Chapter 4

The secretary ushered the handsome twenty-one year old into Betty's office.

"Mr. Matt Williams," announced the secretary, closing the door behind her as she exited.

"Mr. Williams, I'm Betty Seaver."

"I'm pleased to meet you, but a bit puzzled," he answered, shaking her hand.

"Oh?"

"Yes. The private detective, Mr. Drummond was a bit mysterious. All he would tell me was that you were looking for a particular type of person for a temporary job which would pay well. Other than that, I'm in the dark."

Betty smiled, obviously amused. Drummond had been thorough, finding out even more than Betty had requested. As a result she had all the ammunition she needed.

"Yes, well I'll come right to the point. You see there's a friend of mine who I want you to seduce. Her name is Veronica Ames."

"You want me to what?"

"I want you to seduce her. I want you to make her fall in love with you. I want you to convince her to dump the man she is with right now and once she has done that, I want you to dump her."

"Why in the world would you want me to do that?"

"That is none of your business, Mr. Williams, but if you succeed, I am prepared to pay you ten thousand dollars."

"That's quite a lot of money. But why me? Why go clear across the country when there are, no doubt, lots of guys you could get right here in Atlanta."

"Because I know her well. I created a profile of the type of man she will fall for. I had Mr. Drummond computer match those characteristics against actual men. Your name turned up as first on the list."

"Look, Ms. Seaver, I appreciate the offer but..."

"All right Mr. Williams you drive a hard bargain. Fifteen thousand."

"You don't understand. It's not the money. First, I don't want to be a part of hurting someone and secondly, I have a girl back in Portland who I don't intend to betray."

"All right Mr. Williams. My final offer. Twenty thousand. You don't have to consider it being unfaithful to your girl friend. This is strictly a business deal. Perform a service for me and I pay you. Your girlfriend doesn't even have to know."

"I won't kid you. My girl and I could use the money. Maybe she would understand, but to deliberately hurt someone... You must hate her, this Veronica Ames."

"Quite the contrary. She's been my lover for over three years. I simply want her back. We had a lover's quarrel and she ran into the arms of this man Rob Staton.

"So she's..."

"She's trying to swing both ways, but we both know that's a mistake. She loves me, not him. I want her to kiss men good bye... permanently. That's why I not only want you to seduce her away from Staton, I also want you to dump her, to hurt her so she'll return to the person who she really loves and who loves her. So you see, in the long run you'll be doing her, as well as me, a favor."

Matt sat staring into the bright blue eyes of the attractive blonde. He needed the money for the small business he and Brittany intended to open together. They had applied for several small business loans but kept finding they did not qualify. With no established credit, no collateral and no co-signer, they had been stymied. He had to admit, this was like a windfall. He had never been unfaithful to Brittany, but maybe as Ms. Seaver had said, he could keep it as just a business transaction without any emotional attachment and even reunite the two lovers. Maybe it would work after all. That is, if he could get this Veronica Ames interested in him.

"Tell me about this Veronica Ames," he said.

"She a bit older that you, thirty-five, but beautiful nonetheless. The guy she's with now is a lot older than she is... old enough to be her father. Here's her picture," said Betty handing the young man a photo.

"Wow, she is lovely."

"See, you may even come to enjoy your work," smiled Betty, amused at the double entendre. "So, give me an answer. If you don't want the twenty thousand I'm sure there are lots of other men who can get the job done."

"I... that is... yeah, okay, I'll do it."

"Excellent. Here's her address."