by Pinki Parks
Chapter 13
Gillian
I was sitting at the table and I could tell the Japanese young men had an affinity for white women. The way they were looking at me from time to time made it somewhat obvious their intentions. There was nothing pure about them. I cringed when I began thinking about what kind of abuse could be had by their hands.
“I agreed to meet with the two of you on a Saturday. This is the last time you’re going to be in town for quite some time. I have to say I’m not very appreciative of the way that you are looking at my fiancé. We came here in good faith and we expect you to deliver without delay.” I had no idea what he was talking about, but he was being purposely obtuse.
Grant didn’t raise his voice, but he did make it seem like a hardship and somewhat inexcusable to be called out on a Saturday morning. He looked perturbed, but I knew this was only a façade to keep these men from seeing any weakness in his armor. It was fascinating to watch him in his element like wild animals attempting to sneak up on an unsuspecting victim.
“We didn’t have much time and there are things in the fine print we felt need to be addressed. Not to put too much of a fine point on it, but these demands seem to be arbitrary decisions. They were made to make us sign on the dotted line without reading it. We might be new in this type of business, but we have made allowances too many times. It’s not going to happen again.” They were being rather defensive and putting on the air of the injured party.
“I’m getting tired of doing this dance. I don’t need the hassle of merging with your company. I’m more than happy to rip up this contract and walk away from the table.” I put my hand on his in a loving manner.
I wanted to give him strength against those who were trying to take advantage of his reputation for being a soft touch. They didn’t know he could play hardball. It was a lucrative deal for both parties, but neither one wanted to budge. It was time for me to step in and become a mediator.
The restaurant was swank and the prices reflected those who frequented the hotel on business or otherwise. We were all drinking martinis. It was my first one. I had to stomach the contents without showing my distaste.
“Grant, you have too much personally invested in this to be objective. Go for a walk and let me talk to them in private. Let me be the one to carry this to the finish line.” I didn’t know much about contract law, but I could see how they were looking to score more money for the merger.
“I think it would be better to let cooler heads prevail. I will give you all 5-minutes. I’m going to get a drink at the bar. By all means, hash this out and put it to bed once and for all. I’m through dedicating any more time to this one venture. Let me remind the both of you, I was the one that bailed you out of financial difficulties. Don’t even pretend to think that I did that out of the generous nature of my heart.” Business had no friends and deals were made on the backs of the desperate.
He threw down his napkin and walked away disgusted. The two Japanese men were from a new era of understanding and cooperation. They were rigid, but they were looking to make the best out of a bad situation. I could sympathize and use that connection to toss them a lifeline before everything was lost.
“I don’t know what the meaning of this is, but we’re not going to stand for these kinds of underhanded tactics. I can be restless at night and I’ve been known to go over everything several times over to find the hidden meanings.” He made some mention of them retaining only 10%, but the merger stated they were getting 5%.
“That might be true, but that 5% is going to be worth billions in the span of months. Need I remind you there are stock options you have yet to mention? In the initial agreement, there was nothing about stock options. We could certainly table that and give you back the 5%, but in the long run, the stock and options are going to be worth a whole hell of a lot more.” They conversed in their native language of Japan and I knew enough to know they still felt like they were backed into a corner.
“This merger is supposed to be beneficial to everyone and we feel we are getting the short straw. There’s absolutely nothing you could tell us to convince us of his sincerity. His reputation has been made by walking over others in his quest for dominance in this industry.” There had to be a way to make them see the benefit to them was more a long-term solution than a band-aid.
“It might take a little time, but in five-years, the stocks will be worth triple their initial value. As you can see from his portfolio any business he takes underneath his wing is widely successful across the world. He makes small businesses into conglomerates with a tax break to go along with it.” I got their attention and they had lost sight of the bigger picture.
“I see what you are saying and he is being a little too generous. We didn’t see that, but it now makes us worried about the reason why he has gone out of his way to make this possible.” I showed them the graph of what was the expected earnings when their two companies merged.
It would break even the first year and then start to climb exponentially. It was a matter of patience being a virtue. This was a legacy to pass down from one generation to the next. They would have equal say at the table, but the ultimate decision would fall on Grant’s shoulders.
“I hope you’re not going to waste any more of my time with this nonsense. I’ve been more than fair and I even made some concessions to concur with your traditional Japanese values. There’s not much more I can do. I have other potential investments which demand more of my time than this one.” He was fed up and I could tell his father was whispering into his ear without even being in the room. Grant returned to the table.
“Gillian was kind enough to lay out the plan and we have decided to sign the contract. We hope we didn’t cause you any inconvenience.” They were remarkably similar and there was a good reason for that. They were brothers and they had decided to make their family proud by going into business with one another.
“I think this deserves a celebratory drink.” Grant signaled for the bartender who had a bottle of champagne already chilled for the occasion. He was optimistic and had already prepared for this eventuality.
He used a knife to pop the cork away from anybody. It gushed forth over his hand with the jubilation of the Japanese businessmen bowing politely in appreciation for his efforts. They didn’t recognize the fact the bartender was merely a few seconds before appearing with the bottle. It was probably better they were distracted by the money they were going to make.
He was depending on me to make them see it was better to work with him than fight him at every turn. I wasn’t sure if I should admire how much he valued my opinion. He somehow understood how the female perspective would help to clear things up.
“I want to toast to our new partnership. We would’ve made it there on our own, but this speeds up the timetable by at least five years.” I wasn’t sure who he was trying to kid, but my estimation was they were going to go under without an influx of cash and business know how.
“The Titan name will stand strong by the Hamilton brand. We all know the reason why I rescued you from financial ruin. Anonymously, you’re going to help fund my campaign to become Senator. Your contribution will come from 10% of what this combined company is going to earn annually.” I could see taking 5% was his way of making them a partner not only in business but in the political arena.
“We’ve already signed the papers and there’s no reason to stress how we have gotten into bed with you politically speaking. A plane is set to take off in less than 3 hours and we need to be on it. We have even splurged for first class accommodations all the way back home.” They were counting on Grant’s company to bring them out of the red and into the black. Nothing was certain and no promises were made.
They walked away and Grant did the honorable thing by bowing at the waist in a sign of respect. It was a little disconcerting to have him use me for his own gains. It was what I had agreed to and this first test went surprisingly well.
“I figure
d if I left you here with them that you would find a way to make them see that I had their best interest at heart. It was a necessary ploy to show my displeasure to give you an opening to work with.” He gave the bartender a sizable tip for being there with the champagne when it was necessary to celebrate the merger.
“I guess I’m going to have to get used to how your mind works three steps ahead. It has to tire you out always finding a way to pull the rug out from underneath people.” I followed him to the exit and the car was waiting to take us back to the estate for a late breakfast.
***
I recognized something was wrong when I saw the black van three cars behind 10-minutes after we left the hotel. It was matching pace with ours. It was soon in a position to act quickly and efficiently in an ambush tactic. I didn’t want to alert Grant until I could be reasonably sure this was something to worry about.
The bullet echoed for quite some time with the car careening out of control. The perpetrators followed us down an embankment until the car came to a sudden halt. The tree blocking its path crumpled the hood and knocked the driver completely out cold. The bulletproof glass was shattered by using a loud piercing wail to spider web the glass.
The guard was momentarily out of commission, but he didn’t have much time to act before being pulled from the car. It was quick and I was mildly impressed by how easily they had pulled this off in broad daylight.
“Get your hands off of her.” Grant tried to intervene but was stopped by the gun pressed up against his forehead.
“We don’t want to hurt anybody. Don’t be the hero.” Grant probably would have attacked with venom spewing from his lips, but we had no more of a connection than a contract built on lies.
He did show his disgust by how his face turned into an impassive featureless expression.
The guns being used were of military design. There was one being a little careless and I took the opportunity to make him pay for it. A straight strike to his solar plexus knocked the wind out of him, but somehow he remained standing with the gun still clasped in his fingers.
“I don’t think that is any way to act like a lady. We have a job to do and you can understand what that’s like. You can either come quietly or we use more extreme force to detain you.” I felt the muzzle of her automatic weapon pressed up against my spine. One wrong move and I could be a paraplegic or die instantly from one shot.
I raised my hands above my head and interlocked them before getting down on my knees. They had me at a disadvantage. I knew my limitations and how far I would make it by trying to fight back.
It was better to get the lay of the land and see if there was another way to find my freedom. This was probably a coordinated attack by one of Grant’s many enemies. He would no doubt get some kind of ransom demand within 24-hours of the kidnapping.
I was hauled into the back of the van and secured tightly with zip ties around my wrists. The feminine form sitting in the driver’s seat still reeked of military training. The way they were well organized and kept looking at their watches was a dead giveaway they were some kind of elite team of two.
“There’s no reason to make this any harder than it has to be. We have no interest in killing you. There’s no profit to be made that way. We still have our masks on. I would be more worried if we weren’t wearing them.” I lunged and maneuvered my legs underneath the zip ties to gain a semblance of my control back.
I knocked the one at the back door onto the ground and frantically pulled at his mask to reveal a familiar sight. I didn’t get a chance to fully comprehend what I was seeing before I felt a clubbing blow to the back of my neck.
Chapter 14
Dalton
“How sure are we that he was compromised? We can’t have her asking any questions we don’t have the answers for. She needs to believe the ruse of us being a mercenary group hired to ransom her back to her fiancé. Everything was going according to plan until she got the upper hand.” I was looking at Jackson who was definitely high on something.
He was the weak link in the group and we had mistakenly thought he was going to be a valued commodity.
“The only thing I can say for sure is that she had time to take off his mask. I was there within seconds and hopefully, she wakes up with a headache and no knowledge of what is really going on.” Melanie was trustworthy, but I knew she would easily sell her loyalties to the highest bidder.
I was the one who had come up with the plan to fight fire with fire. The people coming to find her would learn of her kidnapping. They were loud enough to be heard by Grant to make it appear that we were a kidnapping for hire. It made it more plausible to think of one of his enemies coming to collect.
“Melanie, you can’t blame me. I was minding my own business when she broke free from you. If anybody is accountable….it’s you. You underestimated her training. Of course, she was going to look for an opening. Every one of us would have done the same thing. The only thing saving me from dropping the gun was what I had taken previously to offset any lingering nerves.” I didn’t want to ask what Jackson had taken and it really didn’t matter.
“We have to find out how much she knows. It’s almost time to go in there. Instead, of sending Melanie in to inform her of the reason for her stay, it’s going to be me.” I was determined to see her again and was making up any excuse.
“We follow the plan. I was originally going to go in there and that’s exactly what I’m going to do. A woman has a far better chance to get through to her than any chauvinistic man.” I knew she was right, but I didn’t want to admit it.
The house was vacant and it was one of those real estate Investments that sat idly by when the money ran out. It was definitely a work in progress with many renovations still necessary to get top dollar in a buyer’s market. I’d done my due diligence and found nobody had shown any interest in months. It wasn’t exactly a sought after neighborhood, but there was potential for a millennial influx of young suburbanites.
The house looked like it was still half in the seventies and in the process of being revamped into something more conventional. The kitchen was gutted with half of the floor pulled up to be replaced by ceramic tiles.
“I don’t suppose it would do any good to put my foot down.” She smiled knowingly obviously understanding women had the power. Any man who didn’t think so was deluding themselves.
“Do I really have to justify that with an answer?” She was using the microwave we had transported inside to make the meals to heat up a Swanson dinner.
“The camera has already been set up. We will be able to hear and see everything that is going on down there. You won’t have to repeat yourself when you come back up.” The island was newly installed and had black granite for a countertop.
“We all know how she’s going to react to this. There won’t be a moment where she won’t be trying to devise some way to get away. She might even resort to pinning each of us against each other. This is the only way we can keep her safe without showing our faces.” The basement was a concrete floor with two windows covered to keep her guessing about the time of day.
“I’m going to check the perimeter. I don’t understand why we just don’t tell her the truth. She’s one of us. It seems cruel to keep her prisoner. What the hell do I know? I’ve never been known to make the hard decisions when it comes down to it. If both of you think this is the right idea then I will go along with it.” He was able to tap into a neighbor’s power grid to give us electricity and heat.
“Jackson, I don’t think I have to stress this enough, but you need to refrain from getting spotted. We can’t afford a patrol to stop by to check things out. This place is hidden by trees and the nearest house is a block away. It doesn’t mean there won’t be some kind of neighborhood watch program in place.” It meant keeping the lights dimmed and turned off with the drapes drawn to keep from unwanted attention.
The living room had a picturesque bow window accented by a nook to sit down to c
url up with a good book. The wood floor wasn’t laminate. It was the original wood floors. It was going to need to be sanded down, but the potential to make it shine with luster again was there.
I didn’t finish my sentence and already Jackson was gone soundlessly like he had a tendency to do when we were conducting an exercise. We didn’t see much action in Guam, but it didn’t mean we weren’t constantly tested to be the best of the best. As Navy Seals, we were conditioned and called upon at a moment’s notice to go into action. Guam was our base of operations. We could get to any country within hours of being deployed.
I had the monitor turned on and the volume turned up to hear what was going to be said not more than a few feet away. Melanie was making the initial approach by circling the wooden chair anchored to the floor with a chain.
“I don’t know what you expect to get for me, but making Grant your enemy is a mistake. He might give you the money you’re looking for, but you’ll always have to look over your shoulder for the rest of your life.” She was using psychology to make it seem like a bad idea to go a few rounds with Grant.
“We only want enough to leave this godforsaken town in our rear-view mirror. Five million dollars is nothing to the Hamilton family. You can’t sit there and tell me you didn’t know you were going to become a target once you married into the family. We saw an opportunity to profit and we took it. Don’t make any trouble.” Melanie was following the script but was able to adapt on the fly.
I could hear the ticking of the clock on the wall and we had purposely acquired dark drapes for every room in the house. It was only 5:00 PM and the sun was barely a blip on the horizon. I could smell a storm coming and the weatherman had mentioned nothing about accumulation.
