Al shrugged the waitress off with a brusque “Keep it.”

As if he would ever just forget money. She knew it – just was desperate. He was used to it.

It wasn’t that her service had been any good. He’d just been in a hurry to leave.

And then with the umbrella. “Listen Luscious, I look ta you like I’m wearin’ a skirt? Ain’t never carried no umbrella an’ not likely ta start now, though Noah’s flood be upon us. Git yerself back inside.”

When Torrent’s text came, he verified the sender, then sent the ork a separate text telling him to resend his message to a different ‘link. To make sure it was really him. Once he got the confirmation text, he replied with his usual voice-to-text. <<Should be two-fifty. You know the drill – neither side trusts the other, ever’one trusts you. You hold the money until ever’one says they’s happy. Ten percent to you fer yer trouble. Let me know when ya got it, an’ then biz’ll go forward on my end.>>

Then, since the rain wasn’t doing its job anyway, he hailed a cab – which took about ten minutes – and directed it to a crappy but discreet motel within a thirty minute walk of the big Triad powwow, and sent the address to his coworkers, along with the news that the ball was rolling on the transaction for Miss Manners.
‘