The Waiting Game (Garvey Fields) (16 page)

I’d be getting Georgia’s phone number before I left.

3

I
need a man,” she said. She was sitting behind a black glass desk with an LCD display, it was a new installation. I was thinking maybe it was a Microsoft Table computer. Although most of the desk was a glass computer like the control desk in Oblivion, there was a wooden element and it was perfectly organized. It was a desk set that comprised of a nice black leather stationery and letter rack, a black leather business card holder, a black leather paper tray, a very chic leather desk blotter pad and a leather pencil and pen pot. Everything was black and leather and all sent over from England by Aspinal’s. That was another one of her vices apart from treating her body literally like a palace was to indulge herself in the finer things. Usually made out of leather.

“You don’t need a man, not unless you’re bored and I wouldn’t be the right man for you, white girls scare the shit out of me.”

“I need a man for a job,” she said as she stretched her arms out and examined her manicured nails.

“Okay,”

“You know before that bastard husband of mine cheated on me I’d never had my nails done; now I can barely last a week. I need a good looking man who is straight. The boys I tend to hire are usually gay; there good for outing husbands who like to step out for some sausage know what I mean?”

“I need a man,” she said again. “He needs to ooze machismo, good looking enough to make a woman with a bit of class who would want him on sight, but tough enough to throw down and trade blows with a Mac truck. I need a man comfortable in his own skin with the oratory skills of Obama, only better.”

“Easy,” I said. “You want Trey Songz, Denzel Washington and Taye Diggs. How could any woman resist that combination?”

“I think you might fit the bill, although to be fair you’re more Idris Elba” Cortina said.

“I’m a detective not the fucking Dark Knight,” I said. I often got annoyed when people tried to get me to do things that I felt disrespected my talents. Picking up women was a seedy short term enterprise, and seeing as I seemed to fall in love with every woman I slept with I didn’t think it good for my mental health.

“There’s some of that involved too, besides I know you clean up nice and you’re hung like a Shire horse. Its $1000 a day plus expenses, that includes a business class flight. I’m a broker in this deal; it’s outside the remit of my usual assignments. You know me; I’m into smooth jobs with limited outcomes and even more limited comeback on me and my staff. You know were offering a confrontation service where we send security with the spouse as she presents evidence to the soon to be ex-husband. It’s our way of avoiding domestic abuse.

“For those that can afford it,” I said. I liked her, as well as I knew her, but that didn’t make me want to trust her. She offered a service, but it wasn’t for all women, just those who were already privileged. Her services were a luxury item like a Luis Vuitton bag or Maybach she always had waiting to chauffer her off to clients who wanted a more personal service.

“We all have our niche, Georgia come in here please.”

Georgia came into the office clipboard ready and pen poised.

“Georgia what do you think of Garvey?”

“Six-three, two hundred fifty pounds, body fat around ten percent, appears to be named after a great pan-African rouser of people and agriculture.”

“Do you find him attractive?”

She looked at her employer, then at me and back to her employer,” I don’t understand,” she said finally.

She looked at me again and I offered a smile like someone would receive a stiff drink before diving off a bridge with a bungee rope attached to their ankles.

Her high cheekbones went a little red, “would you like me to right a report mam, if I were to take a picture I could…”

“I’d like you to answer the question,” Cortina pushed.

“I don’t have enough information.”

“You may go now…” Cortina said finally dismissing her.

Georgia bit her lip, looked at me like I had wounded her and sashayed her round ass out of the office. I enjoyed watching her leave.

“Good, at least I know you can be as effective as you want to be.”

“How?” I said.

“She is one of the most confident, self-opinionated young ladies that I have ever paid to work for me. And you had her so she wouldn’t answer my question, she hates writing reports.”

“Okay, apart from making me want to get at your secretary, why am I here or are you going to do some complicated Pilates for me?”

“Don’t be a pig.”

“Then get to the point.”

“I need you to dirty the name of a girl with ‘fuck me now’ eyes; she works for a couple of gangland brothers…”

“New York?”

“Yeah, they sent her after some kind of hedge fund agent’s son; she’s got her hooks in deep.”

“What do I need to do to her; I ain’t a prostitute, just to be clear.”

“It’s a little bit mean, you need to dig up dirt on her, you know police records, videos on porn sites and then throw it in her face. If she hasn’t got a corruptible past I guess it’s up to you. I’m sure every now and again you play things by ear.”

“Who are the gangsters and banker?”

“Percales Twins.”

I thought about getting up and leaving, that was why she’d taken her time explaining things; the twins had a reputation long and loud enough to warn most men off. The thought passed, I wanted to build by little Japanese interpretation house, for that I needed money to pay for the groundwork, kit and general contractors.

“Of course there may be some trouble involved,” Cortina said. “I’ve never heard of the twins having people knocked off in public, they may converse with you and if you displease them they may ace you. That said I would try and stay low key.”

“Babe, I’m in the trouble business,” I said. I usually got $550 per day for this kind of job, which is why I didn’t usually do them “At least I know why it’s $1000 a day to do the job, I’ll do it for $1750 and take no longer than five days.”

“Garvey, you’re eating into my margin,” she whined.

“Please, this job is chump change to you and you’re probably already making ten times as much on this job as me. If you want cheaper you’ll find it, but if you want as good as me you’ll pay at least $200 an hour.”

I stood, “it was nice seeing you gain and you look great.”

I’d learnt that life could be gone in a moment and it didn’t really have a tangible value, so you used it in a way that made sense. Working for less than I’d asked for didn’t make any sense. Messing with the twins was an easy way to get killed; they had associates all over the place, short fuses and a moral code that only worked in one direction. They had a mansion out in East Hampton and liked to deal with all things in a classy way, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t enforce street law and pop a cap in your ass to restore or maintain their stately social order. If I went in and spent too long in the lion’s den they would notice me, ask questions about me and act upon any perceived threat they concluded on. I was a threat, always; they’d know it and I’d get one chance to back off and I’d be lucky if they asked nicely the first time.

“Sit down, it’s done,” she said smiling at me with a set pearlescent teeth gleaming like a telecommunication sent deep into space. “Girl had to try, I like haggling, but next time start higher than you expect to get.”

“Who’s the target?” I said sitting back down, she had nice couches so I didn’t mind so much.

“Her name is Jasmine Grace, nice elegant name that she might actually have been born with. She lives in Tribeca, 80 Warren Street; they got a nice whole food market up that way. Preliminary research comes back with her father killing himself just after Leman Brothers went down; he was a consultant of some kind and decided to go flying without a parachute 20 floors up. Mothers dead too, less dramatic, cancer or something, and she got a kid sister in some private boarding school up the coast a little. The little sister could be the way in, get her to release the clients son.”

“How’d you get all this?”

“The client got a copy of an account balance statement from one of the twins’ casinos. The kid ran a line of credit there for half million dollars. So when the son, he’s adopted, was confronted by the client he claimed that it must some kind of identity theft and the account wasn’t his. So the client bought a man named Squirrel in to make enquiries. He made contact with the casino, and returned with a copy of the CCTV showing the runt filling out forms. Anyway he’s not on the case anymore, like me he likes to stay with in a safe parameter of risk and reward.”

“Can I speak with him?”

“Sure, I don’t think that could hurt.”

“So am I going to meet the clients name today or shall I come back later?”

She smiled the way someone would if you claimed to have an iron jaw and offered them the first punch in a bare knuckle fight. Only they are the reigning gipsy fighting champion and they only need one punch to put you to sleep, but you didn’t realize because they didn’t look anything.

“Well this is special, you can meet him if you want, right now in living color,” she stood and walked to her glass door, popped her head out and gave Georgia an order to bring the client in. Her ass wasn’t as nice as Georgia’s but I appreciated the effort she’d gone to in her pursuit of an apple shaped but.

She went back to her desk, rubbed nonexistent creases out of her dress, sat down again and smiled at me. She had about fifteen years on me and didn’t do much to hide that she wanted to find out what my dark meat was like, but I didn’t do the whole cougar thing.

“Is Georgia seeing anyone right now?”

She frowned, only a little and fixed her bra, “I’ll only warn you once, stay away from her. Last year she made the firm 3 million in divorce work, and that was without so much as going up to their room and letting them squeeze her booty. Any man touches her will meet with an accident, understand?”

“Eventually she’s got to fall why can’t I be the once that takes her down?”

“Because, beyond her bravado she’s actually quite sweet and when not working she might be susceptible to a seasoned vet like you.”

“It’s not like you lead a church you know.”

4

T
here was a polite cough at the door and we both turned to see Georgia waiting patiently. I wondered how much she’s heard because I was either going to get called something nasty for objectifying her as a prize to satisfy my carnal appetite or Cortina was going to get asked for a pay rises for objectifying her as an expensive asset.

We both waited for her to say something, but she didn’t, just ushered in a harassed looking client, closed the door carefully and returned to her post.

The client moved quickly and with purpose so much so that I thought he might demand Cortina get out of her chair. I stood to greet him but he ignored me, looked at his Patek Philippe watch instead and tutted.

He was tall, thin and had an avalanche of white hair that swept to the nape of his neck. He was wearing a grey pinstriped suite, double breasted with a waistcoat and brown brogues, which were probably Church’s. His face was as putrid as Jafar from
Aladdin
, which is to say in a constant frown of distaste, with a shadow under his eyes, little lip to speak of, and eyebrows that looked groomed. He was holding a tablet in a leather bound case and Vertu phone in the same hand.

I didn’t like him.

“I am not in the habit of waiting Ms. Young, you have nineteen minutes of my time,” he spat venomously. “I’ve made good money keeping it as a valuable asset.”

I still didn’t like him, but he was right, time was money and time not spent in regenerative leisure or learning should be spent at work.

“My apologies, but we are trying to save you some money,” Cortina said in a soft ‘I’ll let you touch my leg if you’re a good boy’ kind of way. “I’m sorry you had to wait Mr. Flynn, but to get an operative of this quality at such short notice and to have him come in so you can appraise him is not something we are used to.”

Without looking at me he said, “he doesn’t look like the type of man to do this kind of work. Perhaps more of a gentleman, less thug…”

“Is it Larry or Errol,” I said jokily. I’d worn a nice D&G suit with a silver tie and Massimo Dutti shoes, I’d even put on some Creed Aventus I felt that he wasn’t appreciating the effort I’d made; I’d even gotten a fresh trim at the barbers. More to the point I’d left my car at the office because parking was hell, and not ridden my Triumph because I didn’t want to crease my trousers. I didn’t like the subway, but I’d done it to make Cortina happy.

He turned to me slowly scowling and considered me with ice blue eyes, “you have the temerity to insult me, who are you? Do you have any idea who I am…?”

“Hold on a minute,” said Cortina.

“Oh, I guessed wrong, my bad,” I said. “Well let’s try this, and I won’t hit you with the whole Richard Sherman thug thing. You don’t know me but your Ivy League education has told you that all of the perfunctory stereotypes are correct and provable. You see me, ignore my dress, offered greeting and haven’t heard my lucidity and you assume you know me. But here’s a fact, you need me or a professional with my skill set because you’re situation is outside of your realm of normality and sterilized view of the world. Now by definition a gentleman is a chivalrous, courteous or honorable man. Of course there is a definition which describes a gentleman as a man of noble birth attached to a royal household. But this is America baby, so we can sidestep that one.”

I paused to see if Mr. Flynn wanted to interject, he didn’t so I continued.

“You see a man or gentleman like me doesn’t last long if I allow myself to be insulted without a good reason to let it slide. But of course Mr. Flynn you may not have intended to insult me and I would like to afford him the opportunity to rephrase your earlier comment.”