✅🎊✂️ Hypnosis Won't Take Me There!! [alternative cut]

Chapter 421: Starting Something

John Ryland wasn't the most subtle of people. He liked the sound of his own voice, and liked people to listen to him. He said what was on his mind, and called a spade a spade. This had led to some difficulty in his long life, and was responsible for one of the scars down the side of his face. But it was also the reason he was proud to show off those scars, and earned the respect of the three men doing a passable impression of a dark stone wall behind him, eyes only ever on the person to whom he was presenting Hobson's choice today.

People didn't come in here unless they were just as serious as Ryland. People didn't come in here at all, if they had a choice. But when someone was looking for his services, he was among the best. That made him the first choice for many who couldn't just ignore a problem any longer. He had security who were able to filter out those who would just waste his time, or wouldn't show proper respect. He also had people to ensure that his visitors weren't over-endowed in the respect of weapons or bodyguards. Sometimes they had to bring a little muscle as a sign of their position, but never enough that Ryland could feel threatened. He was a straightforward man, and understood the rules and politics of his world well enough to make sure that everyone knew what was appropriate.

Still, it was a little unusual for him to have a client without an appointment so late in the day. If it was someone who owed him money, he would make them pay a little extra for the inconvenience of the hour. If it was someone who needed work doing, he knew he could set the fee appropriately. And, as always, there was just a little curiosity as he thought about getting into some new business. Always ready to learn, always curious, but always with that same stone-wall determination that nobody was going to mess with him.

So this time, he was a little surprised to see that the visitor was alone, without any kind of muscle, and with no weapons to check at the door. He hadn't yet spoken to the receptionist downstairs, knowing that his blunt reputation would be diminished if he kept a visitor waiting while he received their full details from his receptionist. But he was also surprised to see that this visitor was quite young, by the standards of the people he normally worked with. A young pretty boy in a padded leather jacket and hair spiked up with streaks of teal blue around the edges. The kind of person Ryland might have thought a poser, if he hadn't seen the confidence in that walk, the certainty in the set of a surprisingly delicate jaw, and eyes that rose automatically to the centre of his desk and betrayed neither nervousness, nor fear. The visitor knew the rules, knew not to make eye contact, but wasn't afraid. Or, perhaps, was more afraid of someone else.

"What can I do for you?" Ryland opened the interview in his usual fashion. He wasn't here to waste time.

"Someone's causing problems for me. I want to light a fire under him. I understand you can help me with that. Finding someone, and getting me there." Ryland hesitated the tiniest fraction of a second when he heard her voice. He'd never seen a woman walk with such confidence before, and he was surprised although he recognised how easy it was for those leathers to hide her figure. He didn't show his surprise, but tackled her like he would any other customer. If he didn't know this girl yet, he was sure that in a few years she would be a force to be reckoned with. Best to have her owe him early on.

"Just you? Normally people with problems need a little muscle to help them out."

"I've got some friends. But getting visas at short notice will be hard. Looks like Kolechia, eastern Europe, but we can't find an address. Your people can handle that?"

"My guys can find your guy. Might take time, and time is money."

"I'm good for it," she was just as confident as before, but Ryland knew he had to know for sure up front.

"Who's going to guarantee that? I need a name I can trust, someone who has the cash if you don't, and isn't going to be bothered by the type of work I do."

"Jürgen Walker. He'll tell you I got this."

Ryland nodded, and paused a second to think of his next question.

"You work for the Walkers? They usually have their own people."

"I'm his new head accountant. Well trusted. And his niece. He trusts me, but this is personal. Not Walker business. I don't want him to know what this is for, or why. I hear that you're able to do that."

"Something you're hiding, miss? What's a guy in the ass-end of nowhere done to get you so worked up, if it's not just usual business that your old man can stamp out?"

Toni gritted her teeth, and broke protocol by meeting the fixer's eyes. "I told you, I need to light a fire under this guy, and I want to do this myself, not by something my father gave me. I want him found, I want him scared, and I want a way into Kolechia so I can face him down myself."

"I can fix that. I'll need the guy's name, any particulars you got, and fifty grand cash up front. To show me you're serious."

She gave a half-shrug, unzipping the jacked, and threw two heavy brown envelopes down in the middle of the desk. She was a little hesitant; she'd guessed the amount of the deposit, and this was the highest of the amounts she'd thought likely. It would eat her liquid cash for the rest of the year, and she might have to sell off some stuff when it came to pay the balance. But he couldn't deny cash. The other envelope was larger, the size you might expect to contain a bank statement, and the muted thud said it contained a dozen pages of documents.

Ryland nodded without picking up either; his men would take care of the details for business overseas, unless the guy they were hunting turned out to be worthy of extra danger money. Still, he was curious. Most people in their world wouldn't need help unless the target had his own resources, and any kind of business rival would be a family matter as well as personal. But John Ryland had a reputation for saying what was on his mind, so he asked.

"So who is this guy? What's he done? Office romance gone bad?"

"He's nobody. And he kidnapped my girlfriend."