She stood, offering her hand. “Pleased to meet you, Mister Morrelli. And don’t listen to that bag of wind you’re standing next to. He’ll get you in trouble.”
John took her hand and kissed it, raising a pleased smile on her face. “It’s good to see our mutual friend has such a positive influence as yourself to pattern himself after. Now if he would only do so.”
I pointed towards the corner. “The gentleman you see surrounded by all the electronic gear is our resident computer genius, Wilbur Carlyle.”
Once he’d exchanged pleasantries with Wilbur and I’d loaded us up on coffee, tea in his case, we strolled to my cubicle. “I’m glad you’re interested enough in my offer to show up. And even more so with the names you sent me. Gives us new leads to chase down in our hunt.”
“Glad to, Francis.” He took two folders from his briefcase as we sat. “I’m tickled you thought of me when looking for someone to run your publishing company. Here’s a copy of what you sent me that outlined the business. I’ve got a few comments, and some questions.” For over an hour we went over the documents.
I saved and printed out two copies of the new document we’d come up with. “Thanks for going over this with me. There’s a lot more to this publishing than I thought.”
He bobbed his head in thanks when I handed him a copy. “No problem. If I hadn’t been involved with its different aspects over the years, I’d probably not be much help. But I think we have something here that’ll work out nicely.”
I nodded. “Then the only other thing we need to discuss is what you’d be willing to work for.”
A large smile spread across his face. “How about starting at sixty grand, and within five years getting ten percent of the business instead of a wage?”
I looked at him bemusedly. “How long do you think we’d need to start operating in the black?”
“Two years.” He paused, draining his cup of tea. “That’s with the present folks we’d be able to have sign up with us now, and the sales force I have available. In this case, I know six folks willing to work on commission who already sell books for other publishers. They’d jump at the chance to work with us, too.”
“Forty percent,” I said.
“Er-How much?”
I handed him my copy of what we’d been talking over the past hour. “Sixty thousand a year right now, switching to forty percent of the business soon as my original investment is paid back. Whether that’s five months or five years.”
He fingered the papers, a thoughtful look on his face. “You know what you’re offering me?”
I nodded. “Yeah. The chance to go broke or get really rich if you’re good at what you do.”
He stuck out his hand. “Done. And I think you’ll be surprised at how soon we reach that goal.”
“I hope I am. But in the meantime, I’d like to go over the information you sent me about Willie’s past acquaintances. I’ve set up a little visitation to the home of the first on my list. Thought I might see if he’s still involved with Willie.”
“How’re you going to do that without-er…”
I gave a sour smile. “Without using torture? No, I’m trying to break that habit. Does bad things to your psyche. Wilbur’s given me some gadgets to attach to any computer systems they might have. And if for some strange reason they’re not into that kind of stuff yet, I’ll just steal the information from their paper files. Usually ends up being a mix of both, I’ve found.”
He sat up straighter. “When’re you going to do that?”
“Tonight. If I can find someone to be my lookout. Everyone else in the office is tied up.”
He shrugged. “I’ll do it, long as I don’t have to break in to the place.”
I stood, slapping him on the back. “Great! Let’s go get ready, and I’ll brief you up. We’ll head out at nine-thirty tonight.”
John turned out to be a top-notch driver when going to pull a job. No rules broken, speed limit at all times—boring. “So how many of these kind of jobs you do a year?” he asked as we exited the freeway into the town of Kirkland.
“I used to do one a month on the average when I was in the biz. This is only my third this year. Not as much fun when you don’t steal very much. Nowadays, I do it for information.” Usually, I thought.
He stopped at a light. “How’d your team decide this place was the first choice to break into?”
“Good question. Usually the first one we’d go with would be the easiest to do. But this case was different. We weren’t able to get all the data we needed right away on the other two we’re planning on, so went with this one instead.” I glanced around as the light turned green. “Also, we got word they would be gone for the next couple nights to a meeting in Oregon. Got to strike while the iron’s hot, as they say.”
John turned down a side street. “About ten more blocks according to the GPS. What then?”
“After you drop me off, park a block or so away; somewhere the streetlight doesn’t shine on you and you still have a good view of the front of the place so you can be my lookout. Then when I give you the word, go four blocks west to the neighborhood bar. Park in the lot, and I’ll meet you there.”
We passed in front of the single story home, me eyeing the place while he studied the neighborhood. After ten, and no
