The Auction

The Auction - A Hannah Todd Story

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events, is purely coincidental. This work is copyrighted by the author. All characters involved in sexual activity are eighteen years of age or older at the time of portrayal.

This is the continuing adventures of Hannah Todd. I would strongly recommend you read at least some of "The Bridge" and "Badass," which provide the backstory for most of the characters in this story. And if you've been reading me, thank you for your continued support. Your comments are priceless, so please leave your wisdom so I might improve my product.

The Auction - Part Six

"I'm really nervous today." I told Bertha as I nibbled on my scone and drank my black coffee. "Two of my guys are out in the field on a serious mission, and I just hope they are okay. They are kind of far from home and I..."

"You don't worry, missy. Those boys are highly trained, and they know what they're doing. They won't let you down; they never do. You need a distraction. Why don't you go out to that farm of yours? That will..."

"What farm is that, Bertha?" Holly said as she entered the kitchen.

"I meant to say the Greenhouse. I'm making pasta tonight for dinner with a puttanesca sauce and I need some cherry tomatoes. Why don't you two go out and pick me a peck or two. The hydros are coming in nice and ripe about now."

Good catch, Bertha. Always fast on her feet. The last thing Holly needs to know about is the safe house and its little farmette. To her it's just another property I want for myself in our divorce settlement.

"So, Holl," I asked as we walked to the Greenhouse to pick some cherry tomatoes. "How is the divorce coming? Have you settled the property issue with Barry?"

"Kind of. He says you forbid him from visiting any of the five properties you want and we both find that mysterious. What gives?"

"None of your beeswax, young lady. My plans for those places transcend our relationship, and are all about business. None of yours. You have plenty on your plate now that you are COO of Todd-Bernstein Enterprises. Doesn't that keep you busy enough? And the golf tournament. You should be up to your elbows in that right about now. It's happening this coming Sunday. I'm ready, are you?"

"Flora will be here early Sunday, and once I'm dressed, I will be there with bells on. You're going to turn some heads with this new hairstyle of yours. Wait till Gloria gets a load of it. You two will be twinning."

"Gloria will be golfing. I will not. I will be shaking hands and begging for money. Imagine that. Me. Begging for money. It seems almost absurd. I could cover this whole shebang and never feel the pinch."

"But it wouldn't be the right way to do it, Hannah."

"You are right, my love. Have you spoken to Sandy or Sable? They must be going crazy about now."

"I've been talking to Sandy every day. And Dex is living out at the golf course this week making sure everything is just perfect."

"You're doing a great job, as usual, Holl. We ought to bring in quite the haul this year."

"Well, the sponsorships came through, and there is more than a million there. Fees are up, and if the begging goes well, we could hit three mill this year. That will get us another new counselor to run the new telehealth portion of the center. We'll be able to reach gals hundreds of miles away. It's a real positive reflection on the Bridge, and Missy is doing even better than Mr. Schaeffer ever did. Bridge House will be operating in the black for the third straight year. Whatever he was, George Barry left a legacy when he bailed out the Bridge when you went and had Georgie. Missy is thinking of erecting a plaque in his honor."

"I'm at least ambivalent about that. It may be the only good thing he ever did."

"Then let it stand. Let Georgie think his father was a great man and more than just a great baseball player. Let Missy erect her plaque. It will serve your son well."

"You're right, Holl. And thank you. Little Georgie should never know what a piece of shit his father really was. He did, after all, die trying to protect his family."

"Come on, Hannah. Let's pick some tomatoes. I've got to get ready to go soon. I'm meeting Sandy at the Bridge with Missy and the girls. It's time to give them a pep talk and let them know what to expect at the golf course."

"Yep. Let the beg-a-thon begin."

So we each picked a peck of cherry tomatoes and brought them up to Bertha for our pasta tonight. Holly got herself cleaned up and took three of the members of the assault squad as escorts and went to the Bridge for her meeting with the girls.

I went to my office and reviewed some of the aerial photos of the location Alec and Anthony were visiting. Just to be ready for our meeting when they returned. And to be ready for the feed from the drones they would be planting. I had the comm-link between the two operators, and Herb in the closet set up in the videoconference room. I was hoping to get a close look at this property from high above as well as inside the place before the kids got home from school.

Just before noon, the Eagle Drone did its first pass over the property. The resolution was much clearer than the satellite images, and the video was taken from much closer to the surface. Good that we used an Eagle. Its cameras took a more sweeping view than the hawk drones and captured the entire property from the commercial drone lanes that were about five hundred feet above ground. Teetotaler would never know it was ours. Just another drone flying by. One of hundreds a day that flew over that property.

The wasps were another story. They would fly in close to the ground and find a way into the house via an open door or window. Not much more than an inch and a quarter long, the journey would be painstaking to get them from where my boys sat to inside the home of the auctioneer. From there, they would find a place to roost, and then my boys would head home. Herb, in the Closet, would take control from there and send the feedback received to me in the videoconference room. Herman and Duane also received the feed in Duane's office and, while doing a million other things, were keeping an eye on that action.

I went downstairs during a lull in the action, and Bertha made me a grilled cheese sandwich and garden-fresh tomato soup. Every ingredient in that soup came from the Greenhouse, from the basil to the tomatoes. And it was divine. Of course, it was.

At a little past one, I got a call from Alec on my supercell while reviewing paperwork while sitting in the videoconference room.

"Miss Todd, the Eagle has been retrieved after two passes, and the wasps are set. You should have visuals and sound by now."

"I do, Alec. It looks like you placed the one drone in an office. Let's just hope it's where Teetotaler hangs out. I've got the sound turned up, but there's nobody home right now."

"The other wasp is hanging on top of a tall bookcase in the hallway. It's set to move whenever we have cause. Both are at rest and preserving battery power."

"Good deal. Get yourselves home, and we can talk when you get here. How did the inspection at Indian Springs go?"

"That was a fifteen-minute deal. We have four people minding the place, and everyone is squared away. These are not our best guys, but they are loyal, and they are vigilant. The right people for the job."

"Be careful, guys. I'll see you soon. I'd like to debrief at dinner today."

"Yes, ma'am."

*CLICK*

------------------------------------------------

For some reason my guys treat dining at my table as an honor. Well, the honor goes to Bertha. And it's well-earned. But the guys had had a long day, and we had Aggie bring the Pasta Puttanesca up to the office where we debriefed, along with Duane, who had a long day of his own.

He and Herman welcomed four RFS agents into the assault squad, and into our circle of trust. Along with that, he had one eye on his laptop, watching over the drone activity down in Maryland.

Between bites, Alec and Anthony spoke about the geography of the area and the proximity to major roads and the Potomac River.

"I don't know what it is about these guys, but they seem to like to hang out near rivers," Anthony said. "The estate, and it is an estate, is a stone's throw from the Potomac, which should give Juicy a thrill should we go aerial on this place. I know how she likes to take the chopper routes along the rivers."

"Well," I said. "We're not hitting this place so quickly. Our emphasis has to stay on the auction. The drones being set in this place are all about the intel. If we can find out where and when the next auction is, it will be a very big deal. Save us a lot of hits and misses trying to get them to accept one of Peacock's people and proxies to attend the next one. I'm beginning to think he is a lost cause in terms of attending an auction. And Gacey is such a pussy, he'll never pass the sniff test."

Just as he said that, two men entered the room we believed was Teetotaler's office. The wasp drone was perched on top of a book, high on one of the many bookshelves in the room. The perfect hiding place with a vantage point looking straight at the desk, where the men sat opposite each other.

"Tell me, boss," the one man said to the man sitting behind the desk. "What do we do with your friend Deke? We can't find him, and my people had no luck tracing the call he made to you."

Bingo. The man behind the desk had to be Miles Teetotaler. No one else could be leading this conversation.

"The first thing we have to do is find him. Are you prepared for his next call, because he will call again. I'm sure of it."

"My tech team is ready. Just hold him on the phone for five minutes and we'll have a location for you. We've already tried to reverse engineer that call but whoever it is that is pulling the strings is smart enough to keep it short. He obviously doesn't want you to know where he is."

"I'm thinking of suspending all auctions until we've got him. That's the word I'm getting from Simon. And what Simon says..."

"We do. I know. But the auctions are our bread and butter, boss. And we've still got lots of product stocked up in West Virginia, Virginia and the Carolinas. Not as many as Mr. Peacock lost, but more than enough to bring in several million dollars on a good auction day."

"The loss of Peacock was big. I was depending heavily on his inventory for the May auction. We're losing millions on the transactions that won't be made because of his fuck-up. Howarethe funds holding up?"

"Well, we've got to pay the guys and feed the girls. So money is going out, but we've got plenty to pay the bills if we can hold another auction in June. That should put a couple mill in our pockets until the next one, up north."

"Alright. I want to videoconference with our best customers as soon as possible and see if we can arrive at a date. I'll take that call here in my office. How long until you can make that happen?"

"I expect I can round them up for a Friday call. We've already heard from some of them asking about the next one. So, there's business to be had."

"Excellent. Make it so. Let's shoot for Friday afternoon, after lunch."

Well, there it is, and there he is. Miles Teetotaler in the flesh. The wasp drone's camera focused in on the man behind the desk and we took a couple of snapshots of the man who would be our next target. Now, thanks to my guys, we know where he is and what he looks like. Facial rec should give us the story on Miles, whoever he is.

The four of us continued to watch the monitor in my videoconference room, and Teetotaler picked up the phone on his desk. "Get me Simon," he said.

"Simon, it's Miles. We are going to attempt to plan an auction for some time in June. We had tentative dates, and I want to see if one will work for all parties. In that regard, I have a video conference being set up for Friday to pinpoint the best possible date that will bring in the most clients. Are you in?"

We couldn't hear what was coming in from the other end of the phone but Teetotaler had his eyes closed as he listened intently.

"Okay," Miles said. "We'll bring you in anonymously as usual. No one will ever know you are on the call. Yes. That's right. I'm thinking mid to late June. Right around the corner. Okay, I'll talk to you after the conference."

*CLICK*

I was about to dismiss the boys when Miles got back on the phone.

"Have someone bring me my supper now. Make it one of the women with a little more... experience. That's right. Someone to keep my belly warm tonight. And make her a pretty one this time."

*CLICK*

So he keeps girls in his house. That may prove to be to my advantage should I decide to pull a home invasion on him.

My three big men finished their pasta, and I kicked Alec and Anthony out and Duane and I visited the twins and then tucked my big ones in. Then he tucked me in. Just the way I like it. In the meantime, the wasp drone's camera continued to collect video from the office with Herb monitoring for any news that may be coming out of the house in western Maryland.

At midnight, Danny took over duty in the Closet from Herbert, and he flew the second drone into the office and settled it atop a dusty book opposite from where the first drone was roosting. Then he put it to sleep to conserve energy so that we would have a fresh set of eyes on the videoconference on Friday.

------------------------------------------------------

Intel collected on Thursday let us know that the videoconference scheduling the next auction would take place today, Friday, at two o'clock, Eastern Standard Time. On the one wall of the office was a monitor. Must have been sixty inches wide. During the night watch, Danny flew the second drone, the one with a mostly full charge, to a vantage point where it faced the monitor. If I could get some good closeups, maybe facial rec could identify some of Teetotaler's clientele.

I had Avi and Hoagie join Duane and I in the videoconference room, and I also invited Lizzie. She would take over control of the second drone and try to get as many still photos of the invitees for facial recognition purposes. The rest of us would just listen in to the audio portion. The first drone was focused on Teetotaler and his lieutenant from the other day, who now sat next to Miles for this conference. We turned the audio off on the first drone and just did a split screen so we could watch the actions of the two men in the room. It was the lieutenant who brought the meeting to order.

The count on the screen said there were forty-six attendees by video. Lizzie scurried to catch images of as many as she could before the meeting came to an end.

"Alright, people, let's bring this to order," the man said with a commanding voice. Mr. Teetotaler has something to say before we kick this off."

"You all know me. First, I want to apologize for shutting down the May auction, but you all know what happened with Deke Peacock. It seemed prudent to shut things down until we were sure this incident wasn't any bigger than it was. Let me assure you everything is under control; inventory is plenty high, and there are lots of girls to select from here in the Mid-Atlantic. In that regard, we are proposing that the next auction take place the evening of Wednesday, June twenty-eighth."

A hum rang out over the crowd on the monitor.

"Alright, alright. Calm the fuck down. Is there anyone here who objects to this date?"

Several people raised their hands and Teetotaler recognized one of them. "What do you have to say, Willard? Is it too soon for you?"

"On the contrary, Miles, it's too far along. Can we make it sooner? I've got people in Bulgaria looking for American product and I'm extremely low on inventory. I was really counting on the May auction, and it's left me at a loss."

"Blame fucking Deacon Peacock for that. Since his operation was blown, we've been walking on eggshells around here."

Another man who had his hand raised and was waving it like crazy was chosen as the next speaker.

"Go ahead, Henri. You seem to have an urgency about you."

"How do we know that Peacock hasn't shown his cards? How do we know he hasn't told the authorities of our anticipated plans?"

"I'm not that worried. I spoke to him the other day, and it sounds like he is holed up somewhere fighting for his life. Besides, this auction date is fresh, one he doesn't know about. And the venue is one we haven't used before. He is one hundred percent out of the loop on this."

Teetotaler selected one more person to speak, a woman, who turned her mic on and said, "I elect that we vote on the date. It's good for me."

"Then," Teetotaler said, "by a show of hands, vote aye for the next auction to be held on June twenty-eighth, 2056.

Hands went up, and it looked like the vast majority had voted yes on that date.

"Alright," Teetotaler's lieutenant said. "I have a count of thirty-six ayes. That's a quorum, and more than enough to hold an auction. Do any of the naysayers have a change of heart."

Four more of the attendees raised their hands, and the date was set in stone.

"Put June twenty-seventh at eight p.m. EDT as the time for the revelation video conference. It will be then that we reveal the time and place of the next day's auction. Until then, be well and gather your funds. As usual, gold and free credits only will be accepted for any and all transactions. This should be a fruitful auction."

"Fruitful, indeed. Time to select and gather the troops to prepare for another invasion. With this one, we did not know where, but we knew when.

Once the call was terminated, Teetotaler got on the phone and called his superior.

"Simon, I thought that went well. We'll have forty either live or linked by videoconference to bid on the girls we have in stock. There were several clients who were not on the call, but I will contact them and see if I can bring them on board as well."

There was a pause as he listened to the voice at the other end of the phone line.

"Yes. We have just under three hundred available to us and I'm hoping in the time between now and the auction maybe we can garner another fifty or so. Should be a profitable enterprise."

Again, he paused and listened.

"No. I don't think Peacock will be a problem. He is so out of the loop right now I'm hardly even thinking about him."

Another pause, only this one briefer.

"My eye is always on the ball, Simon. I won't let you down. I expect lots of gold to be exchanged and great profits for both you and me."

Once the conversation ended, Teetotaler left the office and things fell silent. I think we'd had enough for one day.

---------------------------------------------------

Everyone was delighted at the results of the call. Herb had the second drone, which still had plenty of power, crawl behind a book and power down. We would save it for the call on the twenty-seventh, when we would find out where the auction would be held. The first drone would continue to monitor the goings on in the office until it got close to a low charge. Then we would fly it off the property and have it self-destruct over one of the highways where it would be crushed into non-existence. At least that was the plan.

Hoagie insisted he wanted to attend this auction in person, maybe with a couple of bodyguards to keep him company and assure his safety. Avi decided he would rather attend virtually, and if accommodations were made, we would let him.

The Auction Ch. 06

Discussion(0)