"You could tell all that with your eyes closed?" She chuckled.
"Hey, it was dark when I'd sneak out of my third floor dorm room back at the orphanage." He shrugged. "I learned to do it in pitch darkness and the only warning I'd have sometimes was the nuns or priests breathing."
"Shit, baby. You could be a ninja with those skills." Tam smiled again and kissed him lovingly.
"They come in handy in my line of work." He shrugged. "And as much as I'd like to take you here and now against the wall, we need to get ready for court, baby girl." Royce kissed her one more time before starting to rinse off.
They washed each other, stealing kisses and rubbing up against each other sensually. Once clean, they toweled dry and got dressed. Tam put on her business skirt and blouse, while Royce dressed in a gray dress shirt and slacks with a suit jacket over it but no tie.
"I hate ties." He explained to her when she gave him a raised eyebrow.
"Baby, you look like John on 'Person of Interest' only younger." She grinned.
"Hey, Jim Caviezel rules." Royce said with conviction, nodding his head sagely. "Unfortunately, this isn't Armani, though." He shrugged and smiled sheepishly.
"Well, you still look good, baby. Bruised jaw and all." She slipped her arms around him again and gave him a quick kiss. She'd left the makeup off her shiner so they could show the judge what Darnell had done to her, even without the photo evidence the cops had taken after the incident itself.
Royce winced as he looked at it. It had been a few days, but it still looked bad. "How's it feel, sweetheart?" He asked with a concerned look.
"Still sore, but not as bad as the other day." She smiled at him reassuringly.
"Good. Ok, let's go." He smiled back.
* * *
Darnell read through the file that Ray had dug up on Shiloh Royce. 'What the fuck kind of name is Shiloh, anyway? Fuckin' cracker names.' He thought to himself.
Jared Hartman looked over at his client. "You know that you can't use that in court, right? In fact, I don't know that you have it. Is that clear?" The lawyer asked.
"Clear, man." Darnell said absently, only half listening.
"Here's the thing, Darnell. I've convinced the D.A. to offer you a plea deal. 2 counts of Misdemeanor Battery and 2 years probation. Also, the Judge is going to issue a restraining order against you. You will not be able to come within five hundred feet of Tamara Jenkins, her place of residence, or employment. It's the best you're going to get." Jared advised his client.
"Ok, whatever. Mr. Hartman, I appreciate what you're doing for me." Darnell said. So he was going to have to wait until Royce went somewhere alone. He could do that.
* * *
"Hey, Cammie!" Tam waved to her sister after parking her car. Royce got out the passenger side, scanning the surrounding area for threats.
"Hey, sis!" Cammie replied. "Hey, Royce!" She greeted him too, and he smiled and waved back.
"Hey, Cammie. Good to see you again." Royce said as she came up and gave them both hugs.
"You two did fuck, didn't you!" Cammie said, her filter off for the moment, it seemed. She had a grin on her face that caused both Tam and Royce to blush.
"I KNEW IT!" Cammie squealed. She leaned close to Tam and whispered "Details later, sis."
"Whatever, bitch!" Tam rolled her eyes and winked at her as her mouth turned into a grin.
"I saw that, sweetheart." Royce said and raised an eyebrow at her.
"Saw what? I'm innocent. Pure as the driven snow." Tam took on an aloof attitude, which caused Cammie to laugh too.
"Ok, here's the score." Cammie said, getting serious. " Jared convinced the D.A. to offer Darnell 2 years probation for copping to 2 counts of Misdemeanor Battery, and will have a five hundred foot restraining order on him for those same 2 years. He won't be able to come near you without having the cops on his ass."
"Restraining orders aren't worth the paper they're printed on." Royce said coldly. "They don't stop anything. They just threaten harsher punishment in case something happens to the person being 'protected' by said order."
"Well, in this case, if Darnell sets one inch inside that five hundred foot safe zone, he gets slapped with 2 felony counts of Assault and Battery with a Domestic Violence aggravator for the 1 count on Tam here." Cammie said.
"Still, sis. It won't do much good if I'm dead." Tam said, and Royce put his arm around her protectively.
"That's not going to happen, honey." He said and kissed her cheek.
"Royce, I love ya already." Cammie said as she saw the smile on Tam's face as he held her close, in spite of the situation with her ex.
"I think we should get inside and get this over with." Tam said and pinched Royce's butt. He jumped, then laughed and mock glared at her. "You're going to pay for that later." He smirked.
"Oooh, promises, promises." Tam giggled.
"Ok, ok. Come on, you two. I have to meet up with Jared and Darnell, and you two need to meet up with the A.D.A." Cammie said. She led the way into the courthouse, and they followed close behind, arms around each other.
Once inside, they went their separate ways and the A.D.A., Miss Shelby Sumner, led the two to her office. "Did Cammie already explain what was going to happen?" She asked as they sat down in front of her desk.
"Yes, ma'am." Tam replied.
"Yeah." Royce replied, still with that look of resolve on his face. He wanted nothing more than for this to be over so he could get away from all the law enforcement and authority figures that grated on his last nerve.
"Good. Now, when we get in court, Mr. Royce, you will need to address the Judge as 'Your Honor', and use proper respect, sir or ma'am, when dealing with the opposing council. Do you understand?"
"Yes, ma'am. I understand." Royce replied with a grim nod.
"Good." A.D.A Sumner said with a smile. "Let's go." She got up, and they rose with her and walked to the courtroom where they sat behind the Prosecutor's table with Ms. Sumner.
The hearing went off without a hitch, as the Judge found the deal offered by the D.A. workable and fair. When there were no objections from the plaintiffs, the judge banged his gavel and the ruling was passed. The Restraining Order was put into effect, and Darnell accepted the judge's ruling. Royce and Tam weren't even called to the stand, for which Royce breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't that he had anything to lie about concerning the case, but if his line of work was called into question, he really didn't have references to call upon for verification. He would have to see about changing that at his earliest convenience.
As they filed out of the courtroom, Tam stole a kiss from Royce, and he smiled at her until he noticed Darnell glaring at him from over her shoulder. Royce noted the big black man's distaste and dismissed it. 'If worse comes to worst, I can at least give him some scars to remember me by.' He thought grimly.
His hand went to the belt buckle under his suit jacket, making sure the three ceramic throwing blades were still in place and readily accessible. He'd bought them and a blued steel dagger for protection in case of confrontation with any security guards who might be patrolling where he would be breaking in and stealing something. While he preferred to think that he could avoid all security personnel, he realized that he wasn't perfect, and could indeed end up in a confrontation.
As Darnell went past them, he looked at Royce. "This ain't over, white boy. I got somethin' for you."
The thug's lawyer, Jared Hartman, shushed his client and gave the big man a stern look as he led him away.
"Anytime, asshole." Royce said to Darnell's retreating back.
"Royce! Stop it!" Tam hissed at him. "Trust me, baby. You do NOT want Darnell anymore pissed off than he already is!"
"Actually, if he's going to come after me anyway, I want him extremely pissed off." Royce smiled at her as he said it evenly. "Let's go, and I'll explain later."
* * *
"Who the FUCK does that muthafucka think he's dealing with?!" Darnell shouted as he sat in the limo with Jared.<
br />
"Calm down, Darnell. If you'd hit him, you would have no defense! In a courthouse! You threatened him in a fucking COURTHOUSE!" Jared shouted. The normally stoic and reserved attorney was shouting at his client.
The change in attitude wasn't lost on Darnell. "Sorry, Jared." He mumbled. "That little punk is fuckin' my woman, and he thinks he can get away with it."
"She's not your woman anymore, Darnell. After listening to the statements they gave the police, it's no wonder she traded up!" Jared was still snarling at Darnell. D might be the Number 1 Enforcer for Mr. Wolfe, but damned if Jared was going to put up with the street thug attitude from him! "What has gotten into you lately? The power going to your head?!"
Darnell was caught off guard by that one. He looked at Jared in shock. Had the power of being Chief Enforcer gone to his head? He'd cheated on Tam constantly since his promotion a few months back, and had enjoyed the white girls who worked at the Club on numerous occasions. He thought about how he'd treated Tam since then. It was a rare moment of self-reflection for him, but it was soon defeated by his true nature.
"Fuck that shit, man!" Darnell yelled. "I don't give a fuck, and as soon as I catch him alone, I'm gonna do what I have to do!"
Jared threw up his hands in exasperation. "I didn't hear that. For the record, I don't care what you do to him, but Mr. Wolfe might. Just letting you know. If you're going on a personal vendetta against that kid, you're going to have to clear it through the Boss."
"Yeah, yeah. Let me worry about Mr. Wolfe. I'm pretty sure I can talk him into lettin' me do what I need to do." Darnell was cooling down, but he wasn't going to give up until this Shiloh Royce was dead and dismembered and someplace where nobody would ever find him. The kid was an orphan, so no family to worry about asking stupid questions. There was Tam, but Darnell could wait two years until his probation was up and the restraining order was lifted. Then she and her bitch ass sister and her little punk ass nephew might just have to disappear too.
Then there was Mr. Wolfe himself. The man had taken Darnell in when he was just a thug on the streets and had shown him respect for his talents. He paid Darnell very well as an Enforcer, and had promoted him accordingly. As Chief Enforcer, he could order the other soldiers into battle, but he wanted to deal with this Royce punk personally. Mr. Wolfe might be a problem, though. Darnell liked his Boss, but he was also ambitious still. He had visions of Mr. Wolfe leaving him the business when he retired. He also had a plan to maybe deal with Mr. Wolfe if or when he was ready to make a move. He never said anything to anybody about that, though.
Darnell smiled as he started thinking up a plan to deal with both of them at once.
* * *
"Here's why I want him mad, sweetheart." Royce said as they sat down on his couch and Tam cuddled up to him. "Darnell can't control his temper. We saw that upstairs the other day. That's the thing. If your enemy is angry and can't control it, he gets stupid. If he comes at me stupid, I have the advantage."
"Or you could end up dead, Royce." Tam said quietly and squeezed him around the chest tightly as she cuddled up to his side with his arm around her shoulders and back.
"That's always a possibility, but I've faced him down before." He shrugged and squeezed her tight. "Don't worry, Tam. I can handle myself."
"I know you can, baby. Shit, if the cops hadn't shown up, you might have beaten him eventually. It was lucky he wasn't strapped, though. He usually carries a 9mm Glock." Tam held him tighter, shivering at the thought of what might have happened if Darnell had brought his gun.
"You have a point, baby girl." Royce tilted her chin up and kissed her full luscious lips lovingly. "I promise that I won't mess with him anymore." It hurt to swallow his pride like that, but he didn't want to risk hurting Tam.
"I know I do, baby. Now, I need to go out for a bit. Can I get you something while I'm out?" She asked.
"Ok, and don't worry about it. I have to go see a potential client anyway." Royce was thankful for her appointment. "I also need to get my driver's license so I can buy that motorcycle I was looking at last week." He smirked.
"Ooooh, what kind of bike are you looking to get?" She asked with a grin.
"Well, I'm going to save up for a Ducati, and the job I'm looking to get might just pay enough for me to afford it." He smiled and kissed her lovingly.
"Mmmmm, big spender!" She giggled as she broke the kiss. She gathered up her backpack with her laptop and kissed him again before heading out the door.
"God, I'm in love with her." Royce muttered to himself wonderingly after she'd left. He put his suit jacket back on and grabbed a tie for this one. He absolutely hated ties, but found that a tie could make the difference between suspicion and acceptance of his presence someplace where he might not be otherwise welcome.
He grabbed the newspaper clipping on the State Senator he was investigating. Daylight recon was called for at the Senator's L.A. office. Once he slicked his hair back and applied some gel, and looked at his steel gray eyes in the mirror to gauge the reaction of any females around him. He looked GQ enough, he thought. He grabbed his briefcase that contained several tools of his trade, and locked his door as he left. He left a note for Tam, in case she got back first, to get the spare key from the Manager, since she'd been made aware of the situation already, and Tam's place would have the locks changed by Wednesday.
* * *
Tam sat in a Starbucks and stared at her screen. She had just Googled Shiloh Royce, and his story checked out. He really was just an orphan with no special training... officially, anyway. She hacked into Homeland with her backdoor access code, and found nothing on him. His DNA had been put into the system when he was still at the orphanage, but there were no familial matches on file. On the surface, he really was a ghost. Nobody seemed to know who his parents were, at least in the government.
'Who are you, Shiloh Royce?' She thought to herself as she did a more comprehensive search. She felt a little guilty about prying like this, but she had to know what he was doing. He had a credit union account up in Sacramento under S. Royce, and she found out that he had just over $20,000 in his account. Her eyes went wide at that, and she whistled softly. "Mr. Moneybags." She chuckled softly. "I guess freelance security consultants make some pretty big bucks."
Tam thought for a bit. Something had been nagging her, and she played a hunch. She Googled any pics of 'The Steel Cat' from security cameras, and found the one the police had released as part of his description. She watched the way he moved, and her jaw nearly hit the tabletop as the full realization hit her.
* * *
Royce walked into the State Senator's office building and made a beeline for the elevator. He spared a smile for the girl behind the reception counter and got a shy smile in return. The Senator was in Sacramento this week, from what the article had said. He would be facing an inquiry about his recent business dealings and a possible Conflict of Interest charge. On the surface, he seemed innocent, but that was why Royce was here.
He stepped off the elevator onto the 15th floor and made a right towards the Senator's office. He pulled on his leather gloves, and quickly checked for security cameras. He was a little surprised that only one camera covered the Senator's door. Royce made sure that he stayed out of the camera's field of vision and reached up with his blued steel dagger. He worked a wire loose with it until the red light on the camera itself went out. Cheap soldering in a cheap camera. He pushed the pulled part of the wire back into the ceiling where it wouldn't show, and turned his attention to the door.
He grinned wryly at that, and proceeded to pick the lock on the Senator's office door. He was now on a timer, since the security goons would soon realize that the camera had gone out. He figured he had about five to eight minutes before a security patrol showed up.
Once inside, he locked the deadbolt again and searched the place quickly and methodically. He found the safe behind Senator Keen's desk, and it was a standard combination lock. He used the stethoscope and cracked it in less tha
n a minute.
Inside were documents, and Royce took them along with the cash in there. All of it went into his briefcase, and he chuckled to himself that he wouldn't even have to come back that night. The ease of cracking the cheap safe had given him the idea to do more than just recon that day.
Once everything was secured, he started back for the door, and heard voices outside coming his way. He ducked down under the Senator's receptionist's desk as he listened to the conversation out in the hallway.
"Yeah, here it is. Damn cameras! I told them we should have gone with better shit! These are always breaking down!" Security Goon 1 said.
"Budget cutbacks, man. You know how it goes." Security Goon 2 replied with an audible shrug, pacifying his buddy as much as possible.
"Should we check the offices anyway?" Goon 1 suggested.
"Nah, no point. No sign of tampering, and the office is locked still." Goon 2 reported after trying the handle on the Senator's door.
Royce smirked as the guards' footsteps retreated down the hall to the elevators, and he gave it five minutes before letting himself out and headed out himself.
He looked like a professional in his Armani knockoff suit and briefcase. He wasn't even given a second glance except for a few women and the receptionist of course. She gave him a beautiful smile as he walked out, and he inclined his head politely to her in acknowledgment.
It had been so easy! He stopped by a Staples and had some business cards made with his "S. Royce, Freelance Security Consultant" on them. He then went to the closest DMV to take his drivers' exam, and motorcycle operator too. He passed all the tests, and paid the small rental fees for the DMV car and motorcycle he'd used to take the driving portion of the tests.
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