Chapter Five

  The penthouse was an eerie level of silence first thing in the morning. The kind where every noise felt perverse as it broke through with even the coffee maker, burbling and hissing, elicited a wince from Dorian as he finished getting himself dressed. He slipped on a pair of leather shoes, the kind that needed a shoehorn to slip into so as not to damage the leather. They’d come te st night along with his suit from Hugo with a note mentioning the shoes were complimentary. Thankfully he had the forethought to also include a pair of bck socks to go with it.

  Checking himself in the full-length mirror just shy of the front door, Dorian straightened out his jacket and adjusted the cuffs. Even with the measurements being off by an inch or so, per Nicole’s suggestion, the suit still fit to every angle of Dorian’s body. Couple this with the new cut and a clean shave, even Dorian couldn’t recognize the man he was before. His mind’s eye fshing to the moment when he stood in the bathroom of the jet. The ratty jeans stained with dust and motor oil now repced with pristine pressed scks. The bck hoodie that crusted over from sweat and oil of his body now gone and, in its pce, a fine suit coat that accentuated his natural taper to his chest.

  Inside the reflection of the mirror, Dorian saw Keeva in a suit of her own albeit with her jacket draped over the back of one of the chairs sitting at the isnd. The sleeves of her blouse rolled up just a quarter of the way to reveal a set of tattoos that came down to just shy of her wrists. Her necktie hanging loose with the topmost button left undone. Casual without being sloppy as she pulled a pair of paper to-go cups form the cupboard and poured coffee into each.

  Upon hearing the shuffling of feet just down the hall, Dorian turned himself around, Keeva with him, as Ashley came wandering into the kitchen. Her hand grazing the sleep from her eye as she still wore that same wrinkled button down that hung heavy across her form. The tails of the shirt long enough to cover her hips like a less than modest dress, even as she stretched her arms over her head with a groan. The sleep seeming to whisky from her eyes upon seeing Dorian in what would be his work uniform as she crossed the room in a slightly faster shuffle. Her hands running up the pels of his suit before gripping them in her fingers and using them to pull herself closer to him. Her body pressing against his, the same way a cat might nuzzle its owner. Her foot cocking off the ground as Dorian found himself unable to find a proper pce to put his hands.

  “You look nice~” Ashley cooed with a croak to her voice from the early morning.

  “I wanted to make sure Ashley got to say goodbye to you before you two headed out this morning.” Nicole said as she perched herself at the threshold of the kitchen. She wore a robe that stopped at her upper-thigh and tied at the waist. The dull sheen giving away its material as silk.

  “You’re leaving?” Ashley pleaded as her grip tightened over Dorian’s pel, her gaze shifting between her mother and Dorian who reached up to pce his hands on hers.

  “I just have to,” Dorian began as he gazed past Ashley to Nicole and recalled the terms, she used the evening before. “Close out a deal is all. It shouldn’t take me long.”

  “And you promise you’ll be back?” Ashley said, her hands pulling into Dorian’s grip as she took a step back to eye him from head to toe.

  Opening his mouth to respond, Dorian choked over the words he wanted to say upon hearing Ashley. Repying that word in his head repeatedly as he thought back to his earliest conversations with Ashley. Promise. Dorian thought to himself as his mind’s eye fshed even further back than the moments inside the jet. Ashley holding onto his hand as she trailed just behind him with the weight of a pistol in his opposite hand. The bored breathing as Ashley strained herself to be heard over the chaos unfolding behind them. “Do you promise?” she asked when Dorian said he’d get her somewhere safe.

  “Dorian.” Nicole stated, breaking through his full second of silence. “She asked you a question.”

  “Yeah…” Dorian trailed off as he looked at Nicole before turning his gaze back to Ashley. “I… promise.”

  “Let’s get going pup,” Keeva called out as she swiped her coat in one hand and carried her coffee in the other. Gesturing to Dorian’s cup still on the counter. “Got a long drive ahead of us.”

  “Come on sweetheart,” Nicole said as she pulled herself from her perch and offered her hand out to Ashley. “Let’s get some more rest. We have work today too.”

  Turning to their respective callers, Dorian and Ashley returned their gaze to each other. Ashley pulling her hands from Dorian’s grasp as she brushed a lock of hair over her ear while Dorian straightened the pels of his suit. Before Dorian could manage to part his lips enough to say something, he’d already felt Ashley’s against his jawline. A ghost of a kiss against his face before she started off further into the house. Her hand resting at the small of her back as she wagged her fingers in Dorian’s direction before Dorian swiped his coffee from the isnd. Starting after Keeva.

  “We got a six-hour drive ahead of us, you’re gonna want to get comfy.” Keeva said as she draped her jacket over her shoulder with one hand and sipped on her coffee with the other.

  Dorian followed her lead as he loosened his tie and shrugged off his coat. Draping it over one arm as he held his coffee in the other. When Dorian joined Keeva in the garage, he expected a bck SUV to be waiting for them. In its pce, signaled by the headlights blinking as Keeva unlocking the doors, was four door Honda Accord. Keeva must have felt the surprise in the air around Dorian as she opened the door and tossed her coat into the back seat. Her smirk chiding as she gestured for Dorian to join her.

  “Expecting something different?” Keeva asked. “Rest assured pup, it has all the bells and whistles and I’m not talking about heated seats and blue tooth stereo.”

  Upon opening the door, Dorian already saw one of the aforementioned “Bells and whistles.” The windows were reinforced with bullet proof gss, the door was heavy like it had armor pting on the inside. Dorian could just about imagine the other details. Likely run ft tires filled with a hard foam in the event that the tires were punctured or sshed and probably a few modifications to the engine and suspension to compensate for the weight.

  “You know you’re a lot easier to deal with when you’re quite like this?” Keeva chided once more as Dorian took his seat in the passenger side.

  “Give me a second to get my coffee.” Dorian groused as he took another sip before raising his arms upon Keeva tossing something into his p. Looking at her then back down at the suitcase that appeared before him, Dorian surveyed its contents.

  “The cellphone is yours; it’ll be your private and work phone from now on so I want you to take the next few hours to get familiar with it.” Keevan began as she pulled from the parking spot and proceeded through the garage. “Hope you weren’t too sentimental with that pistol you shoved into the side of my head either because you’ll be using a nine-millimeter from here on out.”

  Set inside the suitcase was a small bck rectangle that Dorian powered on and set to the side. Beside that was a small case that opened to reveal the pistol Keeva mentioned before. A full magazine sitting right beside it. Though with only the one magazine and pistol, Dorian figured that this wasn’t going to be a job that required a lot of force.

  Slipping the magazine inside the handle of the pistol, Dorian pulled the slide back just enough to gain a feel for it without loading the chamber. Leaning forward, he slipped the pistol into the waist of his scks at his lower back before turning his attention back to the phone.

  “Ever used one before?” Keeva asked.

  “Not too often, flip phones are cheaper and easier to get rid of.” Dorian said as concentrated on getting himself familiar with the user interface of the smart phone.

  “Supposedly they’re a custom job from Ash herself. It only does what you tell it too so you don’t need to worry about anyone spying on you that you don’t give permission.” Keeva mentioned and reached over to Dorian’s side of the car and pulled open the glove compartment. Her eyes flicking to the contents as she smiled and retrieved a pack of cigarettes. Flicking open the pack with her thumb and pcing one between her lips before deftly retrieving the lighter hiding inside. With another flick, she summoned the fme and lit the end and inhaled the smoke, rolling down one of the windows to exhale a sigh of relief. Turning the pack over in her hand, she offered one out to Dorian and saw the way he put his hand up in polite refusal.

  “Ashley doesn’t like it when I smoke.” Dorian said.

  “Is that why you’ve been so cranky?” Keeva chuckled around the cigarette pinned between her lips as she slipped the pack into her breast pocket. Taking another drag, she pulled the cigarette from her mouth and blew the smoke out the window. “She’s like her mother like that.”

  Before Dorain could summon a response, his ears perked at the sound of chiming ringtone. Keeva’s eyes flicking over towards the phone before wagging her brows as she took another drag and blew the smoke out the window. Dorian checking the message and noticing the contact info already loaded as the sender was marked as Ashley. The message reading ‘stay safe’ with a heart emoji following after it. Dorian smiled at the message before replying himself, saying ‘should I be concerned that you knew when I turned this thing on?’ A few seconds ter, Ashley responded with a sticker of a cat looking off to the side with a bead of sweat running down the side of its head. The follow up message reading ‘no…?’

  Swiping out from the messages, Dorian navigated to the camera and snapped a picture. Pretending to forget that he left the fsh on as a bright light summoned Keeva’s attention. The picture capturing the exact moment of Keeva looking sidelong at the camera with a lit cigarette in her mouth. Dorain sending the picture with the caption ‘I won’t tell anyone if you don’t.’

  “Really gonna tattle on me like that pup?” Keeva asked before flicking the st of her cigarette out the window. Blowing the smoke out from between her lips before she spoke again. “Thought there was honor amongst thieves.”

  “You’d have to ask one yourself because I used to be a smuggler not a thief.” Dorian corrected as he smiled at the string of ughing crying emojis that Ashley sent in response followed by Ashley’s message that read ‘don’t let her be a bad influence on you.’

  “Believe me, I remember!” Keeva retorted. “The only reason I’m letting that slide is cause I owe a few of my promotions to stopping your handy work.”

  “Did your old employers ever consider the fact that maybe the cases you caught onto were the ones I let you catch?” Dorian asked as he met Keeva’s sidelong gre with his own.

  The silence that consumed the car left Dorian wondering if Keeva was really considering what he said for a moment or if she was biting her tongue as not to say something in retaliation. When Keeva reached for the radio and produced her own phone to connect to the blue tooth, Dorian assumed it was the tter. The screen on the car stereo reading “Cynics Anonymous” as an aggressively British voiceover came on with all the warmth of a stone washed smooth by the tide.

  “Welcome to Cynics Anonymous,” The host began. “The pop culture support group for people who like to pretend they couldn’t care less about the media they consume but still need something to talk to their coworkers about come Monday. He’s Collin,”

  “And he’s Mike.” Another voice broke in of a simir accent.

  “And this is episode ninety-nine and were finally gonna be talking about it. Yes, it’s the fabled day were we actually got around to watching Game of Thrones.” Mike said.

  “Well, you watched Game of Thrones, I have to admit that I’ve actually been reading the books this whole time.” Collin said.

  “This whole time?” Mike interjected, his tone an exaggerated betrayal. “Just when you think you know someone. Alright smart guy why not start us off with the first episode and how it ranks up to the first chapter.”

  Smirking at the tone in which each of the hosts began to talk Dorian felt a ugh rising out of his throat. Even going as far as to escape his lips as he listened with a smile barely curling at his lips as the episode carried on. The dry humored quips about the subject matter being lobbed between the hosts being a nice accompaniment to the drive itself.

  “Was that a ugh I heard?” Keeva teased.

  “It was a scoff.” Dorian responded.

  “Sounded more like a giggle to me.”

  “We’ll break even and call it a chuckle.”

  “Yeah alright.” Keeva trailed off before smiling at the next quip between Mike and Collin with her own ughter spilling over with Dorian harmonizing with it. Her gaze stealing over him for a quick moment before she returned her attention to the road. “Okay so you do know how to ugh!”

  “Are you just doing your best impression of me or are you normally like this when Nicole forgets to put a stick up your ass?”

  “It’s a good ugh,” Keeva remarked as she spared another gnce at Dorian. “Pretty sure Ashley wouldn’t mind hearing it once in a while too. Might do you some good to lighten up every once in a while.”

  “I’ll give it a shot one of these days.” Dorian retorted as he stroked a hand across his face. The suggestion of stubble starting to peak through already as his fingers ran over his chin as though he could somehow wipe the smirk off his own face.

  The remainder of the ride was spent in retive silence. Only broken up by way of a few podcast episodes interspersed with music from time to time. Any attempts at conversation were kept to a minimum as Keeva and Dorian’s exchanges never amounted to much more than questions at rest stops to refuel and grab snacks. Upon reaching the st leg of their road trip, the sun hung in the center of the sky with the clocks marking noon on the dot when they car pulled through the gates of a port. Several freighters sitting docked with cargo waiting to be off loaded with cranes sitting idle and even more containers stacked up to one side.

  “When Nicole mentioned convoys, I was thinking trucks not boats.” Dorian mentioned as he took in the sights of the dock.

  “If I had to guess,” Keeva began as she pulled up to the office that stood to the side of the cargo containers. A simple trailer with a few cut outs with windows and a wall mounted AC unit. “The issue isn’t about getting the cargo off the boat it’s when it leaves the port that our client is having problems.” Keeva stepped from the car and draped her coat along her seat. Securing the buttons of her blouse along her wrist before shrugging on her coat and straightening it out as she used her side mirror to straighten her tie. “Let me do the talking on this one.”

  Pulling himself from the car when Keeva opened her own door, Dorian fell in just behind her as Keeva wrapped her knuckles on the door and waited for a response. The door opening to a rge man with a clean-shaven face and a bald head. He wore a shirt that looked a size too small against his muscur form that one would expect of a dock worker. The bald man looking between Dorian and Keeva for a moment before speaking.

  “Can I help you?” He asked.

  “Were with Ascension Financial.” Keeva stated and saw the man’s expression strike with realization.

  “You’re Nicole’s people!” The bald man said as he stepped aside and gestured both of them inside. “Pleasure to meet you the name is Pat, help yourself to a coffee and a doughnut if you’d like.”

  Grabbing a cup of coffee in one hand and a doughnut in another, if only to keep his mouth busy, Dorian perched himself on the table at the far end of the room. Watching as Keeva sat down across from where Pat’s desk was while Pat himself crossed his legs and arms as he sat on the front of his desk.

  “We have a general idea of what’s going on here, but I’ll need you to walk me through the details.” Keeva invited.

  “Problem isn’t getting stuff off the ships it’s getting the stuff out of the port. The moment it leaves is the moment the problems start and it’s not just from one company either its every single truck that comes out of this pce.” Pat said as he flung up a hand in defeat and shook his head.

  “So what’s happening to the trucks then?” Keeva asked and followed up with: “Have any of your workers been hurt?”

  “I tell these guys nothing they’re hauling is worth their life. You see a gun you put your hands up and do as they say cause I’d rather they come home to their family the same way the left that day.” Pat said and sighed again. “That’s if the trucks come back at all. Were down three rigs and normally they disappear all the time but they always find their way back.”

  “Is that common?” Keeva asked, brow furrowed. “The trucks going missing I mean.”

  “These guys gotta move some furniture or just need to haul something real quick I’m not gonna notice or put up a fuss as long as the gas tank is the same as when it was taken.”

  “Bit of a issez-faire operation you run here.” Keeva said.

  “I could report the missing vehicle to the police and then have it tied up in an investigation and then maybe get it back within the next five years after the state of Texas impounds it and that’s if it doesn’t become a federal case. Way I see it, I’ll keep trusting my boys till they give me a reason not to.” Pat said with his hands raised with the palms out as though he were surrendering to Keeva.

  “You trust your employees. If that’s the case then why not get the police in here on this one and see what they can do? Maybe see if they can investigate who or why someone is doing this and if nothing else you show whomever is raiding your trucks that you’re not gonna tolerate it.”

  “Issue with that is…” Pat began and tongued the inside of his bottom lip, looking to the side before pressing his lips into a ft line. “The issue with that is we got some people with records and some people without if you know what I mean. I bring the police in here and they start poking around and asking questions and suddenly half my work force is either back in jail or they’re deported. They’re good guys who made bad choices but that doesn’t mean they don’t deserve to earn a chance to keep a roof over their head and some hot food on the table.”

  Pausing to consider what Pat said for a moment, Keeva crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her finger across her arm. Her gaze flicking to the floor before flicking back to Dorian.

  “Alright,” Keeva began as she stood up. “Makes sense as to why we’re here then. We’ve been told that this is a deal that’s happening under the table so you can consider this problem of yours dealt with but we’ll need you to stay out of our way to ensure that.”

  “I’ll be sure to tell my boys and I can’t thank you or Nicole enough.” Pat said as he followed Keeva to the door before opening it up for her. Just before she left, Pat offered a hand for her to shake as he said. “I don’t think I caught your names either.”

  “Keeva,” Keeva introduced as she shook hands with Pat. “Keeva McKenna and that’s Dorian.”

  “Just Dorian?” Pat asked as he furrowed his brow at Dorian who offered to shake hands with Pat.

  “Just Dorian.” Dorian replied as Pat’s hand met his.

  “Do I know you from somewhere?” Pat asked, searching Dorian’s face.

  “Probably.” Dorian said before following Keeva out the door. When he heard the door shut behind him, Dorian waited for a moment before turning to Keeva. “What are we thinking on this one?”

  “First thought that came to mind is to do a ride along with the truckers and see if we can’t catch one of these guys with their pants down.” Keeva said, her eyes surveying the dock as she noticed a distinct ck of any real security. A fence dividing the port from the main street with some rusted barbed war on top. Beyond that though, there wasn’t much in the way of cameras or security on sight. “But we’d be here for weeks trying to get them to bite. You used to do this sort of thing, what would you do?”

  “If they’re going after these trucks, it’s not because they’re looking to steal some shit meant for an Amazon warehouse.” Dorian said as he surveyed the area along with Keeva. “I’m wondering how much Pat was really honest with us. Letting his trucks vanish is one thing, but I think if we find out what they’re actually hauling we’ll find out a whole lot more.”