Chapter 21 – Smart one
1286 Words
Angel looked from her dad back to the man and stood up, eyeing her brother before speaking, “Jr, what…”
“You said you needed my special skills and I told dad he had no say in what I wanted to do.”
“This is a job I’m asking for, so I am paying for it.” Jr lifted a shoulder as he walked further into the office and took the chair next to their dad.
“I figured as much Angel, since I don’t work with the family.” Angel nodded and then looked at her dad as she slowly sat back down.
“And you won’t object dad?”
“Oh, make no mistake Angelina, I object; you knew I wanted these two far away from this world. And anything you are asking for has the potential to be dangerous,” her dad said and Angel knew he was right. In fact, she agreed, but just had no one that she trusted as much.
“Noted, and I will do everything in my power to protect him as much as I can.” At her dad’s nod, Angel reached into her desk drawer and pulled the folder out, laying it across the desk before she leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. “That folder holds the guest list for the fundraiser,” Angel started while her dad picked up the folder and opened it, Jr looking over his shoulder. “I asked Ric to get me it and then to break it off. You see, that night I felt some heavy, angry eyes on me but saw no one that I would know.”
“A gut feeling?”
“Yes dad, and as you have always said, never ignore those. My problem comes in the form of whom? Was it for me or for Damian as I was walking out with him?”
“But he was your date, so his name shouldn’t have been known,” her dad pointed out.
“And you would be right, except for the money in LA runs through the same hands, stars included,” she told him and her dad nodded in agreement.
“Meaning what?” Jr asked, looking between the two people.
“Meaning that even though Damian isn’t a part of this world, as in the mafia dealings, he is still wealthy and would know of many of the same people we do just as many people would know of him.”
“Ah, that makes sense,” Jr said.
“But even still Angel, it’s not like you two were in the limelight a lot. You both mostly stayed on the outskirts.”
“Which that is what has me quite worried. We all know I’m already hated and on many people’s s**t list, so it wouldn’t surprise me if someone was out to mark me. And you can see on the sheets what each highlight is.” Her dad let out a low whistle as he looked over the sheet and then up at her.
“Do these people hate on you because you are a female?’
“Of course dad. My job will always be twice as hard as yours. I’m working with Ric for the tribute and I’m even changing the location. Those that wish to defy me and not show up or not pay will suffer my anger and will see why no one should question me or under estimate me.”
“But this isn’t what you need me for?” Jr asked, flipping to the last page.
“No, my families I can deal with, one way or another. That last page,” Angel said, nodding to what both her dad and brother were looking at, “are the men that have something against Damian; from work stuff or other means.”
“That’s a lot of names, Angel.”
“Yes dad, it is; which is why I don’t want to take my men out of their game to watch that many people. And I figure that Jr here could put those highly amazing but very illegal skills to use.”
“You want me to monitor them?”
“Yes. Calls, emails, security systems, anything that would allow me to see into their homes to maybe catch something.” Jr looked at the list and let out a breath.
“That’s going to take a bit of time and a lot of f*****g work. Do you have a couple hands that might be able to help me start some s**t up? I have a program I’ve been working on and I should be able to use part of it here.”
“I have a few men who are very tech savvy and can help you. Does 200 thousand sound good?” Jr snapped his head up and looked at her.
“That’s…that’s a lot.” Angel smirked and shook her head.
“This is a big job Jr, I can’t afford to half ass it and I need the best. Right now, that’s you.”
“Yeah, sure I can do it.” Angel nodded.
“Now, tell me about this program,” she told her brother.
“Essentially, it works with phones and the internet, such as emails or chat logs. I can set the standards to search for or flag any particular phrase, or in this case a name.”
“Wow, you sure you don’t want to go into a computer degree?” Angel ignored the glare from her dad. Each kid of his had everything laid out for them and just because Jr wasn’t with the family in their business didn’t mean that their father didn’t have a tight rein on their futures.
“Don’t get me into trouble Angel; you don’t live at home with dad.”
“My apologies,” she said, smiling at her brother. “Now, you can set up here. This whole floor is mine and I have a private conference area where you won’t be disturbed. It has tons of outlets and the internet connection is the very best.”
“Yeah, that will work.” Jr stood up and then looked around. “You know sis, I’m not sure I’ve been in your office before.” Angel stood up as well.
“You have had no need to so therefore haven’t been in either. I prefer you to never set foot in my other office either.” Jr glanced at her but didn’t say anything. “Let me show you where you can work out of.” Angel led both men down the hallway and to an end conference area.
“And no one should come in here?”
“Nope. If I tell my cleaning crew to avoid this room, they will. This is as private as I can make it, and as secure. Again, no one comes down this hallway without the security code or my approval. I also own the floor below and above, although that is not knowledge that anyone knows, as it’s under a separate name.”
“You raised her to be a smart one dad.” Angel smacked her brother.
“You stop!” she told him and they shared a laugh before Jr nodded.
“This will work. Let me go home and gather what I need and then come back to start setting up.”
“Perfect. I’ll call Ric so that he can get the men that you need.” Angel paused at the doorway. “Thank you Jr. I promise to take care of you the best I can.”
- Writer
