Corridor Man 6: Exit Strategy

by Nick James

  She remained on the floor, silently crying and waved him away with her hand. “Now we’ll never get paid, never get a cent, never….”

  “I’m sure the partners will work it out, it’s one of dozens of cases they have to sort through and they’ll….”

  “Just go, Bobby, please. Just go. My email, damn it…”

  “Okay, see you,” he said appraising her figure curled up on the floor, then working hard to suppress his grin. “Call me when you’re feeling better. I’m sure I can help with whatever the problem is,” he said and closed the door behind him.

  Chapter Eight

  “Everything go okay?” Miguel asked as he pulled away from the curb. He looked at Bobby in the rearview mirror

  “Exactly what I had hoped for. Yeah, it went fine, very fine,” Bobby said and grinned.

  He pulled the insurance settlement papers he’d taken from Bennett’s desk from the inside pocket of his suit coat. A five-million-dollar insurance settlement in the wrongful death suit of Emily’s sister, Elizabeth. The settlement was emblazoned with Bennett’s signature across the bottom. He’d felt forced to sign it because of the email Bobby had sent him from Emily’s computer, complete with erotic image from her computer. No doubt right about now she was blaming herself for Bennett’s demise. Bobby sat in the back seat and contemplated his next set of moves.

  In no time, they were back at his penthouse. He was relaxed enough that he was humming to himself as they rode up to the penthouse floor in the elevator. He wasn’t two feet in the door before Maria hurried out of the kitchen wiping her hands on a dishtowel, wearing a concerned look on her face. She looked like she was about to say something, but didn’t, perhaps gauging her comment based on Bobby’s mood. He smiled, hoped the smile appeared sad as he nodded toward her.

  “Oh, Bobby, come here, come here,” she said then hurried toward him with open arms and gave him a hug. She gave him a tender kiss on both cheeks then stepped back and smiled. There was a hint of perfume in the air and she said, “Everything will be all right. You’ll see. Luis will be stopping by this evening. He said he wants to talk with you.”

  Luis. He hadn’t planned on such an early visit, hoped upon hope he might wait a week, but obviously that wasn’t going to happen. The Montcreff files had been moved into the new office and were sitting there just waiting. He needed to assemble a team, but a team of the right people. Now, with Bennett’s death and the chaos that was bound to bring, it would be the perfect time for Bobby to make his exit from the firm. But it would have to be done carefully, and on a certain level carefully and quietly.

  “Come, you’ll have something to eat and feel better,” Maria said.

  “No, no thank you, but I should get to work. If Luis is coming I have to have things ready for him.”

  “But you have to eat.”

  “I’m not hungry,” he said then adjourned to his study to prepare for Luis’s arrival.

  Promptly at eight, Miguel’s cell phone alerted him to a text message. A moment later he hurried down to the parking level to make sure the coast was clear for Luis.

  Ten minutes later the door to the penthouse opened and a lean man stepped in. Bobby had met him before, two or three times as a matter of fact, but couldn’t remember his name. He checked the living room, then walked out through the kitchen, looking for anything that suggested a potential problem. He didn’t find anything except a nervous Maria. He gave an unsmiling nod to Bobby and walked down the hall and looked into the office. A bell dinged signaling the arrival of the elevator and he hurried back out the door.

  Luis stepped in through the door a moment later, all smiles with his arms extended. He hugged Bobby, gave him an air kiss on either cheek, then held him back at arm’s length and smiled. “Well done. Very well done. You have eliminated a very big problem.”

  “Thank you,” Bobby said. “May I get you a beverage?”

  “I think just a mineral water.”

  Bobby nodded at Maria. She smiled and hurried back into the kitchen, as Bobby extended his hand signaling the path to his study. Maria followed with a silver pail of bottled waters and a plate of small quesadillas and stuffed jalapenos. They headed into the study then waited as Maria set down the water and hors d’oeuvres.

  “Will there be anything else?” she asked.

  “Luis?” Bobby asked.

  Luis raised his hand signaling nothing else.

  “No, thank you, Maria. This is perfect,” Bobby said.

  She nodded, then hurriedly closed the door behind her and left the two of them standing in the room. Bobby handed a bottled water to Luis and took another for himself.

  “No wine or maybe champagne in celebration?” Luis asked. The question came across as genuinely sincere, rather than a joke or a barb.

  “No, like yourself, I haven’t the time to lose and even a night of frivolity, just two or three hours is two or three hours I’m not working. With the end of the Montcreff organization the work is just beginning.”

  Luis smiled, clearly liking the sound of what he just heard and cracked the cap on his bottle of mineral water. He filled the crystal glass sitting on the desk, sat down on the leather couch, then pulled one of the small quesadillas onto a white china plate and placed a linen napkin on his lap. “So, your day? I understand you have been busy. Very busy.”

  Bobby had expected this, he casually filled his glass with the mineral water, then took a sip, smiled and launched into his rehearsed explanation of the past forty-eight hours.

  “Not exactly the way I would have planned it, but one has to seize the opportunities when they’re presented,” he said and took another sip of water. He went on to explain the killing of Reggie Montcreff, Jerry his driver, Clint, the supposed enforcer, and that idiot attorney, Dalton. He finished with, “I would guess that will effectively eliminate any serious opposition from what was left of the Montcreff organization. But as I said, now the real work will begin. We can finally begin to move Montcreff’s holdings.”

  He then went into the on-going battle between the firm’s partners, Bennett Hinz, Sawyer, and Allen, over the course of the past two days. He explained to Luis how he sent the email from Emily’s computer and added the image along with the line ‘hada wunnerful time’ to give it some additional authority. How Emily felt she was personally responsible and how, at the end of it all, Bennett Hinz took his life.

  A questioning look flashed across Luis’s face at Bobby’s last point…Bennett taking his own life, but he didn’t comment. Instead, he raised his crystal glass of mineral water toward Bobby and said, “Well done. And she blames herself?”

  Bobby nodded, “I left her with the impression it was her fault. She believes she sent the email with the image. She really has nowhere to turn other than to accept the fact that she screwed up, big time.”

  “Now, with the chief partner gone, what does that mean for the future of the firm?”

  Bobby smiled, took his time sipping his mineral water, then set the glass down. “That’s one of two blessings. In the aftermath of Bennett’s death, the firm will quickly begin to dissolve. They’ll be too busy trying and failing to hold onto their own clients, they won’t have time to worry much about the Montcreff account. They’re in the dark, have no knowledge of who to contact, and when they do eventually figure it out, the joke will be on them, because it will be me. I’m the contact. I’ve all the files, the original files. They’ve only copies of the files, incomplete copies.”

  “Won’t they suspect?”

  “What can they suspect? They won’t hear from Montcreff, there’s no one to contact. At the same time they’re going to be losing staff left and right. I’ve no doubt there will be some who won’t return after today, once the word gets out on the street the best and brightest will be an appealing target for any firm in town looking to grow. I doubt they’ll last the year.”

  “Excellent, bravo, bravo!” Luis exclaimed and softly clapped his hands. He took a bite of a quesadilla, swallowed and said,
“I can only hope you are correct and they cease to do business. You mentioned a second blessing.”

  Bobby grinned and reached over to his desk. He took the envelope holding the insurance forms he’d stolen from Bennett’s desk and handed them to Luis. With Bennett’s signature as Director of the firm the forms authorized the five-million-dollar payoff for Elizabeth Saunders death. Her mother and sister Emily were the beneficiaries. “A little added insurance, if you’ll pardon the pun.”

  Luis read the first paragraph. Studied the woman’s name for a long moment, “This is your friend?”

  Bobby smiled. He should have known. “No, my friend is actually her sister, Emily. Elizabeth worked for the firm, she and her partner were killed in a car accident, a hit and run, in Paris. I could never prove it, and it’s too late now, but I think Montcreff arranged it, not that it’s important.

  This insurance payment is what Hinz and his partners had been arguing about for the past few days. Once they find out he signed this, all hell will break loose and there will be nothing they can do about it. I’m going to have Miguel mail it this evening. I want today’s postmark on it.”

  Luis nodded and paged through the document again. “Five million dollars is a gracious settlement.”

  “Two point five,” Bobby said.

  Luis paged back to the front of the document. “But it says five million here. What am I missing?”

  Bobby smiled. “What you’re missing is the fact that, Emily, the sister, is going to give me half the settlement. She just doesn’t know it yet.”

  “Two and a half million, and she’s going to give it to you, just like that?”

  “She’s going to give it to me and we’ll use it to launch the new firm. With those funds, we can hire a small staff of very good lawyers to begin acquiring the Montcreff properties for you, Luis.”

  Luis smiled. “Wonderful, well done. What can I do to help?”

  “Remain my friend,” Bobby said and smiled back.

  Chapter Nine

  Luis had been gone for over an hour. Miguel, back from mailing the insurance document, was already in his room. Bobby was sipping a glass of wine. He was seated on a kitchen stool, listening to Maria tell him, not for the first time, how proud Luis was of Bobby. Her cellphone suddenly played a short few notes signaling a text message. She set her wine glass on the counter and read the message. A smile spread across her face and she hurried to the front door.

  Bobby remained on his kitchen stool, but leaned off to the side so he could see who was at the door. Maria squealed excitedly as a dark-haired woman stepped in and gave her a kiss that seemed to be more than just a casual greeting. The woman was wearing a very short black dress with a scooped-out neckline that had her two large breasts on display as if they were presented on platters. She carried a Louis Vuitton bag. The bag was large, too large to be a purse, more like an overnight bag.

  Maria took her by the hand and wearing a large smile, led her into the kitchen.

  “Senior Bobby, a special gift for the night from Luis. Thanking you for all you’ve done. This is Martina,” Maria said.

  Martina smiled and strutted around the kitchen counter toward Bobby, breasts bouncing with each step. He attempted not to react, but failed miserably.

  Martina drew up close, a subtle scent of perfume enveloped him. It was almost spicy, just enough to entice, as if her enticing figure wouldn’t do that on its own. She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek, then gently nibbled his ear lobe and whispered, “Luis said your office is closed tomorrow and you’ll be able to sleep as late as you want. It’s my job to see neither one of you gets a moments rest for the remainder of the evening.” She flashed an evil grin, grabbed Bobby’s hand and led him around the kitchen counter. She took Maria by the hand and the three of them walked down the hall to Bobby’s bedroom.

  Martina closed the door and locked it once then had entered the bedroom. She set her large bag on the end of the bed, undid the gold clasp and took out four large candles. She said something to Maria in Spanish and Maria quickly positioned the candles equidistant along the top of the chest of drawers, then lit them and dimmed the lights.

  Bobby just stood there, watching. Martina moved in front of him, then sort of slid up close enough to rub herself against him, forcing him backwards a step or two. She smiled, but it was a deliciously nasty sort of smile. She kissed him as she ran her hands up his inner thighs, lingering ever so briefly across his midsection before running them up his chest then pushing him onto the bed. She immediately hiked her dress up, revealing the top of her black stockings and a garter belt, then climbed on top of him. As she straddled him she issued a command in Spanish to Maria.

  Maria, eyes wide and face now slightly flushed, stepped behind her and slowly unzipped Martina’s dress. Martina bent over, slowly ran her tongue from Bobby’s chin up along the side of his face and whispered something he couldn’t understand. She sat up, pulled the dress over her head, and tossed it off to the side, leaving her clad in just the stockings and garter belt.

  Maria hurriedly stepped out of her skirt, left it on the floor then moved behind Martina. She wrapped her arms around her, placing her hands over her breasts as she kissed her shoulder. Martina gave a long low moan then hurriedly reached over into the bag at the end of the bed. A moment later Bobby heard a deep humming sound.

  Chapter Ten

  He woke to his cellphone ringing. The blinds were pulled, but bright sun was threatening to barge into the room. Maria and Martina were gone although the scent of a spicy perfume lingered on the pillows. The phone stopped ringing, but just as he was debating whether to get up or roll back over, it began to ring again. He checked the number, didn’t recognize it, but answered since it was local.

  “Hello,” he said then attempted to silently clear his throat so whoever it was wouldn’t place him in bed.

  “Custer,” the voice sounded familiar. “Charlie Sawyer. Hope I’m not interrupting.” He actually sounded genuine, or he was at least pretending to sound genuine, which immediately put Bobby on guard.

  “No, no, you’re not interrupting. What can I do for you?” he said and sat up in bed. He pulled a second pillow behind him, the pillow carried more scent of Martina’s sexy perfume, and he leaned back with an involuntary smile on his face.

  “Hell of a thing with Bennett yesterday. I’m sorry it came to that. Just calling to see how you’re holding up.”

  Bobby was thinking Sawyer hadn’t had a pleasant thing to say to him since the day he started at the firm. He’d threatened to ruin him more than once, argued with Bennett Hinz on a regular basis that Bobby should be terminated and now he’s concerned? Now he wonders how Bobby is holding up? He’d gladly push Sawyer out the same window without a second thought.

  “How am I holding up? Thanks for asking,” Bobby said attempting to sound sad, but sincere. “I’ll be okay. It just was, well, I don’t know what to say. My God, poor Bennett.”

  There was a momentary pause on the other end of the line.

  “I think we should meet. Determine where we’re going to go. At this point, with Bennett’s incident yesterday, we’re going to need to contact our clients, meet with them, talk with them, one on one. Assure them everything is all right. I mean, God bless Bennett and all, but thankfully he didn’t have very much interaction with clients, except at the Christmas party, and I guess the occasional hello if they were in the office. We’ve got some changes coming down the pike, and we’d like to meet with you, Allen and me. This afternoon if it’s possible. Time is of the essence.”

  There it was, Virgil Allen and Charlie Sawyer, the two remaining partners. Anxious to meet so they could kick Bobby out the door just as soon as possible. Bennett’s body was probably still imbedded in the hood of that car and these two couldn’t wait to meet with him and discuss changes, no doubt one of which was he was fired, effective immediately. Well, surprise, surprise. That fit his plans almost perfectly.

  “Can we even get back into the off
ice?” Bobby asked then sat up in bed and stretched.

  Martina’s black garter belt and a stocking were just peeking out from behind the corner of a pillow on the far side of the bed. He reached over and felt the nylon between his thumb and forefinger. A nearly empty bottle of lubricant lay on the floor alongside the bed. He began to fantasize about the bag of toys Martina had brought along for the evening’s entertainment. Entertainment that had gone on until nearly sunrise. He glanced at the half-melted candles still arranged across the top of the chest of drawers, and from there rested his eyes on the digital clock that read 11:37.

  “… be a problem. Does that sound like it will work for you? …Custer? You there?”

  “Just checking my calendar, give me that time again.”

  A slight, exasperated sigh seemed to come from the other end of the phone. “I said we should be able to get back into the office by two. We can meet then if that works for you.” That last bit of working for Bobby seemed to come across as more of an afterthought.

  “I’ll see you there at two,” Bobby said, then hung up the phone, slid out of bed, and headed for the shower. Once in the shower he glanced at the scratches running across his abdomen and had a vague recollection of when they happened although he couldn’t recall if it had been Martina or Maria.

  The two o’clock meeting. He searched his memory for one positive thing Sawyer, and for that matter, Allen, had ever done for him and came up empty handed. The two of them had tried time and again to push him out the door, failed, and now they wanted to meet with him. It didn’t add up to any positive result.

  The good news was, he was already a half dozen steps ahead of them. He decided to add one more. He toweled off, got dressed, and headed for the kitchen.

  Maria had heard his bedroom door open and was just pouring a mug of coffee. As he stepped into the kitchen, she smiled, blushed slightly then slid the coffee mug across the counter toward him. As he reached for the mug, she grabbed his hand, squeezed it and whispered, “Thank you, thank you very, very much.”