The Bee Keeper

by Vincent, Tracy D

  “Yup, we know who gots them, boss. The cartel in South Hampstead took them exactly as agreed upon. They are already sending us our finder’s fee.” He sits back in his chair and crosses his legs.

  “What about the drugs, Marco? Are we expecting a new shipment or is it going to be combined with the gun shipment?”

  “Nah, boss, it’s already in and on the streets. We’re selling more blow to the yokels, but we’re taking a third of it and cutting it for the street kids. With the blow usage going up and becoming pretty sweet, we might want to consider bringing more in so we can keep the supply up.”

  “Who’s our competition in that area? Because if they can be taken out easily, do so and keep the supply the same. If not, then we need to hurt them and undercut their business or try to bring them into the fold. See what you can dig up on them if you can’t kill them. If we can get enough dirt, we can bring them in and we will have their supplier as well.”

  “’Kay, boss, kill’m or fold’m.”

  I tell them about Giovanni’s wedding and what that could mean for us. This is a situation we need to keep an eye on. I explain that we need to keep our ears down to the ground to listen for any rumblings about the Russians. I refuse to let them touch foot in Hartford, let alone set up shop.

  I glance at my phone again. An hour and a half and still nothing from Maya or Edward.

  “Rodrigo will be here in a moment. Do you have any news on Giuseppe?”

  Marco sat forward, “Yeah, he was in P3 a few weekends ago and he seemed mighty friendly with this fine ass blonde. I mean, she is so fine, your dick would get hard from glancing at her.”

  “Interesting. I thought he was only into dudes?” Kane pipes up. He’s the quiet one, and aside from Phillip, Kane is the most lethal of the bunch.

  “Dude, this bitch is enough to make any fag straight. She has these large, perky tits and a big round ass, but she’s tall and thin. I swear she looks like a cartoon drawn by a horny man.” Marco is a hand talker, and his gestures are as lewd as his words as he’s describing this woman.

  “Maybe I should talk with her,” Kane says, “I do like women built like brick shithouses and I haven’t had my dick wet in a week.”

  “Enough with the wet dicks. Giuseppe was seen with this woman. Did he leave with her?” I bring us back to business.

  “Man, he practically fucked her at the bar. How the fuck can a twink like him get a woman like her to look at him, I don’t know. Maybe he’s hung like a bear?” Marco snickers at his own joke.

  “Okay, look into her, John, when you have a moment.”

  He nods his head and the knock at the door behind him stops all conversation. I call Rodrigo in and we get to Scarelli business.

  The meeting carries on longer than I’m happy with. But nothing can be done about that. It’s been three hours since I called Maya and Edward and still no one has gotten in touch with me.

  Sitting in my library, I lean back and call Maya’s friend Jillian. I’m not sure I like her much. Since she went to the university, she’s been putting ideas in Maya’s head about her rights and her freedoms. As if I would deny Maya anything. I just don’t let her do anything that will jeopardize her or my livelihood.

  After the second ring, Jillian answers. “Hi, Mr. Hauer! How are you doing?”

  “I’m well, Jillian. And yourself?” I really hate these pleasantries that I’m expected to go through with people. It’s as if they assume that I have all the time in the world to talk nonsense with them. I just want to say what I have to say, hear what I want to hear, and move on to the next person.

  “I’m doing well. Have you heard from Maya today? She was supposed to call me this morning, but she never did. I hope the food poisoning wasn’t worse than we thought.”

  “No, I haven’t heard from her since Saturday night. That’s why I’m calling you. No one called to tell me that Maya was sick or even in the hospital.” I try to keep my voice reasonable. It’s hard to be reasonable when it comes to my daughter.

  “OH, Mr. Hauer! I’m so sorry, I thought Meghan did! I apologize.” She sounds sincerely upset, so I guess I can forgive her for being so airheaded.

  “Who’s Meghan?” Maya’s never mentioned a Meghan before.

  “She’s my friend and roommate from the university. She’s a doctor who’s recently moved here for her job. When we were out, we went to the spa. You know the one down there by Pierre’s, the French restaurant? We went there first, had some champagne and got pampered, then we went to a late lunch at Pierre’s. We decided to go to Club Isis in New Leonsburg but Maya started getting all crampy in the limo, and Meghan shooed us all out and took her to her doctor’s office for rest and testing. She called me later and said that it was mild food poisoning and that she was keeping her overnight for IV fluids and observation, but that she would call me today and we could pick her up then.” She prattles on almost endlessly.

  How can women stand talking to one another? They talk circles and a million miles an hour and give play-by-plays instead of succinct sentences that give strictly the information requested.

  “Where is Meghan’s office?” I rub my temples; my head is starting to pound from all the yammering.

  “You know, I don’t know, I guess I could call Meghan and ask for you and we could ride up there together to pick up—”

  I interrupted her, “No, just her phone number. I’ll get the information I need from this Dr. Meghan woman.”

  “Oh, sure, Mr. Hauer. It’s 879-555-4283. Tell Maya I said hi and I’ll see her later!”

  “Yes, Jillian. Thank you.” I hang up the phone and dial this unknown doctor.

  The phone rings a few times before a sultry voice answers, “Dr. Staples speaking.”

  “Is this Meghan?” I ask briskly. Though she sounds sexy as sin, I am impatient and concerned for my daughter.

  “Yes, this is Dr. Meghan Staples. And you are?”

  “Timo Hauer, Maya’s father. I called Jillian and she gave me your number. I hope you don’t mind. Is she alright? I just heard word today that she had taken ill last night.” Fucking pleasantries. Fucking women who expect them. I can tell that Dr. Staples expects them by the way she answers her phone, all prim and proper.

  “Oh yes! Mr. Hauer, so nice to talk with you. Maya’s mentioned you.”

  “Speaking of Maya, can I speak with her, she still isn’t answering her phone.” I cut to the chase because I just don’t have the inclination anymore.

  “Unfortunately, you can’t. She was quite dehydrated last night and she’s been pretty ill. She’s sleeping at the moment. If you’d like, you can come pick her up in a couple of hours to take her home. Everything has been checking out fine today. So given rest, plenty of fluids, and a prescription for nausea, she’ll recover relatively quickly.”

  “Where are you located?”

  “Do you know where the Department of Science and Technology building is?”

  “Of course.”

  “I’m located in that building.”

  “The Department of Science and Technology? I thought you were a doctor, why is my daughter in the Department of Science and Technology?” I yell into the phone.

  “Sir, I am a doctor of biomedical science. I’m a researcher here, but I’m fully capable of diagnosing and treating patients—legally. We have a fully functioning lab and I can get results much faster than if I were to have taken her to county or to Angel’s Mercy Hospital. We even have rooms here for patients. So, if you don’t mind, Mr. Hauer, please watch your tone. I don’t like to be disrespected by someone I don’t know,” she says haughtily.

  “I’ll be there in two hours to pick her up. Have everything ready including the bill. Good day.” I hang up the phone without waiting for her to respond. I fucking hate high-handed doctors who think they know everything. Why should I have to wait two hours to pick up my own daughter, shouldn’t she be well enough to pick up now? So, she might have to be awake for a few minutes between there and here.

 
Fucking women.

  I sit in my office going through the paperwork for the day, waiting out my two hours until I can see my daughter. I try Edward’s phone again and still no luck. I call the senator to see if he’s talked to him, but he says Edward mentioned going out with Junior for the weekend and that they were probably sleeping off a bender. Fucking mooks. Every goddamned one of them.

  One of Maria’s daughters comes into the office and interrupts me. “Sir, the car will be ready in thirty minutes.”

  “Come here,” I command the pretty girl. “Which of Maria’s daughters are you?”

  “Carmen.” Her eyes stay downcast. Good.

  “Carmen, how old are you?”

  “Eighteen, sir.” Still has her eyes turned down. Maria has schooled her daughter well.

  “On your knees.”

  Her eyes dart to mine.

  “Mistake number one,” I say as I make my way to her, “is not doing exactly as I tell you when I tell you to do it, Carmen.”

  I backhand her hard enough for my ring to cut a small groove into her cheek. “Mistake number two is looking at me as if you’re going to challenge what I tell you.”

  I palm her face and push her down to her knees. “Now, get on your godforsaken knees.”

  She’s crying now. Shit. I pull my dick out and stick it in her mouth to shut her up. She’s crying around my slowly stiffening cock. She knows exactly how I like it. I continue to face fuck her until I get off in her hair. I glance at my watch and notice that I have a few minutes until the car is here. I leave her kneeling on the floor quietly crying. I pause in the doorway and toss her a couple of bills from my wallet.

  “Thank you, sweetheart. Maybe we’ll have more time later to finish this. I’ll be sure to return the favor.”

  I leave the house and the drive to the good doctor’s office doesn’t take twenty-five minutes. The entire time I spend it on the phone with Regina setting up our date for the next night.

  The Department of Science and Technology is one of these newer fashioned buildings. All modern architecture that is comprised of blacks and silvers and straight lines. Not much in the way of character. But it’s a building full of scientists, what do they care about style and character. So long as they have their geek gear, they’re as happy as pigs in shit.

  I walk into the building and there is a huge lobby with a lone desk in the middle of it. At this desk sits a younger, rather attractive woman with red hair and glasses. She looks up at me, and it’s obvious that she doesn’t know who I am.

  “Welcome to the Department of Science and Technology. How may I help you today?” she says with a cool professionalism.

  “I’m here to pick up my daughter, Maya Hauer. Can you have her brought down, please?”

  “Excuse me, sir? There’s no one who works here by that name.” She doesn’t even bother to look on her computer.

  “She doesn’t work here, she’s a patient here and I was told I could pick her up now, so get her and bring her down.”

  She laughs. “I’m sorry, you must have us mistaken for one of the local hospitals. County Hospital is located—”

  “Listen”—I glance at her name plate—“Elizabeth Perkins. Dr. Staples told me to come here and pick up my daughter, Maya Hauer, so I expect you to get my daughter and bring her to me.”

  I might be a lot of things, but I’m very hands on with my daughter; she belongs to me and if something is wrong with her, I have to be the one to deal with everything. I didn’t with her mother and look at where that landed me.

  “Dr. Staples told you to pick her up here? Okay, she didn’t inform me she had a patient here. One moment, I’ll call her.” Her tone is still coolly professional and completely unruffled. She must not recognize the Hauer name.

  “Hello, Dr. Staples. I have a Mr.—” She looks at me expectantly.

  “Hauer.”

  “Hauer, in the front lobby, and he’s requesting that we bring his daughter down. He says she’s a patient of yours.” She starts typing on her keyboard. “Yes, ma’am. I’ll let him know.”

  She turns to me and still as unimpressed as before says, “Mr. Hauer, Dr. Staples will be down in a moment. She said that Maya is not yet ready, but she will be soon. She said that you’ll be more comfortable in her offices.”

  I simply nod at her. Within a few moments, a woman who would rival my sweet Nicola in looks walks into the lobby. She’s the opposite of my wife in almost every way. My wife was short and slim and had dark hair and eyes. This woman is tall and voluptuous with golden hair and glittering blue eyes.

  She walks over to me and holds out her hand. “Mr. Hauer? I’m Dr. Meghan Staples. Nice to make your acquaintance. If you and your guards will follow me, I’ll take you to our offices.”

  I motion for my men to follow us. We take a private elevator to the top floor of the building and we walk out into this extremely white space. It smells like a hospital up here. This is not what I expected when I walked into this building. She shows us to a room and waits for us all to enter before she shuts the door behind us.

  “Sorry, this isn’t a typical waiting room or my office. My office is essentially the lab. We see patients and their families in these rooms rather than lobbies because this feels homier and more comforting than distant and sterile.” She motions for us to take seats. My men take the kitchenette chairs, and I sit on the sofa.

  “Can I get anyone anything to drink? We have all the basic stuff in the back.”

  “We’ll all have coffee. Black. Nothing added,” I tell her, ordering for us all.

  “Got it. I’ll be right back.”

  She heads out the door on the opposite side of the room, closest to a hospital bed. This must be where they keep their patients.

  This room is decorated more like a home should be. There are paintings on the walls, and there’s color in here. Granted, it’s really cheap stuff, big box store type furniture, but it’s better than all the modern shit they try to pass off these days.

  She comes back after only being gone a few moments with four cups of coffee. She hands my three guards their cups and hands me mine. We all sip it. It’s a good brew. Better than most office coffee.

  “Not bad coffee. Thank you.”

  “Not a problem, it’s just the thing to warm you up on this chilly November day.”

  “My thoughts exactly. Dr. Staples, I’m going to cut to the chase. How did Maya get food poisoning?”

  “We went out to her favorite spa and we snacked around and drank champagne there. Then we went to a restaurant. Forgive me, but I can’t remember which one it is now. I’m sure she knows. And we ate there. Then she started getting sick. So, it could have been from either place. We won’t know until others start developing cases and we can pinpoint the exact location and food source.”

  “But she’s okay?” I take a large gulp of the coffee.

  “Of course. She just needs to rest. Her body has been purging itself for the past twenty-four or so hours. So, she's pretty worn out and sore.”

  “Okay, good. I can’t have my girl getting sick on me.” I drink more of my coffee, draining the cup.

  “It’s just a mild case, Mr. Hauer, she’ll be just fine. Would you fellas like more coffee?” She stands and heads to the table with the guards. When they all nod their heads, she gathers their cups and heads out the door again.

  I yawn really large. I haven’t slept well in the past few days. It is all catching up to me, I guess. I lean back against the sofa cushions and I yawn again.

  I open my eyes and I find that I’m laying down on my back. “The fuck am I?”

  “Hello, Mr. Hauer. I’m glad to see you’ve finally woken up.”

  I turn my head to look at the owner of that sinful voice, and I see the lady from earlier. Dr. Staples. I try to sit up and find myself strapped down.

  “What the hell?”

  “Oh come on, Mr. Hauer, I was told you liked it kinky.” She gives me a large smile and runs her hand up my thigh.


  My dick stays flaccid.

  “Only when I’m the one tying people down. Where the fuck are my men?” Though inside I’m apprehensive and pissed, I try to not reflect that in my voice.

  “They’re indisposed at the moment. I just thought it would be good to have a familiar face when you woke up. My partner thought it would be best this way due to the nature of his business. His identity needs to remain a secret. So surely, you understand.” Her eyes look into mine with a genuine concern, restoring some of my calm.

  “Untie me.”

  “Mr. Hauer, for my safety is why you’re restrained. We knew that you’d be upset, and you’re not known for your pacifist nature.”

  “Untie me. I won’t hurt you,” I reply, correcting my earlier statement.

  “I can’t, but my associate can if he wants to. I’ll be back. I’m going to let him know that you’re here and awake.” She turns away from me and walks through the back door of the room and I’m alone.

  My phone rings in my pocket. It’s Silvestro’s ring tone. What the fuck can he want with me now? It’s frustrating that I cannot get to my phone. It stops after only four rings. Almost immediately it rings again, and this time it’s Antonio’s ringtone. What the fuck? Why would that fucking garlic-sniffing douchebag call me? He’s only called me four times in the past fifteen years.

  His ringtone goes on forever. He has to be calling me back because it’s repeated itself over and over again. Finally, my phone beeps to let me know that there is a new voicemail.

  “How long does this asshole need? My arms are starting to hurt.” I say out loud to myself. My phone beeps again. This time it’s my text message alerts going off.

  The door finally opens and this man comes out. He’s wearing a lab coat, jeans, and sneakers. His hair is brown and thinning and he has a close-cut beard and glasses. He reminds me of John Smith, kind of in that non-descript way. This guy is a nobody in a room of people.

  “Sorry to keep you waiting, Mr. Hauer. I’m Dr. Jack Miller. Dr. Staples says that you wish to be untied. Just give me a moment to put my things down.” The guy seems friendly enough with a ready smile on his face. Something about his eyes, though, has me puzzled.