“Scrambled,” came the voice on the other end.
“I’m in,” Frederick said. “I’ve got the time estimated at two weeks. Is the back story in place and the person called out?”
“He left yesterday as planned.”
“Good. Be ready for Step 2 when I give the word.”
Frederick turned off the phone and lay back on the bed thinking if there was anything he’d left undone.
Frederick wasn’t his real name. He hadn’t used his real name in such a long time he didn’t even think of it any more. He was whoever he needed to be at the time. It was safer that way. His enemies would have a hard time finding him . . . and he had many enemies. Those whom he’d robbed when they didn’t even know they’d been robbed until it was too late. By then, he’d been long gone and changed into his next personae.
That was his specialty. He could set up a robbery of funds, technology or information in such a way as to not be noticed until sometimes months later. He never stole anything physical that had to be handled more than being held in the palm of his hand or copied into his laptop or thumb drive. Still, it had been a lucrative life. And he’d lived it in such a way that no one really knew who he was. His contacts found him through elaborate cut outs which changed often and only a few knew the new routes each time. His legend of success had grown to the point where he could pick and choose his jobs.
And choose he had. This would be his last job. It would also be his biggest and most carefully planned and executed. There were holes in his plans because of the security in place, but he’d found the weak link. There were risks because he was dealing with, and counting on, human failings. But hopefully he’d covered himself enough in the short term everything would work sufficiently until he could disappear into oblivion forever. The payout was sufficiently large it was worth it. Besides his new identity was ready and waiting, as were two backups if they were needed. He’d always been careful. It’d kept him alive and out of prison. If he needed to pull out early, he could. He had enough stashed away to live comfortably. This last job, however, was as much for the notoriety it would bring as for the huge payout. It would be a fitting swan song.
Frederick smiled, looking forward to the challenge of the next two weeks.
Chapter 4
Andre sat at the desk of his office and looked at the clock. It read 10:00am. He was thinking about his conversation with Frederick Bombast of the day before. He felt guilty about not saying anything to Krissy last night. He’d wanted to, and then remembered the NFL draft and Krissy talking him out of it. Odd that he should remember that and start to feel resentment. He thought he’d gotten over it years ago. Besides, Krissy had been absolutely right. This was a much better life.
That didn’t explain why he’d not said anything to Krissy. They’d shared in everything, and Andre had always kept her apprised, valuing her input . . .
Well, he’d get her input when he had something to show her. That’s what he told himself.
“So why should I feel uneasy about this?” he said aloud to himself. Andre drummed his fingers on his desk, then turned to his computer and punched a number of keys, then picked up the phone and touched out a number.
“Hello, Gruber and Associates,” said a pleasant voice. “How may I direct your call?”
“I’m calling for Mr. Frederick Bombast.”
“One moment please.” Hold music sounded in Andre’s handset.
Andre got thinking the least he could do was check this guy out and make sure he was who he said he was. It might take the unease away.
“Mr. Bombast’s office, Amelia speaking, how may I help you?”
“Hello, this is . . .” Andre faltered, his mind racing. He didn’t want anyone to know he’d called another PR firm if this didn’t work out. Also he didn’t want anyone to know, period, until he was more comfortable with what was happening. Why should he feel this way? He wondered again.
“. . . This is Jim Ferris for Mr. Bombast, please,” he recovered.
“I’m sorry, but Mr. Bombast is out of the office. Is there something I can help you with?”
Andre thought this was a good sign. Frederick was out of the office because he was here in Hartford.
“No,” Andre said, thinking quickly what else he could do to confirm. Frederick had given him a card with a cell phone number. He could check that out.
“Would you happen to have Mr. Bombast’s cell phone number so I could reach him? It’s a sensitive and somewhat urgent matter.”
“I’m sorry, but Mr. Bombast is on a special assignment and out of communication for the next two weeks, I’m afraid. Are you sure there’s nothing I can help you with. He’s left me and others of his staff with full authority to act on his behalf.”
Andre thought again. This seemed to confirm things. Frederick was out of the office for two weeks on a sensitive assignment and not communicating. It matched with the two week time frame he’d given. Andre was also a bit pleased he hadn’t said anything even to his own staff. That showed inordinate discretion in a PR guy. That made him feel better too.
“Uh, no thanks,” Andre said. “You’ve already helped.” He hung up.
The uneasy feeling was mostly gone, but there was still a lingering guilt for not saying anything to Krissy. Well, he’d think about it some more and it was only for two weeks anyway. Then she’d be brought in fully and be able to view the full deal rather than just his lame explanation of the project.
Andre started to look over the contract and outline preparing for his first meeting with Frederick. He’d see how it went. If there was anything he didn’t like, he’d pull the plug.
Chapter 5
“Good morning sir!” Frederick said as he was let into Andre's office. Along with his satchel he carried two coffee cups in a carrier. Today he was dressed in brown pin striped suit, pink silk shirt and a yellow bow tie.
"Ready for work?"
Frederick sat, placing the satchel at his side and put the coffee carrier on the desk. "I got you some coffee. I hate to drink alone."
"Here are my notes on the contract,” Andre said. “It was just as you said. I didn’t add much. I must say the contract isn't nearly as publisher centered as I've always heard. "
"Oh, for the superstars we bend over backwards. You'll be selling a lot of product, and it's a feather in their cap to have you. Besides, we do a lot of work with this publisher and we've brought them some really great stuff. And of course, this project is going to be something that will knock everyone’s socks off!"
Frederick took the contract adjusted his round rimmed glasses and looked over it quickly. "No problems I can see. I'll have the final draft to you for signing later today."
"No questions?"
"Nope. About what I expected after our discussion yesterday. You seemed to me to be the straight forward type. No hidden agendas. That's good! It will make our work together so much easier. I won't have to dig and pry. I'll know that when you say we aren't going there, I'll believe you and we'll move on."
Andre nodded.
"A quick question before we begin," Frederick said. “You’ve told no one? It’s vitally important we don’t say anything until we’re ready to preview. It’s not just the impact of the project, but there will be those who want to sabotage the effort from outside. You have something people would literally ‘kill’ to possess. So I don’t think we shouldn’t say anything for safety’s sake.”
“We’re already extremely tight with security,” Andre said.
“Tell me about it!” Frederick said. “I have to sign in and get frisked each time I come here. I completely understand. I guess the safety comment was really for me. If word got out what I was doing, I could be kidnapped and interrogated just to see if I knew anything I shouldn’t. That would apply to your people as well as your competitors. Frankly, maybe I’m the one who should back out. It didn’t hit me until I was coming in this morning that I might become a target.
“So please!” Frederick clasped his
hands in front in a begging fashion. “Don’t tell anyone about this until we’re completely ready. For my sake!”
“Okay,” Andre said, holding up his hands. “I’ll wait. I hadn’t thought of it that way, but I guess we don’t want to take any chances with your safety. You know, I hadn’t thought that much about my own security. I have a driver and we live in a secured compound but other than that, we don’t really have any additional security.”
“You should really think about that!” Frederick said. “There are lots of bad people out there.”
Frederick was right, Andre knew. He started to get a bit nervous and made a mental note to talk with his director of security to get something more substantial in place. His mind started racing at the possible vulnerabilities he and his family had. Wow! And there were people who would kill to get his secret.
“Now that’s out of the way,” Frederick said, “Let’s get down to work!”
Andre snapped his attention back to their project. Still, half his mind was on security planning and taking care of his family.
With that, they got down to work. Frederick pulled out a micro recorder, turned it on and sat it on the desk. Then started at the beginning of the outline, and Andre, armed with the advanced preview questions, was able to answer. Still, he was surprised at how much detail Frederick prodded from him. There were a few times he hesitated getting into the more personal areas. Frederick reassured him. Go ahead and answer with how you're comfortable, but remember, it can always be taken out. You'll have full control of the final product. So Andre relaxed and revealed more than he normally would about his childhood memories, early schooling and friends growing up. Every once in a while, Frederick would hit on a particularly interesting bit, at least to him, and he would pull out his phone and they would do a brief video question and answer. That made Andre a bit nervous, but Frederick was very professional, reminding him this was just a sample, not the final. The final would be done in studio with all the ways of editing and polishing. He told Andre to just be natural and not worry about things being perfect. So, on they went.
Lunch came and they ate and talked. Andre was starting to feel a bit more at ease. Frederick never pressured, was very interested, and picked up on any nuance he seemed to make so he could ask more about that area. "Fascinating!" he would say from time to time. "This is great stuff!"
"Well that's it for today," Frederick said, clicking off the micro voice recorder. "I think we should reward ourselves for a highly productive first day. Are you up for dinner? My treat. What's the best restaurant in town?"
Andre hesitated. "Sorry, Frederick. I can't. Allie has a recital tonight and I have to be there."
"Oh that's okay," Frederick said. "Do you always go to her recitals and activities?"
"Always. Krissy and I made a pact when she was born that we'd always be there to support and encourage her . . . and each other. Corny, I know, but that's what we do."
"That's good stuff!" Frederick said. "We need to make sure that's in the bio! Look, we'll take a rain check, okay? And I'll see you tomorrow at 11:00." He gave a salute and left the office.
Andre shook his head.
Chapter 6
That night, after Allie's piano recital, Krissy and Andre were talking quietly in bed.
"What's wrong?" Krissy asked. "You seem preoccupied with something. At least more than usual," she smiled and punched his arm.
Andre started to say something then stopped. He felt guilty not saying anything to Krissy. Then he remembered the issue with security that Frederick had brought up.
"I'm worried about security," Andre said, knowing they needed to speak about that. "With all the secrets we've got, we've got to look at security. I'm worried for us. For Allie especially!"
"What brought that on?" Krissy said, sitting up.
"Well, we've got really tight security at work, but we haven't done anything about our personal security. I'm ashamed I haven't thought anything of it until recently. You know I'm the only one who knows the secret and it's so valuable there are those who would stop at nothing to get it. They could kidnap me and torture it out of me. They could threaten you or Allie . . ." Andre fell silent. Just the thought of something happening to either of them made him shudder.
"We've got to do something. It's not just other companies, it's other countries. Many of them aren't bound by any type of ethics."
Krissy was quiet then leaned over and kissed Andre on the forehead. "Thanks for thinking of it. I hadn't actually thought of that when we decided to keep the process to ourselves instead of licensing it like before. It's brought on some issues we hadn't had to deal with before – like personal security. With licensing, everyone knows the formula. They just can't use it without paying us for it. But with us keeping the process secret and selling the modules, it does make us a target for those who want to steal it. Now I'm worried."
They were both quiet for a while then Krissy said, "How about you let me take care of security? You continue with what you're doing and I'll get names the best security companies around. I'll also check on what other VIP's do for their security and I'll get something in place, okay? Now that Mama Bear is on the job, nothing will get through."
Andre thought a moment then agreed. Yes, if Krissy were on the job it would get done and done right; especially when it concerned the safety of her family.
Chapter 7
The next several days followed the same routine. At 11:00 Frederick came to the office with two cups of coffee. He started in with questions and Andre answering. At noon they had lunch and continued until 1:00 when Frederick left the office with exuberance at how well things were going.
The questions started with his history, his childhood and growing up. About his parents and lack of siblings and what impact he thought that had on his life. He talked about friends, sports and school work. Andre had always been a good student, but not extremely motivated to get the top grades. Instead he worked hard enough to get ‘good’ grades, because that’s what his parents expected. The rest of his efforts were devoted to sports.
Which then led to the inevitable question, why choose computer science and designing systems and processors instead of trying to get into the NFL? Andre paused at this. He’d chosen computer science because he’d had a strong love for computer games. He figured that after the NFL (which was his first choice of careers) he would design video games centered around football. He didn’t want to get into coaching or management. He figured if he could focus his life around things he loved, then he’d be happy and successful.
Andre got eloquent with this subject because he’d spent a great deal of time thinking about it in school. Frederick appeared rapt with attention. “This is great stuff!” he said. Please go on.
Andre continued. He discussed how he’d heard somewhere that if you did what you loved for a livelihood, you’d never work a day in your life. That had really stuck with him. He also said that he’d remembered another saying by some famous business leader, “Decide what you want, and then pay the price to get it . . . Make sure it’s a price you’re happy to pay.” That had all made sense to Andre.
“Did you consciously decide then to do computing rather than the NFL?” Frederick asked.
“Krissy and I talked it over. At the time we were negotiating our licensing deal, so we didn’t know how much money that would bring. It seemed to Krissy the NFL was short term thinking. It would be good money, but hard on the family. And it was far from being a sure thing. I still had to try out with the teams that were interested. There were some teams interested, and of course, I had great confidence in my abilities, but the licensing deal seemed like it was going to happen, and we didn’t know if I’d need to be available for technical support and how much time that would take. It was a matter of thinking through what seemed to make the most sense for our overall goals as a couple, and then as a family. Candidly, it wasn’t my first choice. My greatest desire was to play in the NFL, but the ‘right’ choice was what we did. Some
times doing the ‘right’ thing isn’t what you most want to do. But you do it because it’s right.”
Andre took a sip of his coffee as if reminiscing. “Turned out to be a pretty good decision, like we talked about when we first met.”
“I remember being at a conference,” Frederick said, jumping into the conversation. “It was a presentation on entrepreneurship. Stats were given that said something to the effect that most entrepreneurs felt like they just ‘fell’ into the opportunities that made them wealthy. They were pursuing areas they were already working in, they recognized an opportunity and just went for it. Most didn’t have a business plan, and most started making money within the first 6 to 12 months. Sounds like your story.”
“Pretty much,” Andre agreed. “So much for establishing a professional business plan and making the rounds to get funding. I know others who’ve done it that way. In fact, that’s what we did for our current venture. But that was all done by professionals we’d hired to go out and raise the big money. I guess I have played a bit on both sides: the maverick entrepreneur and the corporate conglomerate.
“Truth to be told, though, that side is all handled by the professionals we’ve brought in. I still focus on the technology. Krissy focuses on the management side. She’s really the smarter of the two of us.” It stung Andre again that he hadn’t said anything to her about this. Now they’d been going for several days, it was too late. She’d be mad he hadn’t brought her in from the beginning. Well, not mad, actually, just hurt. That made it sting all the more.
And so it continued.
At the end of the first week Frederick was just gushing. “This is going to be great! Unprecedented!” Andre couldn’t help but be excited also. He would be relieved when they had something to show Krissy. He was getting more certain she’d be excited as well.
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