Chapter 17

"Well, Ms. Simmons; I hope you know what you've done. You took a dead proposal and turned it into a very profitable contract. We should make millions off of this."

Ann gasped. She was quiet until they sat down at the table. When the waiter set the menus in front of them she just stared at Bob Long.

"Are you saying that I did it right. I didn't even know if what I was saying was right or not. I was just so mad because they were playing with us that I said whatever came to my mind."

Bob smile, "You did very right. Now, did you get in touch with Brenda?"

Ann nodded, "She said that we can pick her up anytime Saturday. She'll be waiting at her dorm."

Bob Long stood up, "Ann, order me the hamburger and French fries; order whatever you want."

Ann nodded and Bob turned and walked out of the restaurant. He walked to a section of the lobby that was relatively quiet and dialed his satellite phone and waited for Paula to answer the phone.

"Paula this is Bob Long. I want you to tell our pilot that I want him to fly Ann and myself to Paris this afternoon. Have him call me on my phone when the plane is ready to go. Have him file the flight plan and let Paris customs know and have him do whatever else he has to do. On Saturday morning I want you to hire a Limo to pick up Ann's daughter at Case-Western University and bring her to the airport to meet our plane. We'll then fly back to the office. The new Land Rover that we were going to fix up as a demonstrator; have we started on that?"

Paula told him that they hadn't started to armor it yet, "Tell the shop foreman not to do anything to that car. Have someone get it to my farm sometime in the next couple of days. I'll need another gas credit card for that car. Put the gas card in the glove box."

Paula repeated all of the instructions that he had given her and then asked how the meeting was going.

"Ann saved the day for us, he told Paula, "They were playing with us. They had someone that they wanted to give the contract to and they were just meeting with us to keep us quiet. Ann called their bluff and we are finalizing the proposal right now. Get in touch with John and see who he wants in Sweden with him and make arrangements to get them there."

Bob asked about Paula's family and then asked how everything was going at the company. After he hung up he dialed the phone and made reservations at the Hotel Plaza Athenee for the two of them. He asked that a limo be at his disposal on Thursday and Friday. After the reservations were confirmed he dialed the phone again and made reservations at the Villa Thalgo spa for the full treatment for Ann on Friday. He walked back into the restaurant as the waiter was bringing their lunch to the table.

Ann smiled at him as he sat down, "I ordered the chicken salad. That hamburger looks huge. I don't think that I could eat all of that."

"Ann, when was the last time that you were in Paris?"

She looked at him while trying to figure why he was asking that question, "I've never been in Paris."

"Well, you are going to go to Paris this afternoon. I owe you a hell of a bonus for what you did for the company today. We'll spend two days in Paris and then fly home on Saturday morning. I'm having a car pick Brenda up at school on Saturday morning and she'll meet us at the airport. We'll be staying at one of the best hotels in Paris and on Friday I've booked you into one of the finest spas in Paris for the works. You'll be pampered like royalty. They'll hook you up with a hairdresser and on Thursday night we'll see what Paris has to offer for night life."

Ann started to protest but Bob stopped her, "I'm getting away cheap if that's all I have to do. Ann you made us millions today. They hadn't figured on armored cars for their executives and now they are. We're going to have to install security in the executive's homes. We're going to have to train their guards and other security personnel. We're going to have to train all of the family members of the executives on how to protect themselves from terrorists. This contract is going to be the biggest that we've ever had. To be honest Ann; this morning I thought that we didn't have a shot at this contract. They had already promised it to someone else. When you mentioned that the mood of the people would turn ugly if children were harmed they started thinking hard about what they were doing. Those guys are politicians. They know that as long as the country stays quiet they can sell the voters anything."

Bob's phone rang and he answered it. When he hung up he told Ann that they would check out of the hotel as soon as they were finished lunch and they would take the train to the airport. They would be in Paris before dark.

Bob took Ann to her room and told her to hurry and pack her bag so that they could get to the airport. When Ann stepped into the hallway Bob took her bag from her and started for the elevator.

As he walked past the desk he turned to her, "I've already checked out. We'll take the train to the airport; it's quicker than taking a car."

Ann had trouble keeping up with Bob as he rushed through Arlanda Airport. They went to the business aviation section and he had a car take them to the airplane. The airplane had no marking other than the identification numbers that all planes have. No sooner then they had sat in their seats than someone closed the door and the pilot started the engines.

As the plane started to move an asked, "Did you charter this airplane just for the trip to Paris?"