When he came in, all heads turned in his direction, but he ignored it and went about the job Duke had asked him to do. He placed two more logs inside the fireplace and stoked the flames back to roaring before he stood and turned in their direction. Quick stepped to the front and nodded for Kell to sit at his desk. He glanced around him. Six men stood tall, he wouldn’t be the only man sitting.
“Now that we’re all here, finally.” Duke said. “Let’s get acquainted. Then let’s get to work.”
“My name is Duke Morgan, this is my business partner, Roman Webb, aka, Quick. We own and operate this bail slash fugitive recovery business here in Atlanta and my other business partner, Judge Josephson—who you will rarely see—operates the PI business on the west side. Quick and I have been doing this job over twenty-five years. Even with all our experience and training, we can’t do this shit alone.”
Kell figured Duke was explaining this part for Brian’s guy, because he knew this information already. With his hood and scarf still on, he discreetly watched his new partner for any obvious giveaways of his character. Instead of making any facial expressions, his smooth brown face stayed impassive as he listened.
“Working with us are some of the baddest men in Atlanta.” Duke pointed. “We do have a sort of pecking order here. By seniority. Dana Cadby is our marksman, has been for seven years and he typically has command in the field. He’ll be the one training and assisting you guys at the range. The King brothers, a force all their own to be reckoned with, have been with us for four and half years. That’s Brian, retired Special Forces, as well as his older brother, Bradford. We call him Ford. Brian will be training you in hand-to-hand combat for close contact with bail-skippers. We get real up close and personal, fellas, believe me. And, Ford will train you on the computers and how to use our system to track.
“We all work together to achieve one goal. No one’s job is more important than the others. When we’re on those streets, we’re a team and we operate as one. This is no place for showboating or being a goddamn cowboy. None! Orders are followed or else injuries happen.”
Kell stood as still as the rest of them. Listening. Duke’s voice was full of authority and Kell got the impression that he wasn’t a man who took excuses or gave second chances. He’d have to do this right. No heroics, no aiming for fame, or what Duke called it, ‘being a cowboy’. That wouldn’t be an issue because Kell never cared about appearances. That was always his father’s biggest fault.
“Bail recovery is not an easy profession. It’s not for the weak. We have to get grimy and dirty in this job,” Duke continued. “It takes constant training. Physical as well as mental. Just because you’ve completed the qualifiers doesn’t mean you’re ready to do this job. My program will take you through rigorous drills and practices. Most of them are not simulated. These drills will take place in the field.”
In the field? Looks like we’ll be thrown right into the deep end. Good.
Kell loved a challenge, and while he didn’t showboat, he did like to show and prove.
“If you fail in any part of the program, you’re gone. I’m only taking two at a time to train together. So, hopefully you two can mesh well.” Duke glared at both of them. “Mesh with every one of us. Because if you can’t. You’re gone. This is a team and we all have to work together.
“So go ahead and introduce yourselves to each other and the rest of us.” Duke turned to Brian’s guy first—the reactor—and so did Kell.
Ty
When Ty entered Duke’s Bail Bond and Recovery he was expecting at least twenty men to be standing around in similar gear as the hunters who’d come to get him. Instead, he saw only two other men, both standing at over six feet and built the same as the others. They were the bosses. They looked older but no less dangerous. Hell, he knew what Brian himself was capable of, and if his brother was half as good as him then Ty realized that Duke only recruited the best. The one named Roman, who they called Quick, was a martial arts expert. Ty was eager to see what he could do. He also had the longest hair he’d had ever seen on a man.
Then a smaller guy cloaked in black entered, loaded down with heavy lumber. He went to the fireplace, rearranged the logs and poked at it until it was blazing warm again. He did that job with so much concentration and care that Ty thought perhaps his official position was ‘chimney keeper’.