Chapter 6
Kirby Enterprises
Running late for his own board meeting, Paul Alexander Kirby moved off of the elevator and did his best to appear as if he wasn't flustered. Traffic jams irritated the living hell out of him, but they couldn't be avoided no matter what city you lived in. Sometimes the hustle and bustle of Oklahoma City made him miss Enid, but he couldn't let that get to him. Just thinking about his hometown made him sick at his stomach, remembering what he'd lost in…
'What the hell?' Paul thought to himself as he came around the corner, noticing, standing at his executive assistant's desk was the reason he didn't like to think about Enid.
Amanda Ross, his ex-wife, had clearly been talking to Melissa Remedy, his executive assistant, but they both turned when he arrived.
"Paul," Amanda said, moving toward him.
"You look tan," Paul stated flatly.
Amanda suddenly appeared extremely awkward.
"Making good use of the money that you swindled from me?" Paul asked, brushing past her. "Eric said on the phone that you were taking him to Costa Rica. Very exotic."
"I didn't swindle anything, and you know it," Amanda said, turning to follow after him.
"Your father sure as hell did," Paul reminded her as he moved to the desk, Melissa handing him the morning paper and some documents for the meeting. "I don't have time to go down memory lane about your father's law firm." He glanced back to her. "I have a meeting with the board." Turning, he moved down a side hallway that would lead to the meeting.
"Eric's missing!" Amanda practically blurted out.
Stopping on a dime, Paul turned around to face her. "You want to say that again?"
Amanda crossed her arms, extremely embarrassed. "Ben took him on -"
"Ben?" Paul asked. "Oh, yes, the Archeologist. I looked him up. Interesting fellow."
"You mean you had your men following him," Amanda accused. "Investigating him."
Paul shook his head, moving back toward her. "What happened to our son?"
"They went parasailing to one of the offshore islands," Amanda said. "The boat never came back. I asked around at the dock, but no one knew what to tell me. I told them where they went, and they said that they were probably all dead and that the people that took them should've known better."
Paul placed his hands on Amanda's shoulders, but she quickly pulled away from them. He sighed. "You need to slow down. Where did they go?"
"An island chain called Las Cinco Muertes," Amanda replied.
"The Five Deaths?" Paul asked. "Do none of you know Spanish? I thought Eric knew better. That isn't somewhere I would've let him go."
"Oh, of course, if he'd been with you, he would've been completely safe," Amanda said.
"Because I'm not an idiot," Paul told her. "You've totaled three cars in three years. Eric was in one of those accidents, and he was lucky to have only had a mild concussion. If it hadn't been for your father being a shark, I would've been granted custody of Eric. Instead, you stole him, my first store, and a lot of our money. If it weren't for this company, I would've been in the poor house. Now you come here begging for my help -"
"For Eric!" Amanda exclaimed, tears forming in her eyes.
Paul's lips quivered. "You have a lot of nerve. I ought to tell you to go get your father to help you. Hell, I don't see why you aren't doing that already. Don't you think daddy dearest should be saving the day?"
Amanda wiped the tears away. "He's indisposed. Didn't you hear that my sister died in the Congo?"
Paul clearly looked taken aback by that. "Karen? What…"
"Dysentery," Amanda told him. "The whole team got it a few days ago. Dad's been trying to get out there to recover her body. No one seems to know where it is. So, yeah, you weren't my first choice, but I know you love your son."
"Do you?" Paul asked.
"Can you just stop, Paul?" Amanda pleaded. "I get it. I made a mistake. I make a lot of those."
"You're damn right," Paul told her. "I'll get my son back but not with your help."
As Paul turned to go toward the boardroom, she grabbed his arm, stopping him. "Don't cut me out. I have to know they're alright."
Paul pulled his arm out of her grip and sighed. "I'm going to get this meeting taken care of, and then I'll make some calls. If you leave me alone, I might reconsider."
Amanda watched on, defeated, as Paul moved into the board room, closing the door behind him. She finally turned, moving back the way she came.