“Word on the street is he’s been running his mouth, bragging about stiffing us,” Monster added.
“Any clue where to start looking?” Prowler knew if they had any answers, they would’ve said, but he asked anyway.
“His SRO was cleaned out. His car tags expired. Parents deceased. Two siblings. A sister who fell off the face of the earth a few years ago. Only viable lead is a brother over in Utah.”
“What’s the damage?”
“Fifteen.”
“Loan or in-house?”
Most people would assume that a fifteen-thousand-dollar debt was just that, but the Kings treated it differently. If they lent 15K in cash, that was a lot worse than someone who gambled away that same amount on credit at the Kings’ tables.
A cash loan came with much higher interest, but both still had to be paid back so others didn’t get ideas. Besides, Travis was running his mouth, and that had to be dealt with.
“He split it. Took ten in-house and walked with the other five.”
The Kings didn’t like to make noise unless they needed to. All loans went through their check-cashing business to clean shit up, but if someone looked too hard into their loan practices, there’d be questions.
“Get some more info on the brother. Mainly what he does and who he knows. Then we’ll find the angle to come at the brother to find Travis and get our money back from him one way or another.”
What Prowler didn’t have to say was hands off the brother. They weren’t in the habit of transferring responsibility to any available party. Now, if said party was aware that Travis owed them and was hiding him, that was a different story.
“What else we got?”
“Got the ride through Red Rock next week and the party at Ransom after. The noise waiver came through this week, but we had a snafu with the food truck, but I’m on it. I’ll keep you informed.”
Prowler nodded. They needed new blood, so a party was what was called for. However, some of their animals felt territorial over their clubhouse, so when they hosted a more public event, one where every single attendee wasn’t vetted, they opted for the bar.
They cordoned off the parking lot, hired a band, and kept it always lit. Bonus, the hotel reaped the benefits of overindulgence with their discounted room rates for ticket holders. Plus, it was always good for scoping out potential customers for their brothel and tables.
After all other business and issues had been addressed, Prowler gaveled the meeting closed. He wanted nothing more than to get home to his daughter and see Taylor.
He wasn’t sure if he was pissed at her or not, nor was he sure if they should end things or keep going. What he did know was, either way, their relationship had to change. He just wasn’t sure which way that would be yet.
The hard part was Taylor would have to wait. Cassidy came first, and his time with her was limited.
Just then the air was filled with an old Le Tigre and Bunny song.
“You changed my ringtone again, I see.”
Her laughter was lively. “Do you like it?”
“Better than the last one, I guess. What’s up, Jellybean?”
The last song had been some country singer from like the fifties, so yeah, “The Cars That Go Boom” was better.
“What time will you be home tonight?”
“Around five. What do you want me to pick up on the way home? Lettuce or tomatoes?” he joked.
“Ugh, Dad, you know vegan food is more … never mind. Don’t pick up anything except some wildflowers. And maybe spray some cologne on before you head home so you don’t smell like, well, smoke, sweat, and perfume.”
The last word was said with an upward inflection combined with a conspiratorial tone. He didn’t exactly hide what he did from Cass, but he didn’t share details either. She knew the club owned businesses, the legit ones, anyway, but apparently, she smelled the not-so-legal ones on him as well.
“Why?” Then some pieces fell into place. “Cass, this smells like a setup.” One that he didn’t exactly hate the idea of.
“Taylor ordered this vegan tenderloin that finally arrived, and we’re making beefless wellington. It’ll be nice, and maybe you guys can get to know each other over dessert.”
