Page 154 of Mr. Charming

“If you have the money, I can help you.”

“I have the fucking money.”

“Good, good,” he said, actually rubbing his hands together.

Can I trust this guy to keep Jade and I safe?

After I told him the rest of the details concerning Jade, his expression changed to fear and loathing once again.

“Do not, under any circumstances, go anywhere near that story on the record or off.”

“That’s what I told her, but now I’m not so sure.”

“Don’t think with your dick.”

“Excuse me?”

“Calm down. I’m not going to sugarcoat things because you’re paying so much.”

“What are your rates, again?”

“Four…” He studied my reaction. “Fifty per hour.”

“Fine. You’re the only one who didn’t kick me out of their office today.”

“I bet. For now, I recommend you go home and lie low. If you’re not working, that shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

“Right.”

I stood, looking down at him as he sat behind his expensive Mahogany desk.

“I’ll call you when I learn something new.”

“See my receptionist out front to put down a retainer.”

“Ten grand work?”

His eyes widened.

“Wait. I thought you said you weren’t involved in this smuggling operation.”

“I was in the past, but I’m not anymore. Don’t you even listen? This is my life we’re talking about here.”

“You unloaded a lot of information for the first meeting,” he said, rubbing his moustache.

I headed to the door of his office, ready to pay and go prepare for whatever awaited me next. Between the feds, Max, Jade, and everyone else, there was no telling what it would be, but I wanted to be ready.

After swiping my Visa Black Card in the lobby of his office in a rubdown strip mall, I headed to catch the Staten Island Ferry back to the city.

THIRTY-SIX

Cooper

I headed straight to her apartment, still hoping I could talk her out of doing the story. If the feds tried to stop me, they could talk to my attorney.

During my trip to her place, I kept replaying things in my head. I had thought it best for her to trash the story, but maybe I was wrong. I started to understand her point of view.

Once I admitted to myself she was right, it all made sense. The story going public would direct a lot of attention toward us providing some level of protection. It would at least keep us from disappearing into a holding cell in some bunker unnoticed.