Order (Tattoos and Ties Duet #2)(38)
He should probably let this sit. Perhaps a rewrite might be in order since he was unsure whether it was wise to call DA Twiford a vicious, selfish-righteous, arrogant bitch. He chuckled at that line. His true indecision came from how much time he should offer to transition his caseload. A month’s notice seemed more than sufficient under normal circumstances, but his division’s workload was insane. Maybe he could offer six weeks’ notice. Depending on when he tendered his resignation, he could still be out of there by the first of the year.
Since he was in such a strong take-charge-of-his-life mode, Alec switched back to his open email account and typed Reed Kensington’s name in the still open new message screen. Reed’s email auto-filled the line and Alec composed his email, not even trying to hint at what he needed.
Reed,
Come first of the year, I’ll be unemployed. I’m not in a position to relocate right away. If you hear of anything in the DFW area, let me know or please feel free to give my email address or phone number to any possible connections.
As always, I appreciate you,
Alec
Alec pushed send on the email then reached for his phone, looking over at the desk calendar. The day he sent his resignation, he should talk with his department head about the best possible transition of the Cummings case until criminal was ready to take this over. Who would be the family’s best hope? Truly any of the attorneys in CPS were qualified. Those people were saints.
Going for his suit coat, Alec shrugged it on, gears already switching to a new topic in his head. Maybe he could dress as Captain America and Key could be the Incredible Hulk. He laughed at the idea of his sexy biker with all that green body paint, because he wouldn’t need much more than the mask to pull off the Hulk.
He passed by Oliva who was still vacuuming and lifted a hand in goodbye. Key might need to shave, and Alec didn’t want that at all. Putting his Bluetooth to his ear, he dialed Gabrielle to see if she could scout out whatever might still be available this late in the game. He needed to know the costumes available before ever mentioning the idea it to Key. One less hurdle to jump before the negativity Key was sure to hit him with.
Keyes twisted his hair at the base of his skull, executing a perfect quick knot as he stared out over the sea of vehicles currently lining his parking lot. He didn’t necessarily have an overwhelming relief at the increase in customers, even though that comfort was there, he just saw a shit load worth of work waiting for him.
Business had seemingly turned around for Tires. Apparently, one news station had aired a small segment early this morning that the feds had finally dropped the bogus charges against his bike club. Customer volume had steadily picked up since then. Hopefully other stations would spread the word, even though dropping charges wasn’t nearly as exciting or newsworthy as covering the raid on multiple local businesses.
Keyes walked the length of the SUV he had just serviced and started motioning the customer out of the space while sticking the other hand out to momentarily stop the next car from blocking the SUV. When the new car pulled forward, he waited until the window rolled down, then he bent his head until he caught the driver’s eye.
“Wha’d’ya need?”
“I have a slow leak in the back, and I got my tire…”
The rumble of Harley pipes snagged his attention away from the customer. He watched Fox and Mack pull into the crowded parking lot and tracked them as they drove around to the side of the building where they normally went for privacy. Keyes looked over at Louis who had stopped what he was doing to look at him. He did a finger pointing thing, giving silent instruction, and Louis confirmed with a chin-up motion then yelled at one of his guys to take Keyes’s car. He never looked back at the customer while grabbing the rag out of his back pocket, wiping his hands as he took long strides toward his brothers.
“What’s up?” he asked after Mack cut his engine. Fox knocked his kickstand in place, hiking a leg over the seat. He walked the few feet toward Keyes, removing the distance between them. Fox gave him the same hand slap that he and Dev shared.
“Checkin’ on you. Everybody’s busier today. See you are too. That’s a good thing.”
Keyes gave him a firm nod and reached past Fox to fist bump Mack.
“Yeah, heard about the news coverin’ the dismissal.”
“Cocksuckers.” Mack looked up like he’d been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “No offense. Just sayin’, reporters sure shagged their fat asses out to cover the raid but can’t say a damn word when the fuckin’ shit clears. Fuck ’em.” Mack spit disgustedly on the ground.
Keyes gave his own nod to show no offense taken. That was light compared to what his brothers normally said in unguarded moments. Fox pulled an envelope out of his pocket and handed it to Keyes. By the size and weight, this was another sizable bonus, meaning the sale must have been big. He lifted his shirt and made quick work of tucking it in his jeans. Normally the cash exchanges came privately at the club, but it had been at least a month since he’d darkened the doorway of the clubhouse. His old man was a permanent fixture there, and the nearing end of his life hadn’t humbled him. He was a surly, hateful asshole. He made everybody uncomfortable when he started in on Keyes, and that usually happened within seconds of him walking over the club’s threshold.
“You cool?” Fox asked. “Everybody’s askin’ about you.”