Free Rock Steady by Dawn Ryder

with clients of their choosing. It curled her toes with excitement because somehow, she’d gone from expecting life to kick her ass to being a private artist with Toxsin. Four weeks wasn’t very long, but it was the lifeboat she needed to escape the ship that was sinking beneath her feet at the moment. And a damned fine lifeboat it was, too.
    “What the fuck is all this?”
    Jewel looked up to find her landlord in the doorway. He looked between Ramsey and Brenton and then back to Ramsey. “I know you, dude.” Her prick of a landlord was suddenly grinning, offering Ramsey a hand to shake, trying to schmooze him.
    “Yeah?” Ramsey said as he shook the hand, but there was a tightening to his body. “Glad you came over. It will save me the trouble of having one of our people bring the key by and pick up the security deposit.”
    Her landlord didn’t miss the implied threat. He bristled. “I’ve got to check things out before returning the deposit.”
    “Make sure you check the fire-code violations on the window,” Ramsey said pointedly. “How did you get the local inspector to sign off on this place? That window is painted shut.”
    “The Bay Area weather just makes it look that way,” her landlord hedged.
    Ramsey picked up the emergency hammer she had by the window.
    “I’m just making ends meet,” her landlord defended himself. “Like everyone else in this town. It costs a fortune to keep these apartments rental-ready. Damned lawmakers are always passing some new law I have to deal with. She didn’t give me any notice, and now, I’ll get stuck with a rush fee if I don’t want to lose income on this place.”
    Ramsey gestured around. “Take a good look and write her a check. Jewel is going on tour with Toxsin. She needs her business affairs here closed.”
    “That right? Going on tour with Toxsin?” Her landlord offered her a smirk. “Not too bad.” The innuendo wasn’t lost on anyone in the room.
    Her landlord had on designer sportswear, with a pair of insanely expensive sunglasses hanging from a leash around his neck. A Rolex watch winked at her from his wrist, and she knew his Lamborghini was double-parked on the street.
    He was a prick who had inherited his property from his grandfather and lived off the fact that San Francisco was one of the highest rent districts in the nation.
    “Are you done looking over the contracts, Jewel?” Ramsey had been watching her landlord, but he proved he was very aware of what she was doing. He snapped his attention toward her. “Anything we need to negotiate?”
    “No. I’m satisfied.” She scrawled her legal name across the last page before Brenton gathered it up and pulled a phone from his jacket pocket. He pressed a couple of keys before there was another set of boots on her stairs.
    Two polo-shirted crew members appeared. They looked at the three cases with questioning expressions.
    “That’s it.” She bit back an explanation. They didn’t hesitate, but took the cases and disappeared. Ramsey exchanged a look with Brenton. The road manager of Toxsin proved his expertise by changing places with Ramsey and facing off with her landlord.
    “I’ll be happy to go through the place with you and listen to any concerns you have that might impact the security deposit. My associates want Ms. Ryan’s affairs settled today.”
    There was a slicing edge to Brenton’s words, along with a warning. Brenton reached into his suit jacket and withdrew a cream-colored business card. “Our lawyer.”
    Her landlord didn’t care for the way he was being verbally strong-armed. His expression darkened before he shot her a hard look. Ramsey stepped between them.
    “Yeah, yeah. Everything looks in order,” her landlord conceded. “Checkbook is down in the car.”
    “I’ll follow you down,” Brenton said as he gestured toward the door. Ramsey tossed him the keys. Brenton caught them and kept them when her landlord opened his hand. There was a soft sputter from her