He contemplated that while crunching down on his chips. “I think I’ve seen her a few times. The video doesn’t zoom in all the way, but that’s the troublemaker I was telling you about a few months ago. Butchered my surveillance and we lost the guy and then he wound up dead.”

When she said she had rats, I didn’t think she was living with them too. Stupid me for not thinking to install cameras two years ago when they moved in, I guess.

“If that’s the case, I need eyes on her or some form of it. Get a few of our tails to see what she’s up to and what trouble she’s been getting herself into. I’ll need to report that to the Dictator.”

Speaking of, he was waiting for us in his office.

“Boy.”

“Hello, sir.”

Reaper plopped down in the chair across the room holding a cat like a football.

“What do you make of the situation with Haines?” Lighting up the cigar, he leaned back in his chair and awaited my response.

“I think we are underutilizing Romania.” I poured a drink for him and then myself, setting myself up across from his desk. He wants to know what the future CEO thinks of business, and I planned to let him know that I’ve been paying attention all these years while he used me as an attack dog.

“What does Romania have?” A coy smile played on his mouth and dared me to speak up and play like one of the big boys.

“A willingness to cooperate for the right price. Better arms available than our current resources. The Slavic countries have been stingy lately from higher demand in the current climate, but with Romania, we’d have open air free trade with the government. A foot in the door to practice legitimate business outside of arms deals.”

We sat there staring each other down for a while and he nodded his head after he thought long enough about it. The air felt stale with sweet tobacco and the silence became uncomfortable.

“Thank you for speaking plainly. I will consider your opinions. What I want to tell you now is of great importance. With the intel we have now, and your great work putting together pieces of the puzzle for me, it’s obvious that my suspicions are correct. The Montgomery Group is in great peril from lacking leadership for the last five years.”

Not to mention his getting older, but I wasn’t going to be the one to tell him that. Any chances I had of taking over the company would be over if I mentioned how old he was. Last guy who showed concern about him being older left with a broken leg. And I was pretty sure Reaper might have been the one to carry out my beating since the old man didn’t have his cane with him.