Chapter 9
As I entered Ranger's office, I noticed the proposal and copies on his desk. "Have you read it?" I asked. The contract with SI would cost Rangeman roughly a million dollars per year, but we can't gather a fraction of the information with our current programs. It would cost us nearly that much for someone to create the programs for Rangeman. Not to mention the cost to maintain and improve program efficiency.
The remaining core members arrived as I started reading the proposal. I already knew the contents, but I had to maintain ignorance. Ranger didn't know I was a silent partner at SI.
"Yes. It's very reasonable." He handed copies to each core team member. "Hiring Sleuth Investigators will free up more men to run government special ops and allow us to expand our business. I was planning to hire another 6 men to conduct searches alone. With the efficiency of SI programs, we could easily afford to contract them to complete the searches for us," he explained. "We could finally expand Rangeman to New York, Texas and California."
I knew there was a key point in the proposal he was neglecting to mention. In fact, it was my suggestion. If we hired SI, both Silvio and Rodriguez would essentially be out of a job. On the second to last page was the request to permanently transfer both Silvio and Rodriguez to the SI team. If they agree to the transfer, they would receive a sign on bonus and receive the same compensation as Rangeman to start. Further compensation would be determined during contract negotiations.
"If we agree to sign with SI, not only will they run all required searches, they will provide consultation services to strategize for our government missions. I'm surprised their fee isn't higher than the proposed 1.3 million." He continued reading. "Of course, the fee was reduced in trade for securing their new office building."
Rangeman recently hired a programmer to replace Hector. Although he has excellent skills, they don't come close to matching Hector's. I'm thankful Hector is the sole programmer for SI. Hugh Walters, our head of IT, discovered parts of the code written to secure Rangeman couldn't be changed. I was planning to ask Hector about it at our meeting tomorrow night.
Getting back to our business at hand, the team agreed to hire Sleuth Investigators. Since it involves my wife's company, I was tasked to meet with both Silvio and Rodriguez regarding their potential placement within the company. The Rangeman lawyer will be contacting SI's lawyer to outline all responsibilities and expectations for both Rangeman and Sleuth Investigators. We agreed to sign for 5 years with the standard 5% fee increase per year.
The lawyers quickly drew up contracts for Sleuth Investigators. Each core team member readily signed the contract. An original signed copy was stored at each lawyer's office as well as in Ranger's and Stephanie's office safes.
With the increase in employees at Sleuth, the business was moved down the road from Rangeman. Our house was too small to accommodate the ever increasing staff. The building only has 5 floors. As we have at Rangeman, SI has an underground garage, gun range, gym and offices. A few conference rooms are located on the main floor for client meetings. Client parking was in the lot beside the building. Only SI employees had access to underground parking and the other 4 floors. There was no need to hire a medic or housekeeper. None of the employees would be living on site.
Hector hired a few men to work security for the building. They would be responsible for ensuring the equipment isn't removed from the secured floors and to remove unwanted guests from the premises.
I was surprised when my cousin Tamara was hired to clean the building and provide meals for the staff. When I asked Stephanie, she replied, "Tia Ella already has a job. Your cousin Tamara was looking for work. She completed culinary school last year, but none of the restaurants would hire her without at least 2 years of experience. Once she saves enough money, we'll help her open her own restaurant." My beautiful wife was always willing to help people, especially family. She is an amazing woman.
A few weeks later, Ranger made a company wide announcement that Sleuth Investigators will be handling all searches beginning Monday of the following week. He gave a brief description of the business and what services they're offering to Rangeman. Several men were shocked when they learned the CEO was none other than my gorgeous wife Stephanie.
The next day, I sent Silvio a brief message to explain the purpose of his flight to Trenton next Thursday. He quickly replied asking to schedule the meeting for tomorrow. Rodriguez was also excited to meet with me. After hearing Ranger's announcement, they were hoping Stephanie will hire them at her company. Neither men were interested in the other aspects of Rangeman.
Beautiful suggested I send them a text during the announcement asking for them to hold off on tendering their resignation at Rangeman. How she knew their plan was a mystery to me. She has a special place in her heart for Silvio. There was no love lost between her and Rodriguez, but I knew she secretly admired him as he admires her. After all, Rodriguez praised her ability to ferret out information from minimal search criteria. He primarily used her search results and insight to plan takedown strategies. I could see the two of them becoming close friends.
I arranged for the company jet to bring Silvio and his family to Trenton early Thursday morning. They agreed to stay in our guest rooms until they returned to Miami on Sunday. His children would be missing a few days of school, but they didn't complain. The kids could have stayed with their grandparents, but Silvio knew Beautiful would want to meet them. She's going to be surprised when arrive for a visit. Beautiful assumed I would have a Skype or FaceTime meeting with him. I'm flying them to Trenton as a surprise for her.
Silvio is a very intelligent man. He arranged for a lawyer to be available in case of contract negotiations. During our last call, he asked if I mentioned the arrangements to Stephanie. He knows she doesn't like surprises and strongly suggested I tell her about his family's accommodations while visiting Trenton.
Taking his advice, I called my wife. "Hello sexy," she answered. "What can I do to help?"
"Hi Baby. We're having some guests stay with us from Thursday until Sunday afternoon."
"Oh? Do I know these guests?" she queried.
"Of course you do." I wondered how long it would take for her to figure out who was visiting.
"Sweetheart, thank you so much. I can't wait to meet Savannah and the boys. Silvio always talks about his family, but I've never met them. I'm so excited to finally meet Anna," she excitedly said.
"How did you figure it out?" I asked.
Her infectious laughter had me smiling. "Sexy, who else would you be willing to have in our home? The guys crash in the basement when they stay here. You never refer to them as guests. Besides, your team agreed to have Silvio and Rodriguez transfer to SI."
I always knew my wife was intelligent. "I love you Baby. You are the most gorgeous, intelligent woman I know. I'm proud to be your husband, Beautiful."
"I love you too Les. I'm proud to be your wife. When do our guests arrive?" she asked.
"Tomorrow afternoon. Do you think your boss would allow you to take the afternoon off?" I joked.
"She's quite the hard ass. I'm not sure she'll give me the time. I may have to call in sick." I loved her banter. In the background, I could hear her heels echo off the floor. A few dings and a car starting were barely audible.
"If it would help, I could alway convince her to give you time off," I huskily stated. I left my office to take my lunch break.
"My boss would need a lot of persuasion," she sexily purred.
I took the stairs to the garage. After a quick check, I noticed her car was nearly home. It would only take me a few minutes more to arrive at the house. "Do you have plans for lunch?" I asked.
"Yes. I'm planning to meet my sexy husband for a hot lunch," she teased.
I stepped on the gas to quickly get home. It was sheer luck I didn't get pulled over by the police car I sped past.
My phone chimed as I pulled into the driveway behind my wife's car. 'Tell Steph I said hi.' I checked who sent the message. Laughing, I showed Beautiful the message.
"Just great! Now everyone will know we met for a quickie. Carl better keep his mouth shut. In fact, I'll text him now." I watched as she quickly fired off a text.
I heard my phone chime, but I ignored the message. My beautiful wife has my full attention. Sweeping her off her feet, I quickly carried her into the house and locked the door. We spent our lunch hour making love. I simply cannot get enough of her.