“I want you to help me get a read on someone,” Ink said.
“You can read a person nearly as good as I can,” Matthieu told him.
Ink grinned for some reason. “Yeah. Nearly. But a second opinion never goes astray. You know that I appreciate your opinion.”
Hmm.
Still seemed odd.
“Why not just call me and ask me to come in for this meeting?” he asked suspiciously.
“Because the girls wanted you here, of course,” Ink told him.
Matthieu sighed. “They cannot get everything they want.”
“But we want them to have everything they want,” Sav said in a firm voice. “That’s our job.”
Matthieu narrowed his gaze at the big man, studying him. He still thought they were acting ridiculous.
And yet, it was somewhat admirable.
“So will you come to the meeting?” Ink asked.
“Is this a trick to get me to stay here or to work for you?”
“Would I do that?” Ink asked.
Yes. Matthieu thought he would.
“Who is this meeting with? Somebody who needs a new security system? A rich billionaire with a stalker wanting a bodyguard?”
None of that particularly interested him. It often felt like Matthieu had seen, met, or done everything. Maybe that was why he felt so . . . burned out.
Nothing much surprised him anymore.
“It’s with a detective with the local police,” Ink said.
All right, some things still managed to surprise him.
“Why would a detective ask to meet with you?” he asked. “Surely he could take care of his own security?”
“Yeah, he’s being secretive about his reasons and he hasn’t wanted me to say anything to anyone else, but I know it’snot about his personal security. My guess it’s about police corruption.”
All right. Now he was definitely interested.
“Corruption?”
“Billings police department is filled with corruption,” Reyes said bluntly. “Not something that we’d normally get involved in, but three of our guys have been pulled over in the last month and threatened with jail time if they didn’t pay a ‘fine.’”
“I’m guessing these fines lined the individual officer’s pockets?” Matthieu asked.
“You got it,” Duke said with a scowl. “Violence and crime in Billings is increasing.”
“Damon isn’t happy,” Spike said. “His guys know that he doesn’t abide by violence unless it’s necessary. Things like assault and home invasions are off the table. Especially assault against women.”
“Yeah, Markovich said that rival gangs are sniffing around, and that cartels are trying to push drugs through Billings. They want to use it as a homebase to get drugs out to the rest of the northern states,” Reyes said. “Again, not our problem, but this is spreading beyond gangs to everyone else.”
“My garage isn’t in the greatest area of the city,” Razor said. “Young kids are getting recruited into these gangs and nobody can stop them. Worried parents call the cops about things they have seen, violence, crime, and most of the time the calls go unanswered. Or if they are answered, they want a kickback for doing their fucking jobs. These families need protection and the police don’t give a shit.” Razor turned abruptly and walked over to where the girls were.
