by Dave Daren
“Oh, good.” I exhaled. “I thought you were going to tell me you were quitting and moving to Chicago.”
She made a face. “Oh, God, no. I hate Chicago. Horrible place. It’s too cold.”
I laughed. “Well, then, I get you for another four years at least.”
“Yeah, you’re stuck with me,” she said.
I winked. “Lucky me.”
She laughed, and I slid the phone across the desk to her. “Now, go find out who the asshole is that took my zebra.”
“Will do,” she affirmed. She grabbed the phone and headed out the door.
Vicki wasn’t far behind her and she carried a small box in her arms. “Did you get the texts?” she greeted me with a question.
“No,” I felt my pockets for my phone. I left it on vibrate at the coffee maker.
“Earnie got everyone together for the meeting,” she said. “It’s pretty much right now.”
“Oh, geez,” I grabbed my phone and read the text thread I had been included in. It must have been buzzing out of control when I was talking to AJ. The meeting was to be held at Coconino Bank, where Alister had been a lifetime customer.
“Alright, do you have the presentation?” I asked.
She held up a flash drive. “And…” she laid the box out on my desk and opened it. It was professionally printed and bound copies of the PowerPoint.
“Oh, wow,” I said. I flipped through it. “It looks beautiful.”
“Great,” she said and grabbed the books. “Let’s go. We’re late, Mr. Coffee Maker.”
We arrived at the bank only a few minutes late. Everyone was already assembled in the conference room, and with six of Sedona’s most powerful men and their egos, the place was packed.
The conference room at Sedona’s branch of Coconino Bank had that unique flavor of being innovative and cutting edge circa 1995-ish. There was maroon carpet, white vertical blinds, and brown and white tech-forward cabinetry alcoves with power outlets in odd places.
Vicki and I slipped in and took seats in the padded gray chairs surrounding a white table. The whole thing was a sad affair to begin with, but with the zebra debacle, it appeared there was an edge of tension in the room.
“Okay, okay, let’s get down to business,” Marvin was at the podium.
Marvin was a tall and fit man who looked like he was in his sixties, but given a couple of signs of cosmetic surgery and the occasional slowed movement, he was probably more like in his eighties. He had a full head of white hair, neatly trimmed and pushed back. He wore blue tinted eyeglasses and was decked out in all white, from the three piece suit and to his orthopedic wing-tipped shoes. He had taken it upon himself to lead the group.
“I’m glad everyone could come out on such short notice,” he said. “I know everyone is very busy, and we’ve got a lot on the agenda today. But let’s try to remember why we’re all here. We’re here out of respect and loyalty to Alister.”
There was resounding agreement in the room, and Marvin continued. “He was a friend and ally to us all, and he was... his own person.”
Everyone laughed at that comment, and Vicki and I glanced at each other, relieved to be in on the joke.
“So,” Marvin continued. “I understand he had his own ideas about the future of his estate. It wasn’t what I would have done with it, but out of respect for his memory, it is our duty to see that his final wishes are carried out exactly as he asked.”
Everyone nodded and murmured agreement.
“Each and every one of us here,” Marvin said. “Should be honored that he included us in his final wishes. Most of us here are of... a certain age.”
There was laughter at this comment, and then Marvin continued. “We’ve reached that place in our lives where we understand that our time left here on earth is limited. We’ve begun to make serious preparations for the end. To that end, I know we would all hope that those left behind would honor what we’ve asked of them with our final words. Alister certainly deserves the same courtesy.”
His words fell over the room like a preacher’s as the group silently took in their meaning.
“To be included in those wishes of any man, especially a man like Alister, is an honor and a privilege,” he said.
Marvin received a standing ovation and he nodded solemnly. It occured to me that this was the sort of honorarium that the O’Brien siblings should have given at the will reading. I tried to set the tone that day at the mansion, but there was a reason he left them out of the will.
Marvin continued, “Alister’s final wishes were that this group here carry out his legacy. And I’m looking around, and I know why.”
The gathered men looked around at each other and laughed. They knew why too. Unfortunately, Vicki and I didn’t.
Marvin explained it. “Alister has been the key figure in keeping our band of brothers together. And that’s what we are, a band of brothers. We’ve all been through a lot, and through it all, we stuck together. We were all there when Vera died.”
A hushed reverence fell over the group as he mentioned Alister’s late wife.
“A couple of us were even there when they got married. We’ve seen birthdays, graduations, vacations. We’ve all been through thick and thin with that drunk Irish bastard.”
The group exploded with laughter and cheers, and Marvin smiled and shook his head.
“May he rest in peace,” Marvin said. “So, as we move forward with the agenda here today, let’s keep our eye on the ball and what it is we’re trying to accomplish here.”
There were murmurs of approval and Marvin took a seat. Earnie rose and stood at the podium.
“Good word, Marvin,” Earnie nodded at him. “So as you all know, this meeting was scheduled for next week. We were going to set a trust as laid out in the will. Unfortunately, we had to move it up because of an emergency.”
“Neptune,” someone called out.
“Neptune,” Earnie confirmed. “Thank you, Quentin.
Quentin was younger than Marvin, but a little older than most of the rest. He was overweight and wore a brown cowboy hat over his silver hair. His expression was severe, his deep gray eyes unflinching and suspicious, and his massive meaty hands looked like they had thrown more than a few punches in his life. If I had to pick one person in the room not to get in a fight with, it would definitely be Quentin.
“So our agenda today,” Earnie said, “is to discuss how to move forward with Neptune’s disappearance, and I’m also going to bring up our new chief legal counsel, Henry Irving, to talk about where we are in the process of liquidation.”
There were murmurs when my name was mentioned, and I heard a couple mutters of “Thomas.”
Earnie took a deep breath. “Most everyone should be up to speed, but just to lay out all the facts--here’s what’s happening. Alister’s will called for the complete liquidation of the entire estate, and everything, with a couple of minor exceptions, to be left to Neptune the zebra.”
It occured to me as Earnie was talking that all of this would have been much easier if I had a security camera.
This was, in fact, my second break in. The first was about a month ago, when a suspect was blackmailed into trashing our office. I pulled out my phone and started browsing for security cameras. Vicki looked over my shoulder at my phone screen. She pulled out her phone and put in the same search.
“Between the hours of nine p.m. and eight a.m., the zebra was abducted,” Earnie continued. “This morning we received a disposable phone with a text message demanding ten million dollars or the zebra would be killed. The kidnapper gave us twenty-four hours to respond. What’s our plan of action, guys?”
It was quiet for a few seconds, and then everyone burst into talking.
“I say we call their bluff,” Marvin said. “Let ‘em kill the zebra.”
“What happens then?” Jake asked.
Earnie answered, “The will stipulates if the zebra dies prematurely, the entire trust goes to the wildlife conservation fund. Ou
r duty as trustees is to protect Neptune and act in his best interest. I don’t think letting him die qualifies as being in his best interest.”
“Then we should negotiate with these sonsabitches?” Quentin asked. He tipped his hat to Vicki, the only female in the room. “‘’Scuse my French, miss.”
“You know, it wouldn’t be so bad to let the zebra die,” George said. “After all, he killed Alister.”
“What sense is that?” Jake said. “It’s a zebra. Alister was the moron who rode it.”
“How dare you say that, Jake!” Quentin said. “Go ahead, stomp on a dead man’s grave!”
“I’m not stomping on anyone’s grave,” Jake insisted. “But, we all know it’s true. Nature is nature. You can’t blame a zebra for being a zebra, anymore that you can blame a dog for being a dog.”
“No one is blaming the zebra,” Marvin said. “But just why are we going out on a limb for it?”
“Because it’s in the damn will,” Quentin said. “We have to take care of the zebra.”
I interjected here. “Guys, there are other options--”
I was quickly interrupted by George. “God damnit, Quentin!” he said. “I’m just offering a different viewpoint. Kill the hostage. Why is it with you that it’s always got to be your way or the highway?”
“Don’t put that on me!” Quentin said. “I just know what I’m talking about . Kill the hostage? Why would you kill the hostage?”
“Because,” George said. “It’s in the way. It eliminates the liability.”
“The hostage is not a liability,” Quentin said. “It’s an innocent victim.”
“Usually,” George said. “But considering that this one is a zebra, maybe we should think a little differently.”
“How could you suggest killing Neptune?” Quentin’s face was turning red. “Neptune was the only thing Alister really loved. And now, he’s not even cold in the ground--”
“I’m not saying kill Neptune,” George said. “I’m just saying that maybe we should think of other possibilities.”
“But, if Neptune dies,” Quentin said. “The money goes to charity.”
“Would that be so bad?” George asked. “It would be a hell of a lot better than letting the kidnappers have ten million dollars.”
Quentin pounded the table and stood up. “Did you even care about Alister?”
Then all hell broke loose and everyone started shouting. It was clear that these arguments didn’t start or end with a zebra or even Alister. These men had spent decades together in boardrooms, conference rooms and ranches all over this town. This was as good an excuse as any to air their grievances and let their massive egos bounce off each other.
“Hey, hey,” I yelled over the commotion. Everyone turned and looked at me.
“Who is he again?” George whispered.
“That’s the Irvings’ boy,” Quentin said.
“What’s he doing here?” George asked.
“For those of you who don’t know,” I said. “My name is Henry Irving, and I have recently replaced Thomas Earhardt as Alister’s chief legal counsel.”
“Thomas was a dick head,” Quentin declared. “You a better lawyer than he was?”
I raised an eyebrow, and everyone laughed.
“He’s brash,” Marvin openly commented.
“I like a man with confidence,” Quentin said with a nod of approval.
“I’m also a kick ass frisbee golf player,” I said, in reference to the way Thomas had been fired.
Everyone laughed at this, but I could tell it was still a tough crowd.
“Anyway,” I said. “I vote that we tell the kidnappers we are going to cooperate, but that we say that it’s going to take some time to get the money together. They’ll agree to it, because, they’ve got nothing to lose. If they kill the zebra, they’ve lost the only card they have to play. In the meantime, we send out a team to find the zebra. We can also use GPS tracking to trace the number that these texts originated from.
“Not if they’re texting from a disposable phone, we can’t,” Jake said. “They are untraceable.”
“That’s not entirely true,” I said. “Burner phones can be traced by someone who knows what they’re doing, and I have my investigator working on it right now.”
“Have the police been notified?” Jake asked.
“Yes,” I said. “We have filed with the police, but I recommend we undertake our own investigation.”
I let the implications of shoddy police work speak for themselves. Surely they knew Sedona law enforcement ten times better than I did.
“Get a load of this kid,” George motioned toward me. “Our own investigation, huh? His mama didn’t raise no fool.”
There was laughter at this comment, and I just smiled modestly.
“How do you know we can find the zebra?” Marvin asked.
“Sedona’s a small town,” I said. “There are only so many places to hide a zebra. And if they took it out of town, then someone somewhere saw something. We’ve got a great investigative team, and if you will allow us, we can find this zebra.”
I turned specifically to Marvin, “I know you control half the media in the state.”
Marvin raised an eyebrow. “Only half? That’s news to me.”
The room erupted in cackles, and I smiled sheepishly.
“It’s the damn networks, Marv,” George said. “They snatched up stations while you were sleeping.”
“I think that’s what this guy is trying to tell me,” Marvin said. “Kid, you work for a network?”
Everyone laughed, and I knew I had to kiss the signet ring here or my careless turn of phrase would effectively block my career in Sedona for the rest of my life.
“I stand corrected. You control almost all of the communications and media in this area.” I shook my head in admiration. “So my point is, you are more than set up to get the word out about a missing zebra.”
Marvin’s grin faded, and he leaned back in his chair, and stroked his chin in thought.
“It’s not like it’s a missing cell phone or even a dog,” I continued. “If someone saw a zebra going down the road, they would remember.”
“That is true,” Marvin said.
“So what if we do run a media campaign,” George said. “How do we keep from scaring the kidnappers?”
“We’ll have to come up with a strategy,” I said. “And I’m sure that Mr. Ioakava here could come up with a way to use the media for our advantage. But I’m betting on that they don’t want to kill that zebra. That’s their only ace. That zebra dies, and their scam is over.”
“Well, they could ask for more money,” George said.
“We don’t give it to them,” I said. “We pay them what we want to pay them, or we walk. If they think we’re going to walk, they’ll take something over nothing.”
Everyone looked around the room at each other.
“Alright,” Marvin sat sideways in his chair with his legs crossed and hovered his fingers over the table. He tapped his fingertips and looked at me through his blue-tinted glasses. “You think you got this?” he asked me. “Don’t bullshit me.”
“I’ve got it,” I said.
“Well,” he scanned the room for consensus. “Let’s tell them what they want to hear, then.”
Everyone slowly nodded as they all came into agreement with the plan.
“Meantime, let’s find these bastards,” Quentin said. “I know a guy.”
“We all know your guy, Quentin,” George said. “We got this handled the civilized way. We don’t need to do this the cowboy way.”
“He’s the best,” Quentin ignored George and searched his phone. He scrawled a notation on a slip of paper and slid it across the table to me.
He nodded solemnly. “I want you to use him. He’ll find these sonsabitches.”
I glanced at the paper. It was the name and number for Bloodhound Bill, the bounty hunter. I smiled.
“You hearda him?” Quentin asked me.
> “I’ve heard mention of him,” I said coyly. I didn’t tell them that I had used him before. That would be a story for another time.
Right now the issue was settled, and I had the floor. Given the company I was in, I knew this was a rare and privileged opportunity, so I moved on quickly and held up the flash drive.
“Now I’d like to move on to the next item on the agenda,” I said. “The estate. This is our plan to liquidate it. It’s a three-phase process to last two years.”
They all listened thoughtfully, and Vicki passed out the books. Everyone opened the books and flipped through them, and Jake took the flash drive, plugged it into a projector and handed me the remote.
“Thanks, Jake,” I said.
“I’ve done this a few times,” he said.
Everyone in the room laughed. I looked at Vicki, and it really hit me. It was one thing to be invited to a party at Alister O’Brien’s mansion. It was another thing to command a boardroom of the top influencers in the city. This is what she meant. I had changed. Six months ago, I would have thought I was better than this.
But, now, standing here, I realized I had only just begun.
Chapter 13
The next day, Vicki and I were enjoying a casual, relaxed morning in our cottage. The firm didn’t have anything pressing that morning, and I felt like we both needed some rest. I texted AJ to take the morning off.
That was one of the perks of being a business owner in a small town. Our practice was bringing in enough money, but sometimes there just really was not enough work to justify an eight-hour workday. After all, in a town of ten thousand people, how many lawsuits could there be at a given time?
Now Vicki lazily stretched under the blankets, and I grabbed my phone off the nightstand.
“I’m ordering delivery from Jitters,” I told her. “What do you want?”
She peered at the menu on the Jitters mobile app. “Uhh... it all looks good. I usually have the--”
There was suddenly a knock on the door. Vicki and I glanced at each other.
“Jitters has ESP,” I quipped as I rose to answer it.
“Well make sure they got the ‘reading’ on how I want my omelette,” she said. I opened the door quizzically.