Corridor Man 6: Exit Strategy

by Nick James

  “What are we eating?”

  “Spring rolls, here,” he said indicating the smaller tray. “The main course is Pad Thai. You’re stuck today eating what I like. I don’t know how you are on spicy food…”

  “I like spicy.”

  “Well, great. Unfortunately spicy food doesn’t like me. I got us the mild version. It’s still really good.”

  She took a forkful and nodded. “Mmm-mmm, very good. Yeah, we’ll do this again.”

  “So, we’re good to go, computer-wise?”

  She nodded, finished chewing and swallowed. “Yeah, the office system is set up. There’s bound to be a glitch to two, that’s just normal so if or when something happens, don’t panic. There’ll be a bit of a learning curve, but nothing too hard, even for you.”

  “Good, I’ll need to contact Westlaw and get us onboard with them. Are the computers in the offices linked?”

  Erin nodded, swallowed, and said, “Yes, and the phones are all live. Which reminds me, you’re going to need business cards.”

  “We’re going to have one client and one client only. Luis Morales. He knows how to get in touch with us.”

  “What if he would like to give the contact information to someone else? What if you’re dealing with another firm? Or you’re dealing with someone at the city or state level? What if you want to look important in front of some sexy, hot redhead like me? What if…”

  “Okay, we’ll get business cards. Go ahead and order them, might as well get them for the our new arrivals, too. Just simple, standard, white cards, nothing fancy, no pictures. How’s the lunch, by the way?”

  “Delicious.”

  “I’ve got Thomas Thomas coming in this afternoon. He’ll be starting Monday. We’re going to talk for a bit and then he’ll pick out an office.”

  “I like him, he was kind. What about the other two?”

  “They’ll be in tomorrow afternoon.”

  “And the gorgeous blonde guy that was really full of himself.”

  “Did he get in touch with you? I gave him your number.”

  “What?”

  “Just kidding. I thought it would be better to enjoy a pleasant lunch and call him this afternoon rather than ruin this nice meal. I plan to make the call short and sweet, at least for me.”

  “Too bad, it’s such a waste. He’s so damn good looking and such an absolute dip shit.”

  “That’s usually the way it seems to work out, eat up.”

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Once they finished lunch, Bobby gave a long sigh and said, “I suppose I should call that Finch character and get it over with. Let me have five minutes to get that finished, then come on in and show me the ropes on the new computer.”

  “I’ll get rid of this stuff,” Erin said indicating the styrofoam trays and plastic utensils. “Go ahead and make your call. Good luck,” she added as an afterthought.

  Bobby picked up speed as he walked back to his office, not looking forward to making the call. He dialed the number from his cell so he didn’t leave Finch with the new Privado number. Finch answered halfway through the second ring.

  “Your lucky day, you’ve reached Blake,” was the way he answered the phone, making it sound like the caller had just won the lottery. Initially, there was music playing in the background, but it was almost immediately turned down. Bobby guessed a TV with a remote. The little bit he heard was orchestral and sounded familiar from somewhere in the distant past, but he couldn’t place it.

  “Yes, Blake, hello. It’s Bobby Custer over at Privado.”

  “Perfect. I was out looking at new furniture for that office just yesterday. What I’m going to do is…”

  “Hold on for a minute, hopefully you didn’t make a purchase. I appreciate you coming in, but we’ve decided to go in a little different direction. I just wanted to let you know personally and to wish you the best of luck for the future.”

  Silence for a long moment. “Decided to go…Do you have any idea the mistake you’re making? This should be a no-brainer for you and instead you’re falling flat on your face right out of the starting gate. You said ‘we’, Who’s in charge over there? Do they have any idea of the fuck-up you’re about to make?”

  “Listen, Blake, we’re going to have to have an extremely tight group and I feel that at this juncture….”

  “What group doesn’t need a leader? You’re a fool, do you hear me? An absolute fool and you won’t last the year. You’ve no idea the business you just lost. The amount of business that’s going to follow me in the door would have….”

  “Can’t thank you enough for your time. Good-bye,” Bobby said and disconnected. He tossed the cellphone on his desk and just stared at it for a long moment. It rang almost immediately, Finch’s number. He let the call drop into the message center along with the three calls after that. After the last call, he blocked the number.

  Erin stepped into the office a short time later. “You ready for your tutorial?”

  “Yeah, might as well get it over with.”

  “Well, I was hoping for a little more positive attitude than that. Come on, it won’t be hard. First off, you turn it on using a button in the back on the lower lefthand side. Reach back there. You find it?”

  He nodded.

  “Push the button and you’re good to go.

  Bobby pushed the button and the computer struck a musical chord. He thought of the music he’d heard from Fitch’s end of the phone and it suddenly dawned on him, Day’s of Our Lives, the soap opera. It was the theme song. God, the guy was at home watching a soap opera.

  After a half hour of Erin’s attention, he felt more or less familiar with at least turning on the computer and getting to his emails. He sat back in his chair and asked, “We’re you able to adjust that recording with Charlie Sawyer last night?”

  “That lawyer prick? Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to suggest…”

  “That’s okay, you’re right.”

  “Yeah, it’s all done. If you want I can send it to your phone as a message and you can listen to it.”

  “That would be great, thanks. Let me ask for another favor. How hard would it be to send an email to everyone at my old firm, except Sawyer and Allen, telling them the office will be closed in honor of Bennett Hinz’s funeral?”

  “Yeah, I can do that,” Erin said, looking a little confused. “But why?”

  “Just to cause them a headache. I going to talk to the two of them tomorrow, or at least try to. It would be, mmm-mmm, comforting to know things aren’t going well.”

  She smiled at that, then said, “You know, let me see what I can pick up from personal emails. I should be able to sort through those tonight. We’d only be looking at maybe the last week or so. Be interesting to see what folks are thinking.”

  “You think people would put things in their personal emails?” he said as a joke.

  “You wouldn’t believe what goes in personal emails. I’ll get some things assembled for you tonight and you can look at them in the morning.”

  Thomas Thomas came in just a little before four. Erin showed him into the office.

  “Erin, hold on for a moment,” Bobby said. “Thomas, this is our receptionist, Erin Alvarez. She also handles any IT matters, most office matters, and seems to be a lot more sane than me. Erin, meet Thomas Thomas, officially. Welcome aboard, Thomas,” Bobby said and came around from his desk to shake Thomas’s hand.

  Thomas beamed, shook Erin’s hand, and then Bobby’s, grinning. Bobby noticed, not for the first time, that Thomas was big, not just the three-hundred-and-fifty pounds, but he was broad shouldered, had large hands, and very large shoes.

  “Thomas, we’ve got two other people starting in the next few days. You’re the first one officially on board. If you’d like, you could go with Erin, pick out an office and she could give you a quick tutorial on our computer system and then you can stop back in and we’ll chat.”

  Thomas nodded and followed Erin out the door. He was back in Bobby’s offic
e in about ten minutes.

  “Everything okay?” Bobby asked wondering what the problem was.

  “Yeah. I guess I’ve always been a bit of a nerd, so I was rather familiar with the system, at least the basics. No problem.”

  “Okay, well, come on and grab a seat on the couch and let’s get you squared away,” Bobby said.

  Erin knocked on the door frame maybe a half hour after that. “I’m going to head out and leave the two of you on your own. Thomas, it was very nice to meet you. I look forward to working with you.”

  Thomas grinned and said, “Thanks for your help, Erin.”

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Just a little after six, Miguel sent Bobby a text message that he was waiting outside. Bobby checked the hall monitor to make sure everything was clear, then took the elevator down to the first floor and climbed in the car.

  “Emily’s?” Miguel said.

  “Yeah, no stops along the way.”

  Miguel pulled away from the curb and said, “I got your overnight bag and that suit in the trunk.”

  “Good, I’ll shower and get cleaned up at Emily’s. Pick me up at half-past eight tomorrow morning. I’d like you to hang around. I want to be at the funeral tomorrow a little after ten.”

  “That’ll work fine. In fact, that way I can tell Maria I’m picking you up at the airport tomorrow morning. You plan on being home tomorrow night?”

  “Yeah, unless something comes up.”

  Miguel was just maybe five or six blocks from Emily’s house when he took a right turn and headed in the opposite direction. “What are you doing? I told you no stops.”

  “You know anyone drives a dark blue Infiniti?”

  “What?”

  “Some guy in an Infiniti has been following us since I pulled away from your building. He just made that last turn, staying maybe a block behind.” Bobby started to turn around. “Maybe don’t turn around. I’d just as soon he doesn’t know were on to him.”

  “What if it’s just some guy who lives here?” Miguel looked at him in the rearview mirror. “Yeah, I know, I know. It’s about a ten percent chance.”

  “Try zero percent,” Miguel said.

  “A dark blue… Christ. Can you tell? Does it have Minnesota plates?”

  Miguel peered into the rearview mirror. “Tough to say, it looks like it, but I can’t be sure and I don’t want to let whoever it is get that close.”

  “I think it might be a guy I called today. Told him we weren’t going to hire him. He told me the other day he drove an Infiniti, I forget the model.”

  “He didn’t tell you the color?”

  “No. I don’t think he’s dangerous, just an idiot impressed with himself.”

  “They can be the most dangerous ones. What do you want me to do?”

  “Lose him.”

  Miguel suddenly accelerated, picking up speed for three blocks then took a sharp right, drove to the end of the block and took another right. He took a quick left and drove two doors down an alley and pulled into an open garage. “Get down,” he said as he turned the engine off. He hurried out of the car with his pistol drawn and stood alongside the garage door. He climbed back in the car a good five minutes later.

  “Lost him, for the moment,” he said, starting the engine then backing out of the garage. “He going to be a problem?”

  “He could be. He’s just arrogant enough to try and intimidate and stupid enough to go too far. Damn it. I don’t need this right now.”

  “Well, he’s gone for now. But we’ll have to keep a close eye on things in the morning.”

  “Maybe if I just take a taxi into the office he won’t notice.”

  “Yeah, maybe, but what if he’s waiting in that hall when you get off the elevator? I’ll pick you up, maybe have some special help along, just in case,” Miguel said then pulled up to the curb in front of Emily’s.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  “Perfect timing,” Emily said as she opened the door and smiled. She wore a pink silk robe with white piping along the edges that hung down to the middle of her thigh and she had on a pair of red stilettos. She looked at his overnight bag and the suit bag slung over his shoulder. “Planning on staying for a while?” She closed the door behind him, gave Bobby a kiss, then stepped back and opened the robe. “You like?”

  Bobby stared at the red bustier for a very long moment, taking it all in.

  “Anywhere in the house, including right here or even the stairs, but you’re going to earn your dinner, Mister. And it will be out of the oven in forty-five minutes so we better get started.”

  He dropped the overnight bag on the floor, and draped the suit bag over it. Emily took him by the hand and led him upstairs to her bedroom.

  He’d just closed his eyes for a moment when she quietly climbed out of bed, slipped into her robe and headed out of the bedroom. He heard her down in the kitchen a minute later. Plates clattering and the oven door opening and closing. He rolled out of the bed, glanced at the red bustier on the floor as he slipped into his trousers. He dressed quickly and headed downstairs.

  “Oh, I was going to let you sleep for a few minutes. You seemed awfully tired. Sorry you didn’t…”

  “Don’t worry about it, just more energy for later on tonight. I have to say, you’ve an interesting way of welcoming guests.”

  “Only the special ones and I’m going to hold you to that later tonight comment. You want to open that wine?” She pulled a corkscrew out of a drawer and handed it to him. “I’m going to let our dinner sit for a few minutes before I serve it. Okay if we eat in the kitchen?”

  “Yeah, kitchen is just fine,” he said opening the bottle. He half-filled the two glasses on the table, then handed one to her.

  “My first drink in four days,” she said, then took two healthy swallows, closed her eyes and smiled. “Mmm-mmm. God, I missed it. So, thanks again for having Erin come over the other day. She really helped.”

  “Yeah, I’m going to meet with both Sawyer and Allen tomorrow morning. They just don’t know it yet.”

  “Are you just going to show up at the office and demand to see them? What if they….”

  “No, actually, I’ll see them at the funeral for Bennett Hinz tomorrow morning. It’s at House of Hope. I want to talk to them, tell them they need to get on with the insurance settlement, do the right thing.”

  “Think they’ll listen?” she said and took two more healthy sips.

  “Not at first, but I’ll present it in a way that will help them see the benefit of paying. My fear is they may not be able to handle the five-million number.”

  She drained her glass and slammed it down on the kitchen counter, gave a nod to have it refilled. “What do you mean they can’t handle the five million? It’s an insurance policy, they’ve already paid for it, it’s already handled. Bennett told me…I mean, I spoke to Bennett Hinz on the phone and he assured me it was going to happen.”

  Bobby handed her the wine glass. “I thought you said you hadn’t talked to him.”

  “It was a short conversation, must have slipped my mind.”

  Stupid, Bobby thought. “They’re telling me they don’t know anything about it. They…”

  “They’re lying,” she shouted then took a large swallow of wine. Her face began to turn red and her eyes seemed to burn into him.

  “Look, I know all that. It’s why we’re going to have a little come-to-Jesus meeting tomorrow. I’ll get you a payment, don’t worry.”

  “Bastards,” she said and took two more healthy gulps.

  Bobby took her wine glass and refilled it. “How’s that dinner coming? It smells delicious.”

  By the end of dinner, Emily could barely remember her name let alone what she had planned to serve for dessert. Bobby had opened the third bottle of wine and topped up her glass. He’d barely touched his second glass. She was weaving on her kitchen stool, slurring the few words she spoke, and had sloshed red wine across the front of her silk robe.

  “Maybe fini
sh that glass and then how about a nice after dinner drink?”

  “Sure,” she said, fighting to get the word out and looking at him with eyes so glazed he wasn’t sure she could even see him. She put the full glass to her lips, drank half of it, dribbled red wine down her chin in the process, then set the glass on the kitchen counter where she promptly knocked it onto the floor. She sat on the stool oblivious to the fact with her eyes at half-mast.

  “Come on, let’s get you upstairs. You can relax and I’ll make you a nice night cap.”

  “Huh?” she groaned as he half pulled her off the stool then guided her around the broken glass and red wine splattered across the kitchen floor. She tried to sit down twice halfway up the staircase, but he eventually managed to pull and push her into the den and onto the couch.

  He settled her into a corner of the couch then went down the hall to the bathroom and opened her medicine cabinet. She had a bottle of sleeping pills and he shook three of the pills in his hand and headed back to the den. He poured a cut crystal glass almost full of vodka then carried it over to Emily lying on the couch.

  She was snoring lightly with her head tilted back. Her mouth was open and he carefully dropped the pills into her mouth. She smacked her lips a few times then seemed to swallow, never opening her eyes.

  He placed the glass to her lips. She gulped once or twice then coughed and lurched upward spitting vodka down her front. He pulled her head back by the hair and kept slowly pouring as she swallowed audibly. “That’s a girl, all the way down, all the way, drink up, drink up,” he said until the glass was empty.

  She sank back against the couch, made a couple of noises then resumed snoring. He set the glass on the coffee table. He took the vodka bottle into the bathroom and poured a fair amount down the drain. Back in the den, he laid the crystal glass on its side and poured a small amount of vodka onto the table to make it look like she’d knocked the glass over. He stood over her, fondled her breasts for a minute or two, got no reaction, and left her snoring on the couch.