The Merger – 29

 

The intercom buzzed, Mike answered then told the others, "Mr. Stanton is here," before asking Rosie to send him in.

"George," Osborne said, getting to his feet. "Thank you for coming so quickly."

George Stanton was a man in his late fifties with steel-gray hair and eyes to match. He crossed the office to shake Osborne's hand. He turned to Josh. "I'm glad to know you're involved in this. And you are?" he asked Mike.

"Mike Harte. Josh and I are partners in our agency," Mike replied.

Stanton nodded. "I've heard of you, although I wasn't aware the two of you had joined forces. Now, what are we dealing with and how can I and my people help?"

Mike shot Josh a relieved look as Osborne said, "For starters, would you please send some of your people to my house to protect my wife and daughter?"

Stanton immediately made a call, giving whoever answered instructions and the address, once he'd confirmed it with Osborne. "Get in touch with your wife to let her know they're on their way." He gave him their names and Osborne called  her.

"All right, fill me in on exactly what's happening," Stanton said, taking a seat in one of the two visitor chairs. He listened, nodding occasionally without interrupting, until Mike and Josh had finished.

"When you got here, we were trying to decide where the best place to wait would be," Mike said in conclusion.

Getting up, Stanton went to look at the bank's floor plan, which was still up on Mike's laptop. "I would suggest here."

Josh looked then glanced at Mike. "I told you he was good."

From there, the four men worked on finalizing their plans, but not until Mike had called the client who was due in at eleven, asking if he'd mind if Mike emailed him the information on the background checks he'd done, explaining that an emergency had come up that he had to handle immediately. The man agreed, so Mike took a few minutes to send him the file.

"He's one of those people who like to be hands-on, including coming in so I can go over them with him in person," Mike explained when he finished.

Stanton chuckled. "We have a couple of clients like that. If they don't meet with us face-to-face, they don't think they're getting their money's worth."

By the time they had covered all the details on how they would catch the men threatening Osborne, it was almost eleven thirty. Stanton left, telling the others he and one other man would be at the bank well before closing time to get in place. Osborne left, as well, to return to the bank and await everyone's arrival.

Mike had two early afternoon appointments, one to give a client a final report on surveillance he'd done, the other to tell a woman that he'd located her missing sixteen-year-old daughter who had, it turned out, run away to be with her older boyfriend. The woman was not happy about that but was relieved to know it wasn't something much worse.

Josh took off to set up a security system for a new client, promising to be back by three—which he was. Then, after making certain they had everything they needed, including four of Josh's charged Tasers, they left for the bank with stops at their apartments to pick up a change of clothes.