My In-Laws Mocked the Tow Driver, Until They Learned I Was Kijin novel · Chapter 16 of 24

Chapter 16: Ten Million

Gerald's car sat idling at the gate with its lights off.

I walked down the gravel alone, and my cousin watched me go from the porch with his hands in his pockets.

The window came down.

Gerald had a briefcase on the seat beside him and a gold pen in his hand.

"Floyd," he said. "I'll be brief."

"Please."

"Ten million dollars. Not two. Ten, wired this week, and a ticket anywhere you like." He smiled. "A man in your trade could buy a great many tow trucks."

"And for that?"

"You leave my father's house tonight. You leave my daughter. You're not in this town on Sunday."

I looked at the pen.

"You're offering me five times what you said I'd already taken."

"That was a story. This is a price."

"I'd like to answer you properly," I said. "Not in a driveway. Come to the depot at six, when the morning shift goes out."

His eyebrows rose.

"In front of the drivers?"

"You wanted a witness at dinner. I'd like some for this."

He looked at me for a long moment, and then he laughed.

"Good. I'd like them to see what you cost."

The window went up.

At ten to six the next morning, about a hundred and fifty drivers stood in the yard in the cold with their coffee, waiting for dispatch.

Gerald stood on the loading dock in a charcoal overcoat with the briefcase at his feet.

Preston stood two steps behind him, smiling.

Meredith stood beside me at the bottom of the dock steps in her navy blazer, with her chin up.

"Good morning," Gerald said, in the voice he used on the board. "I have a short announcement."

Nobody moved. The old driver from bay six stood at the front with his cap in his hand.

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