Page 5 of Gold Rush (Murphy’s Pub #3)

Chapter Four

“Get to it, Goldie,” Murphy said. “What job?”

“Dean has some…information for us. He was taken to that pimp’s place and in it, there was a ton of money and drugs.”

“We don’t sell drugs,” Cosmo said. “We’d be no better than the BBC.”

“We wouldn’t sell them. I thought you could talk to your man about what to do with the drugs. Turn them in, whatever. It’s the money we’re after, and also, to emancipate some hookers. This pimp keeps them drugged up to keep them docile.”

There was general murmuring from the others. Ever since their run-ins with the BBC and their human trafficking, the group loathed anyone who used other humans that way.

“Fuck that guy,” Hippy said. “How much money are we talking?”

Dean finally spoke. “He’s got a huge stable of hookers. Men, women, trans, you name it. Every night, I figure he’s bringing in anywhere from ten to twenty grand.”

Haze whistled. “Damn.”

“Yeah, and he wraps it in plastic for some reason.”

Cosmo said, “Likely he launders it, and when they take it, they take it all at once like that.”

“Well, I doubt they take it daily,” Goldie said.

“Dean can show me where, and I’ll watch the place for a couple weeks.

When I see the patterns, see if they’re transporting something big, then we’ll know approximately when and where they’re taking the money.

We go in the night before, when it’s wrapped up tight for us. ”

“What about the pimp and his people? I’d bet he has a few goons watching out for his interests,” Murphy said.

“Distraction,” Abs said. “We can get some kind of distraction going, something that will get the goons and the pimp out of there long enough that we get the money, then we call the cops, so the hookers are taken from them. All of them.”

Goldie smiled over at the friend he thought would have a problem with it. Abs was looking out for him, therefore, not taking kindly to Dean. For him to have Goldie’s back on the heist meant a lot to him.

“These people will be armed. They’ll be watching that money,” Murphy warned.

“Sure, it’s a good hit. Someone that doesn’t deserve that kind of cash, someone that hurts other people.

But we don’t go after other criminals like this for a reason.

We’re already targeted by a cartel of cops.

We don’t need the criminals against us too. ”

Goldie reasoned, “These guys are as bad as the BBC, Murphy. They are bad people.”

Dean pled, “I’m not saying to do it. I swear I’m not. I just know that I have had two friends lost to this pimp. They’re alive, but that’s about it.”

The others looked to Murphy, who would always make the final decision on the jobs, with their best puppy-dog eyes. Even Goldie let his full bottom lip protrude into a pout. “Please, Paps,” Mims asked pitifully.

“You are all the worst of the worst! I’m trying to keep you all alive!”

Hippy scoffed. “I’ll have them locked and loaded for the job. Even if they have goons, they’re going to be no match for us. I’ll go in heavy with them.”

“So, a gunfight in the middle of a pimp’s house.

That won’t make the news,” Murphy groaned.

“Goldie, I need recon on this. Heavy recon before I’ll even consider it.

Dean, you keep out of sight for now. This is a big city, but it’s got the trappings of a small town.

You have no idea who might see you bussing here.

We get hundreds of people in and out of here on weekends. ”

“I can maybe give him a makeover and change his appearance a little,” Abs offered while his eyes locked with Goldie’s. “Unless someone likes the way he looks right now.”

Goldie smirked at his friend. “My interest is to keep him alive and in one piece, Abs, sweetheart. Go ahead and change his appearance.”

After blowing a very sarcastic kiss at him, he got an even more sarcastic wink.

Little fucker.

He let Dean go off with Abs right then so they could finish going over the job. As soon as Dean was gone, it was Haze who asked, “He’s okay, right? I mean, don’t get pissed at me, Goldie, but are you checking him out first?”

Cosmo chimed in, “I think that’s only fair. We all were scrutinized before coming in here.”

Goldie had known that it would come up in their conversations. “I haven’t, but I will. I swear. If I get any hint he’s here for nefarious reasons, I’ll take him out myself.”

“We don’t kill people,” Murphy reminded him.

“This one? If he’s not one of the good guys?”

Hippy offered, “I know what to do with him in that case. I don’t want blood on anyone’s hands.”

“Except yours?” Cosmo asked in a high-pitched voice. “Hip…”

They were only getting closer, those two, and the rest of them knew that Cosmo was in love with Taran. It just seemed like he may soon have to make a choice. The way he feared for the guy, Cosmo wasn’t only fearing for Hippy. He feared for himself possibly losing Hippy.

“Okay, it’s settled. Goldie, Mims, you’re on research right now before anything else, but while they are, in case we get the green light on this thing, everyone do your best to get ready for this, wearing Kevlar, whatever you need for safety, and whatever you need for the faster way in and out of there. ”

They split from the table, and Goldie was on it, heading up to Mims right off to grab him. “Let’s do the computer shit first. I need to know about him.”

“I figured as much.”

They went into the other secret room that was mostly used by Mims for his computer skills. There were three big monitors on the long desk he used, and over on the other side, there was a large screen television for projecting from the computer. They used that for mapping and such.

Mims got the search engine he used up and running before he asked, “Full name? Age?”

“Dean Miles he said. Age, shit, I’m not even sure. Twenty-five or under.”

It always amazed Goldie how fast Mims could type on the keyboard. His fingers were a blur as he added information into the search bar, and then he’d tap his fingers on the desk while he waited for the results.

When they came up, they both stared at the screen, dumbstruck.

Dean Miles, 24 years old, was the recipient of the highest scholarship to Harvard Law ever given.

The headline was the first article that came up, and right there was a picture of Dean, only with short hair and glasses on his pretty eyes.

“And he’s a hooker now.”

“Yeah, I don’t get it. Not at all.”

Mims typed some more and pulled up Dean’s rap sheet. It was clean.

“What’s going on, Goldie? This guy…there is no way.”

“I don’t know. Look up his childhood. Go back as far as you can.”

“Why? I’m betting he’s going to be from some upscale neighborhood with white bread parents and three preachers recommending him for the prize of king shit.”

“Just do it. I have to know.”

“Up to you,” he said while his fingers went flying once again.

Then they came to a picture of a group of boys in a junior baseball league. The names in the caption were a long list, but Dean was easily found in the front row without bothering to read the names. He hadn’t changed much since he was thirteen.

Goldie sat hard in the chair next to Mims and whispered, “Well, he was right about that.”

“What?”

“That he made money because he looked young. He looks like he’s maybe a year or two older than he did in that baseball picture.”

“Yeah, he sure does. But what about the scholarship?”

“I don’t know. Find out more, if you can.”

They looked further, adding Harvard to the search, and sure enough, they found him in another newspaper photo. This one was of him and seven others, but the light in his eyes was gone. Goldie saw that right off.

“Freshman class five years ago, honor students.”

“What happened to him?”

“Maybe ask?”

“I did. He said that he left his abusive home when he was fourteen and started hooking. That is about a year after that baseball picture. And a few years before that Harvard scholarship picture. He’s lying about his background.”

“I’d say so, but why? Why lie about his background?”

“Mims, people tend to feel badly for kids who are from broken, abusive homes. Maybe it’s as simple as that.”

“Maybe so. But I still say ask him. Tell him I looked him up.Blame it on me. Act mad about it but confront him with what we found. We can’t go into this on the word of a liar, Goldie. We can’t take that chance.”

He was right, of course. There was no way he’d risk the entire team, but he wanted to know for more than the safety issue. He wanted to know the truth.

After knocking on the door of his room, Goldie waited for Dean to open it.

When he did, there were tears streaming down his face.

A face that was clean shaven and surrounded by short golden curls instead of the long hair he’d sported earlier.

Abs had done a great job on him. He was as beautiful or more so.

“What’s wrong?”

“Come in,” he said glumly. “I have to…”

Goldie went in and sat in his desk chair, while Dean sat on the bed. “Are you ready to tell me the truth?”

“Yeah. I figured with all of you as some kind of…team, one of you would eventually find out I was lying about my past. I picked that past up from an old friend I had. One of the people I lost to that pimp.”

Goldie stared, glad he was finally ready to confess, but on edge over what he might hear.

“You wouldn’t be the first one to try to hide from their past here, Dean.

We’ve all…lied about things. Cosmo, the buff, blond guy?

We learned about his past the same way, but we didn’t know the half of it until he finally broke down and told us his side of things. ”

“I come from a rich family,” he began. “They were pretty and cold people, and I know, poor little rich boy stories are a dime a dozen. I’m not saying I had a horrible childhood, but I didn’t like them. I didn’t like the coldness of my home or family.