Severe Clear (Stone Barrington 24)

hiring, but I’ll need to work my shift at the Beverly Hills for the next two weeks. They’ve been good to me, and I don’t want to stiff them, especially since I’ll be taking a couple of their guys with me—assuming you approve.”

“All right,” Duggan said, “you’ll go on salary as of today. You can work days here and nights at the Beverly Hills until your time is up there.” He handed Mike a file folder. “Here are all the personnel and tax forms you need to fill out. I’ll have a written contract for you to sign in a day or two.” Duggan stood up and offered his hand. “Welcome aboard, Mike.”

Mike stood and took the hand. “I’m looking forward to it, Mr. Duggan.”

“Call me Tim. We’re going to be working together closely.”

“Tim it is. If I can have a fruit crate for a desk and a phone, I’ll start calling bartenders.”

Duggan handed him another file folder. “Here’s the list of those who answered the ad, along with their résumés.” He led Mike to the office next door. “Use this for a while,” he said.

Mike took off his jacket and tossed it onto a file cabinet. He loosened his tie, sat down, and looked at the list in the folder. His first call was on his new cell phone, a text to the e-mail address he had been given in Leipzig: “All is well. I am fine,” it read. He signed it “Nod.”

9

Mike Freeman arrived in Los Angeles aboard Strategic Services’ Cessna Citation jet 4, which he piloted himself. He landed the light jet at Santa Monica, then left the airplane in the care of his copilot and got into the waiting Mercedes.

“To the hotel, sir?” the young driver asked.

“No, to the office. I’ll do some business before I go to the hotel.”

The Los Angeles offices of Strategic Services were located in a five-story, wholly owned office building on Santa Monica Boulevard. In addition to the five stories of the building, two of which were rented out pending expansion plans, there were two underground levels, and Mike went directly there. His operations manager received Mike in his office.

“Good morning, Mr. Freeman,” he said.

“Good morning, Harvey,” Mike replied.

“I thought you’d be going to the hotel today. I didn’t expect to see you until tomorrow.”

“It’s not the first time I’ve caught you off guard, is it?”

Harvey laughed. “I know to be ready for you at any time, sir.”

“What have you got for me?”

“I think it won’t be necessary to hire a supervisor for the watch room at The Arrington. One of our better people here has applied for the job, and he’s qualified.”

“Tell me about him.”

“His name is Richard Indrisie—we call him Rick. Rick is young but smart. He’s a tech-school graduate with a broad and firm grounding in computer science, and he’s been with us for a little over two years. We’ve trained him for design and repair work, and he’s as good as guys who’ve been here a lot longer.”

“You said young—how young?”

“Twenty-eight.”

“Would you describe him as mature?”

“More than that, he’s a very cool customer, quick to grasp a situation and quick to deal with it.”

“Let’s talk to him.”

Harvey picked up a phone. “Send Rick in.”

Rick Indrisie knocked on the door and entered.

“Rick,” Harvey said, “this is our CEO, Michael Freeman.” The two shook hands.

“Sit down, Rick, and tell me something about yourself.”