Chapter 15: A Dubious Deal

At 1:30 Austin joined Rachel’s conference call. She was already on the call with two people he did not recognize, but assumed they were employees of Morders. Two beeps quickly followed Austin’s arrival as Stephanie and Jackie appeared on camera.

“Glad you are all here,” said Rachel. “Let me start with introductions.”

Rachel started with her team and gave each person’s name, their title, and the role they played in getting the proposal drafted. When she was done she briefly said, “And this is Sam Tilson. He the COO / CFO at Morders and has essentially been my counterpart throughout this process. Sam, do you want to introduce yourself and your team?”

Sam jumped right in. “Thank you, Rachel. Nice to meet you all,” he said as he nodded at the camera. “Like Rachel said, I am the COO / CFO at Morders and we’re thrilled to be involved with this discussion. With me here today are Randal and Tiffany. They have been my invaluable assistants the past month.” He then gave a little more background on his employees and their roles.

Sam paused so Rachel spoke again, “Just before this meeting I learned that the Morders team only has twenty minutes. I propose we spend the rest of our time today finding an opening for a follow-up meeting where we can iron out the last of the details.”

There were nods from those from Morders, while Austin, Jackie, and Stephanie looked a bit confused. Rachel proceeded as if scheduling a new time was a unanimous decision.

“From what I have heard from Morders, the rest of this week is a no-go on their schedule.” Sam nodded his head in sullen affirmation. Rachel’s voice remained flat as she said, “What if we were to meet this weekend at my house?”

Austin thought it odd, but nothing more, until he saw the stiffening postures from both Stephanie and Jackie. First a non-meeting meeting, then a proposal to meet over the weekend at Rachel’s house? He wanted to IM with Jackie or Stephanie, but was afraid of making too much movement while on camera.

Sam said, “I think that is a splendid idea. If you can send me directions I’ll get the information to Randal. We are looking forward to working out the final stipulations of this deal.”

“Great, it’s settled then,” said Rachel. “I’ll see you Saturday, 7:00 PM, at my house.”

“Perfect,” replied Sam, and then the three feeds from Morders immediately went black, followed quickly by Rachel’s. When she ended the call Jackie, Stephanie, and Austin were left staring at an empty screen. It only took a few seconds before Austin’s computer beeped notifying him of an incoming call. He clicked.

“What the fuck is going on?” Jackie practically yelled.

“That was some weird shit,” Stephanie said.

Austin looked from one to the other on camera. They were clearly surprised at the outcome of the call that just ended.

“I don’t understand,” he said. “I thought it was odd that we didn’t just rescheduled, but then it got really odd when I saw your reactions when Rachel suggested her house.”

“Rachel’s house has always been for only the most intimate colleagues,” Stephanie said.

“Meaning, all ‘meetings’ at her house are only for the three of us and our SOs,” concluded Jackie. “There was one other couple that was part of the group years ago, but they have long left the area.”

Austin squinted his brow as he thought. “If so, why would she have the Morders group to her house on Saturday? And is it just us, or are our significant others included?”

Stephanie said, “It’s just us. She would have been clear if we were to bring anyone. And, didn’t you hear her tone of voice when she suggested her house? It doesn’t sound like she really wanted to host the meeting. There is no good reason. I don’t like this.”

“Yeah, it’s fucked up. I was watching Rachel’s status after the call and as soon as she ended the conference call she dropped completely offline.”

The three talked for a few minutes until Austin squashed the wild speculation.

“There is nothing to be gained by random guessing. Let’s plan on going Saturday with an open mind, and see what happens.”

“I’m still not sure this is a good idea, but yeah, let’s see what happens on Saturday,” said Stephanie as she waved goodbye and cut her video feed.

The invitation for Saturday’s meeting at Rachel’s house was for 7:00 PM. Only employees. Austin knew from his previous trip to Rachel’s house that the drive was about thirty minutes, so he grabbed his laptop bag from the office and met Tonya in the kitchen at quarter after six.

“I’m headed out. No idea what to expect. I’ll call or text as soon as I leave and let you know I’m headed home.”

“You don’t think you’ll be in the hot tub again, do you?” asked Tonya.

“No way. This is a first-time meeting with the management from Morders, so my guess is it will be drinks and a light snack, with a focus on getting to know each other in a lighthearted setting. In theory, it should help make next week’s meetings go more smoothly after some face-to-face time.”

“Be careful on the drive. I’ll get the kids to sleep, but will be up. Call or text when you can.”

“Of course. Have a good evening.”

Austin kissed Tonya and made his way to the garage. He dropped his backpack in the rear seat and then fired up his Camry.

The first twenty minutes of the drive were uneventful. After Austin turned off the main road and onto the smaller unkempt roads leading into Rachel’s’ neighborhood he heard a pop, then the steering got very sluggish.