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“Hey, European beers have higher alcohol content. No one told me that.”
I grinned as I walked down the hallway towards the elevator. It wasn’t until the doors closed that I realized Will never told me why he was still at work. If I avoided my problems, then Will masked his well.
I started my truck and headed to One Police Plaza after calling to check if the Commissioner was in. There were 77 precincts in New York City and so far, five different police chiefs had rejected my requests, no doubt on the order of their commissioner.
It didn’t take long before I pulled up to the rectangular thirteen-floor building. I breezed through security and took the elevator to the top floor.
A man in his early twenties greeted me from his desk. “Can I help you?”
“Yes. I’m here to see the commissioner.”
“Do you have an appointment?”
“No.”
He stared at me and tilted his head as if to say, ‘Then what do you want me to do?’
“Can you tell him Jake Devereux is here to see him?”
He pursed his lips, perhaps wondering if it was worth angering the commissioner over me. I played the one card that always worked.
“Commissioner Rodriguez and I have some business to discuss. My private jet is scheduled to depart in an hour, so I don’t have much time to waste.”
“You have a private jet?” The way his lip curled showed how much he doubted my statement.
I sighed. I wasn’t lying about the jet. Only that it was leaving in an hour. I pulled up the paperwork on my phone. It was embarrassing how often this worked to impress people. “Here are the ownership papers, and you’ll see my name and face match my driver’s license here.” I opened my wallet to show him the picture.
His smile grew as his brain processed the truth. “You’re much better looking in person,” he grinned, looking up from the photo.
His reaction was typical of the others. I grew infinitely better looking the richer I became in their eyes.
I didn’t earn my wealth from the military. Definitely, not that. Our bodyguard business was successful, but it wasn’t bringing in billions. No, those funds were thanks to Jager. The brains of our brotherhood. Jager was the hacker in our special ops group. He understood complexities and saw strategies that no one could. He saw trends in stocks before anyone else and knew which companies to invest in and which to drop. We all trusted him with our meager savings and it had paid off a billion-fold. He still managed all of our portfolios. None of us trusted anyone else.
“The commissioner’s office is the last door to the right. Do you want me to show you?”
His grin indicated he knew exactly what he was doing. I smiled. “I think I can figure it out. Thank you.”
I kept a smile on my face until I drew closer to the commissioner’s office. The closer I got, the narrower the hallway became until it felt as though those beige walls would swallow me up.
Come on, Jake. It’s been three years. He can’t still be holding a grudge. This is all just a big misunderstanding.
His door was only slightly open, so I knocked once.
“Come in.”
I cleared my throat and walked inside. Before he could even look up from his desk, I addressed him directly. “Commissioner Rodriguez. I need to speak with you.”
He stiffened, his eyes still not looking at me, but I knew he’d recognized my voice. It felt like an eternity until he raised his head and met my gaze. “Sir,” I said when he finally looked at me.
“You…” His voice quivered and his fingers clutched the desk. “You think you can come in here and talk to me whenever you’d like?”
“I’ve tried making an appointment, sir. But I’ve always been denied.”
“Then you should have taken the hint. I don’t want to see you.” His voice was low, but somehow it felt as though he had shouted.
“I gathered that, sir. But there’s something I need to discuss with you urgently.”
He raised his eyebrows and relaxed his fingers. “Well, you’ve finally come to explain yourself?”
