THE TIMING, JOE PARENTE [ereader ebook .txt] 📗

with Jeff went.” I asked.
“Not sure, he hasn’t come back yet.” She sounded concerned. “It must have been a good lunch, because he usually gets back to the office right away.” She thought first then said. “Maybe he was talked into the program and took a little extra time with his appointment.”

I was curious. “Do you know who he had the meeting with?”

“Actually, all I know is that a limousine picked him up in front of the office right on the minute they were supposed to meet. I was impressed. Your company knows how to run the red carpet don’t they?”

“Yeah” If she knew what I was thinking she probably wouldn’t have said that. “They do know how to pull out all the stops. The office has the resources that are not available to us lowly sales people.” I said sarcastically, then laughed. “Did you see who the limo driver was?”

“Yes, he said his name was Jules.” She re-called “he seemed like the real smiles- type if you know what I mean.”

Some how I knew the answer to my last question. “Yes I know that type.”

“See you there then?”

“Of course,” she answered.

“I have something I owe you any way.”

She sounded exited, “what is it Brad?”

“A giant hug and kiss.” Flowers with that would do well, I thought.

“Brad, I didn’t think you were so romantic.” She was toying with me and it was getting me exited.

“Stop, you’re getting me hot!”

Her telephone rang. “I’ll do more than that Bradley. Gotta go.” She hung up.

Taking the stairway, I was able to get into my room undetected, but not before I stopped by room 622. There was a maid’s cart in the hallway but I was still able to test the key card that I had picked up earlier. It didn’t work. They must have changed the code on the lock when the last person checked out. They usually do for security reasons. That’s ok, I had another plan in mind but it had to be done before the room was rented again.

It was getting to the time to meet with Judy, so I quickly freshened up and ran down the stairway, out the door and around the corner to Luigi’s Bar.

“Hi honey.” I was catching my breath as I spoke. “Sorry about being a little late.” We kissed and hugged as if we hadn’t seen each other in a year.
“Hey, that’s alright, I was a little tardy due to heavy traffic. Things turned out in time anyway.”

She stood back and took a good look. “Everything alright?”

“Yes I am much better being here with you.” I pulled her towards me again.

She noticed the new bandage. “What is that new thing there?” She pointed to the bandage. “Did my doctor do that to you, or did you bump your head once more?”

“Yeah, that’s just part of the test, I guess.” Avoiding explanation for now was best.

“Oh, ok, I almost forgot to tell you Brad, my brother didn’t show up yet. That must have been quite a lunch appointment.”

Mulling this over I asked, “That’s strange, isn’t it?”

“Yes, like I mentioned to you before, he is always back in the office after lunch, unless he is out of town.”

This was worrisome. The way things were developing, I certainly did not want anything to happen to Jeff. I dismissed these thoughts. I realized I was thinking the worst. “I hope things went well, just let me know when you hear from him.”

“Oh, I’m sure he’ll be in tomorrow.” The waitress came over and brought our drinks.

Changing the subject, I asked, “Judy, what would you think if we were able to get another room at the hotel?” I took a sip. “It seems that the walls have eyes and ears, especially since I found out that Rhortec owns The Walton Hotel.

Something else has come up. Inadvertently I had overheard a couple of guys talking on the sixth floor. It seemed that the conversation was about the operations of the company that I work for. This has put some doubt about my future with Rhortec, so naturally, I would like to know a little more of the inner- workings.”

“What would you like me to do?” She sounded intrigued.

“They know me well there, so I thought that you could rent a room for me today. The room that I want you to request is number 622. That room adjoins the room where I heard those plans.” I was hatching this scenario as I spoke.

This cloak and dagger action had her interest. “Now how do I get them to give me that particular room?”

I thought about this. “Now if you tell them that room 622 has a special meaning for you, you could say that you are meeting someone there because of a memorable time you had in that room with him a while back.” She looked into my eyes and took my hand and we kissed. “You are really something you know?”

“You’re not so bad yourself.” She said. We kissed again.

I left her there with the agreement to meet after she registered the room. I was anxious to see her and I could tell that she felt the same.

I was hooked. As she threw me on the bed, I knew that that had never happened to me before. We made mad passionate love. We had to remind each other not to make excess noise to avoid the neighbors in room 620 from hearing us.


THE TIMING Joe Parente

Chapter 9


Judy and I had gotten up at 4:00 AM. We were starving, so we grabbed breakfast at a place around the corner from the hotel. Due to the recent happenings that had surfaced, we did not want to be seen together in the restaurant at The Walton

She promised to call to give any news of her brother. Our relationship was growing better than I would ever have expected. Each time we met, it seemed that we were meant for each other. I had to admit to myself; I was falling in love.

Working the way back to my room, I was successful in not being seen. I noticed there was no message on the telephone as I tried to get a couple hours of sleep. This was impossible; my mind was working overtime thinking of all the things that were happening and all of the un-answered questions.

I had been tossing and turning until the telephone rang. It was Judy. “Brad, Jeff is gone!” She sounded desperate.

“I was afraid this was going to happen.” I decided to tell her the whole story or as much as I knew so far. After she heard what I had to say, I continued, “let me do some investigating and I’ll get right back to you.”

She said, I’m going to call in a temp. to take care of these telephones, then I will call you back; you can tell me where to meet you.

“Please give me some time so that I can find an answer first,” I pleaded.

“Brad, this is my brother.” She added in a firm tone. “I won’t take ‘no’ for an answer.”

I knew not to try to talk her out of it. “Alright, Judy, when all that happens, call me at 622 at noon, ok? We can meet there and no one will know. I’ll use that extra key to let myself in and I’ll wait for your call.”

After splashing cold water on my face, the telephone rang again. I answered, “yes, honey”—
A man’s voice spoke, “yes, honey? Brad my boy, what have you been up to?”

It was Frank! What rushed through my mind next was not to blow my cool. Somehow, Frank was involved in this whole thing and I didn’t want to show my hand. In this way, I hoped to learn more. “Sorry Frank, I thought you were someone else.”

“Hey, where have you been, oh I get it, you got lucky, right?” He laughed. “I’ve knocked on your door several times but no response.”

I ignored his question. “What did you need Frank?’ Taking a deep breath, I asked, “Did you get that list I asked for?”

“Uh, no, that information has been hard to get. I’ll need a little more time.” I could hear him stammer. Have you heard anymore about Rhortec?”
“Not yet Frank, but I’ll keep my eyes open and let you know anything I hear.” I thought, two could play that game. “How about you Frank, any news?” I paused. “Where are you staying Frank?”

“Well, I know for sure, The Old Man does own the Heritage Cab Company”—

I interrupted, “that’s old information Frank. Where did you say you were staying?” I was trying to pin him down.

“Uh, yeah, around the area, I’m trying to stay incognito, if you know what I mean.” I could feel him squirming and realized straight answers were going to be rare from Frank. “Anyway Brad, please call with anything new, ok?”

I tried to sound up-beat. I asked one more question. “Frank, why did you make the decision to leave Rhortec? I know you explained things briefly but if you could go a little more in detail I’d”—

“I’ll tell you all that later but my beeper just went off.”

“I didn’t hear anything,” I stated.

“Oh yeah, I have the damn thing on vibrate. It’s always going off when I don’t want it to. Hey, I gotta make this call; I’ll keep in touch.” He hung up.

I thought to myself; this guy is quick on his feet. I would like to catch him red handed. All of a sudden, I had a great idea.

I rushed down the back stairway and made it into room 622. As quietly as I could, I dialed Frank’s pager number, then hung up. I then rushed over to the inner door with an ear against it. When a beeper tone went off, I smiled and snapped my fingers quietly. I now knew that everything Frank had told me was a lie; and