She wasn’t in the zone, not laser focused, confident, and dangerous all at once. The past few days had been too many steps into unfamiliar territory. The last job hadn’t been a definitive win. Her underlings had grumbled, but they’d seemed to accept it as a fact of life. She had a harder time convincing herself of the same.

It was there, if she reached for it. The focus, the energy. Over the past day, she had gone back and forth, almost tapped into it, then shied away. She’d teetered on the brink.

Something told her that she could indulge herself, and it might even help rectify things in that department.

It would hurt other things, but it would help there. The thrill, that excitement and joie de vivre.

“You’re the boss. You make the final call,” J said, breaking the silence.

“Not now,” she said. “I want to do this right. We have other priorities.”

“Alright. I respect that,” J said.

“You’d better,” she answered him.

He smiled, and then he chuckled as he looked. Down in the pool area, below the window, both Angel and Bar had stripped down to their underwear and jumped in the water.

There was a side of her that wanted to snap at them, but Angel had done fine so far. If Angel was happy, Ashley could be happy for her. She had seen enough people of her age group while growing up and watching television to know that sometimes they acted this way.

Ashley had decided not to hire the older ex-cons like Marrow’s group, not to hire the more race-focused gangs, and opted for the young people. She’d known she would get less experience, more impulsiveness, and this kind of goofiness. She’d calculated it, and she would accept it.

“Knock,” she said.

J knocked on the window. Angel had Bar in a headlock under the water, so it was only her that looked up.

“They should get ready to go. We won’t stay long.”

J beckoned for them to come in. Angel nodded, freeing Bar. Bar, in turn, plunged Angel into the water. The squeal was audible through the second floor window.

“Nick,” Ashley said. “Tell Bar and Angel to go around the side to the front of the house and wait for us there.”

Nick was silent as he got off the couch to obey. One of his friends went with.

“They won’t hold the house for long,” J said.

“How did you even manage this?”

“Friend of someone my brother knows. I mean, not to boast, but this is what I’m good at.”

“Boast. Own your strength.”

“I can drive, I do okay in a fight, nothing special. I’m… kiiinda street wise?”

“What you are is a complete and utter failure at boasting,” Ashley said. Someone in the room sniggered.

“But I know this,” J said.