“But we haven’t been collecting very long. After we’ve expanded our clientele…”
“We’ll be paying claims on that many more businesses,” Shai-ster finished grimly. “Don’t give me that ‘we’ll make it up on volume’ guff. Either an operation is self-supporting and turning a profit from the beginning, or it’s in trouble. And we’re in trouble so deep, even if we could breathe through the tops of our heads we’d still be in trouble.”
“Maybe if we got some more boys from back home. …” Nunzio began.
Shai-ster slapped his hand down on the table, stopping his lieutenant short.
“No more overhead!” he shouted. “I’m having enough trouble explaining our profit/loss statement to the Big Boys without the bottom line getting any worse. Not only are we not going to get any more help, we’re going to start trimming our expenses, and I mean right now. Tell the boys to … what are you grinning at?”
This last was directed at me.
“Oh, nothing,” I said innocently. “It’s just that for a minute there you sounded just like someone I know back on Klah . . . name of Grimble.”
“J.R. Grimble?” Shai-ster blinked.
Now it was my turn to be surprised.
“Why, yes. He’s the Chancellor of the Exchequer back at Possiltum. Why, do you know him?”
“Sure. We went to school together. Chancellor of the Exchequer, huh? Not bad. If I had known he was working the court of Possiltum, I would have stuck around and said ‘hi’ when I was there.”
Somehow, the thought of Shai-ster and Grimble knowing each other made me uneasy. There wasn’t much chance of the two of them getting together and comparing notes, and even if they did, Grimble didn’t know all that much about my modus operand!. Still, it served as a grim reminder that this was a very risky game I was playing, with some very dangerous people.