Monday came and almost like clockwork Lester, Hector, Manny and Ram stood in front of my office, looking slightly worried.
"Did something happen?" Lester asked and I shock my head. I found it funny how, despite the fact that these were all tough guys, they were always worried something might have happened.
"I actually need to speak to all of you. If you'd please close the door?" I asked and saw them looking at me even more worried now. Once they all found a seat I went on. "Can I just ask, before we start, that whatever is being said and discussed stays within this office and between us? Anyone who isn't here is not supposed to be aware of anything."
More worry lines in all faces. And maybe I could have phrased this slightly different.
"Not even Tank or Bobby?" Manny asked and I shock my head no. "Since they aren't here and part of this they aren't supposed to know about what I'm going to tell you and ask of you. It is… however nothing bad. Quite the opposite maybe. I just would like to keep this 'project' under wraps and between just the five of us until I worked through a few questions and issues that have come up in regards of it."
All of them looked at each other, probably not used to let someone like Tank or Bobby – who were quiet high in the chain of command – out of communication. But than again, I was their boss and even higher in the chain of command, so in the end it would be fine. And it wasn't as if I was asking them to go against any RangeMan policy or the company itself. Though, I needed to admit, it was an odd feeling leaving the Core Team out of this. But, the less witnesses, the better to keep this under wraps.
"I was approached by a … a friend you could say, yesterday and due to the nature of her occupation I'd like to keep a very tight and closed lid on this. Since she had made a few unfortunate experiences in regards of security and the guys watching her back, I made a careful list of people I'd think would work out for the job. I emailed her my suggestion of the four of you and she greenlighted all of you."
"Who's the friend?" Ram asked curious.
"Marylin Swanson," I just said and saw Lester grin all of a sudden while the other three had their eyes wide in surprise.
"The actress?" Manny asked and I nodded. "You are friends with Marylin Swanson?" he asked a moment later and I needed to laugh. He seemed all of a sudden like a small little boy.
"Friend is maybe a bit too farfetched. We… mingle in similar circles from time to time," I suggested and even that was farfetched, since the only circle we mingled in was our high school reunion and that probably would never happen again in my book. I had no need for repeating that experience.
Judging by the still raised eyebrows I assumed that my explanation didn't find many believers. Not that it really mattered.
"Anyway," I went on, gathering everyone's attention. "I asked Tank to take you off the roster for the next two weeks, unless you of course do not want to partake in this for whatever reason. Since this is a rather high-profile client I would assume that pictures sooner or later make the rounds and our little secret will no longer be our secret alone. I'm aware I'll be asking a lot of you guys for keeping this under wraps for as long as possible, but…. I just feel that the buzz this would create is something that isn't needed right now."
"So if anyone asks us, you want us to tell them what exactly?" Ram asked and I looked amused at him.
"Tell me, how often do you get asked right now when you aren't in the office what you did all day?" I asked cheekily. At my question all four of them laughed as well. "Look, I obviously needed to tell Tank something and for what it's worth I just said that I was looking into something and had a side project for a few days that I'd talk about once I know where and how it's going. As far as I know he wasn't interested in a lot more and out of all the Merry Men Tank is probably the furthest away from a gossip. And the last thing I want from any of you is to lie to anyone."
I saw a lot of nodding as if everyone was understanding what I was saying despite the fact that I wasn't sure myself what exactly I was trying to bring across.
"So, what's the plan then?" Lester asked out of the blue, seeming more serious all of a sudden. "Do we built teams and take turns in guarding her. What exactly does she need from us and are there any things to look out for?"
"For the moment it won't be necessary to built teams since I think one person will be enough. We'll play this a bit by ear since Marylin herself wasn't very sure about what exactly she wanted or needed. All she really said was that it needed to feel right. I guess it will be a bit of trial and error and I asked her to be bluntly honest with any of us in regards of what works for her and not, what makes her feel comfortable and what uncomfortable. Since all of you all did a fair share in regards of guarding duty and looking out for threats while blending in with your surroundings, I assume it will be easier for all of you than it would be for me in general. I worked out a small, provisional roster for the moment that can still be scheduled around or changed if something doesn't work for you," I explained, handing a small stack of papers to Lester, who was sitting closest to me. He handed the stack to his neighbour, keeping one paper and studying it. When everyone had a paper and had have time to look at it, we broke.
"Any questions, concern or requests for changes, let me know."
A final nod from everyone and then I was left alone, tackling the paperwork on my desk and a bunch of post-it notes requesting my attention at my screen.
Four days after the first trial in regards of Marylin Swanson I got a call from her, telling me that things worked out better than she had assumed and she was very happy with everything and for the first time in a long time felt like she actually could have a somewhat normal life without the feeling of someone constantly being in her space. It was the feedback I needed and assured her that even if she should decide a day or a week from now that things weren't working out to let me know.
No one at the office was any wiser in regards of our newest client and I was surprised that it was that easy to keep things under wraps. I had expected some detail to somehow make it out, but nothing. Tank kept asking me occasionally what Lester and the others were working on, but never asked further when I explained that they were looking into something for me. He usually just nodded at that and let me know that if I needed further help to let him know. I wasn't sure whether he really didn't care or wasn't curious for a second, but loved him for the fact that he didn't push further.
About a week into the assignment things still looked good and Marylin dropped heavy hints that she was more than open and happy about the idea of maybe hiring us on a permanent basis. I had spent already a week to look into options and maybe get the idea of an office in LA transformed into reality but often enough hit a brick wall. Until today, when the Times ran a piece on abandoned factory sites where companies had shut down years ago and where the sites never had been used again for anything really. Supposedly these sites were all over the country and usually ran rather cheap since no one wanted them. It was a lot of land for little money and a lot of places started looking for alternate ideas in regards of bringing some sort of life back in to them.
"I need to head to LA," I informed Tank a day after the article and after I had researched for a while.
He looked up from his papers and just nodded. Had I mentioned I loved him? He didn't ask unnecessary questions. As a matter of fact, he hardly ever asked any questions.
"When were you thinking of going?"
"Next week. I need to look into something that is a bit time sensitive. I can't free up my schedule for the rest of the week, so I was thinking I'll head out the coming weekend."
"Wanna share what it is about? Anything to do with the side project you have Lester and the others pulled away for?"
"Yes and no really," I replied, moving my head from left to right. "It is technically connected to it in a way. I'm looking into the expansion we were talking about," I went on and said "But," before he could interrupt. "I have no specifics yet and just want to check out a few things, run a few numbers and just…look how it all pans out. I have a rough preliminary setup and a few numbers to play with, but I need to make it there to actually look at stuff and meet a few people."
At that Tank just nodded and said nothing else. "Wanna come with me?" I asked out of the blue. I knew I needed to take someone with me and Tank was a good option.
"Can't," he just said. "Someone has to make sure this company is having leadership," he grinned and I smiled back. Sometimes I really forgot that he was technically my second in command. Well, nothing technically about it really.
"I'll go and find someone else than," I just replied grinning, seeing him grin back.
My first choice was Cal, but he had to decline as well, seeing as Bobby had been chasing him down since a while now for his annual physical. "He'd probably find a painful way of making me aware I'm long overdue," Cal remarked with a rueful smile and I was left finding other options. Not that there weren't a lot to choose from. I ended up going with Zero and Slick and it would turn out to be a good fit and great idea. Both of them could actually look at this from a different perspective. While I talked numbers and costs and just general ideas, they could look at this from an actual employee's point of view, seeing apartment options on site, facilities for gym, gun range and the likes.
So we set out on our hunt and adventure Saturday morning at 6am. I had decided on taking my dog with me, seeing as I felt I wasn't spending enough time with him. Technically that was true, but he was also in training for his K9 division, so it wasn't like he had a lot of time missing me. Despite how enthusiastically he greeted me almost very night. But than again, he was a puppy, they were suposed to be excited.
We took the RangeMan jet, travelled rather lightly since I wasn't planning on a very long trip and went through the agenda and meetings during our trip. A hotel had been booked and Tank had promised me to have a car ready and waiting when we touched down at a small private airfield outside the city. I had contacted several people in regards of a few industrial sites I was interested in and arranged for a viewing, asking them to sent me a short information beforehand in regards of money they were thinking about.
I had arranged for three sites to visit – one each day – and was excited for this to take off. I knew from my budget meetings and also from Taylor what to expect, what to take into consideration and what exactly was usually driving up costs.
The first visit was horrible. No nice way to go about it. The site was filled with the ugliest constructions I had ever seen who had the oddest and most useless layout possible. It had a great size but was completely wrong. Walls and odd spacing everywhere and just a general odd feeling about everything. One could knock the building down and strat from scratch, but that would bring up the costs and was time consuming.
The second site was technically amazing – modern, light, ample of space that one could actually make something off. It was a great location in regards of infrastructure, but was on the pricier side. Not too bad and still within the budget idea. Until Zero pointed out a few things. Mainly the entire front of windows, which I adored and loved, but were an issue according to my Merry Man. Most if it would need to be replaced with bulletproof glass and that wasn't cheap, especially seeing how many windows we were talking about.
The third one was… not off to a promising start. Pricewise was it located between the other two locations and the drive up to the side didn't bode well. It was a rather ugly surrounding, and the building looked extremely ran down. Graffiti and broken windows were the least problems really. The whole façade had an ugly colouring which made it stand out for sure, but for all the wrong reasons. I was almost about to actually say this was most likely a waste of time to the broker, but decided we were here, and had really nothing better to do. So… why not give it a go? And boy, was I happy with my change of mind.
Once we left the ugly front, which turned out to be only really an extremely long wall that could easily be knocked down I found a really good option. It was large, held plenty of opportunity and held enough light for me to be happy with and for Zero to have no issues with either really. The windows still would have to be replaced. It was more of a compound than anything really, consisting of several smaller buildings that all could easily be transformed in whatever we needed. One seemed almost perfect to serve as an apartment building, with two stories and good spacing inside, making me assume this could have been the administration area back when it was in use. Small-ish offices that could easily be transferred into apartments. Another separate building that could work perfectly as 'active-zone' as Zero dubbed it out of the blue. Gun Range, gym, even a pool – making this the first office in the franchise that got one actually. No envy whatsoever. Why? A third building was easily transferable into conference rooms, offices and a work floor, offering plenty of options in regards of dividing and spacing. It would be a much flatter office compared to the six or seven story tall buildings the other offices were, but it seemed almost perfect. I would need to set up a meeting with constructors and see what they would give me for quotes in regards of what I needed and had planned and also needed to get an idea on general overall costs for everything – from furniture to staffing. Also, maybe an idea about parking. There was no underground option – which was a slight problem since I wasn't too keen on the idea of parking out in the open. Security issue and all. But I was certain I'd find a solution. Because I really liked the site.
By the end of the week we made our way back to Trenton, with a whole stack of paperwork for me to wade through. I had contacted plenty of people and got a whole of a lot more quotes. I knew this would be quite a project, taking up quite a bit of time and that I needed to find a solution for the entire Marylin project, seeing that if we really went ahead with her proposal for LA there wouldn't be an office to actually get to. It would need to be done differently for the moment. Also, there was still the issue Davis had raised with me during my trip to Denver. And the whole Helena thing. Somehow it seemed, every time I came back from a trip, I brought a lot of issues back with me.