Chapter 9

Magus was wearing dark sunglasses that were designed to distort his vision. He found that it made it a whole lot easier to deal with an attractive woman.

He asked, “Do you have a passport?”

“Of course, I have spent every season on the French Riviera since I was four,” Daphne said. She batted her eyelashes at him and thrust her chest forward.

“Do you like to travel to exotic locations?” Magus asked. He licked his lips.

“I’ve been all over the world. Last year, I went to Hong Kong, Paris, London, Tokyo, Sidney, Bangkok, and Rio.”

“Great. I’ve been looking for an adventurous woman just like you for years,” Magus said in his most charming voice. He ignored Claudia’s laughter from the reception area.

“I can’t tell you how pleased I am to hear that,” Daphne said. She turned a little to show off her breasts a little better. “I’ve been looking for a brilliant interesting man like you for years.”

“I’ve got the trip of a lifetime planned. I think you will love going on it with me,” Magus said.

“Tell me more,” Daphne said. She leaned forward a little to show her interest.

Magus said, “I’ve been planning this trip for years. I started planning it when I first heard of a rare albino tree slug that is only found deep in the heart of the Amazon Jungle. I want to get a specimen for my slug collection before they become extinct.”

“Amazon Jungle?”

“Yes.”

“Slugs?”

“It is an amazing species. There is a species of amphibians, the spotted feathered hairless salamander, which lives exclusively on a diet of albino tree slugs. When the slugs die off so will the salamander,” Magus said. Claudia’s laughter increased in volume.

“That sounds ... so interesting,” Daphne said. She turned to look at the door wondering why the receptionist was laughing so loudly.

“Make sure that you schedule enough time for the trip. I figure it will take two or three years to find a specimen. They are very rare,” Magus said.

“You are talking about spending two or three years in the Amazon Jungle?” Daphne asked. She was starting to get the idea that she wasn’t quite so interested in the trip that Magus planned.

“Yes,” Magus said.

“Are there any hotels there?”

“No. We’ll be sleeping in hammocks with tarps over our head to keep the rain off of us. We’ll be wading through swamps and wrestling snakes. It will be the adventure of a lifetime,” Magus said excitedly.

“I’ll have to see if I can get away for that long,” Daphne said with a frown.

Magus said, “You might want to gain a little weight in case we have to go a week or so eating only bugs. You need the energy reserves while tramping around in the jungle.”

Daphne stood up and said, “I forgot that I had another appointment.”

Magus rose from his chair and said, “Okay. Will I hear from you again?”

“We’ll see,” Daphne said. She fled from the office like her hair was on fire.

Still laughing, Claudia came over to the door while Magus was returning to his seat and said, “That was an incredible performance worthy of an Oscar. I’m impressed.”

“Every problem has a solution. In some cases it is just a matter of knowing what people want or, in this case, what they don’t want,” Magus said with a chuckle. He removed his dark glasses and asked, “Any more appointments?”

“Just one,” Claudia said.

“Not another woman chasing me, I hope,” Magus said in disgust.

“This is a man,” Claudia said. “His name is Vincent Sapros.”

“Sapros?” Magus asked sitting up straight.

“Yes,” Claudia answered. “He made the appointment while you were talking with Melanie. He was very insistent that he get an appointment today. He’ll be here at five o’clock.”

“I’ve got some work to do,” Magus said in a commanding tone of voice. The top of his desk was already moving. “Call Titus, Igor, and Poindexter, and tell them to get their asses in here right now!”

“Yes, Sir,” Claudia said. She had never heard him speak so forcefully.

Vincent Sapros strutted into the office and looked around to see if he had an audience. He grinned upon spotting the very lovely Claudia. He walked over to her and leaned across the desk. In a smooth voice, he said, “Hey, Babe.”

“What can I do for you?” Claudia asked. She did her best to look absolutely professional and to not show her irritation at how he addressed her.

“I’ve got an appointment with Magus,” Vincent said.

“Are you Vincent Sapros?” Claudia asked.

“Yes, I am. I’m sure that you’ll want to remember the name, Babe.”

Ignoring the comment, Claudia said, “Magus suggested that you might want to cancel your appointment with him.”

“That’s not going to happen,” Vincent said. His opinion of Magus went down a notch thinking that he left a woman out here to do his talking for him.

Claudia said, “Magus was pretty insistent that you cancel your appointment.”

“Where is he?” Vincent asked.

“In there,” Claudia answered pointing towards the door to Magus’ office.

Giving her a confident wink, Vincent said, “I’ll be back out here for you after I’ve dealt with Magus.”

Claudia said, “Rots of ruck.”

When Vincent reached the threshold of the door, Magus said, “Vincent Sapros. I’d think twice before entering this office if I were you.”

Vincent strolled into the office and took a seat at the chair in front of the desk. He laughed while looking at Magus and then said, “Tough talk for a jelly roll.”

“So be it,” Magus said resigned to see this meeting through to its conclusion. “Before you tell me your problem, we must take care of your payment for my services.”

“I’m not here for your services. You see, I don’t have a problem. You do,” Vincent said. It was hard to believe that the pudgy man at the desk wasn’t terrified.

“No. You are the one who has a very serious problem,” Magus said.

“What problem do I have?” Vincent asked. He rolled his eyes thinking it was about time to go into full intimidation mode.

“Me,” Magus said with a smile.

“You’re crazy. I’m here because we want to buy into your business,” Vincent said.

Magus said, “Do you want to know something interesting?”

“Sure.”

“As soon as I learned that you had made an appointment to see me, I knew that you were going to come here and say that,” Magus said. “I guess now you’ll tell me the deal.”

“Here’s the deal. You’ll sell us half of your business for...” Vincent waved a hand around absently and then said, “ ... a thousand dollars.”

“No. You will pay me a hundred thousand dollars for a solution to your business problem,” Magus said.

“You can’t stop this deal,” Vincent said. He leaned forward in a threatening manner.

Magus leaned back in his chair. In a very matter of fact voice, he said, “I can and I will.”

“How? Do you think you can call the cops and they’ll protect you? We own the cops,” Vincent said. He couldn’t believe the attitude this man had.

Magus shook his head in sorrow and said, “I thought about going to your opposition. I thought about it, and dismissed the idea almost immediately. I decided to go to your competition.”

“What?!”

Magus said, “There are eight large crime organizations in this town of which you belong to one of them. I contacted two of your competitors.”

“No,” Vincent said shaking his head as if he couldn’t believe it.

“Aleksei! Chen!”

A tall man entered the room from the door behind Magus’ desk. With a strong Russian accent, he said, “Magus.”