I slyly studied the cars, each one with a small decal in the back window on the passenger side. The decal matched the one I’d seen speeding out of the marina lot. Leon had feral little eyes, watchful, like a predatory animal waiting for a gazelle to come up lame. He nodded slowly. “Good eyes.”

“Hell yeah, when somebody’s paying me. Look, I can’t have nobody messing with my money. I need to know who to lean on. This job pays twenty large, and there ain’t no way I’m letting whoever it is screw that up.”

Leon glared at me. “You never mentioned having no woman when we was inside.”

“Why would I? This ain’t no love connection. Quit playin’, man. Are we solid, or not?”

Leon faced Whip, the look on his face hard as granite. “I ain’t seen you since you got out. I don’t know what you’re into these days, who you’re rolling with. You said you had a line on some cooking thing and you were going straight.”

Whip frowned. “That didn’t pan out like I thought. You know how it goes. But I got this good thing going now and I mean to keep it lucrative. All I want is the asshole in the car. When I find him, I guarantee you he won’t be coming back here to complain about a damn thing. Twenty grand ain’t no joke, and I got big plans for it. I’m getting Brandi here started in the stripper business.”

I stopped pacing, turned, and shot Whip a withering look. I forgot about chewing the gum and about Buddha watching my ass. “Yeah,” I said, recovering quickly. “I hear you can live sweet just on the tips.”

Whip flicked a thumb my way. “See? She’s destined for the pole. C’mon, man. You owe me. Who kept you from getting your ass kicked inside? You’d be dead right now if it wasn’t for me, and you damn well know it.”

Leon thought it over. Buddha stood there, mouth breathing.

Leon cocked his head. “Buddha, pat his ass down.”

I drew in closer. Our eyes met. Whip shook his head almost imperceptibly and I stood down. I watched as Buddha turned Whip’s pockets out and felt around his body for anything that shouldn’t be there, like a wire or a gun. Whip held his arms up and took it.

“He’s clean,” Buddha announced.

“Now her,” Leon said.

“Hey, back up,” Whip barked. “Nobody puts a hand on her.”

I took a step back, my eyes on the walking mountain as he headed straight for me, a lecherous gleam in his eye. All I had on me were earbuds and gum. I put my arm out to block him. “No way. He don’t touch none of this till he pays up front.”

Buddha stopped. Leon froze. The garage got real quiet.