Date: Thu, 11 Jul 2002 17:18:22 -0400
From: Writer Boy <writerboy69@hotmail.com>
Subject: thieves - part 11

Obligatory warnings and disclaimers:

1) If reading this is in any way illegal where you are or at your age, or
you don't want to read about male/male relationships, go away. You
shouldn't be here.

2) I don't know any of the celebrities in this story, and this story in no
way is meant to imply anything about their sexualities, personalities, or
anything else.  This is a work of pure fiction.

Questions and commentary can be sent to "writerboy69@hotmail.com". I enjoy
constructive criticism, praise, and rational discussion. I do not enjoy
flames, and will not tolerate them.

***

Wade was still surly on the bus, but everyone more or less ignored it. At
the very back of the bus there was a table, with benches on either side,
and Mitch sat in one of the benches as Wade and Justin slid into the other
across from him. A little further down, Chris and JC settled in on the
couch across from the television. Chris started unrolling the controllers
for the Playstation 2, and JC opened his book, curling his legs up under
himself and making sure his coffee was nearby. Usually he would be on a
bunk, like Lance was today, watching the little television in there for
about five minutes before he nodded off, but he wanted to keep an eye on
things. Joey, making a turkey sandwich on the counter by the tiny stove
because he hadn't had breakfast, had the same sort of idea.  He didn't like
Wade's attitude this morning, and was worried that he might start something
with Mitch while Lance was asleep.

Justin reached into one of the side drawers by the table and pulled out a
deck of cards, bound with a rubber band.

"Do you want to play Uno?" Justin asked, smiling at Mitch. "I like to play
on the bus because we don't have time to anywhere else, and I play this all
the time at home with my little brother, so when I play, it makes me think
about home, and being at home, and then I don't miss my family so much. Not
like these guys aren't my family, because they're all my brothers, too, but
my other family, and since we have to be on the bus all day anyway, I
thought it would be fun if we just played, unless you wanted to do
something else. Did you want to do something else, or did you want to play
Uno?"

"I don't really know how to play," Mitch said, shrugging. "I haven't played
that since I was little."

"That's ok, I can remind you," Justin said, shuffling the cards. "The rules
are really easy, because it's all about the colors, and the numbers on the
cards. Some of the cards tell you to do things, too, but those are easy,
because you can just read them. I'll deal out the cards, since you don't
remember how to play, and then we can warm up for a couple games, and we
won't even keep score, and it'll be fun, really fun. You'll like it,
Mitch."

It was on the tip of Mitch's tongue to tell Justin that even if he didn't
remember the rules, he remembered how to deal, but Justin was just so
smiling and happy to be in charge of the cards that Mitch just
nodded. Wade, on the other hand, frowned.

"I don't want to play cards, Justin," he said, putting a hand on Justin's
arm, fully expecting Justin to put the rubber band back on the deck.

"OK," Justin said, smacking a card down in front of Mitch. "We won't deal
you in, then."

Chris, JC, and Joey all looked up from what they were doing, casually
glancing over so that it wouldn't look obvious, but all of them curious to
see how this played out. Wade, for his part, looked a little surprised, but
covered it quickly, leaning over to press his forehead against Justin's
temple. Justin smiled, nudging his head over a little to rub it against
Wade's, but kept dealing. Mitch took his cards, one by one, remembering
that it was best to organize them, and wondered if he'd still be playing in
another minute or two.

"Justin, what are you doing?" Wade purred, running his hand up and down
Justin's arm.  Justin smiled, and picked up his cards, pushing Wade's hand
away with his free hand.

"Stop," Justin said, grinning as he put his cards in order. "You're making
it hard for me to think."

"Then stop," Wade said playfully, reaching for Justin's cards. His tone was
light, but he was anything but playing. If Wade didn't want to do
something, Justin didn't do it, either, and the rest of the guys never
jumped in. If Justin had been playing with Chris, or Joey, they would
already have slid their cards back across the table, but Mitch just sat,
waiting for Justin to start as the rules of the game came back to him.

"No," Justin said, shaking his head. Why was Wade acting like this? You'd
almost think he was jealous or something, but that was silly. Justin only
had eyes for him. "I want to play cards, and Mitch wants to play, too. You
said you didn't want to, so I didn't deal you a hand, but we can put you in
on the next game, baby, ok?"

Wade blinked at Justin, surprised, but then Joey slid onto the bench next
to Mitch, with his sandwich on a plate.

"Could you deal me in on the next hand, too, Justin?" Joey asked, smiling.
Justin looked up, his eyes sparkling, and nodded. Joey looked at Wade,
leaning against the back of the bus, and smiled at him. "Things here just
seem so interesting."

After Justin and Mitch's first hand finished, Wade and Joey joined in,
although Joey could tell that Wade's mind wasn't on it. Mitch, for his
part, just played quietly, still tired, still thinking about the way Lance
had held onto him last night, not wanting anything, just trying to make him
feel better. After an hour or so, his stomach grumbled a little, and he
ignored it. Between hands, they took a little break so Justin could pee,
and Mitch stared out the window, watching the scenery go by. He looked up
in surprise as Joey walked back to the table and set a plate down in front
of him with a sandwich and some chips on it.

"If you're hungry, you can get something to eat, Mitch," Joey said quietly.
"You don't have to ask permission."

"I'm sorry," Mitch said, looking down quickly. They had all been so nice
again this morning, JC with the pants, Justin making sure he had something
to do and keeping him company, and now Joey, standing over him with a
sandwich. Mitch thought again about what he was doing, and how he could do
it with these guys being so nice to him.

"Don't be sorry," Joey said, sitting down again. He patted Mitch on the
arm.  "Just, you know, make yourself a little more at home, ok? Our bus is
your bus."

"Thank you," Mitch said, picking up the sandwich. "I didn't want to just,
you know, get up and take something."

"That's ok," Joey said, not wanting to drag this out and make Mitch feel
worse. He caught Wade glaring at Mitch again and kicked him under the
table. "Eat up, ok?"

Wade, for his part, was silently fuming. He felt bad for Mitch, he really
did, but this was just all getting out of hand. His whole situation felt
like it was sliding away, and he had been too comfortable for too long to
have some guy come in and just start upsetting things. He loved Justin, he
really did, and before Mitch came along, things for them had just been
perfect. Now, though, too much stuff was going on. Justin wasn't listening
to Wade like he usually did, even if it had just been a stupid card
game. What if it was a sign of things to come? Wade knew what was best for
Justin, and his career and Justin's became more and more entwined as they
continued to collaborate together, and he guided Justin down paths that the
other guys, with their stupid five musketeers band of brothers joyous
togetherness, wouldn't point him toward on their own. What if Justin didn't
feel like he should listen anymore?

And what the hell had that been last night, that banging on the wall? He
didn't think for a second that Lance was really sorry. He'd heard the other
guys making jokes about how noisy he and Justin were, behind their backs,
when they thought neither was listening.  Luckily, Justin had never heard
the childish comments and locker room dirty jokes, and Wade wanted to make
sure he never did, because he would be deeply hurt hearing his friends talk
about him like that. They all treated Justin like they thought he was some
kind of a moron, but underneath his chirpy, cheerful exterior, Justin was
much deeper than they gave him credit for, and Wade wouldn't see him hurt
for any reason, not by anyone. If Mitch being here was hurting Justin, was
upsetting the balance of the group and of his relationship with Wade, then
Mitch had to go.

Wade might have agreed to keep quiet, to just let Lance keep Mitch around
as long as he felt like staying, and the other guys all seemed content to
just let it be.  Wade understood, as much as any of them, what kind of a
danger Mitch presented, even if he claimed not to be, and Wade couldn't
believe none of the others had offered up the obvious solution yet.  Maybe
they were just too content with their lives, too spoiled, to have the balls
to do what needed to be done. Whatever the reasons, Wade decided that he
would just take care of this himself, regardless of what he'd
promised. They might think it was ok if Mitch wanted to stay, but what if
Mitch didn't want to stay anymore? What if Mitch decided to leave? Watching
Mitch eat his sandwich, and every chip on the plate, while Justin shuffled
the cards, Wade began to plan.

They'd been on the road for a few hours when the bus driver quietly
announced over the intercom that they would be pulling off in about fifteen
minutes for a pit stop. Mitch looked around, confused, wondering why they
needed to stop when they seemed to have anything they could ever need or
want on a road trip here on the bus, and Joey laughed.  Pointing at the
little tiny bathroom, Joey explained that there was one rule on the bus,
which was never, ever broken, and when Mitch looked at the door he saw a
little sign which read "No #2!" Justin giggled, highly amused by bathroom
humor, and Chris snickered, too. Joey got up and reached into Lance's bunk,
tapping him awake, as Justin put the rubber band around the cards and
dropped them back into the side drawer. Lance walked over, stretching and
scratching his head, and sat down by Mitch as Joey leaned back on the wall,
throwing a look to JC and Chris to make sure they remembered what they'd
agreed on earlier.

"Sorry I slept all morning," Lance said, feeling his heart flutter a little
when Mitch turned to smile at him.

"It's ok," Mitch said, smiling, and then looking away quickly as he saw the
way Lance was looking at him. Lance had looked like that earlier, too, when
he had settled Mitch in on the bus before he went to sleep, and it left
Mitch feeling so uncertain that he didn't feel like he could look Lance in
the eye. "After last night, it, you know, I understand."

"Yeah," Lance said, sighing and looking at his hands, not noticing that all
five of the others had stopped dead at Mitch's last statement. "So, is
everything ok out here? How are you doing?"

"I played cards all day," Mitch said, nodding toward Justin.

"We played Uno!" Justin said excitedly, clapping his hands and rocking back
and forth in his seat. "We played for hours, and I won, and then Mitch won,
and then I won again, and Joey won twice, and then I won, and then we
stopped keeping score, and Wade never won! Poor Wade lost and lost."

"Yeah, it sucks to be a loser," Joey said from the couch, where he had
thrown himself down next to Chris as JC rinsed out his coffee mug in the
sink. JC hated being this awake, and needing this much caffeine to fuel
himself, when normally he would have slept for most of this trip, but he
wanted to make sure everyone was on the same page before he konked out for
the night. "Right, Wade?"

Justin giggled, looking at Joey, and not seeing Wade giving Joey the middle
finger behind his head. Joey just winked at him.

"I'll be ok," Wade said, sneering. Justin leaned back against him.

"I'll make it up to him later," Justin said, giggling. "Really quietly."

"Justin," Lance said, not wanting him to bring it up again and maybe make
Wade even crankier. Justin looked over at Lance, giggling.

"Just playing with you, Lance," Justin said, giggling, as Wade began to
massage his shoulders. Whatever else he'd been about to say to Lance
dissolved in a sigh as he rolled his head back, closing his eyes. Wade
leaned in really close, his mouth right up against Justin's ear, and began
whispering to him. It was too soft for the others to hear, but based on the
look spreading across Justin's features, it was something intimate.

Before anyone could say anything else the bus pulled off into a large rest
area, and everyone stood and began to stretch. Lance went for the closet
where they had put Mitch's crutches as Joey, JC, and Chris hurried off the
bus, Justin and Wade following a little more slowly, stopping just before
the door for one last kiss before they went out in public. A car following
them belched out a few bodyguards, but none of the guys bothered putting on
their hats and sunglasses, knowing they'd only be here for twenty minutes
or so, and the bus driver cautioned them not to linger so they could stick
to the travel schedule. Mitch watched Joey, JC, and Chris hurry over to the
little restaurant, an odd move since the bus was full of food, but figured
he should stick to Lance.

"I'm just going to run into the bathroom, ok?" Lance asked. "Do you have to
go?"

"No, I'm ok," Mitch answered. "I'll just stay right here, ok?"

"Sure, be right back," Lance said, hurrying into the bathroom.

Mitch leaned on his crutches near the bathroom door, pretending to look at
the big map of the state on the wall. Over on the restaurant side, Joey,
JC, and Chris glanced over at him, Joey and JC sipping the milkshakes
they'd just ordered. Chris stood between them, against the wall, keeping a
lookout for Lance and Mitch. The last thing they wanted was to get caught
talking about them.

"So," Chris said. "Lance and Mitch?"

"Lance and Mitch," JC nodded. "I think there might be something going on
there."

"No shit," Joey agreed. "What was that on the bus? That 'after last night'
thing?"

"Something happened last night," JC said. "I went over this morning to
bring Mitch a couple pairs of pants, because I didn't want him to have to
keep wearing that pair he borrowed from Lance, and the two of them were
acting really weird. They both look like they didn't sleep, and they're
both quiet, and they kept throwing each other these really weird looks."

"Yeah, have you seen that?" Chris asked, remembering the looks they'd been
throwing each other at breakfast yesterday. "They're almost flirting or
something.  Like, Lance looks at Mitch, and then as soon as Mitch looks up,
Lance looks away. And then Mitch looks at Lance, and when Lance looks back,
Mitch looks down again. I mean, what the hell is up with that?"

"I don't know," Joey answered. "Steve said that during the concert Mitch
watched Lance the whole time, like none of the rest of us were
onstage. Said he didn't hardly know the music, but kept asking why Lance
didn't sing more, and why he always stood in the back."

"He stands in the back because Justin's always standing in front of him,"
Chris said, shaking his head.

"Guys," JC said, not wanting to have this discussion again. The fans saw
Justin as the frontman, and that's just the way things were. "Back to Lance
and Mitch, what should we do? Should we even do anything?"

"Well, he seems like a nice guy," Chris said. "Do we even know if Lance
likes him for sure?"

Chris and JC both looked at Joey, figuring that, as the best friend, he'd
know.

"Well, he says he just wants to help him," Joey began.

"That's what he told me, too," JC said, nodding.

"But you've seen the way he looks at him," Joey continued. "And you know
how Lance is with, you know, needy things. All those baby birds and
stuff. Maybe Mitch is just a bigger one."

"Yeah, but baby birds don't talk back," Chris said. "I don't want Lance to
get hurt."

"I think he's thinking about liking him," JC said, and the other two stared
at him, eyebrows raised. "Sorry to phrase it like that. I just think it's
on his mind. This morning I asked him if he was ok, and he hugged me and
thanked me for not caring that he was gay."

"What?" Joey asked. "Where did that come from?"

"I don't know," JC answered, shrugging. "I asked him, and he just said that
he'd been thinking about it."

"He was moody the other night, too," Joey said. "He came over to sleep in
my room a couple nights ago, and he just seemed really down."

"He's been like that for weeks," Chris said. "Do you think maybe he's
lonely?"

"He's got us," Joey said.

"Yeah, but he doesn't sleep with us," Chris said. "Maybe he's lonely enough
to, you know, make a pass at Mitch."

"What do you think Mitch would do?" JC asked, sipping his shake again. "I
mean, we don't even know if he's gay."

"Mitch?" Justin asked, somehow having snuck up on them. "He's gay."

The three of them jumped, Chris wondering how he'd gotten so deep into
conversation that he had missed Justin walking over. Of course, when they
all jumped together, it spooked the bodyguards, too, and Joey quickly gave
them the "all ok" sign as they began looking around. JC looked across the
rest stop and saw that Mitch was still waiting outside the bathrooms for
Lance, who apparently really had to go.

"Jeez, Justin, don't sneak up on people like that," Chris said. Justin
blinked at him, confused. All he'd done was walk over. Chris shook his
head. "Never mind, Juju."

"Where's Wade?" Joey asked, looking behind Justin. All they needed was to
get Wade involved in a sensitive discussion of Lance's love life, and give
him even more ammunition to provoke them with later.

"He went to the gift shop to get some magazines or something," Justin said.
"He said he didn't want to play cards anymore and that he wanted something
to read. I told him to buy a book but he said he didn't want to read
anything long, he just wanted something for the ride, and then I told him
to go get some magazines because they're short and then I can read them,
too, when he's all done with them. So why are we talking about Mitch?"

"No reason," Joey said quickly, sipping his milkshake.

"Yeah," Chris agreed. "Just something to talk about."

"Oh, ok," Justin said, shrugging. "I thought it was because he was gay, and
Lance likes him, and he likes Lance. Hey, did you get the milkshakes over
there, because that sounds like a really good idea all of a sudden. Are
they good? Are they the really thick kind?  Because I don't like it when
you have to suck really really hard to get them up the straw, but I don't
want one if they're really watery, either. Are they the ok kind, or the
thick kind? Maybe I'll just go buy one anyway."

"Wait, Justin," JC sputtered, grabbing his arm. The three of them had been
caught off guard by Justin's matter of fact pronouncement about Mitch and
Lance. "Why do you keep saying Mitch is gay?"

"You can't just say that about people, Justin," Chris said, mentally
smacking himself as soon as the words fell out of his mouth. "Not that
there's anything wrong with it. Just, you know, do you know something we
don't about him?"

"I don't know," Justin said, shrugging again. He really wanted a milkshake.
"I mean, I guess you guys didn't know he was gay, but he is. You can tell,
you know, like the way I told you guys Lance was before he said anything."

None of them had ever told Lance, but Justin had accidentally outed Lance
to the rest of them before he did it himself. It hadn't been deliberate,
just one of those odd little Justin blurts where whatever was on his mind
tumbled out of his mouth, and even Justin had the brains to feel bad about
it after he did it, making all the guys promise not to say anything to
Lance or treat him any differently. It was one of the few times they
remembered him actually being firmly serious about something, and it
reminded them all that Justin could be a lot more with it than they gave
him credit for most of the time.

"Anyway, I think they're cute," Justin continued. "He's all like Tiny Tim
with those crutches, and Lance is all like white knight and stuff, and the
two of them are just so cute together when they look at each other and
giggle and stuff."

"Look, I'm not saying they're not cute," JC said. "I was just wondering, do
we do anything? We don't know him, or anything about him."

"Maybe we should give him the benefit of the doubt," Joey said. "I mean,
Lance trusts him, and he's spent the most time with him, so maybe we
should, too."

"Doesn't really matter if we like him or not anyway," Justin said,
shrugging. "If they like each other, it's gonna happen either way, so we
might as well just be happy for him. Can I go get a milkshake now?"

"Uh, sure," JC said, patting Justin's shoulder. Justin, with his simple
outlook, had cut right to the heart of things, in a way that none of them
could with their careful overanalysis of everything. He looked up and saw
Lance and Mitch crossing the rest stop toward them. "Guys, no more. Here
they come."

"You guys look deep in thought," Lance said, smiling. Beside him, Mitch
smiled too, a little weaker than Lance's, wondering what they were talking
about. "What are you talking about?"

"Nothing," Joey answered.

"Nothing," JC agreed, shaking his head.

"I'm getting a milkshake!" Justin said, grinning and rocking back and forth
on his feet.

"Actually, I was just going to buy Justin a shake," Chris said, nodding.
"Mitch, you want one?"

"I don't want to put you to any trouble," Mitch said, glancing at the floor
again. In his head a voice screamed at them all to stop it, to just stop
being so fucking nice.

"Let me put it another way, then," Chris said, putting a hand on his
shoulder. "I'm going to buy two shakes. I'm giving one to Justin. I'm going
to give the other one to you, and you can either drink it, or throw it on
the ground. Your choice. Either way, come on with me and Justin, because
we're going to go get shakes."

"OK," Mitch said, looking down the whole way as he crutched slowly along
beside Chris. Justin began speaking, a steady stream of chirpy babble that
none of them could make out, his tones carrying across the wide open
space. The others watched them walk away.

"Lance, is he ok?" JC asked. "I know I asked you this morning, but Mitch
just seems really down."

"We had a rough night," Lance said, glancing away.

"You ok, Lance?" Joey asked, laying a hand on his arm. Lance looked up
quickly, forcing a smile.

"Yeah, I'll be ok," He said. "JC, did you make any progress on, um, on what
we talked about at the mall?"

"Oh, no, Lance, I'm sorry," JC said, remembering that they had talked about
finding Mitch a job with them. "I'll start working on it as soon as we get
to the hotel, ok?"

"Yeah, thanks," Lance said, nodding. The three of them began walking toward
the bus, Lance looking back to make sure Mitch was ok with Chris and
Justin. "JC, can you do me another favor, too? I need to get in touch with
someone who can find some people for me. Can you figure out who I should
call?"

"Sure," JC answered, wondering who Lance was trying to find.

Wade came out of the gift shop just in time to see all six of them walking
toward the bus, in two groups of three. Mitch, hanging back with Justin and
Chris, was leaning close to Justin as Justin told him something. Both of
them laughed, Justin throwing his head back and laughing with his usual
carefree abandon, and Chris and Mitch laughing, too, if a little more
subdued. Wade felt a stab of jealousy go through him as he saw Justin and
Mitch laughing, smiling, the sun shining down on them, the five guys
walking along with this bum that they'd adopted after a day, only a day,
treating him better than they'd treated Wade in the months that he'd been
dating Justin. Mitch had to go.  Period. No discussion, and no arguing.

The second half of the bus ride went differently from the first. JC climbed
into his bunk, surrendering to exhaustion finally, unable to remember when
the last time was that he stayed awake on the bus. Joey and Chris stayed on
the couch, both playing video games, and Lance sat across from Mitch at the
table, trying to work out some stuff for Freelance.  Mitch sat against the
back of the bus, staring out the window, wearing the pants JC gave him and
the shirt Lance gave him, sipping the milkshake that Chris bought him, and
trying not to think about any of this. After an hour or so, he got tired of
feeling Lance's eyes on him every time Lance looked up from his paperwork,
and asked if he could go lay down in Lance's bunk.

"Sure," Lance said, walking him over to it. "Let me get you settled in."

Mitch slid into the bunk, wondering who thought up stuff like this. The
front had a little cover that zipped closed, like a tent, and there was a
television in there with headphones.  There was even a cup holder on the
side, and the whole setup seemed somehow relaxing but decadent at the same
time. Mitch remembered the bus he had taken to New York, so long ago, a
lifetime from where he was now. There hadn't been any video games on there,
or a kitchen. Nobody had zipped him into his own little bunk then.  He'd
had to fall asleep in the seat, sitting upright, riding the bus for hours
and hours with all sorts of people. His life had changed so much since
then, and now it seemed as if there might be a chance for it to change
again. When he put his head down on the pillow he realized that it smelled
like Lance, hair gel and cologne and everything else, and he almost pushed
it away. Instead, he pulled it against his chest and tried to think about
what to do.

Mitch slept through the next rest stop, barely waking to tell Lance that he
didn't need anything and would stay on the bus, and when they finally
arrived at the hotel for the next set of shows it was just starting to get
dark. Lance tapped him awake again, waiting until the other guys had gotten
off the bus already, and helped him slide out of the bunk.  Grabbing his
own bag and slinging Mitch's over his other shoulder, Lance escorted him
through the lobby of a hotel just as nice as the last one, big, fancy, and
with rooms upstairs guarded by security in the hall. Lane unlocked the
suite, and surprised Mitch by handing him a keycard of his own. Mitch sat
down on the couch, looking around, noticing that there was only one bed in
here and wondering if Lance was going to have a portable bed brought up
again.

"I have to go have a meeting with the guys for a little bit to go over our
schedule for the next couple days, ok?" Lance said, standing by the
door. "But after that we're all going to go out to eat together, and I was
kind of hoping you might come."

"Lance, I don't have," Mitch began, looking down at himself.

"What you're wearing is fine," Lance said, smiling. "You're with us. You
can get into anywhere, wearing anything. Just relax here for a little
while, eat something out of the gift basket if you're hungry, and I'll be
back soon, ok?"

"Sure," Mitch said, looking over at an overflowing basket of fruit and
candy, brands of chocolate that he'd never even heard of spilling down the
side to rest against the bottle of champagne on ice. People just gave them
this stuff for coming to stay at the hotel?

When Lance left, Mitch settled back onto the couch and watched television,
trying not to think about why he was here or what he was supposed to do. He
needed to get a message to Keith, but he was unsure of his room number, and
didn't know if a call to his cell phone would show up on the room bill. Did
these guys get free unlimited calls, in addition to all the other prizes?
If he couldn't get hold of Keith today, maybe he'd be able to think of
something tomorrow, or Keith would come to find him. Mitch hoped it would
be sooner, rather than later, because he had more or less decided on the
bus that he couldn't do this after all. He just needed to explain to Keith,
and make him see that this was wrong. He couldn't hurt people who had been
nothing but kind to him.

A knock at the door shook him out of his thoughts. Answering it, Mitch was
even more surprised to find Wade out in the hallway.

"I need to talk to you," Wade said. "Can I come in?"

"Uh, sure," Mitch said, wondering what the hell he was doing here. From the
first minute Wade hadn't liked him, and he'd made it more than clear that
he didn't want Mitch around. The really sad part, that only Mitch could
appreciate, was that Wade was right.  Mitch was a threat, and he didn't
belong here. "Do you want to sit down? The couch is really soft."

"No, that's ok," Wade said, crossing his arms as if refusing to get
comfortable in any way.

"What did you want to talk about?" Mitch asked, trying to read his
face. Did Wade know something? Had Mitch slipped somewhere?

"You need to leave," Wade said bluntly. Mitch's eyes widened as Wade
continued. "I'm offering you fifty thousand dollars to walk out of here,
right now, and never bother any of these guys again."

***

To be continued.