Brian was about to ask his brother to translate his response when his phone rang. It was 8:05. Dinner time. Brian forgot all about Vaughan and took three long strides to his desk and jabbed the speaker button.
“Duke’s.” Duke yelled over the background noise on the other end. Kitchen noise.
“Yes. This is John LaRoy. An order just came in and Marlow swears it’s the guy’s voice, but his room is under a new name and he’s on the seventh floor.” The chef rattled out in one nervous breath.
“We’ll be there in twenty.” All of them were already throwing on their leather coats. “Plan is still a go. Restaurant is clear?”
“Yes. Marlow is ready, too.” The chef confirmed before hanging up.
Brian hit the speaker. Finally.
“All right fellas. Gonna make this smooth and easy. We don’t usually catch a break like this. So, no noise if you can avoid it. And please, no fuckin’ damage. I don’t even wanna know how much shit costs in this hotel,” Duke swore.
Ford and Dana both scoffed the same way. Duke could say that all day, but it was usually him and Quick causing all the destruction. Duke turned to his lover and gave him a heated look that appeared to promise something later.
“I love you too. Be safe,” Vaughan told him, kissing him quickly and pushing him out of the door with his men. “I’ll lock up here.”
“Always am. I love you back,” Duke answered, jumping into the driver’s seat. Quick gave a mock salute to his son and they pulled off.
Ford’s truck was fired up, loaded, and the three of them were roaring down Lenox Road behind their bosses. The traffic wasn’t as bad at that hour, allowing them to arrive in exactly seventeen minutes. They circled the back of the large hotel to the delivery entrance of the restaurant. Chef LaRoy was waiting for them outside. When they all got out, Brian wasn’t sure if the usually suave chef was going to pass out.
“You guys look…” Chef LaRoy sounded a bit breathless. “That’s a lot of weapons… and—”
They looked like a rogue swat team—or more like the Skynet resistance—and when all five of them were together… they looked like trouble. Duke stepped forward. “Calm down. Trust me. We’ll be done with this in a matter of minutes. You’re doing us a really big favor, I can’t thank you enough.”
Chef LaRoy straightened, “Good then.”
As soon as they came inside, the kitchen staff’s bustling came to a screeching halt. Eyes bulged, and mouths flopped open. They moved quickly behind Chef John, who told his employees everything was under control and to keep working. Most of his employees were in the dark, their sting was only for those who needed to know. Marlow was loading up his cart towards the front of the kitchen. Arranging the food almost scientifically. He could’ve put an empty plate under the silver dome, it wasn’t as if they were going to allow Robert Clarkson to eat it before they took him.
When they got to Marlow, he stood beside his tray while Chef John gave it a careful inspection.
Brian stepped forward and put his hand on Marlow’s shoulder. It earned him a shy smile, accompanied by a confident pose. It was clear to Brian that Marlow was scared, but the young man was also trying to impress them. He hadn’t missed the way he took in their uniforms and gear. Marlow placed the billfold on the side of the cart, his shifty eyes going to the interesting yellow and black handgun on Duke’s hip.
“It’s just a salt gun, all it shoots are pellets. We don’t like to get lethal. Salt’s safer than slugs,” Quick answered Marlow’s unasked question. “And yes, they hurt like a sonofabitch’.”
Chef and Marlow seemed to like that response. There’d be no anticipation of gunfire.
“Dana, get in position,” Duke ordered his field leader. Dana was to watch from low. When he was through the back side of the restaurant and next to the stairwell, they waited for his all clear, then they moved like the well-oiled machine they were.
Marlow wheeled his room service cart out of the front of the restaurant like he did with any other order and headed to the elevators off the lobby. Duke and the rest of them moved through the empty part of the restaurant, their speed so quick and steps so light that the few patrons on the other side of LaRoy’s never bothered to even glance in their direction.
Brian let his team split from him while he waited at the emergency side door of the restaurant, just like he’d planned. It was an area no one was supposed to be in, so it was dark and Brian blended in beautifully. When he saw Marlow turn the corner, his gaze darting around as if he was searching for him. He knew Brian was there, but he didn’t know where. Marlow reached out and shakily pressed the up button for a car to come down. As soon as the doors opened, he politely allowed an elderly couple to step out, then pushed the cart inside. As the doors started to close, Brian darted from his hiding place and eased his huge body between them like a gymnast, right before they closed.