by George Nagle
“I want to hire you full-time. Right now. But I can’t because of the potential merger, so I’m making you a consultant. Same principle as the internship, but looks better on the resume and you get paid more. Just no time and a half,” Todd explained.
“Oh,” James said, rather confused but regaining his normal thought process in the blink of an eye. He found himself analyzing why the thought of losing this job had caused so much distress. Yes, he’d have had to rework a lot of preparations he’d already done, but then he realized he wasn’t distraught about that at all. It was the thought of Carissa and maybe not seeing her again. This worried him, and the worry must have shown on his face.
“Sorry, that was a bit mean. I was really just teasing you for a moment. You have a lot of talent. If you didn’t, I certainly wouldn’t have you going all over the place,” Todd said with a smile that asked for forgiveness and delivered reassurance at the same time.
“Yeah, no problem. Just caught me off guard,” James said with a small laugh.
“I don’t mind you and I discussing things openly one on one. I assume that if others are around, you’ll follow my lead, unless I ask for your opinion. People are going to talk about you. They already do.”
James frowned slightly.
Todd continued, “Not because you’ve done anything wrong, but because you’re doing a lot right. That means change, and people don’t like that. So a target will be painted on your back until they get used to you. Just keep it low key, do what you need to, and let me handle the rest. Come on, let’s go grab some food and hash out a deal.” He clapped James on the back as they walked out.
James felt better. He was getting a rather nice deal and a considerable amount of money for a first job, more than most people with more experience and an advanced degree. No benefits, but he was still young and healthy. He also had a lot of responsibility for strategy, market research, customer needs, and cost analysis. It meant a lot of time in the field and in the plants, and not so much behind the desk, which was exactly what he wanted. Plus, he set his own hours and technically didn’t have a boss.
Over the next few days, James got everything set for the trip to Aberdeen, but there was one last thing to take care of before setting off—Tim’s pizza party.
***
James pulled up to the gates and headed for the central complex. It looked like a ghost town until he got to the building. Tim had invited the entire community to the party, and as they had nothing better to do, they all came.
James laughed as he walked in the door and saw the crowd. Good thing he was getting a raise so he could pay for all this.
Byron greeted him enthusiastically as he came into the main area and pointed to Tim, who was wearing a suit and sunglasses. When he saw James, Tim lifted the sunglasses off his face, gave him a wink, and put them on again.
Laughing a little to himself, James waved and winked back before turning to find something to drink. He ran into Scott at the drink table, who was trying to regulate how much soda residents were having and failing miserably.
“Hey, man, this party was a great idea. Everyone is really excited and having a blast. Tim is definitely the man of the hour tonight. Everyone has been going up to him and talking to him. Normally, they just keep to themselves, but I don’t know, tonight everyone is just jazzed. Must be Dan the DJ doing his thing,” Scott laughed.
Once again, James pictured Scott holding a surfboard on the Californian shore.
Korey came over to James and Scott dragging her daughter, Heather, behind her, her son, Lance, by her side. “Hi guys,” she said.
“Hey, Korey, how you doing, little man and little chick-a-do?” Scott asked in his mellow way.
Heather hid behind her mom but apparently Lance thought he was being spoken down to.
With a roll of his eyes, he said, “Fiiiiiinnne” in a drawn out, sullen way.
“That’s enough, Lance,” Korey said, throwing Lance a dirty look.
She redirected her attention to James. “Don’t worry about the party tonight. It’s been taken care of. Tim got a bit carried away, and Andy …”
James stopped her quickly with, “It’s all good. Glad everyone is having a good time. Thank Andy for me, please.”
Lance sniffed audibly at James’s comment, a scowl on his face.
“Knock it off, Lance,” Korey said in a deep undertone, and James recognized the growl of an irritated mother. He had heard it many times from his own mother, usually because of something his older brother had done.
Trying to keep the peace, James asked Lance, “How did school finish for you?”
“Okay,” he said in a bored way.
“What’s okay? Like all A’s and B’s?” James asked.
“I am not an idiot. Seriously, who gets B’s in any class that matters?” Lance shot back.
Korey grabbed her son by the shoulders and said, “Boy, you better be respectful.”
“I was,” Lance said, slipping her grip. “It’s not like I asked him about that stupid haircut, or if he has a decent game at Mortal Kombat.”
“Lance, no one cares about those damn video games. I swear to God I’m going to toss that whole thing when I get home.” Korey was starting to get loud.
Scott walked away, clearly wanting to avoid a confrontation, but James decided to take the kid on.
“What system?” he asked.
“N64, what’d ya know about it?” he asked.
“I like Mario Golf,” said Tim, who had just walked up.
“Now that’s a good game; I play it with Bowser,” Lance said to Tim, his whole expression changing. And they were off, talking about the games.
Korey and James talked separately, Heather still hanging on to her mom for dear life.
Releasing a deep sigh, Korey began to apologize. “I don’t know what to do with him. If it isn’t about video games, he’s sarcastic and mean-spirited. His father is no help. His skipping a grade I think has also caused some issues.”
James felt his whole body tense up. He dreaded these conversations. He never knew what to say. He found such experiences draining, and the things he did say sounded ridiculously cliché and boring.
He also thought people generally preferred to complain about their lives instead of just figuring out how to apply a simple fix. When he offered a solution, people typically reacted like it was the best idea in the world, as though they couldn’t have come up with it themselves. James often felt bad because, half the time, he was replying in a sarcastic manner and felt people could see right through it. But they didn’t, and they kept coming to him for advice. It made social interactions a task.
He liked to socialize, but he also valued alone time, so he could recharge. He knew this was a characteristic of being an introvert, but he didn’t really care. Personal conversations like this were just daunting, though he didn’t seem to mind the ones with Carissa and a small select number of others.
Korey had been going on for nearly thirty minutes with James giving mere “Hmms” and “Yeahs” when Lance came rushing back.
In a soft but determined voice, he asked his mother, “Where’s the bathroom?”
James pointed behind him, near the patio doors, and Lance took off running, holding his bottom.
“Lance, Lance! What’s wrong?” Korey chased after him, dragging Heather with her.
Tim walked over, smiling. “Well, it’s obvious isn’t it?”
“What’s obvious, Tim?” James tried to see what was happening in the direction of the bathrooms.
“Why he ran off,” Tim calmly replied, selecting a Dr. Pepper.
James glared at Tim.
Tim rolled his eyes and said in an almost bored voice, “Well, obviously, we were having a farting contest. He lost. It’s supposed to be just gas you pass.”
It was a good thing James didn’t have any liquids in his mouth, as he would have spat them out. He gave an initial roar of laughter before covering his mouth.
Tim merely giggled a lit
tle, though James suspected he was laughing at him and not Lance.
“He likes that Mortal Kombat game like the other kids” whispered Tim.
James, regaining control, whispered back “What other kids, and why are we whispering?”
Tim gave James a confused look. “Should we not whisper? I thought others weren’t supposed to know about, obviously, ‘the trip,’” He made quotation marks with his fingers as he said the final words, a habit he had picked up from Noi.
“We shouldn’t talk about that, but tell me quickly in general what you are talking about, please.” Tim now had James’s full attention.
“It was what some of the boys were asking me to play, you know, at ‘the place.’” Again with the finger quotes.
“Why didn’t you mention this before?” asked James.
“I did. I told you they kept asking me to play.”
“Oh, right, got it,” said James quickly.
“They said if I won I got a happ …” Tim began, but James placed his hand over Tim’s mouth, and then quickly released him.
James gave a wink and said, “Got it.”
Scott called out “7:54 group.” About ten people stopped what they were doing and made for the door.
“What’s happening?” James asked Tim.
“The party ends at 8 p.m. We can’t all fit through the door at once,” Tim said, now waiting for Scott to call his group.
“But it started at 7 p.m.” James was confused.
“Yeah, how long does it take to eat pizza? People have shows they want to see, obviously. They are leaving based on how long it takes to get back to their place to see their shows at 8 p.m.,” Tim explained.
Scott called “7:55” and Tim walked out the door with Byron and Dan.
Apparently when Scott said “man of the hour,” he meant it literally. James shook his head in wonder. It was so simple, and it worked for this crew. He just wished more people operated this way.
Chapter Fifteen
The next day, before heading to the airport, James went over his notes in preparation for an important phone call. For a moment, he pondered his three goals.
The first was to get all of the kids and any cooperative young adults out safely. Second was to level that place with the Tan family in it. This meant taking out Noi Rasa too. Last, he needed to see what information he could extract from the Tans’ system. He would possibly be able to leverage information on prior clients before allowing justice to find them, too.
James had his own set of rules for life. One of them was never to be in debt to anyone without a plan to pay them back tenfold. This meant that before calling in a favor, he tended to have a rather large bank of favors already rendered. He knew he’d need a full squad to accomplish his three goals, but he only trusted one individual to take on something like this.
James took a deep breath and hit the send button on the phone.
“Hello, this is Major Ian Doyle,” came a voice.
“Major, now? Last time we talked, you had just made captain. Must be sleeping with the right people,” James said.
“Son of a bitch, you have some timing!” the major said in a boisterous voice. “How you doing, James? Damn, it’s been a while.”
“I was just thinking the same. So what’s his name?” James asked, laughing.
“Kiss my ass. You know damn well I don’t swing my bat that way. But yeah, I just got this promotion last week. And you’re right, last we talked you were calling to congratulate me on captain. Knowing you, calling today isn’t a coincidence, ya son of a bitch,” the major said.
James smiled and set the record straight. “In all honesty, my friend, this is pure coincidence. And before I do forget, congrats on the promotion. I’m sure it’s very well deserved.”
“Well, aren’t you a sweet talker n’ that.” The major typically was very good at hiding his origin from Western Pennsylvania, but occasionally it slipped out as he spoke.
“How are your parents doing, and how is Melanie?”
“Oh, Melanie is good. Enjoying work, but we’re still having issues having a baby. Mom is doing all right. Cancer still in remission, thank God. Dad is ornery as ever ‘cept now with him retiring a month ago, he’s driving Mom up a wall. She kicked him out of the house the other day and locked the door for four hours.” Major Doyle started to laugh.
James was laughing too. “What? No she didn’t. Why’d she do that?”
“Said he was getting on her nerves, so she tricked him to go out for the mail and locked all the doors. You know the old man. He bitched up a storm at the door through the mail slot. Mom turned up the TV to drown him out, so he went in the backyard, got out the chain saw, and cut down a tree.”
“Was it falling over?” James asked, still laughing.
“Shit no, he did it just to annoy Mom for locking him out. Cut the whole thing up too.” By this point the major had regained control and was telling the story as he normally did in his fake angry voice, which just added a dramatic and funny edge to the whole thing.
“What did your mom do?” James asked, playing right along into the storyline.
The major gave a bark of laughter. “You know Mom. She came out when he was done and said, ‘Good, now that we have something to burn, you can build me that fire pit you promised me fifteen years ago. Let’s go find some bricks and materials.’ Then she tossed him his keys.”
“Oh my God, your parents. What did your dad do?” James asked.
“He bitched for about five minutes about spending money and then they got in his truck and picked out supplies. I got them both on the line at once and told them, ‘Yinz guys aren’t right. No wonder you have three messed up kids.’ They just laughed. Then I told them about the promotion. They’re pleased. Mom wanted to send me a check for some reason, and Dad said he was proud—but not proud enough to send money,” finished the major.
They both laughed.
“Look, James, always good to talk with you, but I have a thing in about ten minutes. So if you didn’t call just to congratulate me, you called for a different reason. What’s up and how can I help?” The major was back to his normal tone, and James recognized the authoritative, non-time wasting style he’d adopted.
James took a deep breath and began. “Well, Ian, it’s like …”
“The last time you called me ‘Ian,’ you were saving my life. What’s wrong? And don’t give me the bullshit version. Spill it out and we’ll fix it.” The major used his voice to full effect.
“I need a black bag task force to help me take out a human trafficking operation in China, not too far off the Kyrgyzstan border. Looking at an unknown number of children at this point, but more than thirty five. Also need a special assembly of people who can deal with this, preferably those with experience with the juvenile system. The place is an old fortress that has some type of electric shield under an overhanging cliff.”
Silence.
“Ian, I realize I’m asking a lot. You know if I had other means to deal with this, I would, but you’re the most realistic chance I have of doing this and getting the kids out alive. I can cover the costs for the guys and …”
“First, stop calling me Ian if you’re doing it to gain psychological advantage.”
James smiled. That’s exactly what he was saying it for.
“Second, how many men, and when do we need to roll out?”
James answered quickly. “Not counting either of us, I think ten will do. I don’t have a date yet, but probably four to six months from now. We can set the date with a two-week notice. Are you sure this is easily doable?”
“Easy? No. Doable? Hell ya. You wouldn’t ask if it weren’t needed. My family owes you. A lot of families owe you. And the fact that we’re going after kids makes it the right thing to do. Get me a general profile of what you think will be needed and the men you want. I can cover the rest with this much notice,” the major replied, snapping his fingers.
“And the military use?” James questioned.
<
br /> “Don’t worry about it. I am where I am because of you and because I run these types of operations. We’ll clear out other rats’ nests in the area; it’s not like they’re scarce. Gives a reason to be there,” he said.
“Thank you, Ian.” James said this not only as a friend, but also as someone who truly recognized the issues this could cause.
“I still owe you, even after this, but it’s cool, James. Get me a dossier and we go from there. Got to run. Talk soon.” Major Ian Doyle hung up.
James sighed in relief, as he really hadn’t had a backup plan.
Writing the plan for the major to review turned out to be more difficult than James had anticipated. He was reluctant to disclose his goal of extracting the children until the last minute, but he wanted extremely skilled soldiers who would have an emotional connection due to their own pasts. James knew this would help ensure the mission stayed a true black bag operation. There is no motivation like revenge cloaked in justice, especially when partnered with the instinctual desire to protect innocent children.
***
On the plane to Aberdeen, James accomplished two things. First, he did some layout work for what he now called Operation Joshua, as Operation Jericho seemed too obvious. He felt it best to have several variations worked out until he and the major knew the crew going in.
Second, he created a plan for getting some current information on Anthony Spara. As was customary for him, he’d start at the bottom on the street. Then try to get a meeting with his friend Patrick’s uncle to talk with him. He needed to keep the Spara investigation moving forward to keep the group happy, in a manner of speaking.
It was different, the way the group operated. If he wanted to, James could literally stop what he was doing and walk away. Technically, he didn’t even have to give up the file on Spara, but that would be highly irregular and didn’t fit with how he felt anyone should operate. It was that last bit that made it all work.
