Double checking my watch, I realise that I'm only a few minutes early but I would assume that the Sargent would still be busy, so I'm not too concerned.
I make my way from the carpark over to the main terminal building, while looking around for any sign of where Bryson might be. I find it strange that I can't see a single police car or sign of where he might be.
I'm yet to work out what to call the man as from the one interaction that I had had with the man, he tended to be quite formal in his approach.
Realising that the doors to the terminal are wide open, I decide to just hover near the doors but keeping on the outside of the building. Looking around, it just seems too quiet and I have this strange feeling in the pit of my stomach.
It dose not take long until I hear someone coming through the empty terminal building and heading my way. I turn around and put on a casual smile, awaiting the arrival of who I thought was going to be Sargent Bryson, to what turns out to be a man that I've never met before.
"Thank you for being on time Doctor Baxter, do you mind if I call you Amelia?" The man asks as he stops promptly in front of me.
I take in his appearance as he seems to have such a swagger to the way he presents himself. He is quite tall, at least 6ft, which broad shoulders. It is strange that he looks like a businessman by his neat attire but I notice over his white business shirt he is wearing a kutte. Knowing how clubs use kuttes to define what club they come from. I check his patch and I take an internal gasp when I see The Bandits patch.
Knowing that he is awaiting an answer from me "Well that would depend on whom I am talking with and what this is all about, Where is Sargent Bryson?" I reply, looking around for the Sargent.
He smiles as he responds "Oh don't you worry about Tex, I asked him to set up this little meeting for us so that I could talk to you in person." He is waving his hands between us as to emphasis on the two of us.
"But of course Amelia, let me introduce myself. I am Eric, the now President of The Bandits Motorcycle Club. " and he offers me his hand to shake. The club name 'The Bandits' is a name that I am familiar with but I can't quite place where I know his name from.
I shake his hand and he runs his thumb along the top of my hand as he pulls his hand away. I take notice of the rings on his fingers and they remind me of the ones that Knuckles wears, big and shiny.
"So what do I owe for the pleasure of this?" I reply as I try and slip my hand away quicker and place it in my pocket. I rub it a few times as if I am trying to wipe away the imaginary feeling of his touch.
He smirks "I do like a lady who likes to get straight to business." He keeps running his eyes up and down my body as if he is weighing up what to do with me.
He moves over to a chair near the entrance and motions for me to take a seat. I silently shake my head no, but I move towards the area where the chair is so that we can continue the conversation.
"Thank you for the offer Eric, but I am still not sure why I am here?" I respond. I can feel myself starting to loose my patience for this man and what he hopes to achieve here.
Taking a seat himself, he crosses his legs over and looks up at me "Well, as you have probably worked out, there has been some issues with orders coming through in the wrong accounts at the moment and I believe that you have started to question what is going on? I understand that this was possibly an error in judgement on our behalf, but as you can understand, we have a new company that is just trying to get itself on its feet. Surely you understand what it is like when you first start out and errors are made."
"Yes, I have been made aware that there was an accounting error and that our accounts were getting charged for supplies that were not ours. I believe that the suppliers are sorting this all out." I respond wondering where this is going to go.
"Yes, well that is the issue we are having at the moment, you see as a new company we can't seem to be able to get a line of credit for us to be able to order from some of the top supplies." He responds "I was hoping that we could come to some sort of an agreement that would benefit us both."
"How do you mean?" I respond.
"Well, I understand that you are new to this all and I believe that your Dad was affiliated with the Wanderers but I am led to believe that you don't have the same alliances as your father." He implies.
I feel like I have to hold my tongue before I say something that I will regret "Well that is interesting information that you have there." Is all I can think of to respond.
"Well yes Amelia, I tend to like to do my homework when it comes to dealing with people." He adds. My mind goes into investigation mode as I try and take in what he is saying so that I can pick up on anything that will be useful.
"Now Amelia, I know that you are a smart woman so I thought that we could meet and come up with an arrangement where my company could continue to order our supplies and where we can pay you for the opportunity. What do you think about that?" He begins to lay out a whole plan of how he would go about placing the orders and arranging for his men to pick up the products from the surgery, he even goes to the extent of saying that I could be their on call doctor, like the same deal that my Dad had with Mickey.
I let him finish his spiel and provide him with a simple response "Well thank you for such a wonderful offer but I will have to decline."
He seems to loose his composure and stands straight up from his seat. "I don't think you realise the issue here Amelia. I am the type of man who usually gets what he wants. You don't understand how much influence that my club has in this town at the moment Amelia and I think you need to make sure you are on the right side when we take over this town."
He seems to be trying to scare me by using his club and influence but I know how deep The Wanderers run in this town, so I feel that his threats are a little empty.
"I understand that you are offering me an arrangement that is quite beneficial to you but what do I get out of this." I figure I'll try his angle to see how it responds.
He chuckles as he moves closer to me and goes to move a piece of my hair away from my face "Oh Amelia, I am sure that we can come to some sort of arrangement." His temperament seems to change faster then I can change lanes on the highway.
I move to take a step back to create some space between us "Well thank you again Eric but I don't think it would be in our best interests to take on a deal like this." As much as he seems to think that I will cave, I keep up my front that I am not interested in his deal.
His eyes narrow and he goes to say something when his phone pings a few times as if he is getting a message. He quickly scans it before I see his features change as his focus seems to be on whatever he has been sent.
Looking up from his phone he says to me "Three days Amelia, I will give you three days to have a think about my offer. " He steps away from me and his body language changes to the point where I feel that our conversation is over. "I have to go now but you will realise that what I am offering you is an opportunity that will improve your business."
"I told you Eric, I am not interested." I say, giving him my last answer. He pushes forward into me and grabs my arm, pulling me close him so that he can whisper in my ear "Don't ruin a good opportunity Amelia, I know that you will make the right decision. You are a smart woman Amelia and you know that there is no point in siding with the loosing team."
He drops my arm and moves back into the terminal. I want to let out a tirade of curse words but its like my feet have other plans as I turn away from him and make my way back to my car. I realise that this man has tried to intimidate me into taking up his deal and to be honest, the more I think about it the more I wonder why he would want our surgery to help them out.
I keep wondering who are working with them. I understand that the town is not exactly happy with Xavier and The Wanderers with everything but I don't think that they would ever cross the club and side with The Bandits. I am pretty pissed though about Sargent Bryson and I fumble around in my pocket for my phone so that I can call Holden straight away.
Realising that I should wait until I am in my car and driving away before I start ringing anyone I hustle across the carpark, keeping my eyes peeled to see if anyone is following me.
I get to my car and as I open my door and go to slip into my car, keeping my eyes on the building making sure that Eric or any of his men are not following me, I notice a man moving from the building where I was talking to Eric over to a bike that I had not seen when I first arrived.
Focusing on the man's face I nearly drop my keys when I recognise who the man as it clicks into place and I realise that I know who the inside man is, it's Xaviers best friend - Drew.