“Sealing the Deal”

by Marie and Stacey

(***Note to readers: this chapter actually takes place a few weeks before “The Chase is On”.)

Zack rechecked his watch for the tenth time. He had arrived at Andy’s a bit early and he still have nearly 10 minutes before Bud White was due to show up for their scheduled meeting. “Another round, please,” he called over to the waitress, who nodded and headed back to the counter to put in his order.
 
Two minutes later, she sashayed back over and handed him his beer. “Thanks,” he said smiling up at her, then watched as she walked away, thinking to himself that she looked damn good both coming and going.  As he turned back to his beer, he saw Bud lumbering up to the table.
 
“Hey man,” he said, half standing and extending his hand out for Bud to shake. “Glad you made it.”

"Good to see you, Grant."  He shook the offered hand.  "Tough day at work today."  He ran his hand over his prominent 5 o'clock shadow.  "I could use a beer."  He motioned to the bar maid to bring him a pint of VB. 

"My brother-in-law, well cousin-in-law actually, has got me drinking this Australian swill."  Bud gave a small smile.  "The shit is actually good."  He took a big swallow and set the beer aside.  Bud wasn't a big drinker.  And he was here to talk business.

"I was looking into some office space.  It's a lot more affordable here than in Coffs.  I figure we'll get a fair amount of business in both.  If we market it right it shouldn't hurt not to be located in Coffs Harbour.  What were you thinking?"  Bud had gone far beyond the dumb muscle he'd once been thought to be.

Zack nodded, "I was actually thinking the same thing. Keep the overhead down while taking advantage of both markets. Yeah, I think this could work." He took a swig of beer, set his bottle down, "I know you've got the day job and all, so if you'd like me to do any of the leg work to get the ball rolling, let me know."

"There's a lot of work at the Sheriff's department.  Something you should think about."  Bud added pointedly.  "It might take a while till the security business will be a full time thing.  We need to get business cards printed ASAP.  And start advertising in the local papers.  You could work on that."  Bud realized there was one stumbling block to the card printing and advertising.

"We need to decide what we want to call the business.  Do you have any ideas?" 

"Not offhand, but I'll give it some thought and get back with you," Zack replied, then paused for a moment. What Bud had said was true - it might take a while for the business to take off and start becoming lucrative. He'd been living on his savings for a while now and it was starting to run dry. A part-time gig didn't sound too bad, though he wasn't too sure if the sheriff's office was a good idea, considering he was currently harboring a fugitive. "As for working for the sheriff, I'll have to give that some thought, too. Though this town is a far cry from New York or LA or any other big city I've worked in, the idea of getting back into law enforcement isn't something I had considered, but it might have to do considering my bank account at the moment."

"And it ain't just you.  You got your girl to consider too."  Bud wasn't prying.  He just felt if you were living with a woman it was the man's responsibility to make sure she was provided for.  Maybe it was an old fashioned idea, but he didn't give a fuck.  He was an old fashioned kind of guy.  Even though Marie had a good career as a nurse practitioner, Bud still felt it was up to him to earn the living expenses for both of them.

"You'd be surprised at all the shit that goes on in this small town.  It's rarely boring."

Zack grinned, "Anything beats sitting on my ass all day twiddling my fuckin' thumbs." Deep down, he did miss the work, miss the excitement. Of course, he knew no matter what Bud tried to tell him that working for the local sheriff's department would be far less dangerous than the FBI work he'd done in the past. He drained the rest of his beer, set the bottle down on the table, wondering how Destiny would react to the news that he was thinking of getting back into law enforcement.

"I know what you mean.  When I first moved here I wasn't working.  I was bored shitless pretty quick after the moving in was done.  I have to have something to do preferably in law enforcement.  Security is closely enough related that most of the people you meet are cops moonlighting or ex-cops."

"I just thought of a name for the company.  It maybe will help us think of something that's actually decent.  Top Cops Security."  Bud grinned. 

"Top Cops Security," Zack repeated, letting the sound of it roll off his tongue, "Yeah, yeah, I like it. Alright then, partner... Top Cops it is. I'll start making calls to the local print shops in Coffs in the morning, get the pricing for having cards made up, then I'll give you a call. We'll need to have contact information on the cards as well - a business number in the least."

"Marie's home.  I'll ask her to call the phone company and open a business line for the company.  We can get a number before the line is even live.  And if you want to walk over with me and look at the vacant office space I was thinking about here in The Glen, we can go with the address if we both like it."  Bud liked Grant.  He didn't like to fuck around and instead would get things done like him.

"I guess that's the preliminary shit we need to get out of the way.  Once we have the office space leased we'll have to get some office furniture and at least one computer to start.  Might be better if we start with two right away."

"Marie's good with billing as she did it for my company when in was new in LA.  Once business picked up we hired a secretary/office manager to do billing and keep that side of things going.  Marie has volunteered to help us out.  She said to make sure I asked you if that was okay as she didn't want to push herself on both of us.  The pluses are she knows what to do, won't cook the books and is free labor until we're making some money."  Bud's grin was both a bit sly and hopeful that Grant wouldn't mind if Marie helped them with the billing because he fucking hated doing it.

"Sounds good, keep it in the family," Zack replied. Bud had really done his research it sounded like and seemed to have covered all the bases. It was seeming more and more like they'd have a good chance at getting the business up and running. He motioned for the waitress to bring his check, "Let me just pay up the tab here and I can follow you over to check out that office you mentioned."

"All right, next one's on me."  Bud felt good and optimistic.  The Glen was becoming their home more every day.  He had a big extended family to look after now.  While Grant was paying the tab Bud rang Marie and asked her to work on the business phone.  She sounded excited.  Christ, he'd gotten more than lucky the second time around in love. 

"I'll see you in a bit, Hon.  Bye."  He grinned when she kissed into the phone and told him that she loved him. 

Grant was watching him in an amused way when he got off the phone.  He didn't even care if he thought he was a sap.  He shrugged.

"Phone'll be taken care of.  As soon as I've got a number I'll call you.  I think we've got ourselves the start of a business, Grant.  Let's see that office, partner."  Bud stood up and stuck out his hand to seal the deal.

Zack grinned, took Bud's hand and shook. It had been a long time since he'd been called 'partner' and he found himself liking the sound of it again. "Lead the way," he replied, following the big man out the door.