Secured Sevenfold

Joe was in his office, pacing around, waiting for the phone call he had been dreading all week. He knew he couldn’t bring any good news and that would probably mean bad news for him. He had come to know a lot about the man he was dealing with, things he hadn’t known before, things that could bring him into trouble. He only hoped the reality wasn’t as bad as the stories he had heard.

There was a knock at the door and he heard the voice of Mary, his housekeeper for many years.
“Excuse me, Mr. Thompkinson, these two men insisted on seeing you, they told me they had an appointment, but I see nothing in the date book”
He wanted to send the men away, he had an important phone call to wait for afterall, but the looks on the faces of the two men told him he better keep his mouth shut
“Hello Joe, we were asked to attend the meeting between you and ‘Mr. Smith’, he will be calling any minute now”
Joe looked at Mary, who had a worried look on her face “Mary, it’s okay, I forgot to tell you. Could you please go prepare lunch, this shouldn’t take long”
The grey haired woman nodded and left the room quietly. She didn’t trust the men she just showed in, but Mr. Thompkinson had been acting weird the past few months, maybe something was wrong and these men had something to do with it. She just hoped he wouldn’t do anything stupid, she worried about him. She had been with the family for many years now and come to grow very fond of the man.

As soon as the woman left, the two men motioned him to his desk, not touching him for a bit, but their postures compelling. As soon as Joe sat down at his desk the phone rang and he looked up at the two men, sitting opposite of him.
“Maybe best if you put him on speaker” one of the men suggested in a tone that didn’t leave much room for discussion.
Joe picked up the phone and pushed the speaker button, letting the welcome of the man on the other end of the line sound through the room.
“Hello Joseph, you better have some good news for me” ‘Mr. Smith’ didn’t leave any room for small talk or question, he got to business right away.
“I... I... I don’t have it yet. I need more time. I think I will have it in 3 months, 4 tops”
The man on the other end let out a disappointed sigh “Tsk, Tsk, Tsk, Joe, that was not what we agreed on. You promised me you would have the money”
The two men sitting in the chairs on the other end of his desk got up and did a few steps towards him. Drops of sweat were pearling on Joseph’s head and his breath got quicker.
“I will have it, I promise you I will, I just need a little more time” the man begged.

“You should have known better, Joe. We told you not to fuck with us! We are way bigger than you can imagine.” The voice sounded through the speaker.
“I never meant to-” Joe replied with a shaky voice, so much was on the line, so many things he was worried about, should this deal fall through.
“Did you get us the money or did you not? I don’t see it, my men told me you had nothing.” The voice again and Joe looked around the room, the two men stood before his desk now, able to grab him if they would want to.
He could see the guns tugged into their pants, leaving no doubt that they were dead serious about everything they said.
“Where is the money?!” The voice got louder and Joe flinched in his seat.
“I need more time… I..I..” Joe’s hands began to shake, the old man felt his heart beating faster, he never meant to let this happen, how could everything go so wrong.
They told him it was a safe deal, he trusted these people and now, he was in debts, debts so high he could never pay them back, he could lose everything, he would lose it all…and even worse, he had been fooled, it wasn’t his fault…
“You know, Joe… since we are old friends, right? I will leave you at this. In 2 days I have my money, the full amount of 2 Mio. dollars. 2 additional days, that’s not something I grant to people often, so take it and have the money by Friday.”
“But… how am I supposed to…” Joe started again, sweat breaking out on his forehead, he didn’t have that much money, where should he get that much money from?
He was a wealthy man, had been able to provide everything he and his family always needed, but 2 million dollars was out of his league.
“Joe, that is not my problem. 2 Days, did you hear me?” The voice yelled and Joe nodded and tried to speak but no sound emerged.
“I.. yes.. but...” He tried again and the voice grew impatient.
“Don’t even think about leaving the country or trying to disappear, we will find you. Maybe this will help you consider everything a little more, because you surely want to know what happens if you don’t have the money in time, right? ” The voice of ‘Mr. Smith’ sounded way too excited.
“Show him.” He said again, Joe could hear the smile in the voice of his opponent.

One of the guys stepped forward holding out a picture of Jacky, his youngest daughter, she was laughing at something and looked so carefree. The shot couldn’t be old.
“Jacky, 27 years old, she loves to party, right? We saw her just yesterday, she went to a club not far from here with some friends, she is a party girl through and through, I saw it right away, she didn’t even notice being watched.” Joe’s heart skipped a beat, they were dragging his kids into this.
“The next.” The voice sounded again and the other man stepped forward holding the picture of his older daughter before him, she was walking out of her office building, phone at her ear.
“Quite the opposite to little Jacky, aren’t I right? … So this is.... Josephine? She is all business isn’t she? Just like Daddy? Hope she has better control over her business partners and she is more reliable than her old sire. Would be such a shame if something happened to these two beautiful girls, wouldn’t it?”

“LEAVE MY FAMILY OUT OF THIS!” Joe finally yelled and found his voice, he gripped the table hard.
“Ah ah, Joe… 2 Days is all you got. 2 million, I won’t stop until I have my money, and believe me I could have so much fun with these two… so I might be hoping for you to fuck up.” The chuckle that carried through the phone sounded so evil that a shiver went down Joe’s spine.
“I will need more time, I will…” Joe replied but he was interrupted again. “2 Days, that’s it. How sad would Marilyn be if she knew that you put her precious girls at risk? I would better hurry, Joseph, the time is ticking as we speak.”
“Don’t you dare use my dead wife’s name. How dare you! How do you know all about my girls, how!?” Joe said and got braver this time, nobody would threaten his family.
“You have all the information, we hear again from you on Friday.” The man on the other end of the line didn’t even give him an answer and the next moment, the line went dead and Joe stared at the phone.
The men threw the pictures on the desk and Joe stared at them unable to do anything.
They left without another word, the door closed with a loud slam and that was it.

What should he do now?

He sat at his desk with his head in his hands, he didn’t know how to fix this, but he had to, for the sake of his girls. He needed to keep them safe. He needed to protect them. But how could he? These men were ruthless and they had their eyes set on his girls. What could he do for his daughters when he couldn’t even take care of himself...

Suddenly he knew what to do, he asked Mary for the phone number and told him to bring him a cup of his favourite coffee. As soon as he had everything he needed he dialled the number, getting an answer at the second ring.
He got to the point right away
“We need to talk, I’m in trouble and I need help. You owe me something, for old times sake”

Notes

It´s the season to be jolly falalalalala

We thought we´d start of the festive season of december with a present for all of you... Our new story. We hope you enjoy!

Love, Mei and Kim

This chapter is only an intro, next chapters will all be longer.