He bit his tongue until the anger and humiliation had weakened.
“I am accepting the position,” he finally responded. “We officially have a deal.”
“How exciting.” Foster Hope pulled a business-sized envelope from his inside jacket pocket and grinned like a demon. “Then let’s get to work.”
Behind them, through the still open door, the incessant sound of a dripping faucet continued to echo, and from the far end of the hallway came what Jeff guessed was someone shuffling their feet as they walked, accompanied by occasional indecipherable voices, muffled and hushed. Somewhere in the building were others- Jessica, the mousy Ms. Gill and the tall man among them, he was sure-but there was something more…something menacing. He could feel it. Sorrow…pain…fear…all of it palpable and thickening the very air he breathed.
“There’s a young man I had some business dealings with a few months ago,” Hope explained, his voice bringing Jeff back. “He agreed to pay me for certain services we provided, but when it came time to settle his account he double-crossed me. We’re relatively certain he’s here in the city, or at least he was as of this morning, but we’re not entirely sure where.”
“So what do you want me to do?”
“You’re to find this man and convince him that it’s in his best interest to live up to his end of our business deal.”
“If you and your people can’t find him, how am I supposed to?”
Hope stared at him dully. “I never said we couldn’t find him.”
Jeff sighed, stomach churning. “What’s the deal you had with him?”
“That’s between us.” A bright chalky smile returned to his face.
“Professional discretion, you understand.”
“Mr. Hope, how am I supposed to convince him to do something if I have no idea what it is he’s supposed to do?”
“ He knows, Jeff. Your job is to simply convince him to come to me and do the right thing. To reopen our talks so that we can resolve these matters quickly and efficiently.”
“Sounds like something you’d be more than capable of handling yourself.”
“It is, but he’s refused to return my attempts to contact him. So this is a perfect first assignment for my newest negotiator.”
“OK, then how do I find him?”
Foster Hope nodded rather formally, as if to agree that the initial phase of their conversation had ended and it was time to move on to other things. He placed the envelope on the table and slid it over to Jeff. “Inside you will find information containing the man’s name, his wife’s name and their last known address. Far as we know the wife still lives there. He may as well but we can’t be sure at this point. Inside the envelope you’ll also find a private telephone number where I can be reached once the job has been completed, successfully or otherwise. You will call me at that number, you will be paid immediately thereafter and then we will both make our decisions regarding your future here.”
Jeff left the envelope where it was. “And what if I can’t find this guy, much less convince him to contact you?”
“Then you fail. But I believe that if you use your intelligence, instincts and skills as a salesman, you’ll be able to persuade him to do the right thing, the honorable thing.” He carefully combed a renegade strand of snow-white hair back from his forehead with a finger. “In all honesty, this is an easy assignment compared to most.
Don’t want to give you too tall an order right out of the gates, especially without any formal negotiator training.”
“And I do this alone?”
“I am many things, Jeff. A fool is not one of them. Of course you’ll be observed, but you will work alone.” He arched an eyebrow.
“Unless you feel you need supervision, in which case, I’d be more than happy to have Ms. Bell accompany you.”
Jeff felt his face flush. “No, I…”
“I thought not,” Hope said, laughing lightly. “This entire matter shouldn’t take more than a day to accomplish, so I want you to begin work tomorrow.”
“Why not right away?”
“Tomorrow morning. No sooner.”
Don’t argue. Agree to the conditions and get the hell out of here . “OK.”
“But I’ll expect to hear from you no later than tomorrow evening.”
Nodding, Jeff picked up the envelope.
“Any longer than that and I’ll have no choice but to assume something’s gone wrong, and then I’ll have to come looking for you.”
The old man was no longer laughing, his eyes no longer sparkling.
“And you don’t want that, Jeff, do you understand?”
“Yes,” he answered tensely, “I do.”
“Then I look forward to hearing from you. Until then, good day to you.”
Hardly.
8
At nightfall the city was still unbearably hot. After dinner Jeff collapsed into his favorite recliner and attempted to watch a baseball game but was unable to concentrate. The conversation he’d had with Mr. Hope replayed again and again in his mind, and although the entire scenario seemed fantastic at best, he realized all too well just how real this situation was. Clearly there was an illegal, underhanded and dangerous aspect to this whole thing, but if the pay was in cash, no one would know and he could walk away once he was done, he had no choice but to take the risk. What was the alternative? Letting his wife see him in that hotel room with Jessica?
He knew he’d been infuriatingly aloof since Eden had gotten home from work, but he couldn’t talk to her about what was taking place.
The only way for her to remain safe was to know nothing about any of this.
She wandered in from the bedroom wearing only a long t-shirt.
“You OK?”
“I’m fine, honey.” God how I love her, he thought. What the hell was I thinking? The guilt was so strong he couldn’t even look at her.
“You sure?”
“Yeah, just a little tired.”
“When I left for work this morning everything was great, but since I got home you’ve barely spoken to me and you’re moping around like you got some bad news or something. Is there a problem with the new job?”
“Everything’s fine.”
“You’re not acting like everything’s-”
“I just said everything’s fine, didn’t I?”
“Then why are you in such a lovely mood?”
“I’m sorry, I…” He forced a smile, aimed the remote at the TV and switched it off. “I told you, I’m just a little tired, OK? No biggie. Everything’s fine with the new job and everything else. I love you.”
“Love you, too.” She sighed, and then as if she’d just remembered, jerked a thumb at the window and said, “Hey, he’s not out there tonight.”
Jeff’s mind was so far away it took him a moment to realize who she was talking about. “I had a chat with him. I doubt he’ll be coming around anymore.”
Eden sat on the edge of the recliner. “What did you say to him?”
