Tabby apparently had to as well, as both girls disappeared for a few minutes, coming back looking like they'd both washed their faces and maybe swirled some mouthwash before coming back. In any case, both girls looked much more refreshed, Tabby pulling her hair back into a quick ponytail.
"Wow, country boys can survive," she said after taking a bite of her biscuits and gravy. "Now, if you tell me you made these biscuits from scratch, I'm going to have to kidnap you and keep you for my own. Or just invite myself to live here permanently."
"Actually, I wanted to talk to the two of you about that," I said, setting my spoon aside. While you can eat biscuits and gravy with a fork, spoons work much better for scooping the gravy up into your mouth. "How would you like to live here?"
"What do you mean?" Tabby said, grinning foolishly. "Mark, just because I slept together with Sophie doesn't mean I need to move in with you guys."
"You wouldn't be," I said, causing both women to look at me like I was crazy. I looked from Sophie to Tabby. "You didn't fill her in on our plan?"
Sophie shook her head. "I was going to leave that decision to you."
"What plan?" Tabby asked.
"We're going to go into our end game," I said, leaving out a lot of details. Sophie could understand that people had to die, I wasn't sure if Tabby could. "If our plan goes well, then both sides of this criminal chokehold on the city will get broken."
Tabby took another bite of her breakfast, chewing while she digested the information I'd just given her. "Okay, so what part of that means I live here and you don't?"
I shrugged. "If things go well, Marcus Smiley and Sophie Warbird will have to disappear. But that puts us in a bit of a pickle. You see, one of the things we've used in our long term game plan is the financial investments that you set up for us. We're tied in with how many companies now in the city?"
"You're approaching forty," Tabby said after a moment. "I was just working on your quarterly report last night when Sophie rescued me from the office."
I nodded. "That sounds about right, and there's a lot of money that is in our investment fund that we haven't even touched yet. Tabby, I can't just disappear without those companies going through hell, especially if it comes to light that the money is tainted. So I need another way out."
"What's that?" Sophie asked, curious. I hadn't filled her in on this, but I figured we had time to discuss it later.
"Another layer to our corporation," I said simply. "Before the final steps of our plan, Marcus Smiley and Sophie Warbird make a very public departure from the city, supposedly to look at more investments overseas. We come back into the city discreetly, and take down Lynch and the Confederation. In the meantime, our local investments are put into a corporate trust, with the manager and president of Smiley Investments here in town being Tabitha Williams."
Tabby thought about it for a moment, eating the rest of her breakfast. "If you two do that, are you going to disappear again afterwards? Permanently?"
I shook my head. "Marcus Smiley and Sophie Warbird might, but there's a set of backup identities I prepared for us. It might be a bit quieter, less purple hair and flamboyant fashions, but we wouldn't disappear forever."
"More plastic surgery?" Sophie asked.
I shook my head. "No, I don't think it'll be needed. But even if we are recognized, we can still go back to the Smiley and Warbird identities. It'll just be a more low-key version." I turned my attention to Tabby. "So what do you think?"
"Hmmm," she said, pretending to consider the option even though I could read the truth in her eyes. "Good salary package?"
"I was thinking a percentage of all profits, and a low end guaranteed package," I said, "I'll trust you to draw up the contracts and stuff like that. But you'll also get a nice benefits package as well. I was thinking housing, a car, and of course other things if you can think of them."
"Can I play with your guys' guns too?" Tabby asked, grinning. "I know you have an arsenal or two around this city."
"We have four," I replied, "and no. You'll know where they are, but you don't want the heat that some of that stuff would bring down on you if the ATF ever really searched them."
"What sort of heat?" Tabby asked, smirking. The smile faded as she saw the look on my face. "No, seriously, what kind of heat?"
"Minimum of fifteen years, Federal prison," I replied. "Maximum, if they ever tie in some of those weapons to the stuff they've been used for? Life."
Tabby gulped and nodded. "Well, I've already been involved in one shootout with you guys, I guess I might as well accept it. So by keeping me out, they can see I never used them, and I'd just be able to play dumb."
"Pretty much. So, what do you think?"
Tabby looked at Sophie, then over at me. "When you're ready, I'm ready. Just give me a few weeks warning to put in my resignation at the office."