Hostage!: A Hugh Ranier Novella (Hugh Ranier Short Series Book 2)

by Robert E. Crull

  “You didn’t let me down, I’ll be just fine.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes, I’m sure,” she said.

  “I suppose we’ll just take off and see what we can find when we arrive on Friday.”

  “I’m kinda glad you didn’t get anything setup to be honest.”

  “Why?”

  “You want to get things with the decorator setup on your own and I completely understand. But I’d most likely be a little bored up there.”

  “Do you want to just stay at the house in Kennesaw while I run up there myself?”

  “I think I’m going to go back to the city. Try to catch up on stuff around my place.”

  “Are you sure?” I asked.

  “Yeah I think so.”

  I was calmer no doubt, but now I was feeling inadequate. It was a hell of an emotional roller coaster I was on.

  “If you’re sure you don’t want to go up and see whats available. I’d be more than happy to see what I can find between now and tomorrow night.”

  “No. Lets just do our own things this weekend.”

  Yes! I thought. I wanted to spend some time alone any way.

  “It’s up to you.”

  “I know and you’re sweet. But I have some stuff to take care of at my place.”

  “Ok. You’re staying tonight aren’t you?”

  “No. I think I’m going to head back in a little bit.”

  “That’s a shame. I’d like to see you before you take off.”

  “I’d like that too,” she said.

  “Let me close out the day and I’ll meet you at the house a little later on.”

  “Ok, I’ll see you soon,” she said ending the call.

  +++

  Don stuck his head in my office.

  “I talked with Laura after you left.”

  “Yeah?”

  “She’s up for it if all she has to do is drive.”

  “Great,” I said. “Do you have any information from Amir when the next time these guys are going to be together?”

  “Not yet.”

  “Ok.”

  He turned to leave when a thought struck.

  “Hey, before you go.”

  “Yeah.”

  “I’m going to call Laura’s bodyshop and see if they can have someone over here this evening to dip the van.”

  “Agreed. That does need to happen.”

  “Thanks,” I said.

  “Welcome.”

  I left the office on the way to Laura’s desk.

  “Hey. Do you have the contact info for your body shop?”

  “Yeah. Why?”

  “I need to have the work van painted this evening.”

  “This evening! Why the rush?”

  “Need to be ready in case we hear anything from Amir.”

  “Thats true,” she said pulling out her phone. She wrote the number down for me. “Guys name is Mutt.”

  “Really? Mutt?”

  “Really. Good guy. Took his love of tattoos too far in my book, but he’s a hell of a painter.”

  “Good.”

  “You want me to call him for you?”

  “That’d be good.”

  “Who’s going to stay and let him in?”

  “I’ll take care of it,” I said.

  “You sure? I don’t have anything going on tonight. I can stay if you want me to.”

  “You know what, I’ll take you up on that. Thank you.”

  “No problem. What color is it you want it?”

  “Something as bright as possible. I want people to remember what it looks like so they give the police a correct description.”

  “Aren’t we setting us up to be caught?”

  “It’s a temporary paint. After we leave the meeting site, we’ll peel it off and have our standard navy blue panel van again.”

  “Ah I see. Good thinking’.”

  “Thanks.”

  “I’m going to head out in a few minutes,” I said.

  “Ok I’ll get the van taken care of tonight.”

  “Great, I’ll see you in the morning.”

  I made my way back out to the house taking the most direct route I could and given the time of day I was delayed at nearly every light I came across. I wanted to see Dallas before she took off for the city. I opened the garage door and pulled in, then made my way to the kitchen door.

  “Hey,” I said as I walked into the kitchen.

  “Welcome back,” she said.

  “Glad you’re still here.”

  “I’m about to head out.”

  “You ok? You sound a little terse.”

  “I’ve been giving some thought to the conversation we had last night.”

  “Yeah.”

  “I’m not sure I want to continue our relationship.”

  “That’s a surprise. Last I heard we were ok and going to proceed.”

  “I know. I thought about it last night when we were in bed and more this morning. I don’t think I want to invest anymore emotion into a relationship that I have to be guarded in my actions.”

  “We had agreed that I’d get used to it over time,” I said.

  “I know, but you shouldn’t have to change who you are to accept me, and I’m not going to change for you to be able to accept me. I think we’re at a crossroad.”

  “I’m sorry you feel this way.”

  “It’s been fun Hugh, but I’m too old to not be comfortable in my relationships.”

  “I see.”

  “I’m going to take my stuff and go back into Atlanta.”

  “Alright, let me carry your bags out for you,” I said picking up the two overnight bags she’d packed.

  She led the way out the front door to her car and opened the trunk.

  “Take care of yourself Hugh.”

  “You too Dallas. Good bye.”

  I watched as she drove off the property.

  Friday

  I’d made it to the office around eight-thirty. It’d been an easy commute. I didn’t see anyone else’s cars yet, so I unlocked the front door. Inside I started the coffee machine first and went over to my office to unload the tablet and grab my coffee cup.

  Back at the kitchen I saw Laura walk in.

  “Morning,” she said.

  “Morning back.”

  “We’ve got the meeting with the attorney this morning at ten.”

  “Yeah I know. Is that why you’re so dressed up?”

  “I’m thinking this is a special day and wanted to feel special.”

  “You look wonderful,” I said.

  “Thanks. Before I forget, I asked a friend to come take some pictures of the three of us after the meeting is finished.”

  “That’s a cool idea.”

  “Glad you agree.”

  The brewer had stopped bubbling and was ready to brew. I placed my cup under it and selected the bold flavor.

  “Hey, you want a cup of coffee?”

  “Sure.”

  “Is it my imagination or has your coffee consumption gone up here lately?”

  “You’re not wrong. Not feeling nearly as energetic in the morning as I used to.”

  “Not getting old, are you?”

  “I’m not admitting anything,” she said.

  Mine was done and I started hers.

  I looked across the reception area and took an inventory of what Laura was wearing. She had on a fitted red dress with a plunging neck line trimmed in white. Her shoes must have been four inch stilettos of the same color red. Her hair had been pulled into a bun resting at the back of her head. It was a good look. Like I said, I’d never seen her so dolled up before.

  I grabbed her coffee from the brewer and walked it over to her desk.

  “Here you go.”

  “Thanks.”

  “You’re not nervous about this meeting, are you?” I asked.

  “Not nervous no, but super excited.”

  “That’s good.”

  “You guys are the sweetest.” />
  “I’m not so sure that word has every been used to describe either one of us, at least not publicly.”

  “Not everyone knows you like I do,” she said.

  “That’s true.”

  “Mornin’,” I heard from the front door.

  “Morning,” she said from behind her desk.

  “Why so dolled up?”

  “This is Laura’s special day,” I said.

  “What’s so special?”

  “The meeting with the attorney.”

  “Oh yeah, that,” he said.

  “You guys are not making this seem special,” she said.

  “Laura, its as special as you want it to be. We’ll be good,” he said.

  “Thank you.”

  “Coffee brother?” I asked.

  “Naw, I’m pretty tweaked up right now.”

  “I don’t think I’ve seen you this late in a long time. Everything ok?” I asked.

  “Just a longer than expected wake up call.”

  “I don’t want to know more do I.”

  “Maybe not, but I do,” Laura said.

  “Not with Hugh being here.”

  “Tell me later?”

  “Maybe,” he said.

  “Laura, how did the van turn out last night?”

  “You can’t smell the paint?”

  “It’s a little industrial smelling in here today yeah.”

  “Let’s go look,” she said walking away from her desk.

  “Alright.”

  In the warehouse there was no sign of the blue van. It had been covered in a neon green plastic cover. She’d had Mutt paint the windows so it looked like a completely different van than we owned and would make the identification more difficult.

  “Good job.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Lets have a cleaning crew in here to take care of the overspray and dust.”

  “I’ll take care of it later today.”

  “Make it Monday. We’ll all be taking the afternoon off after the partnership meeting.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” she said.

  +++

  Laura came into my office and dialed up Corey Pritchard so I could do a phone interview with him regarding his skills and interest in the position.

  “Corey. This is Laura Morgan. I’m here with Hugh Ranier on speaker.”

  “Hello Hugh. How are you Laura?”

  “I’m well,” she said.

  “Hello Corey. Nice to meet you. Do you have some time for a phone interview?”

  “Sure Hugh.”

  “Alright, what’s your understanding of the role we need to have filled?” I asked.

  “From what Laura has told me it’s more of a logistics role with a side of invoicing thrown in for good measure.”

  “Yeah, that sums it up pretty well. What is your experience with this type work?”

  “I’ve been doing event planning for some time. Everything from gathering the requirements to scheduling the contractors and final payment.”

  “How long have you been doing planning?” I asked.

  “Close to four years now.”

  “And why do you want out of it?”

  “Honestly it’s an old hat now. I’m looking for something with a lot less stress, and Laura mentioned this opportunity and it interests me.”

  “What interests you?”

  “The whole proposition. Getting to work with new clients from time to time while still establishing a relationship with the core team.”

  “Ok. Let me tell you what I think the job is and then you’ll tell me if your interested.”

  “Sounds good,” he said.

  “First there is doing intake packages; information packets for new clients. That’s a key function to this role. We can’t do good investigations if the information is wrong.”

  “I’ve interviewed a lot of people.”

  “Alright. You have to have a fairly high emotional quotient along with interview skills. In most situations there is a decent amount of emotion tied up in the client either calling us or coming in.”

  “My minor in school was psychology.”

  “Those would be awesome to have by themselves however, you need to have both those with the ability to schedule meetings, do the invoicing for clients and route contractor invoices for payment. Add to that the fact one day is never the same as the next and you have the basics of the job. Laura did I miss anything?”

  “You forgot to mention the most important part of the job.”

  “Which is?” I asked.

  “Keeping the coffee system in proper working order and stocked with supplies,” she said.

  He let out a little laugh.

  “She’s dead serious Corey. That is the one slip up that will end our relationship quicker than bouncing a check.”

  “I’m sorry. I thought it was a joke.”

  “Don and Hugh take their coffee very seriously,” Laura added in.

  “I’m seeing that,” he said.

  “What questions do you have for me?” I asked.

  “When would you be looking for the job to start?”

  “In the next week or so. We’d work around any other commitments you had to fill, if your selected. Tell me why I should hire you,” I said.

  “Primarily because your question didn’t offend me.”

  “What are you bringing to the table?”

  “Multiple years experience in choreographing disparate delivery resources toward a single goal. I’m a project manager for big events. The skill is directly relatable to the core of your business as I understand it.”

  “How are your computer skills?”

  “I’d say I’m a little better than average,” he said.

  “What are your salary requirements?”

  “Could we have the salary discussion when it’s the two of us?”

  “If you like, but I’ll be letting Laura know as she is part of our decision making process.”

  “If that’s the case, then I’m looking at twenty-five an hour,” he said.

  Laura looked at me and nodded her head indicating she thought he was worth it.

  “I was thinking twenty even to start.”

  “I don’t want to seem ungrateful, twenty is a nice wage but, I can’t do it for that.”

  “I’m not going to get into a back and forth with you, so tell me what the bottom line is,” I said with a terseness.

  “I’d like to split the difference and go for twenty-two fifty.”

  “Fine. Are there any other questions for me?”

  “None I can think of, no.”

  “We’ll be in touch.”

  “Thanks for the time Corey,” Laura said.

  “Thank you,” he said and I ended the call.

  “You feel he’s worth twenty-five?” I asked Laura.

  “I thought that part of the conversation went a little oddly.”

  “Yeah me too. I was sort of on-board with the guy until we started talking about money. Is he worth it?”

  “Probably, but I like him better at twenty especially in the first year.”

  “I agree. Have the conversation with him. You’re a partner now, you can negotiate on our behalf.”

  “I’ll get him closer to the twenty, definitely below twenty-two fifty.”

  “See what you can do.”

  I was offering the kid close to forty-thousand a year to start which wasn’t a bad salary. If he’d wanted more than what I’d offered he’d need to stay doing what he was doing and live with the stress. If he wanted something less stressful with us then he’d need to play by our rules. It was pretty simple to me. I’m sure he had other ideas.

  +++

  Ten rolled around and Laura stuck her head in the door.

  “Attorney is here.”

  “See you in the conference room.”

  I left the office to meet Don in the hallway.

  “Let’s do this,” he said.

  “Yup. I think she’s going to like the deal.”r />
  “Let’s hope so.”

  “What’s not to like?”

  “We’ve been lucky in the last decade bubba.”

  “Yeah I know.”

  We walked into the conference room to see our attorney busily moving papers into different stacks.

  “Roger, good to see you,” Don said.

  “Don. Hugh. Good morning.”

  “Mornin’,” I said.

  Laura came in behind us.

  “Morning mister Rosenfeld,” she said.

  “Please call me Roger.”

  “Alright, Roger. Can I offer you something to drink?”

  “A water would be great.”

  “Comin’ right up,” she said.

  “Everything come together ok?” Don asked.

  “Sure. You guys are being overly generous to someone that has no equity.”

  “She’s one of the reasons we’re where we are Roger. She’s got a lot of sweat equity in the firm.”

  “Is there anything else we need to get started?” Laura asked placing the bottle of water for Roger.

  “I think we’re all ready.”

  “Roger, do you want us to lay out the offer before you go into the signing process?” I asked.

  “Sure.”

  “Laura, this past Monday we offered to make you a partner and you accepted on Tuesday.”

  “Is that the way you understand it?” Roger asked.

  “Yes it is,” she said.

  “Great. Here we go. Roger is going to ask you to sign a non disclosure and confidentiality agreement,” Don said.

  “Ok.”

  “One of the things we didn’t talk through was the full aspect of what it means to be a partner.”

  “I knew it was too good to be true.”

  “Not at all Laura. We need to cover the bases with you,” I said.

  “You see Laura, when the business is good, we share the profits. When the business isn’t good we don’t. One aspect of the paper work Roger is going to go over with you is that for your share, you only participate in the up times. Hugh and I will assume all negative consequences. You’re protected.”

  “That’s generous of you.”

  “Let’s get to the financial end of this,” I said.

  “Go ahead,” Don said.

  “Hang on,” Roger said. “Lets please sign the nondisclosure and confidentiality agreement before we talk specifics.”

  “Sure.”

  He slid the documents over to Laura. She read them, signed them, and slid them back across the table.

  “As I was saying,” I said. “We’ve pulled together a pretty decent offer for you.”