Loyal [boyxboy]

Fail to Succeed

"Lucas," Nick popped his head into the back office. "Is Tom here?"

Lucas glanced up from the computer. "No, why?"

"Okay, what about Joshua?" Nick tried again.

"They're both out on a lunch meeting. What's up?" Lucas narrowed his eyes. "Is something wrong?"

"Well, there's a table... they seem like government types," Nick admitted. "Usually Tom or Joshua knows what to do about them, I don't know." He shrugged.

Lucas swore and slipped out from behind the desk. "Give me your waiter's apron. Are they talking or just sitting?"

Nick untied his apron and tossed it over. "Yeah, like they're just on lunch, but you know... suits, briefcases."

Lucas tied the apron around his waist. "Go back to the post. I'll be out in a second, I'll see if I can figure anything out. If they are law enforcement... we just have to watch them. We can't turn away paying customers, but we can't let them snoop or ask questions."

Nick nodded and went back up front. Lucas waited a minute before grabbing a damp rag and going out front. He cleared a few tables like normal before wiping down the tables on either side of the booth Nick was talking about. They were three older men, all in suits and two of them with briefcases. They were laughing and acting casual enough, but Lucas still did his best to listen in.

"No, the bank on Federal is going to be getting shut down within a year, maybe two, I bet," one of them said.

"Really? The bailouts were all years ago. Did they still just keep making bad loans, or what?"

"I don't know, but I know I might be picking up some staff from that bank. Be careful though, you don't want to hire anyone who is causing that bank to fail."

Lucas frowned to himself and retreated into the back for another minute. Government lackeys yes, but they sounded like they were bankers and not agents of any sort. He got a pitcher of ice water and went to their table. "Can I top off any waters?" he offered, refilling a few of their glasses.

His presence didn't stall much of their talking, though now the subject had changed to something about their families and wives. They asked him for the bill before he left, and that it was being split three ways. Lucas sent their waiter over with the bill and went back to Tom's office.

Nick met him back there a minute later. "What do you think?"

"Just bankers," Lucas said, giving Nick his apron back. "But give me the names on their credit cards so I can double check. We'll do a bug sweep of the restaurant tonight just to be sure."

On the other hand, it had given him a few other ideas too. He didn't think banks got bailed out anymore, but if one was being shut down for bad loans... He'd have to do some research first. He wasn't familiar with the banking system or anything like that. But it could mean huge money for them too.

Tom and Joshua returned from their meeting from Alex, and Lucas filled them in briefly on the scare from earlier. Joshua agreed on doing a bug sweep after close. "How is the new club coming along?" Lucas asked when he was able to get Joshua away from Tom for a few minutes.

"Fine. It's under its renovation, getting all the right fixings put in. Maybe we'll train Nick as a bartender over there, he could be good with it," Joshua theorized.

"How much does it cost to do all of the renovations?" Lucas wondered.

Joshua shrugged, frowning to himself. "In the thousands, obviously. We have a contractor working with us though, he handles most of it and Tom checks his work on the numbers. Why?"