Live Writing Sprint 09.08.21

Live writing sprints by J. R. Nichols are posted here unedited.
(prompt provided by Random Word Generator)

Today’s Prompt: implicit
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“You should have known what was going to happen.”

“How could I have possibly expected any of this?” Moni threw the file down on Jack’s desk. Receipts and dust bunnies floated up into his face as she did so and she grimaced in disgust as he simply wiped a hand to brush them aside then eased back in his chair.

“What did you think was going to happen? You get into doing deals with a guy like Frank Carlotti and you know you’re going to get screwed over.”

“Frank Carlotti was supposed to be giving me the information I needed to nail his partner to the wall,” Moni paced as she ranted, trying not to let her eyes settle on any of the heaping piles of junk Jack liked to keep piled up in his office. “He wasn’t supposed to double cross me. Me, of all people!”

“You play with snakes, you get bitten.” Moni could hear the shrug in Jack’s voice. “Besides, now that you know what  you’re dealing with, you can act accordingly.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Moni stopped her pacing and turned to look at her longtime boss and was suddenly remorseful for barging in the way she had and laying all her problems on his shoulders. The bags under his eyes seemed deeper, the grey in his hair was no longer neatly corralled near his temples. Moni knew things hadn’t been quite right with Jack since he’d lost Lisa, but his resilience in the face of all of it had caused her to loose sight of his pain, somehow.

“You can fight fire with fire, now,” Jack said, mischief dancing in his eyes.

“What do you mean?” Moni’s own eyes narrowed.

“Here.” Jack spun in his chair and bent low to retrieve a different file from a drawer behind him. He tossed it in Moi’s direction, sending another batch of papers scattering. “Take this and give it a good once over.”

Moni picked it up and plopped into Jack’s guest chair, which was uncharacteristically vacant of stray items.

“Ick,” she muttered, flipping quickly past pictures of a couple in various states of undress and embrace. “Is this someone Carlotti knows? This sure isn’t him in the pictures.” Indeed, the man in the picture was probably half the age and double the physical fitness of the crooked man she’d been dealing with. The woman didn’t look familiar, either.

“Carlotti’s ex,” Jack explained.

Moni sighed and put the file down. “What good does information like this about an ex do?”

Jack smiled. “Carlotti would kill for that file.”

“How’s that?” Moni quirked a brow.

“It’s a ‘smoking gun,’ so to speak,” Jack explained. “Carlotti had a very peculiar arrangement with the ex. It was a prenuptial sort of a deal. Proof of her entanglement with another man while they were still married would save Carlotti a pretty penny in alimony.”

“And you’re saying these pics were snapped when the two of them were still together?” Moni’s afternoon was suddenly looking much brighter.

“That’s what I’m saying,” Frank grinned. “Now, it’s up to you to determine the best way to use this information.”

That’s all I’m going to do for today. Thanks for watching!