Free A Blued Steel Wolfe by Michael Erickston Page B

service stood to make significant money, as it replaced the video stores that were quickly fading.
    Also, Mr. Wolfe’s real estate business was booming, and a few more investments would solidify his standing in that arena of capital growth. It would also allow him to reassign his loyal employees without having to fire them. Once Mr. Wolfe was out of the arms business, there were only a few minor details to consider after that.
    Six more months, Jared thought brightly. Only six more months and we’ll be out of all the illegal crap!
    The thought made him smile. It had taken years for this to come about. For every illegal operation that they scaled back and shut down, they needed a legitimate moneymaker to take its place.
    Jared admired and respected Mr. Wolfe for what he was doing. He also found his boss infuriating sometimes. He admired Mr. Wolfe’s honor and respected his desire to do the right thing for his employees. However, the pragmatist in him found it all infuriating as well. It would’ve been much easier and cost effective to simply shut those projects down and lay off the workers. If they’d gone that route, hundreds of workers would’ve lost their jobs. On the upside, however, the organization would’ve been completely aboveboard two years earlier. Even now, the projected six month window to total legitimacy was a longshot. On the outside, he would give it nine to eleven months if they hit any snags.
    Those snags may appear in the gangs they dealt with in the arms business, or the bookies they dealt with in illegal gambling. Despite his personal honor, Mr. Wolfe dealt with some shady characters.
    Then again, his boss did have the most elite team of Enforcers on the West Coast, if not the entire world. Since the Darnell debacle, Mr. Wolfe only hired ex-military as his personal guard. Every man was highly trained. Each man knew how to follow orders. Most of them were ex-SEALs, former Force Recon Marines or US Army Special Forces. They showed loyalty beyond the paycheck, as well.
    Jared rubbed his temples and sighed. At least this will all be over in less than a year. Then my job will get quite a bit easier.
     
    ***** ***** *****
     
    Two people inhabited the new hub of all things technical in the mansion, at that moment. Both of them took their jobs seriously, as different as those jobs were.
    Ray Hammond sat ensconced in his new command center, smiling as he tapped keys on his keyboard, seemingly at random. After Royce’s evaluation of the Wolfe Compound security, Mr. Wolfe ordered many changes made. First and foremost, they removed all of the old security cameras and replaced them with new, state-of-the-art models. They also added five more cameras to cover all of the blind spots left by the previous setup.
    Trina Cooper was a true Amazon type. She stood 5’11” tall and had an athletic physique. Her dark ebony skin, short kinked hair and dark brown eyes stuck a chord inside most men who looked upon her. A former Marine, she took her job seriously at all times. She stood by the door, keeping an eye on her new charge.
    Thanks to the new setup that covered every square inch of the perimeter, Ray noticed the dark blue Maserati parked at the curb. He zoomed in on it and captured a still frame of the driver’s face, before the driver could raise the window.
    Something seemed familiar about the driver, but he couldn’t quite place it. He turned to where Tam usually sat, but then remembered that his new partner was off to Hawaii on her honeymoon with Royce. “He’s a lucky man,” he said quietly to himself.
    “Who’s a lucky man?” Trina asked. Ray forgot she was there, but then he remembered. He turned and looked at the former USMC MP. She was one of the new “security features” that Royce recommended whenever only one person was in the mansion’s command center. Ray couldn’t complain, though. Not that he wanted to, of course. He enjoyed her company, as quiet as she was most of the time.
    “Sorry,