The Retribution – Episode 14

Chapter 14 — Meeting Liam Hudson

They both found their way through the dancing floor to meet Liam on the other side. The man had just stepped aside to take a cup from the tray of the wine waiter. He took a sip from the cup and met two smiling faces as he dropped the cup.

“Good evening, Mr Liam,” Eric greeted.

“Good evening,” Liam stared at their faces with a pleasant smile, trying to figure out where he knew Eric from.

“You look familiar. Do I know you?”

“I’m James Cooper and this is my wife, Grace,” Eric introduced himself and stretched out his hand for a handshake.

“Uhm… James Cooper. The name sounds familiar too,” his eyebrows gathered as he took the handshake. He also shook hands with Eva. “Your wife is beautiful.”

“Thank you,” Eric and Eva smiled at the compliment.

“Have we met before?” Liam’s smile slowly faded away as he stared at Eric’s face with interest.

“Not physically, but I’ve sent you a couple of emails that you never replied to,” Eric answered.

“Oh! I’m so sorry. I get a lot of mails and it could be difficult to respond to all,” Liam replied.

“Do you recognize me now?” Eric questioned.

“No,” Liam shook his head.

“James Cooper from NCT Connectors,” Eric stated.

Liam squinted at his face for a while and then widened his eyes as he remembered. “Oh! You? I’ve gotten a lot of messages from you recently.”

“That’s correct, sir,” Eric remarked.

“I’m sorry but your offers do not seem helpful to me. That’s why I’ve never replied any,” he remarked and gulped down the remaining content of the drink. Then his eyes wandered around to locate a wine waiter who would take the cup from him. He finally found one and beckoned on her.

“What if I connect you directly to one of the biggest retail and wholesale companies in the country?” Eric made another offer.

Liam only glanced at him and sighed, looking uninterested. He dropped his cup on the waiter’s tray and straightened his suit jacket. “I’m sorry, I would have to talk to someone else right now. Can we discuss this later?” he turned to leave immediately without waiting for Eric’s response.

“My firm can also help you set up your company retail and wholesale centres in the US, and also get you registered within a month,” Eric offered again, attempting to follow the man as he moved.

Liam froze for a second and turned slowly. Eric was able to finally get his attention.

“What did you just say?”

Eric blew out a breath softly. “Instead of connecting you with distributors, we can set up your company’s centres all around the US. This will eliminate the need for the rebranding of your products. You maintain the same brand while you expand.”

“And you can get me registered within a month?” Liam raised a brow.

“Definitely!” Eric replied confidently.

Liam stared thinly at his face for a while, wondering if he could really carry out the offer.

“Do you live in Australia?”

“No,” Eric shook his head. “I and my wife came for some business meetings. We will be returning the day after tomorrow.”

“Oh!” Liam took in a deep breath as he took some seconds to think. “Then, we should meet at my office tomorrow?”

“Uhm…Not so sure that will be possible,” Eric put on a frown. “We’ve got a couple of meetings to attend tomorrow before we leave the country. I think I’ll just mail you the details of the offer. You can read it up and get back to me.”

“No, I need us to talk about it before you leave.”
Eric sighed and shook his head thoughtfully. “We can meet over dinner tonight at a good restaurant,” he suggested.

“Huh…” the man frowned in hesitation. “Why not come over to my house with your wife tomorrow? My wife will treat us to dinner.”

Eric squinted for a second as if considering the man’s offer. “I think that’s fine,” he finally answered and then turned to Eva to seek her consent. “It is, right?”

She nodded in affirmative.

“Good,” Liam remarked and then took out his phone. “I need to take your cell number and I’ll text you the address.”

He handed the phone to Eric who typed in his number and returned it to the man.

Liam took a few seconds to save the contact on his phone and then forwarded his house address.

“Done, Cooper,” he said with a smile to Eric. “It was nice talking to you.”

“My pleasure, Mr Liam,” Eric took his handshake.

“Mrs Cooper,” Liam also offered Eva a handshake. “Do have a nice time in Canberra, ma’am.”

“Thank you,” Eva smiled back.

The man turned and walked away immediately. Eric and Eva also proceeded back to their table.

“What if he had taken the offer of meeting you at a restaurant?” Eva whispered to Eric as they walked back.

“I carried out my background check on him, Eva. He has a health condition that makes him never want to eat outside his home. So, there’s no way he would accept the dinner outside.”

“Oh! But it was so easy for him to invite us for dinner?”

“He has no idea of what’s coming to him, Eva,” Eric replied as they sat down. “He’s got a tight security system in his mansion. So, he feels he’s got nothing to worry about.”

They left an hour later after the party ended. The limousine was waiting at the car park for them.

“We need to start planning for tomorrow as soon as we get back,” Eric began as they settled in the back seat of the vehicle. “You’re going to handle the woman while I engage the man.”

Eva wanted to speak but paused to look at the driver of the car. She was wondering if it was safe to talk about their plans in the vehicle.

“Don’t worry, Eva. He’s one of us,” Eric replied. Eva’s face contorted in surprise. “We have many of our agents in this country and a couple of them will be working on this with us.”

“Great! That means we’re not doing it alone as I thought,” she heaved a sigh of relief.

“We going in and coming out alone,” Eric noted. “They’re only going to be assisting us from outside.”

“Oh! Well, still good to hear,” she replied, even though her excitement had reduced on finding out the other men were not going in with them.

There was silence for a moment until Eric glanced at her. He noticed she had her jaw clenched and eyes squinted.

“What do you have in mind?” He asked.

“Wondering how we get out after accomplishing our mission tomorrow,” she answered and turned her face to him. “The two of us will be against more than fifteen guards. Do we have to ki*ll all of them?”

“Maybe or maybe not,” Eric shrugged. “You just have to get ready for tomorrow. It could be tough for you as a newbie. But if you follow my instructions, you won’t get killed.”