Cache Money

Chapter 1

My name is Andy Cache. This is my story. I run my own private security company, Cache Protection, and we are made up of mostly ex-soldiers who's PTSD is too bad that they can't go back to normal life, and a bunch of kids looking for a get-rich-quick scheme. We do contracts all over, and we're known for being one of the best protection agencies. Our slogan is: "If we fail, you pay nothing!" We have yet to not receive payment.

Me and my brother, Jerry, started this company shortly after school. We grew up in the country, so we knew how to shoot pretty well. Jerry keeps the books and make sure our boys get paid well, and I sometimes get in there to help with jobs. There were a few worth mentioning, come to think of it.

Like this one time when we had a contract with this Chinese investor, Mr. Chen, who needed some guards on his ship, but they weren't exactly all legal, so he needed someone who wouldn't ask questions. He needed us. So I got Jerry to ask him how much he was looking for for spending. Turns out this guy must have been a billionaire, cuz our pay-stub had more zero's than I'd seen in one place. This helped us start the company, come to think of it. This was a couple years after we'd started, and we had 3 guys under us: Charlie, Echo, and Tex. Each of us picked a nickname, in case someone wanted to prosecute one of us and wouldn't have a solid name. My nickname was Scooter. Don't ask, it's a long story. We arrived at the ship around 6:00 at night, just as the sun started setting.

When we got there, Mr. Chen was there himself to greet us. Not something we were used to, but the money was so good that we didn't care. I walked up to him and he extended his hand.

"Mr. Chen." I nodded as I shook his hand.

"Mr. Cache," Mr. Chen said slowly, looking over my men. "I see your men are a bit... under-equipped. May I ask why?"

"Well, as my brother told you when you contacted you, we only just started, and we haven't had enough contracts yet to pay for high-grade firepower. But I guarantee you, these guys know their weapons inside and out, and can kill anything with them."

Mr. Chen waved over his men, who were carrying briefcases, and they walked up to us, opening them and relieving assault rifles and SMG's.

"I expected this, and took precautions. You may use these weapons for the mission, and your ammo will be found in your rooms. I expect to have my weapons back at the end of the mission, am I understood?"

"Yes, sir. But if I may ask, if you have the weapons, why didn't you just have your own men guard the ship?"

"These men are not trained for such a thing. They are trained to take a bullet for me, not my goods. And so, I pay you and your people. Do you have a problem with that, Mr. Cache?"

"Not at all, sir. When are your men setting sail?" The bodyguards closed the briefcases and handed them to Charlie and Tex. Those were the two who actually had experience with the firepower, being ex-military and all.

I shook Mr. Chen's hand again, and we walked up the plank to the ship's deck. It was one of the largest freighters I'd ever seen.

"Hey, Scooter," I heard Echo call.

"What is it?"

"Where are we heading first? Mess or barracks?"

"We'll go to the barracks first, grab the ammo in case things go bad right away. Then we'll go to the mess and eat. Sound good, guys?" I looked behind me and saw three nods of agreement.