Taking Care of Business
Isabelle had made him a drink.
"How's the neighbourhood? Pretty quiet mostly, or..." He asked.
"What's going on?" Isabelle asked.
"Just some ugliness's bleeding in from the city. We try to stay on top of it. You seen anything weird?"
"Like what?"
"You know, people that don't quite fit the vibe here." He asked and she shook her head. "Let me know if you see anything out of the ordinary."
"I will. And thank you, Agent Turner." Isabelle smiled.
"Jimmy." He told her before he left.
***
"Maybe we should lay low for a while." Isabelle told the others.
"What do you mean lay low for a while?" Annie asked.
"I mean we shouldn't clean a bunch of counterfeit money when the FBI is on our trail."
"It was your idea!"
"Can you all keep it down, please?" Ruby asked.
"Look. They're not 'on our trail,' okay?" Beth told her.
"He was literally in my kitchen." Isabelle said.
"Stan is in my bedroom." Ruby pointed out.
"If the guy knew anything, he would've just said it." Annie added.
"He gave his card to me."
"Look, I got fancy lawyer bills coming out the wazoo, dog. I talked to her for 15 minutes it cost me $800."
"You know how much a criminal layer costs?" Beth asked.
"I need this payday. We didn't get the last one."
"We all need it. But let's not be stupid
about it." Ruby said.
"What's stupid is if we screw this up
because gang friend is not gonna give us another shot." Annie stated.
"Gang friend?"
"Probably some teenagers stole an Xbox or something. I promise you it was nothing."
"It wasn't nothing. It was the FBI."
"Okay, so it was two Xbox's."
***
"I'm not sure I see the problem." Rio said.
"You and me both, brother." Annie replied.
"Annie." Beth warned.
"I would just like to take this moment to personally thank you for this opportunity. I promise we'll iron this out. We're gonna make you proud."
"Okay, hold up, Annie." Ruby started.
"Y'all asked for a piece of this." Rio said.
"Yes, we did, sir. That's true."
"That was before the FBI began making personal stops." Beth said.
"Okay, let's just calm down. Sorry. She does this. It's all part of the process." Isabelle joked.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Hmm, I don't know. You begged our parents for a piano. And they drop three grand on a baby upright. And guess who decides she'd rather play violin?"
"I'm staying out of it." Ruby said.
"It sounds like y'all got a lot to work out. So..." Rio spoke and was about to leave.
"Wait a minute. Don't you want your product?" Isabelle pushed the money to the side.
"This ain't the Girl Scouts. You can't give
the cookies back."
"Aren't you worried about the FBI?" Ruby asked.
"Nah." Rio shrugged.
"See?" Annie said.
"There's a distribution system. You've been distributed to." Rio told.
"Am I supposed to know what that means?" Isabelle asked.
"It means you're on the hook now."
"It's, like, a hundred grand." Beth said.
"Oh, you don't got to wash it."
"Then what do we do with it?" Ruby questioned.
"Burn it. Eat it. Wipe your ass with it. Then write me a check. Cause either way, I'm coming to collect." Rio said.
"Hey. Guess who ended up taking the piano lessons? Six years. It's gonna be fine." Annie said and Rio smirked before he walked out.
***
Isabelle was in the car with Rio.
"So, what do I say?" She asked him.
"To who?"
"Duh. Hello? The FBI. What do I tell them?"
"They ain't got nothing." Rio told her.
"They have a picture of you." Isabelle said.
"That ain't special. I'm on Facebook, too." He said and divided the money. "Your cut."
"Wait a minute." She said and he shut the car door.
Rio sighed. "Listen. In my line of work, if you don't have the FBI on your back, you ain't making noise."
"Well, I don't wanna make noise. They're gonna want to know what someone like me is doing with someone like you."
"What are you doing with someone like me?" Rio asked.
"Well, clearly, I can't tell them that."
"Right, right. All right, so tell them I was hitting it."
"What?" Isabelle asked.
"Oh, I'm sorry, sweetheart. Tell them we were making love." Rio said.
"How do I even say that?" Isabelle asked and he chuckled.
"You'll think of something. Make me sound good though, yeah?" Rio said and got out the car.
***
Isabelle was now in the office.
"Miss Garcia. Can I get you anything? Coffee?" Jimmy offered.
"Oh. You drink coffee at this hour?"
"I don't sleep much, anyway. You?"
"I slept with someone." Isabelle let out.
"Can't guess who." He muttered.
"I'm not proud of what happened but it's finished now. But that's why he was at the house. And that's why I couldn't say anything." She explained.
"Oh. Well... Okay, then."
"Okay." Isabelle said and got her things.
"Okay. Just out of curiosity, where'd you meet him? I'm just wondering where you meet an inner city gangbanger."
"It was at a party." Isabelle told him.
"What was he wearing?" He asked.
"Jeans."
"What about you?"
"Dress."
"Where did you meet him?" He asked again.
"I already told you."
"Okay, then what was the name?"
"The Pandemonium." Isabelle answered.
"I bet you had a great night. Who drove? You or him, who drove?"
"We both did."
"What kind of car does he drive?"
"Black BMW." Isabelle guessed.
"It'd be registered. I'll check it." He said.
"It might actually be a Cadillac."
"Might. Have a good night, Miss Garcia." He said and Isabelle sat back down.
"It was just a one night stand. I went out to have fun and I was lonely and he was there."
"Fair enough."
"We drank a lot. And I invited him back to my house. We drank more. Then I realised what I was doing and told him to go. And he kissed me. I kissed him back. He pulled my underwear off, and we did it right on the kitchen counter. It only happened once.
And I've never seen or spoke to him since. And I don't plan to." Isabelle explained.
"Thank you for coming in." Jimmy said and she got to the door. "Miss Garcia. Just be careful who you bring into your home."
"Don't worry, I can handle it." Isabelle said and walked out.