“You treat me right and I want to say thanks!“
“No thanks necessary, but if you want to cook more, I’ll damn sure encourage you.”
“We’ll see,” she said with a smile.
It was going to be a hell of an evening. The meal at least was going to be terrific and I wasn’t sure after it whether I was going to have the motivation for dessert. I figured I’d sacrifice myself if I had to.
Dallas went about the business of making the meal and I went to the patio grill to slowly cook the steaks. I’d shown her the patio a couple weeks ago and she’d made a point that it was a perfect space for entertaining. She wasn’t wrong. I’d gotten so caught up in the day to day I’d not been enjoying the things I’d been able to collect. There was no sense in having the house I had or the gadgets I’d collected if I never used any of them.
Part of the outdoor kitchen had a gas fired girl while there was a section for a real wood fire. I placed four decent size split logs onto the gas starter and set them ablaze. It took longer to cook than using the gas grill but the flavor was so much better with the hardwood smoke from the fire side. Fifteen minutes passed and the embers were right to cook the two New York strips Dallas had picked up.
I loved smoked meat.
I pulled the steaks from the grill, placed them on a plate, and made my way back into the kitchen. Dallas had finished up with the salad preparation and I could smell the sweetness of apricot sauce in the air.
“That was quick,” she said.
“I cheated and used a gas starter for the wood.”
“Real smoked steaks. God, I love it.”
“Seemed better to me,” I said.
“Anytime I can have smoked there is no other choice.”
“One more thing we agree on,” I said.
“Seems so. I poured you a glass of wine,” she said as she handed me one of the stemless glasses. I wasn’t sure where it’d come from. I didn’t remember owning any which were similar.
“Cheers,” I said holding up my glass.
“Cheers. To a great evening.”
“Let’s eat.”
“Sure.”
I didn’t say much during the meal. I couldn’t. My taste buds and tongue were in heaven, incapable of anything other than to be in delight.
After dinner, I was more relaxed than I’d been in weeks. The steak was perfect, the salad exquisite, and the green beans a real dichotomy of flavors.
“I told you I was looking at property in the mountains, right?”
“Yeah, I remember you said something, but you’d not mentioned it in a while so I let it slide.”
“I signed a contract on Monday.”
“That was pretty quick!”
“I suppose. I went up Monday after the meeting with Laura and looked at a listing and sort of fell in love with it. It really is what I wanted.”
“That’s great.”
“I should close in the next couple weeks.”
“That soon?”
“I plan to meet with Victoria this weekend to see if she can turn me onto a decorating firm. I have no idea how to decorate the place for what I want it to be.”
“What are you looking for?”
“I want it to have a resort feel, even if it’s only me up there.”
“How big is this place?”
“Close to six thousand square feet.”
“Jesus Hugh. Six thousand square feet for a second home. That’s a lot.”
“Yeah I know, but the place spoke to me and opened up a lot of thoughts about holidays and the like.”
“Wow. Just wow. I’m sure it’s awesome.”
“It is. Maybe we can drive up this weekend?”
“Sure, I’d love to.”
“Great, it’s a date.”
“Let’s start a fire,” she said.
“Ok.”
Instead of going to the keeping room which is what I thought she might have meant, I went into the family room to the large fireplace there and loaded hardwood over the gas starter.
“I don’t think I remember a fireplace in here,” she said.
“Been here all along. I can see how you’ve missed it though. I have kept you little distracted.”
“A little full of yourself there aren’t you mister?”
“Maybe.”
I enjoyed the banter with her. It was fun and light. Nothing serious and even when there was it always held an undertone it would all be ok. Regardless the topic.
“I’ll be right back,” she said.
I took up a place on the sectional in front of the fireplace and relaxed in the light of the flame.
This doesn’t suck.
I saw Dallas enter the room from the left out of the corner of my eye. I turned to face her only to see she was completely naked.
“Care to join me?” she asked.
“To do what?”
“Does it matter?”
“Not at all,” I said standing to lose my clothes. “What’s on your mind?”
“I was thinking while I was getting ready…”
Getting ready, she took her clothes off. If that’s getting ready, I’m all for it.
“… maybe I have a couple firms you could interview for the decorating job.”
“Really. Do you know their work?”
“One of them did my condo downtown, the other we used to outfit the VIP boxes at the Ted.”
“How was the one you used?”
“Detail oriented and reasonably priced.”
“Yeah, I’d like those numbers from you when we have on something more than our birthday suits.”
“You don’t do business naked?’
“Too distracting! Especially with you.”
“Aren’t you the sweetest,” she said moving closer to me on the sofa.
Wednesday
“Hugh,” I heard.
“Hmm.”
“Are you awake?”
“No.”
“Can you be?”
“Whats wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Then I’d rather not be awake”
It was then I felt Dallas’s cold finger tips wedge themselves under the waist band of my underwear.
“For this I can be awake,” I said.
“Good,” she said as she disappeared under the covers.
+++
The coffee was strong, I was completely relaxed, and the sun hadn’t risen yet.
This was going to be a good day.
“I want you to know I enjoyed our conversation last night,” Dallas said.
“Me too. And, I want you to know how much I enjoyed the wake up call this morning!”
We’d returned to the scene of our great conversation last night. From what I could tell, things in the living room were going better than they’d ever gone. I went to the fireplace and started the gas logs to add a little to the feel. Things with Dallas were going ok and I was interested to see what was going to happen in the next few weeks.
“Aw that’s nice Hugh,” she said.
“How should we handle the decision you can work from most anywhere?”
“I’m not sure. I’d like to spend more time out here but I’m not sure it wouldn’t be too much right now,” she said.
“Why do you say too much?”
“I like the way things are headed, I do. It’s that like you, I’ve been single for a long time and there are some things I’m not ready to give up yet.”
“Me too,” I said. “I like having you around, and truly enjoy the time we spend together, but I’ve got some quirks.”
“One of the things I’m a real stickler about is me time. I’ve got to have some time every now and then to just be with me.”
“Yeah, we share that. I like alone time also, that’s why I’m in the middle of a field like I am. I don’t want to deal with neighbors.”
“It’s more than being away from people. I have to have time to take my own counsel,” she said. “You know what I’m trying to
say?”
“Sure. The constant flow of information these days makes it hard to tune it all out and listen to yourself.”
“That’s it!”
“I get it.”
“Can we work around both of us needing time to ourselves?”
“I don’t see why not.”
“That’s good,” she said.
“Would you like another cup,” I asked standing to refill mine.
“Sure.”
These are conversations we needed to have, I thought. Sooner rather than later is better, I guess.
“Do you mind if I work from here today?”
“Not at all. Do you need the computer or did you bring yours?”
“I have mine,” she said.
“You’re welcome to use the office or you can set up in here or anywhere else you can find a flat spot.”
“Thanks.”
“Sure.”
“What time are you going in this morning?”
“Probably leave here about seven,” I said.
“Wow, that’s early for you!”
“Yeah, I guess it is. We’ve got a case we need to staff this week so Don and I are reviewing availability this morning.”
“Is it another rush job?”
“Not as bad as the last one.”
“That’s good.”
“Yeah. We actually have some planning time on this one.”
I filled the coffee cups from the brewer and went back into the living room.
“You know Dallas, I could spend some time at your place. You don’t have to come out here all the time.”
“I’ve thought of that, and it’s not that I don’t want you to. I like the pace out here better than in town.”
“Well, you’re definitely welcome out here any time.”
“I know.”
“What’s the rest of your week look like?”
“Pretty calm actually. I’ve got to follow up with some of my staff on year end evaluations.”
“I hate reviews,” I said.
“I like them myself. It gives me a chance in a formal way to reward my best and coach the folks who could use improvement.”
“I’ve not done a performance review for the last twelve years and would be good if I didn’t do one for another twelve.”
“Must have been some bad experience for you.”
“Not bad. I don’t like politics. In the military it was all about getting the one shining star promoted as soon in the cycle as possible.”
“That’s not performance review is it?”
“No. More of a personality contest than rewarding good skills.“
“I see how it would be frustrating,” she said.
“Listen, I better go jump in the shower.”
“Yeah, I’m going to get an early jump on email.”
+++
The drive into the office was smooth given the time I left. I’d driven the SR/T since it was a bit on the chilly side and I’d not yet put the lid on the Wrangler for the winter. I was the first to arrive and opened the office for the day. Which meant more coffee had to wait for the brewer to heat up.
I sat at my desk and opened my project scheduling tool to see who all was available for deployment. The guys we had weren’t all capable of performing what needed to be done for Koothrapoli. Most had military backgrounds but not all were well versed in dark ops, if at all. Don and I had talked about six shooters to go in and come out. More than that would have been a waste, less and we risked getting in a bind.
“Mornin,” I heard my partner say.
“Morning.”
“When’d you get here?”
“Maybe fifteen minutes ago.”
“What’cha doin?”
“Reviewing the roster.”
“Any ideas yet?”
“You know I want Smiley on the team, not as a lead, but one of the players.”
“Yeah, in a lesser capacity I can agree. I don’t like the kid as a leader; too full of himself.”
“We agreed then?”
“Yeah.”
“You have any ideas?” I asked.
“Not sure yet who is available so I’ll need to look at the roster.”
“There was maybe a dozen to begin with but not all of them are available right now. At least from what I’m seeing here.”
“Let’s grab a cup of coffee and we’ll review together.”
“Good idea.”
We left the office and by the time we got to the brewer it had warmed up enough that it was ready to brew. Extra bold for me and something less bitter for Don and we headed back to my office. I swiveled the monitor around so we could both look at it.
“This view shows the guys who are local,” I said pointing to the view on the right of the screen.
“Not many options there.”
“We already agreed on Smiley. I’d say Hartley and Jones but I think they’re a little old for the event.”
“When did age start being a factor?”
“When I became aware that our reflexes aren’t what they used to be.”
“I see your point, but both are an excellent shot up close,” I said.
“Yeah they are, but do they have the speed necessary?”
Maybe not. I couldn’t argue.
“So we open our search.”
“Gonna have to,” he said.
“Lets look full Southeast first then we’ll move north if we have to.”
“Save some time and do the East coast as a whole. I think we can fill the team within our own timezone.”
“Sounds good.”
I made the changes to the report and pressed the run button. Most of the names which came back I was familiar with. That was with the exception of Sean McConnell.
“You ever hear of this guy? I don’t remember us hiring him, and damn sure don’t remember hiring him as a contractor?”
“Yeah yeah. You’re going to know Sean as Shamus O’Leary.”
“Right, now that name I do remember. Brutal up close isn’t he?”
“That’s the kind of guy we’re looking for though,” he said.
“Alright, we’re down to four more.”
“Take a look at Randy Tritowski.”
“Yeah he’s available. He’s more hand to hand I thought.”
“He is. Keep in the forefront we’re talking about close quarter combat and it’s likely to go hand to hand.”
“We don’t need guys who are good shots up close only to miss a shot and get themselves dead, do we? I see the logic,” I said.
“Three more. Who do you like?”
“I hadn’t looked at the full eastern roster in a while and I hate to admit but I’m not that familiar with the players any more.”
“I like the Walton Brothers for this. The three of them are like one well oiled and broke in machine. Let’s reach out to them to see if they’re interested.”
“That makes a full team,” I said.
“We’ve got six more days of surveillance to go before we take any action.”
“I know but, we should have these guys on point pretty quick.”
“Agreed. Lets have them arrive in town next Sunday.”
“Cool. I’ll start making calls then,” he said.
“With six contractors, where do you and I fit in?”
“Waiting outside in the van.”
“So we’re not going in with the team?”
“Nope. You remember the reaction time I was talkin’ to you about?”
“Yeah. What of it? I agree Jones and Hartley are probably not where they used to be.”
“Neither are we Hugh. Our time of pullin’ triggers is gone. We can do a hell of a lot of plannin’ but, we don’t have the speed anymore for close up stuff.”
“Yeah and it takes so long for the pain to go away,” I said with a grin.
“No doubt.”
“We won’t have eyes on the action but we’ll have radio contact from the team and will be able to do a walkthrough after the f
act. We can’t be in there like we used to be .”
“I hear you.”
“I’m not much of a fan of this reality either but, we knew it would happen,” he said.
“I thought it would be much later.”
“Me too.”
“What are the two of you schemin’ about this morning,” Laura said walking in and taking a seat.
“Trying to pull the team together for the Koothrapoli work,” Don said.
“How’s it going?”
“We think we have a good team pulled together,” I said.
“I’ll tell you what,” Don began, “we’ll grant you access to our resource system. We’re searching for resources in the eastern part of the U.S.”
“Yeah,” she said.
“Take a look at their skills, think about the gig and it being up close, and lets see who you pick.”
“I don’t have the skill or knowledge to pull that off.”
“Give it a shot. We’ve made our choices but, I want to see how your intuition serves you,” he said.
“You’ll do fine Laura,” I said.
“When do you want this?”
“Shoot for after lunch. We’ll have to start making phone calls this afternoon,” I said.
Laura stood and left the office.
“You know she’s not going to be able to review everybody in the east before lunch,” Don said.
“Yeah I know.”
“So why the stress?”
“Just a test more than anything else.”
“Why are you testing her dude?”
“See if she’s up for it.”
“We made our decision and she’s agreed to the terms. A little late for tests, don’t you think?”
“We’ve never given her full access until recently, she may not be able to handle it.”
“What would you do if she can’t handle it?” he asked.
“I’d talk with you about getting out of this part of the business.”
“Maybe. She may just need some time to get used to all we do.”
“Could be. We’ll see,” I said.
+++
“Acme Planning and Delivery. This is Hugh.”
“Hugh, Stan Samuals.”
“Stan. How’s it going?”
“Not too bad for a Wednesday. You?”
“Doing well.”
“Hugh, I wanted to check in to see how the investigation was going.”
“Sure Stan, anytime. We’ve been reviewing footage from the stores we discussed last week,” I said as I loaded the Roselawn Mall status report.
Hostage!: A Hugh Ranier Novella (Hugh Ranier Short Series Book 2) Page 6
