012. FIRST DAY

"Let me get this straight." Colson leaned back in his chair. "This chick-"

"Rory."

"What?"

"Her name is Rory, not this chick," Harry corrected, taking a sip from his glass.

Colson rolled his eyes. "Fine. Rory," he dragged out her name for dramatic effect, "Gets our boy Kip wasted and steals from us... you tell her she's gonna be dead in a week if she doesn't give it all back, have us follow her around, shoot someone in front of her to let her know we're serious... and now she's... working here?"

"You seem to have a clear grasp of what's going on. I don't see where your confusion lies."

"Oh, sorry. Let me state it more clearly." He cleared his throat. "Uh, why the fuck is she working here?"

"Aside from helping pay back what she stole from us in the first place, she brings in money. Lots of money. And we could always use some more cash flow. Otherwise, we might alert some people."

"This is strictly a business move then?"

Harry nodded, pouring himself another drink.

"So, you're not doing this because you like fucking her, right? I mean, I know you wouldn't jeopardize what we've got in the works right now over a slut who enjoys it when you choke and throw her around a little in the bedroom."

Harry was aware his friend's words were only said to push his buttons; to get a reaction out of him and expose whatever truth he thought was behind this move. Unfortunately for Colson, Harry knew better than to give in.

"Well, I like her!" Dallas chimed in. "She's funny and smart. I don't see the harm in having her around."

"Oh, please. You're just saying that because you want to fuck her."

His eyes widened. "No!" he turned to Harry, shaking his head. "That's not true, Boss."

Harry gave his friend a shrug; he was more than happy to share. Besides, he knew Rory only toyed with his friend for her enjoyment. "If you want to ask her out, go for it."

"Can we go back to what's actually important here?" Colson snapped. "Why the fuck are you being so relaxed with this-" he caught himself this time. "Person."

"I think she may be more connected than any of us originally thought. So, I want some more time to figure this one out," he spoke in a low tone. "And, for that to happen, she needs to think she has some part of the control in this situation. If she gets-"

A soft knock pulled their attention.

"Come in," Harry called out.

The door slowly creaked open and Rory's head barely popped through the gap. "You told me to be here at eight-thirty. I've been waiting downstairs for fifteen minutes now but no one was around. And now it's eight-thirty-two, so I just want to clarify that I wasn't late."

"What are you doing?" Harry questioned her odd antics. "You can come in, Rory."

"I don't know what you guys are up to in here!" she said, pushing the door fully open and walking into the office. "What if I walked in on some big orgy going on? Then I would be embarrassed for interrupting. And jealous that I wasn't invited." Her eyes flashed to a red-faced boy sitting in a chair. "Hi, Dallas."

"H-hi, Rory."

She smiled at him and sat down in the chair beside him "The last time we got some one-on-one time together probably wasn't my best moment. You know, since I was threatening to whack your crotch with a steel pole and all." Leaning over, her hand rested on the inside of his thigh. "I didn't actually get you there, right? Silly me. I always forget." Her hand slid further up. "Want me to check and make sure?"

"Rory!" Harry barked.

"Yeah?"

He signalled for her to come forward with his finger. "Am I going to have to write you up before your shift even starts?"

"That depends," she whispered, pressing her palms against his desk. "Do you give out my punishment? Because if I remember correctly, the last time I deserved a spanking, you were worried I might enjoy it too much."

"Watch it, Rory."

"Why? Are you getting hard thinking about bending me over your knee?"

The veins on his neck began to pop. "Say one more fucking thing and I'll change our arrangement from ninety and ten to ninety-nine and one. Got it?"

She rolled her eyes. "Damn. Do you guys have sticks up your asses like this every day? Working here is going to be so much fun."

"You could just return the shit you stole and we could all go our separate ways," Colson sneered from behind.

Rory looked over her shoulder. "Oh, you're here too, Cheese? Sorry, I didn't see you brooding in the corner over there."

The two went right into their usual antics with each other; bickering. While Colson tossed out insults about her only being alive because she fucked the right guy in the group, Rory was quick to shoot back that he was jealous because he couldn't get laid in the first place.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Harry yelled out, "Enough! You two are going to drive me up the fucking wall." A long sip of his drink was needed in the peaceful silence. "Rory," he said, regaining her attention. "Did you bring what I asked for?"

Pulling her phone out from her back pocket, she handed it over and returned her attention to bickering with Colson. At least they did it quietly this time. Although Harry had to fight every bone in his body to acknowledge overhearing her say, "You made Daddy Harry angry!"

Harry looked at the device and bit the inside of his cheek to shield his amused smile from showing. The picture on the phone showed today's newspaper - which Harry had her hold up as proof - and the locket perfectly nuzzled in between a pair of bare breasts. After their encounter yesterday, he knew exactly who these belonged two.

"Like what you see?"

"Do I like seeing my locket finally? Yes, I do."

"You know what I mean," she teased. "Get a good look, Harry. Last time you will see them."

He handed her back her cellphone. "With the way you're currently spilling out of your shirt, I highly doubt that."

"Well, I'm not ashamed to put them on display. But you have to admit, Harry," she whispered, leaning forward, "You know it's a lot different when you're sliding your cock-"

"Enough," he quickly snapped, ignoring the way she pouted her bottom lip in response. "I have to take you on the tour considering I don't trust you alone with Dallas and you would just fight with Colson. Are you going to behave yourself?"

"Yes, Sir."

Rory turned around, ignoring Colson as she said goodbye to Dallas. Before the girl had a chance to cause any more trouble, Harry grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the office.

"What kind of night is tonight?" she asked, following him down the hallway. "There are a bunch of tables set up downstairs so I'm guessing it's not a purple door night. And the space looks half the size. Did you do something or is it always this small?"

Harry suddenly stopped and spun around. Before Rory could process what he was doing, he pinned her against the wall with her arms above her head. "I need you to stop asking so many questions," he sneered.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I thought your employees were supposed to know what was going on so they could do their job properly."

"All you need to know, Bambi, is that you work service nights. This means customers come in, sit at a table, and order drinks from you. It's quite similar to your other job. Think you can handle that?"

Service nights were also the nights that rarely made a profit, which never mattered to them since the doors were only open for show to begin with.

"Yeah, I can fucking handle that."

"Great, let's keep going."

There wasn't much left of the so-called tour. Rory had it ingrained in her head that she wasn't allowed to explore and to not even try doing so because she was being watched. If she needed more bottles or anything replenished behind the bar, she was to ask a coworker and was never allowed to go get it herself. The staff bathroom and break area outside where she could go to smoke were next to her workstation, meaning she would never have to travel far off the floor.

"Are you listening, Rory?"

She rolled her eyes. "I'm not allowed to wander. If I need booze or straws or limes, I tell Big Mike." Gesturing to the large man standing at the end of the bar, she gave him a smile and a wave that he did not return. "I can take my fifteen outside through there," she pointed to the door, "And I know how to work the machine already. Oh, and I'll tell Kip to turn the cameras off in the back if I want to fuck a customer without you knowing."

Harry narrowed his eyes. "Excuse me?"

"Joking!" she said with a laugh, raising her hands in defence. "Wow, you guys really need a sense of humour."

"Here," he tossed her a shirt, "This is your uniform."

She let out a noise of disgust. "Can I make some adjustments to this shirt?"

"No."

"You realize sex sells, right? How the fuck am I supposed to sell drinks when this monstrosity of material is swallowing me whole?"

Harry stepped forward. "You keep telling me you're a smart girl, Rory. How are you supposed to convince me there's an actual brain in your head when you never seem to use it?"

Although her ears burned over his comments, Rory had to admit, receiving this version of Harry made her rule about not fucking her boss a whole lot easier. "Asshole," she muttered, under her breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing!" Brushing past him, she headed straight for the employee's only bathroom to change.

Harry released a heavy breath and turned to Big Mike. "Keep an extra close eye on that one."

The large man nodded. "Of course, Boss."

Harry leaned against the bar and kept himself busy with his phone. Bambi was taking her time - far too much time. How long did it take for her to put on a shirt?

Returning less than a minute before her shift officially began, Harry saw what had kept her busy. Her attire. The black work shirt was now cropped, showing off her midriff and fitting tightly against her frame, and a cut was made at the collar to show off her breasts.

"Am I going to have to write you up for your uniform?"

Rory looked down at her top. "What's wrong with it?"

"I said that you weren't allowed to alter your shirt."

"I didn't!" She held up the shirt she was given. "You said I couldn't make adjustments to this shirt. You never said I couldn't go get a different shirt."

Harry opened his mouth to tell her off but was interrupted by a customer at the bar.

"Hey, can I get a-" His eyes widened at the sight of Rory. "Woah."

"Hi handsome," she said sweetly, pressing her palms against the bartop and leaning forward. "What can I get you?"

As much as it pained him to admit it, Harry was impressed by her first day on the job. There were no finance losers for her to swindle on a night like this one. But she still served every customer with a smile and pulled her usual tricks of getting them to order more rounds of expensive alcohol. It was evident she was working hard to pay off her debt, even with a smaller crowd than what she was used to.

Not only was her work ethic impressive to him, but also how she stayed out of trouble. Not a single negative report came from Big Mike, or anyone else from the security team watching her.

Maybe she's not so stupid after all, Harry thought to himself.

As he made his way to the main floor during the last hour of her shift, Harry noticed her talking to one person in particular at the bar.

"Brandon, I'm surprised to see you here." Harry eyed Rory before looking back at the man. "I thought our meeting was tomorrow night."

"Just wanted to stop in for a drink. And, wow, am I ever glad I did. I don't know where you've found this girl," the drunken man slurred. "But you better keep her around!"

Harry forced a smile. "I'm glad you're enjoying yourself tonight."

"Harry?" Rory asked sweetly from beside him. "Could I ask you something about the register?"

He followed her lead towards the opposite end of the bar. "What?"

"Just, so many buttons!" she whined. Her choice of words confused him until he noticed her pull a small slip of paper out of her pocket and hand it to him. "I press this one and, bam! But then I press this one and, woah!"

Unfolding the paper, he saw she had written him a note.

HE'S FUCKING YOU OVER.

"What is this?"

"Your friend has some loose lips when he drinks," she replied quietly. "Plus, he likes an airhead and couldn't stop staring at my tits."

"Did your magical tits put him in a trance to tell you this?"

Fighting back the urge to laugh, she attempted to cover up her amusement by rolling her eyes. "No, he left his phone out on the bar when he went to go piss for the fifth time. Apparently, I can mix together quite a strong drink." Rory continued to press her finger randomly on the screen. "Whatever you two are in business over... it seems he is giving you the cheap shit and selling it to you for the premium price." She kept her word choice vague. "He keeps adding in a bad batch every now and then... testing to see how much he can increase it before you notice."

"Are you sure this is true?"

"Saw it with my own eyes," she mumbled. "Do you want me to keep him entertained?"

"Think you can get any more information out of him?"

Rory nodded. "Easily."

"Good." He looked over his shoulder at the drunken man. "Pour him a double."

"Want to know what I like to call those drinks?"

"What?"

Her full lips curved into an amused smirk. "A Rory special."

And a Rory special was exactly what his Bambi served him over and over again.

"What the fuck is she doing?" Colson pointed down to the bar area. "Is she slaking on the job already? On day one?"

Harry looked down to see what his friend was complaining about. Rory, now on the other side of the bar, had taken the seat next to Brandon. The drunken man was smitten by her; whatever she was wishing into his ear was working.

Unable to hide the amusement that washed over his expression, he said, "She's seeing if she can get any more information out of him. Just relax, Colson."

"Any more-" his eyes widened, "Wait. What?" Colson followed Harry into the office, closing the door behind him. "Since when does she get information for us?"

Dallas handed over a note. "Since she gave Harry this."

With the piece of paper in hand, Colson read over the note with a suspicious eye. "How?"

"Apparently, from what she saw on his phone, we're getting scammed." Harry's jaw clenched as he said the word. "Our pal Brandon is tossing in a bad shipment now and then and charging up for it."

"And now you're using her to get more information? What if she says something wrong and hints that we might know?"

Kip cleared his throat from his spot on the couch. "Want me to turn on the mic?" With a nod of approval, Kip pressed various buttons on his laptop.

Harry had the kid set up various hot microphones around the bar - the easiest way to monitor Rory without raising suspicion. The security cameras did their job, but this way of surveillance helped ensure they received crisp audio whenever needed.

"Are you and Harry..." Brandon's voice flooded through the speakers of the computer.

"Together?" Rory giggled. "Not at all. He's just my boss. Besides, he's not my type."

"What is your type then?"

"That's easy. Tall, buzz cut, blue eyes, lots of tattoos," she purred, listing off Brandon's appearance. "Older."

"You like older guys?"

"They're always so much smarter than the idiots my age. I mean, you must be, like, so smart to run your business like that. It's so impressive and... sexy." Rory was laying it on thick. And Brandon was eating up her every word.

"Yeah? You like hearing about it, baby?"

"I mean, I might not understand all your big business words but... wanna know a secret?"

"Tell me."

"Hearing you talk about your control and power... really turned me on. I was getting so horny behind the bar."

"Really?" he replied in a hoarse whisper, sounding as if his breath was trapped in his throat. "Well, how about we keep talking about it once your shift is over?"

"Oh, god! Yes please!" she said, letting a moan slip through. "I just hope I'm smart enough to understand it all. But I promise to be a really... really good student."

Harry raised his hand, signalling Kip to cut the audio.

"Well," Dallas cleared his throat, "Sounds like she might bring us some more information."

Rolling his eyes, Colson was annoyed by everyone's reactions to this. "So, now we're just trusting her? How do we know what she saw was legit?"

"I'm not saying we blindly trust what she saw," Harry clarified, "I'm saying we should look into it."

Colson responded with a frustrated sigh.

Harry narrowed his eyes at his friend. "If you have something to say, I suggest you speak up now."

"Fine. I don't trust her. We don't know a thing about her except for the fact that she was able to somehow know where the vault was, break-in, and then proceed to go unnoticed by dozens of surveillance cameras." Colson tossed the piece of paper with Rory's written note onto the desk. "Does that seriously not raise any alarm bells?"

"Of course it fucking does," he was quick to shoot back, "It sets off all my alarm bells. And it tells me that we were getting too fucking comfortable. If we can get tricked by a fucking Bambi, who's to say what other shit someone with an actual brain might pull?"

Dallas exchanged a look with Colson. "What if she's not what you- I mean, what we think she is?"

"What do you mean?"

"I know this might sound crazy... but what if she's smart? And I mean, actually smart? What if this was her plan all along? What if she's outsmarting all of us and tricking us into thinking she's just some Bambi?"

Harry released a frustrated sigh. "What are you babbling about?"

"I think what Dallas is trying to say is... What if she's working for someone? We don't get outsmarted. We don't take any fucking breaks or the easy way out of anything." Colson crossed his arms over his chest. "But she shows up and suddenly we make a mistake? And not only does she steal from us... but she takes the locket? Something doesn't sit right here and you know it, Haz."

Harry pulled his bottom lip between his thumb and index finger, mulling over what Colson had said. "What do you suggest we do then?"

"We can look into both. Whether he's a rat, and who Rory is. Except for this time, let's actually figure out who she is."

Dallas perked up hearing that comment. "Just like the good old days?"

"Exactly."

Drumming his fingers against the desk, Harry nodded in agreement. "Alright. Let's do it, then. What's the plan?"

having a day off on a Friday was so nice but now my brain is all confused halp