer’s suspicions were proven correct about, and they do have a female member, so that means that we have three teams now that are mixed, and Sawyer knows them all reasonably well, so he’s getting the information that we’ll need in order to give them the best jobs that suit their skillset and was able to tell me their level of training which is good enough that they can go straight out on jobs which is good. He’s now working with the tech team to start sourcing the right jobs. He really has become invaluable to me with the amount of help and responsibility he’s willing to take on.
Everyone else left when I started to list the things that I was going to change, or some of them still had manners and waited to sign the NDAs until the end of the meeting. The only other people who were left were four Ravens who like to work alone, and I was surprised to see that one of them was a woman. I was less surprised to find that the oldest member who stayed was only in their early forties. It was all of the more senior members that were stuck in their ways and unaccepting of change that left almost as soon as they were given the out.
That was it, that is all the members we have left, and although I could very easily let it become disheartening that we have lost so many members, I’m actually excited, it’s as I’ve mentioned before, now that we’re down to the bare bones of the organization we can build it back up and regain or even grow an entirely new and better reputation.
“Well, that was interesting,” Mason says into the silence of the car.
“There weren’t nearly as many questions as I thought they were going to be,” Ace replies.
Rome’s expression becomes knowing, “Yeah, I’m fairly certain that the majority of those that did turn up did so because they were curious. They had already decided that they weren’t going to be a part of the Ravens anymore.”
I nod, “Oh yeah, definitely. Then again, I most likely would’ve done the same if I was faced with the same situation.”
“I agree. I most likely would’ve done the same.” Sawyer agrees and then adds, “Asher has just messaged to get me to tell you that you did good, and those of them that were there, because they were planning to follow you and not just because they were nosey, would have been impressed with how you handled it all.”
I smile, “Aw, that’s nice of him. My message from Harley just said you kicked ass.” The guys chuckle at my words, and I change the subject, “Now that the meeting is all over and done with, and everything has been put in motion to get us jobs again, the next thing that we need to do is the Mona job.”
“Hopefully, it won’t be too complicated,” Rip replies.
As we pull up to our house, I reply, “No, hopefully not. I told her I wasn’t starting it until Saturday, though, so we can chill out for the rest of the evening and then head to Mona’s for around ten tomorrow.”
As we get out of the car, Sawyer asks me, “Do you still want the Conspiracy team involved?”
I pause for a second as I think it over, “Actually since you guys are helping the tech team find jobs and handing them out to the remaining members, I might just have you guys on standby in case the Mona job gets complicated. You guys have also just done the job in New Orleans with me. So really, you need to have a break now until your next job.”
