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I need to find someone suitable to run the place and my options are slim. On top of that, I also need to find a new hacker that can get me into this fucking cell phone I plucked off of the asshole we have detained in the basement, and time is of the essence. Spencer isn’t talking, so I need the information hidden on this phone to do the talking for him.
“Hey boss,” Riot announces his presence as he enters the doors of the club and strides up behind me. I swivel around in my seat as I take another sip of my coffee, only to see the kid all nice and cleaned up.
“Shit, Riot. You clean up good kid.”
He grins ear to ear shoving his hands in the pockets of his slacks, “Bought myself some nice suits. I have that meeting in a couple hours with the new liquor distributor, and figured I should dress like I’m someone important for meetings. Sorry though boss, I can’t change up the hair though.”
I laugh, “Nah kid, green suits you.”
“So where do we start?” Riot asks as he perches on the stool next to me.
Afterlife had been closed down for about a month while I cleaned out the bad apples. While initially starting as only a strip club, Ryker quickly saw the money that could be made in pimping out the dancers. If they had been willing, it would have been one thing, but the rooms were private and he created an “anything goes” kind of environment. The women were used, abused, sometimes tortured for perverse pleasures, and Ryker himself had murdered women in those rooms.
I don’t fuck with that shit.
“Well, I put a lot of work into cleaning up Afterlife, but since it’s back up and running, I don’t have the time on my hands to make this my priority right now. I need some help.”
“Tell me what I can do, I can put in more time here, it's not a problem,” he says eagerly.
“That’s the thing, I need more than just you. You’re too important to pour all your energy into this place. I need someone else we can trust. I need management help, a new security system, and some other little upgrades done. Hannah agreed to help us out but she’s busy with Oasis too so it’s only part time, and temporary.”
Riot nods and runs his hand through his hair.
“Well you know between me, you, and Hannah, we can probably make it work while I look for someone. There are a few people within the ranks that I think we can trust. I’d just like to vet them out a little more if that’s cool. I’ve got some ideas too on how to bring in better clientele too. Some events, if you will.”
Shrugging my shoulders, I mull over the idea. I trust Riot, and I need to learn to trust his instincts, so I agree. Let’s see what kind of magic the kid can pull off. If he wants to make Afterlife his baby, then so be it.
“You think you can handle all that on top of managing the shipments?”
“In my sleep.”
“Okay, sounds good to me kid. Work your magic.” I pause, thinking it over before I open my mouth and bring up the other item that’s rolling around in my head. “Riot…”
“Yeah boss?”
“There’s another thing I really need some help with. It’s organization related, but it’s also something very personal for me.”
“Anything, just say the word.”
“Do you know any hackers we can trust?”
He raises an eyebrow, “Hackers?”
“Yeah, the one we had on payroll wasn’t trustworthy. He had to go. And that phone I lifted off the guy who was nosing around? It’s locked down good. ”
He rubs his chin, deep in thought, clearly mulling over something. Taking it as a good sign, I exhale and give him a moment.
“I think I do, can I have a minute?”
“Sure kid.”
Swiveling around on the stool, he pulls his cellphone from his pocket and walks to the back of the club, tapping away furiously at the screen. Giving him some privacy, I turn back to my laptop when a new email pops up. The email address reflects as blocked, which I find kind of odd, but I click on it anyway. A new window pops up and I feel all the color draining from my face. My heart races and my forehead breaks out in a cold sweat.
Fuck.
Fucking shit.
Anger bubbles beneath my skin like a volcano threatening to erupt. My skin tingles and a roar escapes my throat as I stand up, snatch a bar stool and throw it across the room, hitting the interior brick wall with a loud thwack. Red coats everything I see, and this need for a hacker just went from urgent, to a 9-1-1 fucking emergency. I need to find out who this is, and what the fuck they know.