Do Or Die (Surreal Blue Rogue Agent 1) (11 page)

Mat slid
into the side booth. He rested his suitcase on the long, obsidian table. The
large window that flanked his side was crusted over with frost.

Lincoln,
dressed simply in a cream-colored bubble vest over a brown cashmere sweater,
slid in the booth, facing Mat on the other seat.

Mat
opened up the suitcase, withdrew three thick manila envelopes, and slid them
across the table to Lincoln. “That’s everything.”

Lincoln
opened one of the envelopes. He withdrew a photograph of the scene depicting
the aftermath of the explosion and Audrianna’s kidnapping in the underground
carpark two weeks ago.

“What
about the girl who died, Lindy, who was a part of the entourage? Audrianna was
quite close to all the girls. Is her family getting compensation?”

“Audrianna’s
taken care of it.” Mat drummed his fingers on the polished black tabletop.
“Listen, are you going to spend your one and only vacation working?”

Lincoln
shook his head, laughing, “I don’t remember a vacation where I haven’t done
anything else
but
work.” Lincoln rubbed his chin. “My son is about her
age. Do you know where she lived?”

“The
address is included with the report and final findings. It’s right around here
in Hell’s Kitchen.”

“Hmm.”
Lincoln grew contemplative. His phone buzzed and he glanced at the incoming
text. “Just a sec.” He got up and walked a little way to the entrance, where
Mat saw him greet another man before Lincoln was handed a medium-sized black
garbage bag. Lincoln walked back to the table to reclaim his seat, placing the
bag next to him.

“How
are the kids?”

Lincoln
sighed. “Think Alvin and The Chipmunks on steroids.”

“That
bad, huh?” Mat laughed.

“Actually,
no, it’s not half bad at all.”

Lincoln
waved to his friend behind the bar, held up his glass and put up two fingers in
the air. The bartender nodded and at him and started to fill the order.

“Molly
has a recital coming up. She’s going to be a bunch of grapes.”

Mat
smiled.

Lincoln
placed the photos and documents relating to the investigation of Audrianna’s
kidnapping into the folders. “Between them and the financials I can’t begin to
call my time at home a “staycation,” even.”

Mat
relaxed, placing his arm to rest on top of the headrest. “I thought Bob was
helping.”

“Yeah,
but they are still my kids. I can’t slough them off on my lover.”

“Lincoln.”
The waiter came and placed the drinks on the table.

“Thanks,
man.” Lincoln placed the two next to his empty one.

“I’ll
have a beer in the bottle.” Mat ordered.

Lincoln
gave him a quizzical glance.

“I’m
off the clock until my flight arrives in New Mexico in about three days.”

Lincoln
finished off his drink.

“Have
you given any thought to Mexico?”

“Other
than everything else, Mexico is always on my mind.”

Mat
nodded. “Just be sure,” he paused, “to be prepared.” Mat looked down. “Best get
started early on that.”

Lincoln
looked at him, suspicion in his eyes. “You couldn’t be more cryptic.”

Lincoln
threw back his other drink as Mat’s beer was delivered.

“Is
Viktor planning something?”

Mat
took a sip of his beer. “I can’t say.”

Lincoln
looked interested.

“I
can’t say, except that Viktor is my boss and you should just look to getting
all your ducks in a row, dot your Ts and cross your Is until you get
cross-eyed. This year is gonna be the shit-stinger of all time.”

Lincoln
tapped the rim of one glass with another, lost in thought.

“Plus,”
Mat rolled the beer bottle around with his hand, his eyes shuttered. “You know
how you said that you get the idea that Viktor can’t do as he’d like to with
his wife on board.”

Lincoln’s
hand stilled. “You think he might try to push her out.”

“I’m
thinking that she carries a lot of leverage, and that irks a lot of people. If
someone tries to push her out, he won’t stand in their way.” Mat drained his
beer. “He’s thinking the best way to keep her safe is to keep her out.”

Lincoln
kneaded his furrowed brow with his fingers, squeezing his eyes.

Dammit,
Lincoln thought.  Audrianna was a real asset to the company, and with a PhD in
management information systems she had spearheaded many successful global
mergers as the Chief Information Officer. The kidnapping must have Viktor
nervous for her safety. But being CIO she was also Viktor’s “right hand man,”
so to speak, and was often the only tie-breaker left when it came to
decision-making. Coupled with the fact that she was also his wife, that made
her an easy target for animosity.  

Maxckcorp
was a global technologies investment firm, privately owned without a board of
directors; that didn’t mean there weren’t people within the company who vied
for the top spot. Or at the very least, the most favor with the owner, Viktor
Maxckmillian.

It was
Audrianna’s skillful and intuitive thirst for knowledge, and her ability to
break down that knowledge into data, which drove the pathways to successful
acquisitions.

“Crap,
Audrianna is like the yin to my yang, I don’t think I can tolerate working
there without her.”

Would
I even have a job if Audrianna left Maxckcorp?

“You
see,” Mat pointed at Lincoln with his pinky finger on the same hand that held
the beer bottle. “That’s another problem right there. I told you when you first
got on the job you have to stop all this chummy-chummy stuff you have going on
with Audrey.”

Lincoln
scowled.

“You’re
making a case for Viktor to hate you. Stop being so close with another man’s
wife. Audrianna is a married woman, with kids. He hates the fact that you’re
with her on the job more than he is.”

“We’re
close friends, associates at best.”

Mat
snickered as he took another swig of his beer.

“You’re
just as close to her as I am; we attended the same military academy.”

“Yeah,
but I managed to convince Viktor that I’m into blondes, brunettes, and
redheads-if you know what I mean. And I don’t partner up with her every chance
I get. She visits with you both during and after work hours. Adopt conference
calling, get Skype, and just don’t see her as much as you’re used to.”

Lincoln
raked his hand through his hair.

Mat
sighed in exasperation. “Viktor would be more likely to push her out if he knew
for sure it would get her away from you.”

Lincoln
picked up his phone from the table and pocketed it. He removed a burner phone
from his pocket and proceeded to dial a number. After a few tries he hung up
the phone.

He
cursed, looking somber. “Enrique’s not picking up.”

Mat
looked at him. “How long has it been since…”

“Eight
weeks.”

Mat
stared at him, whistling low. “You can’t lose Mexico, man, that’s one quarter
of the company’s budget. Roku is out for blood- Audrianna’s blood.”

“Crap!”

“You’re
going to have to head over there?”

“Shit
no. I can’t – they know me there. I can’t show my face there. And my plate is
damn near full.”

“Gotta
send somebody.” Mat finished his beer. “You think Enrique is…” Mat used his
index finger to cut across his neck.

“Shit,
at this point I really don’t care. As long as he doesn’t bring down the company
with him, nobody is to know that we are in Mexico. Hell, we are not supposed to
be
in Mexico. He can die if he wants to, as long as it’s just him.”

Lincoln
tried calling Enrique again. “Shit, you know what the problem here is, with
Enrique and all these fuckers,” Lincoln said, pointing the phone at Mat with an
accusatory look on his face. “All these little shits come into the company with
their own private and personal agendas and once they get where they want to be,
they go about conducting that private business or personal vendetta with
absolutely no consideration of what kind of shit they’re dragging the company
into.”

“You
have to send somebody.” Mat stared at him.

Lincoln
stared back. “No.” Lincoln gritted his teeth. “Not Carlos.”

“You
have to send somebody.”

“He
has his own agenda. He’s just been salivating, waiting to get a chance to throw
himself into the lion’s den.”

Lincoln
cursed, and he started to dial another number.

“Who
you gonna send, then?”

Lincoln
looked at him with an exasperated look on his face. “Who else?”

They
spoke resolutely, in unison. “Carlos.”

“Yo,
big L!” A guy hailed him from the bar. The person carried a white trash bag. He
approached their table.

“Hey
McCarthy, you brought the balloons.”

He
handed Lincoln the bag. “Cool man,” Lincoln pulled out a small purple balloon.
He showed it to Mat who gave him a quizzical look. “Hey man this is awesome.
Thank you.”

“No
problem Bro, the least I can do!”

Lincoln
got out of his seat, slapped his hands in a strong handshake that drew the
other man into a bear hug.

The
guy then left them alone.

Mat’s
eyes shot up.

“It’s
for Molly’s recital- you know, the bunch of grapes.”

“That
too.” Mat indicated the black plastic bag beside Lincoln.

“Yeah,
yeah.” He pulled out a small, purple coverall. “You see, you take this, and
take the balloons.” He removed a small balloon from the bag. “And you stick
this on this right here and you see, and there you have it: a bunch of grapes.”

Mat
gave him an all-knowing look that incensed Lincoln.

“I can
tell exactly what you’re thinking.” Lincoln got up. He put the plastic bag under
his arm, and grabbed the bag with the balloons. “I don’t have to explain anything
to you.” He looked at Mat with a sly grin. “But I will have you know one grand
detail.” He leaned over Mat to whisper in his ear. “I’ve never slept with any
of these gentlemen, and I haven’t slept with any other man but Bob for the last
two years.”

Mat
tried to cover his stunned expression as he followed Lincoln to the door.
Lincoln then stopped at the bar and collected a pair of small purple shoes from
the bartender there. Lincoln mouthed the words “thank you” over the loud music,
which was starting to transgress from the party floor as the late evening
diners dwindled to make room for the evening partygoers.

Mat
shook his head, frowning, as the two made their way through the decorative
glass and wooden doors onto the snowy street. “Could we at least stop meeting
in all these gay bars all the time?”

Lincoln
laughed. “You asked me where I was.”

“Yeah,
well I hate all the looks those guys give me.”

They
walked down the street at a casual pace. It was just after seven.

“What
looks?”

“They
keep staring at me as if to say, ’What is I guy like that doing with a guy like
him?’ As if I could never get a guy like you to like me.”

“Mat,
are you for real?” Lincoln looked incredulous. “But you’re not gay.”

Mat
looked offended, he gritted his teeth. “Pisses me off all the same.”

Lincoln
laughed. He visibly assessed Mat’s appearance in a dark brown undershirt and
light grey tweed jacket. “You can relax about that, take it from a guy that
knows, tweed is a natural gay repellant.” Lincoln gave him a friendly nudge.

“What’s
wrong with the way I’m dressed.”

“It’s
embarrassing at least for me, being your closest gay friend and not being
capable of making a dent in that fuddy-duddy  closet of yours...”

“Hey!
Don’t think I won’t clock you a good one right here, right now.”

Lincoln
laughed, “Just walk a safe distance in front so people won’t know we’re
together and I’ll be fine with just that.”

 A
young man drove up in a grey BMW. “Need a ride?”

“No
thanks,” Lincoln said. “I have year-round parking across the street.”

“Get
in, I’ll drive you up.”

Lincoln
got in, shoving his bags in the back. He folded his large frame into the back
seat. Mat sat beside him.

Eyeing
his friend’s packages, he shook his head again.

“I
can’t dump a broad without her slamming my ass on Facebook.”

Lincoln
snickered.

“Lincoln,
I’ve got one question for you. What kind of control you have over men, and can
it be reverse-engineered from ‘gay’ to ‘straight’?” 

Clang!
Clang! Clang! Clang!

Is the
ringing in my ears getting louder?