Chapter 622 – Leveling With Jules
It was evident that Will still didn’t want to have anything to do with Jules these days, although the jury was still out on him as far as I was concerned. Currently he was doing us a huge favor so I had to treat him with some sort of civility, not that I wouldn’t anyway even if he and Will didn’t have a romantic relationship anymore. I was still somewhat stunned that Will couldn’t at least be friends with Jules, not having to sleep with him anymore, but the two were extremely close physically for some time. I could see the arguments from both sides, which was why it was better not to get between the two. Besides, my heart was with Will automatically, as much as I loved him, and I couldn’t see how that could ever change. I was sorry I didn’t know Jules better, and only formed an opinion based on what Will told me along with Allen, both of them saying he was good at using others to get what he wanted. I hadn’t forgotten that. Still, if he could help us and the law investigating agencies, then maybe there was some redemption to his being a friend again. Time would only tell.
“Jordan, I don’t know why Jules just comes over anytime he feels like it, and doesn’t give us a heads up on when he wants to come. I did tell him once if he got something in writing to let us know and we’d review it. We need time to get the AG’s office and FBI involved to see what he has to present. Him coming this afternoon doesn’t give us enough time to put that together. You know what that means. It means he’ll have to stay the night until you guys can get the AG’s office over here and whoever they’re working with at the FBI,” I told them. Will chuckled.
“I would have expected nothing less from the guy, Josh. I’m telling you, he’s going to work his way into our organization one way or another, and he’s not going to let you or anyone else stop him. That’s Jules,” Will informed us. It was beginning to look like he might be right.
“I know he’s excited to show us what he’s got, but damn, he could have given us some advanced notice,” I replied. Will smiled as did Jordan and Nate. Buzz and Ken were unmoved.
“Tonight is, none other than Ladies’ Night, and he’ll be the first to volunteer to help tend bar, because you’ll be missing at least one bartender, that being me, if he’s here, and probably a second one, that being Cam and possibly Kyle if things go south with Hal tonight,” Will explained. Damn, if he wasn’t right. “Let’s see, he’ll be depressed because I won’t talk to him, then he’ll start drinking while he’s working, all the time crying on your shoulder, Josh. He’ll be drunk after its all over, because that’s what he does when he wants you to think he’s sad and depressed. You’ll feel sorry for him and let him spend the night because he’s too drunk to go anywhere. He’ll try to end up sleeping with you and Jake, but if that doesn’t work, and let’s hope to hell you don’t let that happen, as that’s his main goal, to get fucked by the two of you so he knows he’s arrived finally where he wanted to be, but he’ll end up somewhere, most likely fucked by or fuck Dylan and Garth, the next best thing, someone close to you,” Will said, laying it all out as to what Jules would try to do. What was crazy, he was probably right as that’s exactly what happened the last time. I rolled my eyes.
“You’re probably right, Will. So what the hell do I do with him then? I don’t want to alienate him until the FBI and AG’s office can debrief him, and possibly get him to agree to continue to meet with Conrad and set up a sham deal. We need him in this case, but it appears it comes with strings attached. He’s probably not going to give us what we want unless he gets what he wants. This is a slippery slope. I mean we could send someone else, but we kind of need his less than perfect, somewhat sleezy, personality to pull this off. He seems to be great in that area, almost an equal to the other side that we’re dealing with?” I sort of asked, not stated.
“Maybe not quite as bad, but insistent on getting what he thinks he wants. I’m telling you, he wants your dick in his ass and to feel like he belongs in our group as much as any of the rest of us do, Josh. That’s just his ego. He’s not satisfied just to work with us and be a friend. He wants membership, a feeling of belonging to the most wonderful family there ever is. He thinks he’s an outsider, and I put him there. Now he wants to go around me, since that didn’t work, and go directly to you, proving to me, and himself, he ultimately belongs. He wants to show me he’s in and I couldn’t keep him out like he thinks I tried. I know it’s crazy, but that’s just who he is,” Will explained to the surprise of the rest of the guys.
“He’s not evil, is he?” Jordan asked.
“Not evil. No, of course not. He’s just ambitious and jealous. He wants to belong in the worst way and he thinks I intentionally kept him from you guys which pisses him off. My moving here to Uni concerned him he was losing inside track, his chance to get to all of us. So now, he’s given up on me and going straight to Josh,” Will explained.
“If he’s not evil, do we really care if he hangs with us and is more involved?” I asked, still uneasy about this conversation and possible character assassination.
“Up to you, but you have to remember, he’s ambitions. You give him an inch and he’ll take a mile. I’d much rather deal with him as on outside vendor than as part of our group. He only cares if it gets him something he wants, otherwise he could care less. He has no conscience. He’s just there for what he wants and needs. He could care less about the rest of us. That’s not who we were, or at least that’s not what you’ve shown me as long as I’ve been around you,” Will explained.
“Damn, this is confusing. We need him, and in a sense, he wants us, or thinks he needs us. I don’t feel right just using him, but I don’t want to necessarily bring him into the fold either. If you have his character pegged correctly, Will, then he’s not what we want as part of our brotherhood, but we could still deal with him as a friend and include him in on some things, I guess. That is unless he thinks that’s not enough and he needs more. Then we’ll have to deal with that later. I just don’t feel right leading him along to something that isn’t there for him,” I replied.
“Hey, he may whine and complain, but it’s all a show, Josh. He’s not sincere. I’d say deal with him the best you can, get what you need from Conrad and for the law enforcement agencies, use him to source future financing, but don’t fuck him and don’t let him fuck you or our other brothers, as it’s not going to work in the end and we’ll all regret the whole experience,” Will suggested. I sighed.
“Okay, I guess we’ll play it by ear. He might get fucked or fuck someone tonight, but it won’t be Jake or me for sure. I see what you’re saying about working his way in. It worked the last time and I can almost be certain he’ll do the same thing again. I might be wrong, but I trust your intuition and experiences with Jules to know you probably hit the nail on the head,” I told Will. Will smiled.
“I know him only too well, which is why I don’t want to be around him, or I’ll call his bluff and tell him off. That might ruin what you have planned for him to do to help you. I don’t want to screw that up any,” Will replied.
“Jordan, you, Nate and Ken meet with him to see what he brought back from Conrad. I’ll meet with him in the office here at the CNB before dinner after swim practice to see what he has going. See if you can get the AG’s office and the FBI guys here first thing in the morning, or better this afternoon if you can. I’ll need to explain to him what we need him to do, telling him he’s done the hard part already. Then if he doesn’t hate us and bolt, we can see what the AG’s office and the FBI wants us to do next, if there is a next,” I explained. They said they’d see what they could do.
“Buzz, see if you can get some additional information on that land that’s for sale where we could build another office building. Now that Weinstein and Seward are somewhat idle and on everyone’s shit list, maybe we need to be more aggressive in this town,” I suggested.
“Josh, you can’t go wrong buying land and developing it. I think we’ve proved that over and over. I’ll make some inquiries, but not for your company, as I don’t want the price to shoot up if they think SE is involved. I think we’ve kind of scooped the market the past couple of times with the dormitory and this property, but now that the business leaders in this town know we’re real and seen what we can do, we’re the ones they’re going after so we need to do things on the QT if you know what I mean,” Buzz stated. I told him I knew exactly what he meant, and I was good with however he wanted to handle it. He seemed excited to see what he could do.
The rest of the afternoon went pretty smooth. At swim practice, Zach and I turned in the resumes we wanted to see for tryouts next week. Drew said he’d send them invitations to show up for a week from Friday. Since we didn’t have practice on Friday afternoons, it would be a great time to check them out and see what we had as possibilities for next year. Zach said he thought Colt and Auggie were going to be great for our event, but hoped we could find a couple more for Andy’s relay team, someone that could put up with Les also. I told Zach that Les would love anyone with a big cock to take care of his ass. Zach said he was certain of that.
Damn if Jules wasn’t there at the CNB having a beer when I returned from swim practice. “Josh, great to see you,” he said, putting down his beer and giving me a big hug, something I wasn’t prepared for and did not invite, but Jules was being Jules.
“You know you need to do a better job of scheduling before you just go and show up, Jules. You’ve kind of got our schedules screwed up, just showing up when you feel like it,” I told him. He looked hurt and disappointed.
“Josh, I got what you wanted and was excited to bring it to you right away. You told me to bring it over when I got the proposal in writing. I got it this morning, so I thought you wanted to see it right away,” Jules explained, trying to justify his being here this afternoon.
“I understand that, but tomorrow would have worked just as well. We’re busy tonight, and I don’t have much time to look at the thing. Did you show this to Jordan, Nate and Ken?” I asked.
“Yes, I went over it with them, but they said you wanted me to go over it also and explain what else you needed out of this,” Jules replied, somewhat excited to show me. I took him into the office at the CNB and called Jordan, telling him he, Ken and Nate needed to join me over here at the CNB. “So they’re coming here also? I thought it was just going to be you and me going over all this. I was kind of looking forward to a private audience with you, if that’s possibly,” Jules replied. I gave him a strange look. “Or not,” he added after the look I gave him.
“Why a private audience? What does that solve?” I asked him concerned.
“I just thought it would give us a chance to have a meeting of the minds between us, that’s all. I mean the numbers are the numbers, but I need to know what motivates you in the areas of financing and what you’re really looking for,” Jules replied. I gave him another strange look. “You and I working together might get us further down the road faster than if we have to deal with all the number crunchers, just saying. We could have a couple of beers, talk, let me get to know you a little better, then maybe put something together you and I both like,” he suggested, making me wonder what in the hell he was eluding to.
“Jules, I don’t have a clue what you just suggested. What keeps me happy is knowing my ‘number crunchers’ are excited about what we’re doing. I don’t get that involved, but I need to explain a few things to you about what we’re trying to do here that they didn’t cover with you. Jordan, Nate and Ken are virtually me, when you’re discussing financing programs with them. I don’t do anything they don’t recommend, understood?” I asked. Although he looked a little disappointed, he said he understood. “Good, just so you do. There will be no deals put together between just you and me. I don’t do that, for your information,” I said, making sure he understood.
Blake arrived and joined us in the office. Jules was happy to see Blake again, knowing how close Blake and I were, trying to make nice with all the guys that were close to me. “How’s Will doing?” Jules asked.
“He’s doing a terrific job, actually. We just made him an official VP of Operations this week. He’s holding down the new office building and the dormitory and making headway on both. We’ll be in our new office building the beginning of next week. We’re moving everything over from our old offices this weekend,” I informed him. He seemed impressed.
“Got a space for me to work when I visit? If we put this deal together, I might be spending a lot more time over here with all the different covenants involved with this transaction,” Jules asked.
“I’m sure we have a cubicle somewhere down in accounting you can use if necessary,” I replied. Jules didn’t look all that impressed.
Jordan, Nate and Ken finally showed up. We sat around the small conference room table. “So, what did you think of the presentation Jules presented?” I asked the guys.
“It’s kind of what we expected, below market lending interest rates but with a few irregularities involved,” Ken explained.
“Those irregularities are where the money is saved and they’re not that bad to work with,” Jules chimed in. “We’re not dealing with our standard lending policy that most banks abide by here. Yes, this is a little out of the ordinary, as this bank has a large amount of money they need to lend as they’re sitting on way too much cash they need to get into the market place. Your needs for capital marry up nicely with their need to lend capital, which enabled them to give you a better rate because they need to move a large amount of cash. Actually, it all works out very nicely. You don’t find deals like this everywhere. You have to search long and hard for them, which is what I was able to do for you,” Jules explained. I gave him a strange look.
“In your opinion, at what they’re offering, is it even legal?” I asked him. Jules turned red, somewhat embarrassed.
“Well, like I said, it’s not your typical lending agreement at market pricing. There are offshore correspondent banks involved to skirt some of the banking regulations, but it’s all nicely buried and won’t raise any eyebrows at the Fed so we shouldn’t have any problems with the lending agreement. There are some rather stiff penalties for missed payments or late payments, just so you’re aware, somewhat different than your standard lending agreements,” Jules explained.
“Jules, call it what it is. The fucking bank is laundering money for whomever they deal with. For all we know, it could be drug syndicates around the country. They’re sitting on a ton of money they need to get out into the market place and they are offering it at below market prices, flying under the radar of the Fed to make it happen. I’m hoping you recognized what was going on when you discussed this with them,” I commented.
“Okay, so what you gave me to present to them was, what you might call, on the shady side also, which is what I thought you were willing to do, so I pursued it. Obviously, C&S couldn’t do this deal above board, but was excited you needed as much capital as you did and structured this deal I’m presenting today. So, in answer to your question, isn’t this what you wanted to do in the first place?” Jules asked, somewhat confused as to me questioning the character of what was presented when we sent him to Chicago to seek such a loan to begin with.
“Okay, I need to level with you on something. We’ve had quite a shit storm recently in this town regarding fraud and bribery, drug dealing, all kinds of bad shit. The bank that is used to launder money we think is the one you offered to us, C&S, saying they had al kinds of new programs that would work well for us. Do you remember telling us that?” I asked Jules. He said absolutely, which is what he was bringing to us, as what we were looking for was off the books somewhat also.
“Jules, we sent you to Chicago to visit them with a proposal that was shady to see if they’d pick up on the fact that we didn’t want a standard lending agreement, more or less insinuating we were interested in something off-standard, to see if they’d bite. Conrad sensed what you were looking for, but couldn’t present an alternative to the standard lending policy while you were in the bank, therefore meeting you at a bar to more or less feel you out as to what you might be interested in considering. He took the bait you gave him and now he’s made an offer. The offer, we both know, is off market, more like a loan shark offer, but well below market pricing to turn bad money into good money, more or less launder money,” I explained.
“Josh, we all know this deal is not your standard deal, but as long as it will work, what’s the difference? You get below market financing and they get to move their overstock of cash. Everyone wins in this case,” Jules replied. I shook my head.
“It’s not legal, Jules, and we want no part of it. We will never do business like that,” I explained.
“Then what the hell did you send me to Chicago for, basically asking these guys for an illegal loan? If you weren’t ever going to borrow money that way, then why did you send me there to ask for an illegal loan?” Jules asked, somewhat irritated.
“We had to find out if they were really involved in money laundering, Jules,” I told him, making him even more irritated, wanting to say WTF. “Listen, we’ve been working with the AG’s office here in the state, who is also interested in the dealings of C&S working with the FBI in that case. They haven’t been able to find out what they’re up to. We volunteered to work with them to see where we could go with a less than legal request. You got us the information we needed. You were a tremendous help, and we’re grateful for what you were able to uncover,” I told him. Now Jules looked even more confused.
“What the fuck, Josh. You sent my ass on a wild goose chase to find out what that damn bank was up to, knowing full well you didn’t want any part of anything they’d put together in your behalf? That’s just evil to do something like that. I worked hard to get you this deal, thinking you’d be all excited getting a better deal than the one you sent me up there to propose. You just fucked me and threw me to the curb. What a friend you turned out to be. All of you should feel guilty as shit, because that’s just wrong,” Jules said, getting rather heated. “I should call Conrad up and tell him what you guys did to him. I have a feeling these guys don’t play nice if they get fucked,” Jules replied.
“Easy there, Jules. Sit down and relax. We had you covered. The AG’s office and the FBI knew what you were up to and are grateful for what you’ve been able to uncover. You are a hero in their eyes, and your work will do a lot of good to helping end all this corruption that is going on in our town, the City, and who knows where else it stems from. We couldn’t tell you what you were really doing as you wouldn’t have done it as well as you did. You played this whole thing flawlessly, urging them to come up with something less than legal, as if we that’s what we really wanted,” I replied.
“Hell, that’s what I thought you wanted, the way you guys presented it to me,” Jules replied. I patted him on the shoulder.
“It was and it worked. You played the part flawlessly and got what we needed. I commend you on that for sure. We gave you a mission, and not to let us down, you accomplished that mission well. Thanks to you, we have a lot more ammunition for the AG’s office and the FBI to go after them for, and break the bank of the corruption that flows through this town. This is just the first step. We may need you to follow up with them some, which is why we want you to meet with the AG’s office and FBI in the morning to discuss further steps,” I told him.
“Wait a minute. Does the FBI think I’m corrupt for presenting an illegal deal for financing? Is my character impugned? I want to know, as it looks like I’m part of them, the go-between for fraud,” Jules asked, still concerned and showing more discontent. Again, I patted him on his shoulder.
“You’re fine. Like I said, they think you’re a hero, a man of courage and strong character to pull this off,” I assured him. Actually, I had no idea what the hell they thought of him other than a patsy doing a deed for us as far as I knew. “They think you were doing this to help all of us and they commend your effort,” I added.
“Well, then I did a hell of a lot of work that was never intended to go anywhere, so what the hell do I get out of this?” Jules asked, upset that he was looking at a very hefty commission on this tainted loan from Conrad, which was never there to begin with, but yet he did the work to achieve it, thinking it was better than what we asked for, so it was a no-brainer on our part.
“We haven’t decided what all we’re doing on financing yet, so I’m sure we can hook you up and use you somewhere that will compensate you for your efforts, or we will make up the difference somehow. You won’t go uncompensated for all that you’ve done, Jules. We wouldn’t do that to you, I promise,” I assured him. He seemed to chill out more after that.
“So what’s for dinner, since you’re buying?” Jules asked, inviting himself for dinner.
“You good meeting with the AG’s office and the FBI for a debriefing and possible instructions for more work?” I asked. Jules shrugged his shoulders.
“Hey, this is going to cost you, but I’m here to help you, so I guess I’m in,” he replied. I patted him on the back again, telling him I was sure we could count on him. “Just don’t do me dirty again, Josh. That’s not your style, and as a friend, I wouldn’t expect that out of you,” he added.
“I’m really sorry we couldn’t fill you in on what we were up to before you went, but we were afraid that might blow your cover if we did,” I explained.
“I understand, but it’s still kind of shitty. Don’t worry, I’ll let you make that up to me,” Jules chided, smiling, but I was almost sure he would. I was starting to see glimpses of what Will described him to be. Will knew him better than anyone.
Kyle joined us for dinner after he got through with work. There was Kyle, Blake, Jake, Jules and me. We had a couple of beers to go with dinner. “So, Jules, where are you staying tonight since you’re obviously staying over for the meeting tomorrow in Jordan’s office?” I asked. Jules smiled.
“I guess I might have to sleep with you and Jake, since you’re making me stay over,” Jules chided. I chuckled, but could see what he was aiming for.
“Really, well I think all the beds are full in the apartment tonight, but we might have one at the house if you want to stay there, or we can book you a hotel room,” I suggested. He smiled again.
“I can always snuggle between you and Jake and be most comfortable, and maybe just have a wonderful time doing it,” he hinted. Again I chuckled, as did Jake, as if he made a joke.
“Well, we need our sleep as we have a busy day of classes tomorrow, so that’s not going to work. I guess you can have the couch if you don’t want to stay at the house,” I offered. He looked disappointed. “Besides we have Ladies’ Night tonight, which I believe you’re familiar with so you’ll have to disappear somewhere for that, as it’s just the lady customers tonight,” I reminded him.
“Hey, I’ll just help you out behind the bar mixing drinks and drawing beer, just like I did the last time. It’ll be great fun. Besides it’ll give us a chance to get to talk more that way,” he replied, inviting himself to the party. Everything Will said he would do, was happening. I was starting to get a little irritated, but what could you do. I was impressed at how talented he was at working us. He definitely knew what he was doing. That talent could come in handy working someone like Conrad, but I wasn’t crazy about Jules using that kind of talent on me. Will warned me, and he was right.
“Well, if you want to help, I guess you could do that. I am short a couple of guys tonight. Blake and Kyle can take you upstairs to get dressed in the uniforms like you wore last time. I have a couple of people I need to talk to before I can change, but you guys go ahead and get ready, as we’re going to need you soon,” I told them. Blake told Jules to follow him. Jake smiled, noticing I dumped Jules on Blake and Kyle.
“Way to go, babe. I’m sure Blake appreciated you dumping Jules on him,” Jake chided. I smiled.
“Hey, he’s chief of staff, the gate keeper, remember? That’s his job to keep the enemies at the gate and not let them near us. He’s running interference for us, which I’m sure he’s enjoying. He’s okay. He’s got Kyle with him. You and I both know Jules wanted to change with you and me, be naked with us in the process. I didn’t give him the opportunity this time. Two can play his game,” I replied. Jake smiled and gave me a pat on the ass, making me chuckle.
“So who’s the important people you have to talk to?” Jake asked.
“Rod, Tyler and Lonnie, of course,” I replied, chuckling, as did Jake, shaking his head.
“Any other time that would be a joke, but due to the situation, I can totally understand. I guess they’re as good as any to run interference for Jules,” Jake replied, chuckling.
“Damn straight. They need to be good for something other than just eating our food and wagging their dicks at the ladies,” I replied, as we came up to their table. I stood between Tyler and Rod, who were sitting on their stools at one of our tall tables.
“You guys ready to do your thing tonight?” I asked, as I patted Rod and Tyler on the back. They all chuckled saying they were ready for some fun.
“Saw you were busy with some guy we didn’t know, so we didn’t bother to sit with you tonight,” Rod stated. I smiled.
“Actually, I wish you had crashed that party. I’m not sure about Jules, the guy you didn’t recognize. He used to be Will’s boyfriend over in the City, but they had a terrible falling out and Will can’t stand to be around him anymore. I’m not sure if he’s as bad as Will paints him to be, but everything Will warned me about, Jules is definitely exhibiting character wise,” I stated.
“Want us to throw the bum out?” Lonnie asked, with a big smile. I laughed.
“I wish it were as simple as that. He handles a lot of our financing when we decide to use it. Right now he’s on a big project for us, and we kind of need his services at the moment. Sadly, his character comes with his services. You can notice that Will isn’t here tonight, nor is he coming to help out. If Jules is here, Will won’t come. Now Jake and I are stuck with him,” I told them. They asked where he lived. I told them he still lived in the City so we had three hours of separation for the most part, until he had to come for a meeting here. I also told them he was supposed to give us notice, but he just took it on his own to show up whenever he wanted to, expecting us to feed and house him as if he was one of our own, which he definitely wasn’t.
“Hey this doesn’t concern the Grand Victorian project, does it? That would be terrible if that were in trouble,” Tyler asked concerned as were Rod and Lonnie now, because that was paradise to them and a big fuck time with the girls. I had to chuckle.
“No, it has nothing to do with the Key West projects. Those are fine and uninvolved. This is something else that we’re not going to do, but Jules doesn’t know that yet and doesn’t need to know it, as we need him to do some further research for us there for future possibilities. He’s way too eager to help,” I explained. “We just get annoyed when he’s around, but we do need him to do some work for us.”
“Bummer. It’s too bad he’s not straight, then we could fix him up with a chic tonight and get him the hell out of your hair,” Rod replied, as I felt Tyler’s hand run up the inside of my leg and graze the bottom of my balls through my jeans, giving me a little thrill. He was such a hot looking stud. I just wanted to jump his bones right then and there, but that was not to be. Still, I had to enjoy the little bit of attention he was giving me. He knew I would have done it to him if I had the chance. His gesture was under the tall bar height table, out of view from the others, but possibly in view to people behind us, had they been paying attention. He squeezed my inner thigh as if to give me his support. I kept right on talking to the three of them, as if nothing was happening. Still, I enjoyed it.
“The girls coming tonight?” I had to ask. Rod and Lonnie both said, ‘hell yes’ at the same time. “Damn, there goes my drink profits for tonight the way those gals drink,” I chided, as I felt fingers over my full junk now. I spread my stance a little to give Tyler more ‘playing’ room. I have to say he took full advantage of my gesture. His hand was all over my junk, as I leaned against their table to make sure his gestures weren’t noticed by his bros. Even Jake missed all that. I just wished I could have returned the favors he was giving me. He was definitely enjoying himself.
“Hey the girls don’t drink that much compared to all the screaming women you have in this place starting soon,” Rod replied. “Besides it softens them up for us later and sometimes we get lucky on a week night,” Rod added.
“Well, I’m glad I’m contributing to that effort then. Wouldn’t want you guys to suffer going without now, would we?” I teased.
“Oh, this has worked out so well, Josh. Unbelievable. I mean we are solid with these babes now. Not only are they fun to be with and hang with, but the sex is pretty damned hot also. I mean, we’ve finally made it in with them, and it’s been great. Ever since Key West, things have been fantastic. Buddy, I can’t thank you enough for that fantastic trip and the wonderful time we had there, minus Tyler that is, since he had to bunk with you at your place, which wasn’t any fun for either one of you, but Lonnie and I scored big time,” Rod bragged. Tyler rolled his eyes. But then, Tyler and I knew otherwise, but that was our little secret and would remain that way.
I told the guys to give it their all tonight and shake those dicks at those horny man hungry women. That got a laugh out of them. Lonnie said he thought my team got just as much pleasure out of watching them as the women did. Jake and I laughed, but if the truth were known, we absolutely did. I patted Tyler and Rod on the back telling them we’d see them later. Jake and I left to go upstairs to change, meeting Blake, Kyle and Jules, all dressed and ready to go, on their way down. Blake rolled his eyes at me as if to thank me for sticking him with Jules. I could only imagine what Jules was telling them.
Jake and I quickly changed into our uniform, pausing quickly to kiss passionately and rub dicks together as we got naked to change. “I love moments like this when we’re finally alone and can be passionate together,” Jake told me. “No matter how much time we spend together naked and have passionate sex, it’s exciting every time, Josh,” he told me, as I practically swallowed his tongue. “Wow, I think someone is horny tonight,” Jake replied, as we finally had to stop and actually take a second to let our dicks relax, having heated them up to boner status wanting to breed each other.
“Just glad it’s you and me and not Jules that are getting dressed tonight. You know he wanted to get naked with us to change. He was all for that, like the last time. I swear if Dylan and Garth don’t want to do him, he’s on the couch. I don’t care how much he complains about being used and not being loved by us because Wil painted a bad image of him in our minds. I think Will is right when he says the guy is a real con artist. The problem is, that’s just what we need to deal with Conrad to get to the bottom of how C&S launders money,” I told Jake. He grabbed me and hugged me.
“Josh, you’re so willing to help others, it gets us into these situations. Maybe we should just let the AG’s office and the Feds investigate this without us being involved. I know you want to nail these bastards and so do I, but do we have to get this involved? Not that we like Jules that much, but are we possibly putting him in harms way? I mean if something happened to him, do we want that on us? You know he’ll probably be willing to do almost anything to get in our good graces, including the possibility of putting himself in danger if he thought it would win us over to really caring about the him,” Jake commented. I had to think about that.
“I don’t want him hurt. I would just like for him to cooperate with the AG’s office and the Feds to see what he can find out and then forget about all of it,” I told Jake, as he hugged me fully clothed one more time before we had to go to work.
“He did seem a little upset with us in our meeting this afternoon. I guess he had a hard time thinking he’d been used,” Jake remarked. I reminded him that had we told Jules what he was actually up to, he might have blown it with Conrad and C&S. I told Jake, I thought even Jules realized he fought for this deal and was genuine in his quest, which is what we needed him to be. Jake agreed, but did say it kind of stunk. I had to agree, and felt guilty about not telling him ahead of time, but all was good so far. Jake agreed on that. I got another kiss, then we went downstairs.
I told Jake I’d be behind the bar momentarily, but I needed to talk to Lucky, Conner and Neal first. He wished me luck on that one. I had to chuckle, telling Jake those were my three favorite guys in law enforcement. Jake just rolled his eyes.
“Glad to see you guys,” I told the three as they just finished up eating something before the onslaught of horny women descended upon us.
“Oh here comes trouble,” Conner chided. I leaned in and gave him a hug, which made him change his tune. “Okay, not so much trouble as we care about him, but he finds ways to keep us busy.”
“So, did you get any help from the DEA regarding this Kenny guy?” I had to ask. Conner smiled.
“Turns out they are very interested in this Kenny guy, now that we filled them in on what we thought might be going on. They want us to stay out of it from here on out, so we won’t be sending Lucky out on any more stakeouts while they’re on the case. You’re off the hook, Lucky,” Conner told him.
“Damn, those stakeouts made the boring nights interesting again. Can’t I help the DEA, as I have all the details on what they do and when,” Lucky replied. Conner had to think about it.
“I’ll let them know in case they want to confer, but they kind of like to do their own thing without our involvement,” Conner replied.
“You could make them understand what it is that I’ve been witnessing, can’t you?” Lucky somewhat pleaded, making Conner stop and think about helping him. “I’ll flash you guys my dick in the locker room at the station if you can,” Lucky teased, with Neal sitting up and taking notice.
“You didn’t just say that, did you?” Conner asked, somewhat astounded as to what he heard. Lucky smiled.
“Just kidding, but if it’d help, hell I don’t care,” Lucky teased.
“Oh, please say yes, Conner. For the love of God, please say yes,” Neal pleaded.
“You are absolutely crazy, Neal. You can’t do that. We’ll all get fired, and besides that, it’s not right, and you shouldn’t tease Neal like that, Lucky. He thinks, or maybe wants to think you’re serious. Don’t do that to him. You’ll traumatize the poor asshole,” Conner chided. Lucky about laughed out loud.
“Don’t call me an asshole, Conner,” Neal said, getting upset at his partner. Conner gave him the eye again.
“Sounds like a good deal to me,” I chimed in, getting the eye from Conner again myself.
“You stay the hell out of it. For all I know, you put Lucky up to that,” Conner replied, shaking his finger at me.
“Hey, I’ve seen him naked, and he’s hot as hell. You guys should take him up on his offer,” I suggested, rather excitedly. Neal, excitedly said, ‘YES!’. Conner shook his head.
“For all I know, you might have pushed the poor bastard in the drainage ditch that night, just so you could strip him and dance with him naked in Kyle’s hot shower,” Conner somewhat scolded me, although with a big smile. I shook my head smiling.
“Never thought about it, but like they say, never let a good crisis go to waste. I was more than happy to try to save him. I’m so glad I did, because he’s so adorable, don’t you think?” I replied, giving Lucky a side hug. He was all smiles as he wrapped an arm around me in return.
“Lucky, you see what you’ve helped create here. It’s a wonder you’re still straight, putting up with the likes of Josh,” Conner said, shaking his head.
“What can I say? The dude saved my life that winter night, and I owe him a lot,” Lucky replied.
“Well don’t let him collect too much in the areas you aren’t comfortable with as he’s liable to take advantage of you now that he’s been somewhat intimate with you and all,” Conner warned, making Lucky laugh.
“I think he’s done nothing but show me great kindness and friendship, Conner. What more can a guy ask for?” Lucky replied.
“Oh, you just haven’t seen what all Josh can ask for,” Conner replied, making me give him the eye this time. “Okay, I’ll ask the DEA if it’s possible if you ride along with them the next time when we think they’re meeting at the motel. Josh, how in the damn hell did you get the intel as to when that happens. I really would like to know,” Conner almost demanded. I had to think of how to explain that.
“Uh, well, it seems like this Shelley girl leaves early with Aikens, the news producer at the station, on the nights they rendezvous at the motel. Clay, our reporter friend, lets us know, then we let Lucky know when that’s about to happen,” I explained, leaving Garth and all his electronic surveillance stuff out of it.
“Okay, I understand that, but how did you know where they were going the first time it happened and Clay was suspicious as to what Aikens and this Shelley girl were doing?” Conner asked. That was a damn good question.
“Well, we just suggested that Clay follow them to see, and damn if they didn’t go to the No-Tell Motel. The next time we knew where they would go, and Lucky just dropped by to see if they showed up. Damned if they didn’t, and even invited their druggie friends to join in the party. Lucky got some nice used and filled condoms that night. You still have them in your freezer?” I asked. Conner made a horrible face.
“Damn straight, I do. I’ll keep them there until we know they are absolutely no use to us at all,” Lucky replied. Conner told him he was crazy. Neal said it was kind of sexy.
“So,you going to let me know when Clay lets you know the next time he suspects they are meeting again at the sleazebag motel?” Conner asked.
“I’ll call you right away. Wouldn’t think of telling anyone else, unless the DEA guys are hot, and then I might just communicate with them in the future,” I chided. Conner shook his head. “Just kidding. You know I love you,” I told Conner.
“Sometimes I really wonder about that, as much as we’ve been through together in such a short time even,” Conner replied. “Besides, don’t say that in front of Lucky anyway. He doesn’t need to hear stuff like that,” Conner somewhat complained although it made him feel good when I’d tell him I loved him.
“I think it’s kind of sweet, myself,” Lucky replied getting Neal all excited.
“I am really starting to worry about you, Lucky. You’ve been hanging around Josh way too long and starting to pick up some of his bad habits. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear the two of you’ve been dating one another,” Conner commented, making Lucky and I laugh.
“Nah, that would upset Jake too much. Couldn’t have that happen, although it sounds appealing,” I teased, making Lucky smile. Conner said we were too crazy to try to understand.
I told the guys, I’d be in touch the next time Clay had intel as to when our three suspects with the girl were going to rendezvous again at the motel. I also told them that Shelley made a pass at Clay who was about to take her up on her offer to screw her, hoping he’d get more information out of her as to what these guys were involved with. I told them also that we had a guy working with the FBI and the state AG’s office on the institution we believed that Simon and Spence’s drug enterprise money was being laundered through.
“You know, you’re sticking your dick into some dangerous territory here, Josh. You could get it cut off if you aren’t careful. You need to stop and think about that some. Don’t go getting too crazy here. I know you want to see these bastards pay for what they did to Kyle and all the citizens of this state who’ve been supplying tax money to line the pockets of these guys, but please be careful there. These guys don’t play nice. Remember it was Clay’s apartment that was ransacked, sending him a message not to get carried away with negative press about anyone involved in that act of fraud. Just be very careful that only a handful of you guys know what you’re surveilling here and not be talking about it outside your immediate group, as this could get real ugly for you. I wouldn’t want anything to happen to you at all, but I can’t safeguard you all the time,” Conner told me. I told him we were keeping our information close to the vest, but it was important that we help nail these guys when we had information that might help put them away. Conner agreed, but warned me to be extremely careful here. He reminded me that Spence and Simon’s lawyers were still in town with their goons and those guys weren’t here for friendly visits. They were here to protect their business and secure the money that Simon and Spence allegedly owed them for the drugs the DEA confiscated. He said he guessed now they were working with whoever Simon and Spence’s lieutenants are now that they’re in jail. I asked them about whether they’d ever get out on bond. Conner said the DA was doing everything in his power to keep them in jail. And, he thought those two felt safer in jail with the goons running around town. Conner said what he wouldn’t give to hear the conversations between their attorneys and them, as he was sure they were filled with threats of death if they didn’t cooperate. Conner said they fucked up big time this time, both publicly and with their underworld business associates. Their business associates always wanted their guys to keep a low profile. Conner said, with Spence and Simon, there was no low profile. They always created big splashes of wrong doing and got away with it for ages, but not this time. I had to agree about this time anyway.
“Hey, Lucky, anytime you want a repeat of the shower we took together, I have a great shower upstairs I’d love to share with you, when you’re ready,” I chided, as I got up to leave to go tend bar with my guys. Lucky cracked up.
“Sounds great to me, Josh. I think I just might like that a lot,” Lucky replied, jokingly.
“Will you guys STOP? You’re making me crazy,” Conner said, rather emphatically. “I swear, Lucky, you’re starting to worry me,” Conner said, shaking his head.
“I think it’s fantastic what Lucky says. Don’t rain on his parade, Conner. Let the boy be who he wants to be,” Neal said, rather excitedly. I swear Conner was almost beside himself when I finally did leave. It was so much fun to tease them with Lucky. Lucky was having fun with them also, enjoying the hell out of teasing them. Someday, that would come to an end, I had to suspect.
I jumped behind the bar, trying to keep Kyle between me and Jules although Jules seemed to find his way around Kyle every chance he got to get to me. One time he put his hand on my back as he leaned in to tell me something. “You know, I’m rather proud you thought enough of me to see what I could find out for you dealing with those guys in Chicago. I admit, I was a little disappointed in what you told me earlier, feeling like you guys used me and all. But then I got to thinking about it, and realized, you thought I was good enough to pull that off and help you out. That made me feel better, like you trusted me and all,” Jules told me. Damn, if he wasn’t overthinking this thing again, I thought to myself.
“Hey, we knew you could do this, especially if you thought you were fighting for a deal we were looking for. You put your all into a quest, Jules. You did, and you came through. It worked out well. I hope you continue to cooperate with the other agencies you’ll be meeting with in the morning, and see what else we can come up with. You’d be doing your state and federal government a tremendous service if you would,” I told him, as he still had his hand on my shoulder. I tried to move a bit to see if he’d back off, but he seemed content to talk to me while he was touching me. That was beginning to bug me. Anyone else doing it, that I cared about, would not have bugged me at all, but Jules had a way of bugging me. He was good at that also.
“I’ll pretty much do anything I can do to help you guys, Josh. That’s what we do for our brothers. We stick together and hang together. I like being a part of something I can believe in, and you’ve done some great things I can really believe in,” he replied. He was already trying to set himself up to be recognized as part of our brotherhood. That seemed pretty presumptuous to me. Again, I thought back to what Will said about his horning his way into our business and fellowship. In some ways I appreciated him, but I questioned his motives big time.
Mary Ann came up and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, telling me I looked hot in my short shorts and wifebeater. I had t laugh. Then Jules asked who this lovely lady was, seeing as how she was sweet on me, again inviting himself into our world again. Mary Ann gave him the once over.
“I suppose, I’m not supposed to ask about this one either?” she asked me, insinuating he must be gay and not to waste her time flirting with him. I just smiled. She got the message. She did tell Jules he looked cute too. He told her he was charming also. Okay, now he was over the top. I shoved more beer glasses from the chillers to him, telling him to get busy and fill them up. He must have understood the message of less talk and more work. Mary Ann winked at me and took off.
Kyle soon got me aside, telling me Jules was asking all kinds of questions about me when he was changing with him and Blake, mainly did they know how I really felt about him as a friend. “I just told him that you treated everyone with kindness and friendship until they betrayed you, and then you didn’t have any use for them after that,” Kyle explained. I smiled.
“Did he get the message?” I asked. Kyle smiled.
“Not sure about this one, Josh. Usually, I can kind of tell whether they’re genuine or not, but this one has me puzzled. Blake said the same thing,” Kyle replied.
“Yeh, well that makes four of us because Jake and I both don’t know if he’s genuine or not. We kind of need him at the moment. If it were up to Will, we’d have shot him and thrown him out in the street,” I chided, making Kyle cringe.