An Unexpected Opportunity

Entry #2

Saturday June 10th 2006

Gurnard Hunting Elite Meeting

Location: Donny’s Bar & Grill

It’s roughly 19:45 and Donny, Chuck, Harrison and I have been playing poker for an hour and a half already. If any of us had anything better to do we’d probably be doing it. There was no damn way that phone was ever gonna ring, that was the general consensus. This time it was mine and Harrison’s turns to bring the regular two bottles. The JD was already dry and we had about half of my bottle of Mount Gay Rum still going, I always make sure the booze I bring isn’t a popular choice with anyone but me so I get the heartier portion. Harrison was chip leader in this game. Damn him.
What we needed was some fun, some excitement, some laughs. It wasn’t like it used to be, to start with we just enjoyed each others company and I don’t think in the beginning we even took the whole bounty hunter thing seriously. Maybe that’s where it all went wrong. Maybe we just needed to forget about it.
“Fuck it!” I yelled as I handed over my last chips to Harrison after being beaten by a pair of Jacks (If a poker hand could be my arch-enemy, this would be it) but I intended this aberrant yammer to mean something other than the frustrated bark the three of them were expecting.
“That’s it! I think we should forget the whole bounty hunter thing.”
“Are you serious?” Chuck said with surprisingly wide eyes for somebody who was half-cut and an unnerving grin. “We’re glad you’re finally on board.”
I was confused.
Donny and Harrison started laughing closely followed by Chuck.
“Dude! We gave up on it a long time ago! We’ve just not said much about it because we didn’t want to upset you!” Donny announced through a smile and a chortle whilst twisting his trucker cap from frontwards to backwards. It was as if my comment had finally let these guys relax.
We sat there and let the dust and laughter settle as I came to terms with the fact that my friends had been pulling one over on me.
Then as if somebody had been listening in to the whole conversation/banter as Harrison said “Well at least we can just go back to......” It happened. The red phone rang.
We all paused and looked at it ringing for about two and a half seconds before it was unanimously decided that it was probably just another market research call and a few more giggles escaped our mouths. In fact I was half chuckling when I finally picked it up after the sixth ring.
“Hu-hello?”
“Hello. Is this headquarters for Gurnard Hunting Elite?” Said the voice at the other end. It was a slightly posh sounding voice with hints of somebody who might wear a scientist's spectacles.
My face dropped. “Shhhh, shhhh.” I demanded of the others as I held the receiver against my chest. “Yes, yes it is, er... I mean, erm NO. Er this is the receptionist, I’ll just get somebody.” I chaotically fibbed before I held the receiver back to my chest and pulled a face that made me look like my own tongue was made from salt and lemons.
“Why the hell did you say that?” Chuck asked. “I don’t flipping know! More professional I guess? Just let me do the talking.” You couldn’t tell I was at all nervous.
With a cough and a drop in tone I thrusted the receiver back to my face.
Mike: “May I help you?”
Caller: “Yes, yes, hello. This is a very important call.”
M: “What can we do for you?”
C: “I would like to hire your services but will need to meet you all to discuss the situation in person.”
M: “Sounds good but how do I know you’re not just some crazy guy? OR AN ENEMY?” (We didn’t have any enemies.)
C: “Check behind your headquarters door on the outside and you’ll see how serious I am.”
Because the air had gone completely silent I knew the other guys could hear everything the caller was saying so I urged them to do so. Donny pulled a small brown briefcase into the shed and proceeded to unlock it. The case was opened and it was full of cash. Wads of £20 notes in fact.
C: “£20,000 cash, and there’s plenty more where that came from if you decide to hold your questions for when we meet.
M: “Just one question if you’d be courteous enough to answer it.”
C: “Shoot.”
M: “Why us? Why a bunch of twenty-something’s with a lack of experience?”
He fell silent for a few seconds. It may sound like it was a question said out of fear to almost change the callers mind but that wasn’t the case. This bounty hunter doesn’t scare that easily.
C: “Never mind that for now, let’s say you boys may be my only hope. Now, the address and time of where you need to meet me are in an envelope under the cash. You must also understand that this must be kept entirely confidential. If any of this information is leaked to anybody other than you four, then there might be a little ‘accident’ if you get my drift. I have to go now. I hope you now understand the importance of this call and look forward to meeting you very soon.”
The receiver went silent.
The rest of the night comes as a bit of a blur as me and the boys managed to get to the local corner shop before closing and acquire enough booze for a full blown, four person celebration party.