CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

When Miller and Addie arrived for dinner, two men were guarding the clubhouse, not allowing any of the residents inside. He gave them their names, and they were welcomed inside. Mike immediately walked toward them.

"Pierre! I'm glad you came. This must be your wife. Damn," he grinned.

Addie did her best to smile and give a little laugh, but inside, she wanted to beat the shit out of the man.

"This is my Addie," smirked Pierre. "Helps to have a young, energetic wife."

"I guess it does," smirked Mike. "Come on over to our table. Charlie Gates, our leader, is here. He'll want to speak with you."

Pierre took Addie's hand, leading her to the table. She was wearing a simple black dress and heels. Nothing too expensive, nothing flashy. She wore small pearl earrings and a simple gold wedding band. Pierre was dressed in khakis, a button-down shirt, and a jacket. They needed to look serious without being pretentious or appearing as if they had money.

"Charlie? This is Pierre and his wife, Addie. They're the ex-cops I spoke with you about," said Mike.

"Nice to meet you," said Charlie. "Have a seat. Maybe your wife wants to wander around."

"His wife wants to stay," said Addie. "In case Mike didn't mention it, we're both ex-cops."

"He mentioned it," said Charlie. "Listen, I'm about to share an unusual business model with you. If you like it, great. If you don't, we've got a problem because then I'm not sure that I can trust you."

"We're brothers," said Pierre. "Don't insult me."

"That's what I like to hear. We all know that our retirement plans suck. We're working our assess off, risking our lives, and we don't get shit for retirement pay. I'm changing that for those willing to do a little extra."

"We're listening," said Addie, leaning forward. He grinned at her, nodding.

"We own a number of places like this one here. We accept only wealthy residents. Residents willing to pay a premium price for a place to live and get care. Sometimes, our men are lucky enough and happy to catch their eyes. When that happens, we let nature take its course.

"Occasionally, there is a wedding that leads to the relationship becoming even more profitable. Sometimes, it's just elaborate gifts and favors, a few luxury trips, watches, or even homes and cars. Everything we get, we reinvest into the business. Each man earns ten percent of what we take in every month."

"Feels like sooner or later that would dry up," said Miller, frowning at the man.

"Oh, no doubt it will. We're investing the money for something bigger. See, I'm running for Congress in Georgia. I'm twenty points ahead of the other guy. I've got this," he grinned. "In five days, I'll be delivering a ground-breaking speech in Atlanta. Twenty thousand people will protest and riot, not because of me, just because they feel in the mood. It's going to be a horrible scene."

"How does that help you?" asked Addie.

"Help us, sweetheart." Addie bit her tongue so hard she thought it might bleed. Beneath the table, Miller squeezed her hand, calming her. She only nodded at Charlie.

"How will it help us?" asked Miller.

"Simple. My plan is to privatize police in Atlanta, and this little display of unrest will show how the police can't handle rioters. Most of them are on my team."

"You're going to privatize with former officers?" frowned Miller.

"No. Former inmates."

"Sorry, did you say inmates?" asked Addie. "How? How is that possible?"

"It's possible because I can control what the public sees. For years, cops have requested favors from inmates in prisons. Get rid of a witness, listen for evidence, hurt someone, anything we wanted. Sometimes, we paid for it. Sometimes, we simply made the tables turn for the inmate.

"Freedom is not something you can put a price on. These men, and women, are hardened. They know how to fight, shoot, kill, and scare the fuck out of people. Can you imagine a convicted murderer on the streets of Atlanta identifying other killers and getting rid of them? The crime rate will cease to exist."

"And what about pedophiles?" Miller was almost to the boiling point. He heard his wife's voice in his ear, calming him from Belle Fleur.

"Pedophiles are the first we're going after. We'll eliminate them all. All of this," he said, sweeping his arm around the room, "was just the first step. From here, we make one of the most dangerous cities in America one of the safest. I'll use that as my platform for the presidency in two years and then take this nationwide. Cops will become a part of our fundraising efforts, and the criminals will be the ones risking their lives. If they get out of line, I've got an entire team of ex-cops as the enforcers."

"What if the criminals decide to not cooperate? What happens if they decide that being out and free with a weapon is kinda cool?" frowned Addie.

"We've got that taken care of as well. Have you ever heard of a shock collar? We had a friend in North Korea who developed something that can be injected at the base of the brain and deliver high voltage charges when someone is out of line. It's beautiful and works perfectly."

They were almost stunned without words. This was the same device used on U-Jin by his parents. Somehow, the device had made its way to this madman.

"So, our role would be to entertain and woo these men and women, hoping that they would give gifts, cash, perhaps even leave money to us in their wills. Is that right?" asked Addie, speaking for the two of them.

"That's right. Of course, you two would need to hide the fact that you're married. Maybe even stay in separate condos."

"We could do that," said Miller. "If it makes my retirement more than it is now, I'm all for it. We deserve better than what we got, that's for damn sure."

"I think we would all agree," smiled Charlie. "We've got a great meal planned. Lobster, steak, anything you could want. Let's indulge tonight, and we can start making plans tomorrow."

"Just one more question," said Addie. "What if the men or women don't comply? Is there something we can give them, something that will make them more compliant or in agreement? I mean, I know of a few drugs, but just checking."

"Smart lady," laughed Charlie. "We've got something that does just that. We can talk about it in our meetings tomorrow. Are you in?"

Pierre looked at Addie and heard his brother in his ear. They needed to get as much evidence on this asshole as possible.

"We're in."