Chapter 15

It was a very small waiting area with only a few chairs. It was also very empty. The entire feel of the place reminded Jake more of a doctor’s office than a real estate company. In fact, Jake had to wonder about even that much. Usually Doctors, especially doctors located in a big office building like this one, had their names listed on the downstairs registry and a plaque on the door. This company had neither and it was almost as hard to find as the generic looking building had been.

Barbara, standing right next to him, gave a false smile and said quietly to Jake, “ok, we’re playing this one your way, what’s your next move?

“To the counter I think,” Jake nodded to the frosted glass sliding window that just had to belong to a receptionist. His knock on it proved as much. Some frizzy headed woman opened it and, without even bothering to look at him, she asked quickly, “name?”

“Governor,” Jake told her.

She still had not looked up, “first name? I’m not showing any appointment under that name.”

Jake told her, “office.”

It was only after the woman had entered the name that she suddenly realized it was not a name at all. Her head snapped up and her eyes got wide. Then she slowly looked at Jake who was standing in her little window, holding his badge up for display. The woman politely smiled, gulped, and then nervously activated the microphone on her headset, “supervisor please.”

As they waited, Barbara leaned close to Jake and, with gritted teeth and her forced smile, she spoke quietly to Jake, “we’re not with the Governor’s Office.”

Jake smoke in a more normal fashion and easily replied, “well, technically we are. Close enough for government work, and hand grenades.” After a brief second and as an afterthought he also noted, “and if things get bad I have one of those, on me, too.”

Barbara took a step away from Jake. Then she said, “you’re kidding right.” He just stood there looking happy as a clam. Barbara just asked again, “right?”

A youthful looking man came walking out of the door to what had to be the entrance to the inner part of the office. Besides the door that Jake and Barbara used to get in here, it was the only other one so what else could it be? This guy let the door close behind him, then he slapped his hands together, and with a smile he said, “so what can we do for the Governor today?”

Barbara felt like she wanted to throw up but, all she did was hold her smile and gulp. She nodded too Jake who looked like he was doing something as mundane as standing on a street corner. He even had his hands in his pockets and, hopefully, one of them was not clutching a grenade. Did he really have one on him or was he just saying that to deliberately make her uncomfortable? That bastard!

Fortunately, by Barbara’s way of thinking, Jake did the talking. This was all supposed to be his show since, as he told Barbara, she did not have a plan. He easily told the guy, “actually we’re here due to some concerns about a certain employee of yours. A girl named April May.
Are you familiar with Miss May?”

The man went from eager and smiling to, just plain confused, “um, yes, of course I am. Um, yes she works here… What’s this all about?”

Jake stepped up to the guy, “have you been in your break room lately?”

Now the guy was even more confused, “yeah?”

“And you didn’t even notice?” Jake told the man in an accusing tone. “How can you not have noticed?”

The man took a step back and was nervous, “uh, no?”

Jake got even harder, “salt packets keep walking right out of the break room and you have not even noticed? How is that possible? You know what I’m starting to think? I think you might be in on this too.”

The man gulped, “we always get more.”

“The Governor is not happy about this,” Jake told the man. “If she’s not happy then I’m not happy. This is costing the tax payers of this colony more than I care to think and we are going to put an end to it. Is that clear?”

The guy was in too much shock to say anything. He just pointed to the door and managed to tell Jake, “let me get my boss.” He then went to the door, put his hand on the scanner, and quickly vanished as the door closed behind him.

Barbara took that as her cue to angrily ask Jake, “this is your big plan? What the hell are you talking about? Salt packets?”

Jake snickered and easily replied, “I’m not talking to some damn flunky. That should get us somebody in charge.”

It did not take long. The young man came back out with a man who had an air of authority about him. He did not even wait for Jake to speak, “I’m Terrance Birchman, one of the senior partners here at PBS. If this is about the Austin Street property, you can go back and tell Governor Crass that we’ll make a better offer. I’m afraid your visit here is a waste of time.”

Jake only shrugged, “sorry Terry, I’m not here about that.”

Now it was Birchman’s turn to be confused. He thought about it and then he said, “you really are here about April May?”
The young guy behind him was still frightened, “honest Mister Birchman, I took a couple of those salt packets but I didn’t know that…”

“Shut up,” Birchman told the man in a very stern voice. He then asked Jake, “what about her?”

Barbara stepped up and in a very serious way she said, “are you aware that…”

Jake put a hand out for her to stop and then asked, “we’re Colonial Rangers.”

Birchman blinked, “Colonial Rangers? I didn’t even know we had those anymore.”

“Yes we do and we’re very serious here,” Jake told the guy without missing a beat, “have you had any contact with Miss May this morning?”

“Of course,” Birchman replied. Then he looked back at his junior man and asked, “did she get back yet?”

The kid was still nervous, “well, I mean, I talked to her on the phone but, I mean, she left before I got here. I don’t.. I mean.. no she’s not back yet.”

Jake headed them off, “what was she doing leaving the office?”

Birchman replied in a condescending way, “she sells real estate, she was out doing that, um, what’s you name and title exactly?”

With a hint of authority Jake told the man, “Chief Agent Jacob Barton. This is Senior Agent Barbara Reilly. You should note the weight of the titles Mister Birchman. That’s how serious this is. Miss May is in some serious hot water.”

Birchman looked unconvinced but, his words proved that it had nothing to do with official titles, “we’re talking about the same April May here? Kind of short? Talks too much?”

“That would be her,” Jake replied as he pulled out his phone and tapped an icon on the screen, “there. I just gave your office my card. If she has any contact with you or, anybody in this office. I would appreciate it if you give us a call.”

Birchman did not sound very convincing when he replied, “sure, we’re always happy to cooperate with the authorities.” Then in a very genuine tone he asked, “when did we get Rangers again?”

Jake just nodded and told the real estate people, as he drug Barbara to the door, “make sure you call. This is a Code nineteen matter. It’s urgent.”

As they reached the elevators Barbara was both confused and frustrated. She did ask Jake one thing though, “what the hell is a Code nineteen?”

The door opened and Jake stepped into the elevator. As the doors closed he answered, “an old TV show I used to watch as a kid.”