The group put in lunch and drink orders. They all, with the exception of Roman, flirted outrageously with the waitresses who didn’t seem to mind at all.
“What’s up, Rome? For real?” Haywood Lloyd asked.
Roman didn’t waste time. “September will be here soon. What’s everybody got planned? Renz? Your uncles bullied you into the Marines yet?”
Lorenz Reyes grinned, but the gesture didn’t quite reach his eyes. “They’re not on it as much since comin’ back from ‘Nam. I think they’d smother me in my sleep before letting me be drafted, let alone sign up for voluntary service.”
“Gav and me already have summer jobs with the warehouse like usual. We’re hoping the company will decide to make us permanent this year,” Haywood said of the employment they’d found as salesmen for a rising industrial machine warehouse.
Roman nodded. “What if I could guarantee all of you permanent jobs? With me?”
The other young men at the table were silent, but curious just the same. Roman took that as his cue to go on.
“I’m working on some stuff for my dad’s business um...the leads aren’t going far but if I had a little help with the legwork maybe that could change.”
“What do you need, Rome?” Gavis asked.
“If you want in, meet me at Pitch’s Sunday afternoon. I’m staying there for the weekend. I’ll give you the details then.”
“Hell man, can’t we even have a hint?” Lorenz urged.
“There’s a guy whose missing and I need to find him.” Roman waited for their drinks to be placed on the table before he went on. “The guy worked as a guard for one of my dad’s factories. I don’t think he’ll be easy to find-no family or anything. Guy like that could go anywhere.”
“What happens if we don’t find him?” Haywood asked.
“Somebody close to my dad could get away with betraying him. Again.”
The young men at the table, all bristled. Liam Tesano had always treated them with a level of respect that boys of their backgrounds rarely enjoyed.
Gavis rubbed his fingers along his nape where his high afro tapered. He looked to the others and a silent decision seemed to be made. He turned back to Roman.
“We’ll get it done,” he swore.
“So what else?” Haywood asked then. “You said you were looking into a couple of things. We can’t help you if you don’t let us all the way in,” he informed his old friend.
“Hay’s right,” Lorenz said. “If you don’t trust us by now...”
“This could be dangerous,” Roman said. “It might require you to work...undercover.”
Lorenz gave a sharp curse that caused the others to break into laughter. Their food arrived during the high spirited moment.
Roman sobered. “I’ll have more details by Sunday, but I want to put someone on the crew of a Tesano ship and find out what happens on it during the voyages.”
“Anything specific you worried about?” Gavis asked.
Roman broke a French fry in half and chewed it thoughtfully. “Specifically, I want to know why it’s taking them so long to get through their middle two checkpoints.”
“What do you suspect?” Lorenz asked.
“Not sure,” Roman selected three plump fries and shoved them into his mouth. “But the checkpoints aren’t my main interest. I want to know if Tesano is shipping what it says it is.”
“Whose fucking with Mr. Li, Rome?” Haywood asked flatly.
“Gotta be Humphrey,” Gavis guessed.
Roman’s expression confirmed and another round of cursing commenced.
“Your big brother deserves an ass whippin’ fo sho,” Lorenz said. “But proving he’s a traitor might be the next best thing.”
“I prefer the ass whippin’,” Roman joined his friends when they raised their glasses in toast.
~56~
Aaron hoped he had done a fair job of removing the concern from his eyes when he met Giselle for lunch that day. A guard led him up to the floor where she worked. From there, a librarian showed him to a back office where she appeared to be checking books against the pages she read from.
He quietly thanked the librarian and then stood just inside the doorway watching Giselle work. They had become surprisingly good friends in the time since the revelations at Morton’s Diner. While a platonic friendship wasn’t the relationship Aaron had hoped for, he’d come to treasure it like few things he’d known.
Giselle looked up from her work, a warm smile gracing her enchanting face when she saw Aaron. Quietly, she waved him over.
Aaron approached with an easy smile and a slow walk. “Are we still on for lunch?”
“Absolutely! I’ve been looking forward to it all day.” She spread her hands over the table. “I’ll be done with all this sooner than I expect. At least, I won’t have it waiting on me when I get back.”
“Doesn’t look like much fun,” he cast a disparaging look toward the table.
“Oh well...we can’t all wear capes and save the downtrodden workers of the city.”
Aaron laughed. “Rena been telling stories again?”
