“You know, Zach, the ‘B’ in Queen B’s name isn’t just for her surname Brown. I know this contract pays good money, but I swear I wish Lowell didn’t have to take it from her. By that hussy’s own admission and even in her lyrics, the so-called ‘B’ was substituted for a very unflattering term for a female dog. Lowell is supposed to guard her? Puh-lease. That chile is straight ghetto, and now she’s trying to crawl back to R&B on her hands and knees and hope folks forget about her wildness.” Anne Marie shook her head.
“Maybe she isn’t as bad as she seems,” Zach offered, not wanting to get in the middle of an obvious husband-and-wife dispute over a pretty woman. “Maybe it was all for publicity that went very badly.”
“Yeah, that would be the hopeful thought, I doubt it though,” Anne Marie said, sighing. “But I didn’t fight him on it because it could change all of our lives. Lowell worked so hard on getting the right in, greasing the right palms, meeting the right people . . . and this is their big chance for SWAT International. If this tour goes well, and they get high-profile paparazzi coverage with it, then maybe other entertainers will also ask for them by name. The only way he’d been able to convince Queen B’s people to let them have this one tour was because she was visiting U.S. military bases over where you guys have been . . . Iraq, Kuwait, Dubai, Oman, Yemen . . .”
Anne Marie blew out a long breath. “He’s sick and even sicker that he can’t personally oversee this ten-day mission— or what ever you call it. The whole deal could unravel for something stupid like the bug. I think that’s half of why he’s refusing to go to the hospital, afraid that they’ll confirm that he has to lie down and take meds.”
She put a fist to her mouth and turned away from Zach for a moment. “It would have been a thirty-thousand-dollar-a-day job for t
hem, with all expenses paid. Each of the ten hired security men were supposed to get five hundred dollars a day, plus meals, flights, lodging, all covered by Queen B’s label. Lowell was supposed to be the logistics man, the boots on the ground— whereas his other two partners handle the marketing of the firm and the administration of it . . . but Mike Epps and Vernon Knox aren’t ex-Delta Force like Lowell. They don’t know squat about anything like that and can’t do what has to be done.”
“It’s gonna be all right, Anne,” Zachary heard himself say without allowing the thought to consult his brain first. He downed his cold beer and set the bottle on the kitchen table.
What was there to think about, really? Each partner, after expenses, would have a little over eighty thousand dollars at his disposal. After taxes, who knows what would be left, but it had to be a far cry better than doing some mall security detail or trying to get a contract to do security for corporations that were falling by the wayside like dominoes.
Anne Marie turned and stared at Zach for a moment. “It has to be all right,” she said quietly. “We’re real late on the rent . . . Lowell sunk everything into this business venture and how could I argue with him after all he’s given and all he’s lost?”
Zach just nodded. There were no words. He knew better than anyone how much his buddy had given in the line of duty to his nation, so a little latitude to start up his own business was well in order.
“You’re a good woman, Anne . . . to have his back like that without any drama— even though I know it’s gotta be hard sometimes.”
“I love the ground he walks on,” she said quietly. “But I’m scared. He’s getting so desperate for work that he’s thinking of trying to get contracts with the large mercantile shipping companies— the ones that make sweeps from Saudi Arabia around the horn of Africa . . . or—”
“Being on pirate watch as a hired mercenary?” Zach ran his palms down his face again. “Maaan . . .”
“He’ll be away from me and the boys just like before, but only worse, maybe . . . it’s not like he’s with the U.S. government, this is him going solo up against what ever is out there. I’d rather see him reenlist, if he was going to do all of that.”
“Let me talk to him,” Zach said, chewing harder on his toothpick. “I’m home for a coupla weeks, and if he gives me the logistics on the Anita Brown job, then maybe I can fill in for him. This way, he’ll still bring home the bacon, and that’ll give him a little time to regroup without having to do something rash. I don’t need a cut, I’m cool.”
“I couldn’t ask you to do anything like that, and if he thought I—”
“You didn’t ask me to do anything; I’m telling you what I’m okay with.” Zach smiled and headed out of the kitchen. “Besides I’m single . . . what’s not to love— being on tour with a bunch of video vixens, making sure ardent fans stay back,” he shrugged. “Piece of cake.”
CHAPTER 4
ANITA SECURING HER towel breezed past her stylist with a bright smile while she ignored his fussing. “Can I put on a robe at least, before you start?”
“Don’t try to act like I’m the one who is getting on your nerves, boo. I’m not early; you’re late. You know I’m punctual.” He waved the mail he’d collected off the small crescent table in the hallway at her in a mock threat. “Look at you— you’re a complete mess. You need somebody to take care of you.” He tossed her mail on the glass coffee table and made a little ticking sound when he saw her wet footprints against the hardwood floors. “This makes no sense, darling,” he added, singsonging the words behind her.
“I’ll get a mop, and then I’m all yours.”
“Oh, puh-lease.” He walked into the kitchen and carefully set down the Ferragamo men’s shoe box and gently laid the matching suit bag across her kitchen stool to hunt for the mop.
“See, did that take long?” she asked, laughing when Javier twisted his mouth into a combination pout and scowl. She took the mop from him and quickly dabbed the floors and returned. “There.”
“Humph,” he exclaimed and then put away the mop in her small utility closet. “I know you’d better keep NextStarz’s floors clean and everything else. How long they gonna keep you here, boo?”
She shrugged and let out a sigh. “I only got put up here until the police find this stalker . . . I dunno. I doubt they’ll let me stay beyond the tour. They’re spending a lot of money on relaunching my career.”
“After your father and your stupid brothers tried to tank it, but you didn’t hear that from me.”
Anita nodded. “I so do not want to talk about them now.”
“You’re right— tonight it’s all about you, honey. So, let me wash those troubles out of your hair.”
“I love you, Javier,” she said, going to him and giving him a big hug.
He hugged her back and then held her away from him. “The pink silk looks good on you, girl— you been losing weight? But don’t you get too skinny on us.”