Chapter 17
“I don’t understand,” Brooke said slowly, her mind spinning, after hearing the reason why Reflex had wanted the meeting with her.
It was Wednesday—she and Indi were sitting in the back part of the Cask & Canvas microbrewery, as Brooke usually did when she had a meeting with the four partners and Gene.
“You were so keen for me to move forward as quickly as possible with completing the label art so we could go into production without any delays.
I had complete approval on the concept pieces, and Gene had chosen one to be used for our design. The final artwork is halfway done.
“But now? You want to start the process over? From the very beginning? Do you have any idea what that is going to cost or what that’s going to do to your timeline? I work fast, but I’m not a miracle worker!”
Over the last several days, Brooke, Blake, and Indi had spent considerable time together dissecting the Reflex project, trying to gauge the reason they had requested the meeting.
Indi, whom Brooke had discovered she liked very much, had asked intelligent questions as she familiarized herself with the craft microbrewery industry at a high level.
While Brooke had suspected that Reflex was going to play games with the timeline, she had been unable to figure out their motivation until Indi had made a very good point.
“Something is screaming in my mind that Reflex hit a snag with their grift somewhere, for whatever the reason,” she had said slowly in her quiet way.
“Because their timeline has been thrown, they now need to buy more time so they can slow things down and regroup. Delaying you is going to be their key to doing that, Brooke.” Her lavender eyes had been contemplative.
“The most logical assumption is that Gene Wheeler has started kicking his feet a little bit. Vonn—Kilgore—is a master of manipulation, but his success hinges on his ability to play on the emotions of his marks…or to exploit their vulnerabilities so he can extract information or gain their trust. Maybe with the health of his wife so rapidly improving, Gene’s brain cobwebs are finally blowing away, so he’s asking questions he never did before. ”
“That tracks,” Blake had nodded.
Now, Brooke—secure in the knowledge that she had a protection operative armed with a .
38 revolver at her side—continued to push Reflex for answers.
As they had suspected, Gene was not in attendance at the meeting.
“This simply isn’t done. Brooke Marino Designs has other clients with important projects on the work schedule, and I am not about to reschedule or inconvenience any of them to accommodate a highly irregular request.”
“You’ll do as you’re told,” snapped Jack, his cold eyes narrowing icily. “If we say you need to start over, then you need to start over without giving us any lip.”
Oh. Fuck. NO that jackass didn’t.
Brooke’s wicked Marino temper burned incandescent as she leaned forward, her gray gaze red-hot with anger.
“At the risk of sounding completely unprofessional, you can take your marching orders and shove them where the sun doesn’t shine, Jack,” she retorted in return, then cast her undeniably pissed expression over the group.
“That also goes for the rest of you as well.
According to the terms of my contract, I have every right to disengage and void this agreement for circumstances such as these.
This is your notice that I am exercising that right.
“Never, in all my years of graphic design, have I ever been subjected to this level of abuse by a client!” Standing, she gestured to a quiet Indi, who stood as well.
“You can consider our contract cancelled. Reflex will be receiving a bill for the work performed to date. Please be advised I will be engaging my lawyer if I am not paid what is owed.”
“Hang on. Hang on.” Thom held up his hands hastily, smiling ingratiatingly at Brooke’s granite-hard expression.
“Ms. Marino, you have our deepest apologies for our overreaction.” Brooke snorted, folding her arms belligerently over her chest. “Reflex is so anxious that this project be perfect, we sometimes lose sight of the bigger picture. Honestly, at this stage of the game, no one understands the Cask & Canvas business model the way you do. Losing you would be a disaster for everyone involved.”
In for a penny, in for a pound. Let’s see how they like THIS.
“I fail to see how it would be a disaster for me.” She arched an eyebrow in contempt, her hot anger still apparent in her gaze.
“Walking away from Reflex gives me the opportunity to assure my apprentice here that this is not normal behavior within the graphic design industry. While conflict is hardly unheard of, this level of unprofessionalism most certainly is.” Shaking her finger at them, she continued to glower.
“Our energy is best directed where it will be valued and appreciated. This has been so far removed from that, I haven’t even the words to describe it. ”
“What would it take for you to agree to stay?” Clay, surprisingly, spoke up next.
With a look of disdain at Jack, Brooke said, “One point of contact. One…and certainly not him.” She waved her hand scornfully at Jack.
“No more of these group meetings where it’s five against one.
No more dragging me on-site, then wasting my time with inane bullshit.
You want future meetings? I will tell my contact when an on-site meeting is required, with only the contact and Gene in attendance.
Outside of that, status updates can be accomplished via email.
“Quite frankly, I need at least a day to think about continuing on. You should be thankful my compassion for what Gene and Sandy have been through makes my agreeing to stay even a remote possibility, I’m so furious.”
Brooke beckoned to Indi a second time. “I will call you on Friday morning, Mr. Geralt, and let you know what I have decided. At that time, should I choose to remain, you can let me know which one of you will be my permanent contact. And, to ensure I’ve been perfectly clear…
not him.” Even as she glared at Jack, she couldn’t help the small bubble of amusement that arose within her from the fuming look on his face.
“We’re done here.” Unceremoniously, she turned on her heel and walked toward the front door, Indi following quietly behind.
After she and Indi had driven away, the Infinity operative laughed softly.
“Teagan sure wasn’t kidding about your temper, was she?
I have to tell you, Brooke…I was exceedingly glad I was the one who was armed this time, not you.
I don’t think Reflex would have stood a chance if you’d had a weapon on you. ”
Her face rapidly became serious as she touched the comm in her ear. “Shae? Can you get APS and Dani together with you and let everyone know we need to meet as soon as possible? Brooke and I are heading back to their complex.
“In a nutshell, Reflex is forcing a huge project delay…as in, they want Brooke to start completely over on this project from ground zero.” Indi paused for a moment as she listened to Shae’s response.
“I know…what the fuck, right? They clearly didn’t want my friend here to ask them any questions either, because they steered the conversation away from explaining themselves.
Gene Wheeler was left out altogether. He wasn’t even there.
And Rob Vonn didn’t say the first word during our discussion.
One of the other associates did all the talking.
Whatever else is going on, you can bet they’ve hit a gigantic snag somewhere in their grift and they’re scrambling to buy time. I want to know what the hell is up.”
She listened for a moment, nodding, before she smiled slightly.
“Tell APS I had the privilege of seeing Brooke’s infamous temper up close and personal today.
Bust out the popcorn, baby. For sure, this is a woman you never want to piss off.
Frankly, I’m surprised Reflex still have their balls attached.
” She laughed at the response from the other end, then said, “We’ll see you in a bit. ”
After closing her communications with Shae, Indi turned to Brooke.
“Here’s another question, Brooke. Why was Vonn so uninterested while we were there?
Playing the wide-eyed ingenue apprentice meant I had plenty of opportunity to observe them and their reactions closely without attracting attention.
That man did not want to be there. His whole demeanor was one of having bigger fish to fry now, and this particular scam is beneath him.
So, tell me, what does he all of a sudden have going on that’s more important than their embezzlement and money laundering scheme? ”
“Something he thinks is going to make him a hell of a lot more money,” Brooke said slowly as they approached the APS complex.
“If it’s another embezzlement opportunity, it has to be pretty big, and not necessarily linked to the craft microbrewery industry.
He may be cutting his Reflex partners out of his new scam, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have another associate in a completely different business sector lined up. ”
“Money laundering would be more lucrative than embezzlement, though, with the timeframe he’s working in.
Especially if he’s on the layering and placement end of things.
” Indi was pensive. “Vonn is sniffing around something. Every instinct I have tells me whatever it is goes beyond embezzlement and money laundering or grifting wealthy marks. I don’t see how, but maybe the body brokering is in play with him, more than we’ve been thinking.
When we get back to the APS complex, a brainstorming session is definitely in order.
I have a feeling we’re not going to be happy when we piece it all together either. ”
?ω?ω?ω?
“Good evening, Shadow.”
“Cyb3rmoon. To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“The pleasure is all mine, darling. However, I must admit, the more I wander around, the more I realize David Copperfield would be quite at home in Purgatory.”
“What do you mean?”
“Here is the most legendary illusionist of our time—who, in essence, blurs the line between magic and illusion—with grand-scale trickery swathed in grand and glorious trappings. His audience, his ‘marks,’ are rarely capable of piercing those splendid, breathtaking illusions enough to view the actual deception and deceit underneath.”
“And?”
“The failure of most ‘operations,’ shall we say, is because an illusion has failed…in much the same way a magician may find his magic act has failed. The audience ceases to believe, darling. If a mark lives happily within an illusion—not any the wiser—an operation’s success becomes within reach, most especially when the target has been led to believe there is a noble cause involved. If not—”
“This is of interest to me, why?”
“Do the math, darling, and recall our last conversation.
Sometimes, what appears to BE is not necessarily what IS.
‘There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.’ Sleight of hand is far more than a parlor trick, Shadow, especially when there is substantial wealth to be gained.
“The enemy of my enemy is my friend, as they say. Personally, however, my philosophy is that the enemy of my enemy deserves the exact same knife to the kidneys as my adversary does, depending on what is in play.”
“My little moonchild is bloodthirsty, it would seem.”
“Perhaps. All I know is that an illusion that fails in an operation—much like impulsive action, as we have previously discussed—is what can get you killed. I suspect you would do well to remember that as well. Having feet of ‘clay’ has been the downfall of many prominent players on the chessboard.”
“You play dangerous games, little one.”
“Ah, but the thrill of the chase is what never ceases to fascinate me. Victory is indeed sweet. But closing in on your prey, narrowing the gap, drawing ever closer, breathing down their neck, can be even sweeter…particularly when well-deserved retribution is the motivator. Audaces fortuna iuvat, lover. Fortune favors the bold.”
“Quite true. However, not checking your six has also been the downfall of many a player, Cyb3rmoon. At times, it’s not what’s in back of you or in front of you that’s the greatest threat. What creeps in from the side below your peripheral vision can be even more deadly.”
“I can’t disagree.”
“As interesting as this conversation has been, however, I must go. Stay out of trouble, little moonchild. I may not always be around to rescue you if you step in a pit of quicksand.”
“So must I. Regretfully, however, trouble always seems to find me, I’m sorry to say. Nonetheless, I find that I do much better as the rescuer than the ‘rescuee.’ Perhaps I’ll be the one to pull you out of the quicksand for a change. Until the next time, my Shadow. Sweet dreams.”
?ω?ω?ω?
“I’m going to kill that little bitch.”
“The fuck you are, Jack. What kind of bullshit was that, telling her she was going to do as she was told without giving us any lip? Way to piss her off so she tries to pull out of the project, idiot.”
“You think I care, Berber? Still, the little cunt and her boring, useless assistants are the least of our concerns right now. What I want to know is why the dumbasses we hired to move the merch have bailed all of a sudden. And where the hell is Rob? This is the second time that motherfucker hasn’t bothered to show up for a meeting.
Shit’s getting critical, and his ass is nowhere to be found. ”
“Clay, didn’t you say he texted you and said he was trying to track down what the hell is happening with the men we hired?”
“He did. Rob will get to the bottom of this. I’m betting a job came along that paid more than ours so we got kicked to the curb.
These sleazy jackasses will go for the money every single time.
Unfortunately, we now have to figure out a way to make up the time we’ve lost because we have to hire a new crew.
Tonight, we’ll hit The Hideout and see who’s around. ”
“When this is over, the fuck I am ever coming back to the Tampa area again. This entire scam has been a clusterfuck from the word ‘go.’ Bashing that Marino cunt’s head in on our way out the door would be my preference to make up for it, but I guess ruining her and that pussy Gene Wheeler will have to do.
Let’s get out of here. Christ, I need a beer. ”