Frag Box by Richard A. Thompson Read Free Book Online

came here to tell you?” The color was starting to rise in his face now, the veneer of civility beginning to wear thin. Silk over slime , I thought. Soon it will begin to seep through . But he went on in almost the same tone, with just a bit more open hostility now.
    “You’re a successful businessman, Jackson. You know what that means in this day and age?”
    “You bet. It means I can be fussy about who I talk to.”
    “It means,” and he paused slightly and drew himself up to his full height, “that you are a prime candidate for being bought out. In case you don’t know it, that’s a very big deal.”
    “Oh, I can see that, all right.”
    “You think I’m joking? That’s the American dream now. Nobody tries to make it on their own anymore. The real jackpot is when you get successful enough that the big boys want your operation. And they do.”
    “And why do I care what they want?”
    “Oh, you care, believe me. You’re about to find out how much you care. Anyway, you never think about retiring young? No more sweating the recovery rate of your bounty hunters? No more wondering if anybody knows you only run an eighty percent layoff rate? Think of all the trips you’d like to take, maybe with—”
    “Don’t even think about using that phrase again,” said Agnes.
    “What she said,” I said. “Just who are these so-called big boys, by the way?”
    Bardot reached into an inside pocket and produced a business card, which he handed to me with what I’m sure he thought was a significant look. It was an expensive-looking, low-key bit of embossed printing, and under his name, it said “Amalgamated Bonding Enterprises.” Without an “Inc.,” I noted.
    “This tells me diddly squat,” I said. “I’d like to know just exactly who all these wonderful, amalgamated, unincorporated folks are.” I stuck the card in my shirt pocket without being properly awed by it.
    “Oh, big people. Very big, very important. Venture capitalists, entrepreneurs. Totally above reproach.”
    “Who?”
    “Well, they like to keep a low profile. You know how it is.”
    “No. How is it?”
    “Mind your own damn business, is how it is.” Finally, the smile was completely gone, the gloves off. “This is a real opportunity here, Jackson.”
    “You’re absolutely right.”
    “Excuse me?”
    “About minding my own business. That’s what it is. My business. And that’s what it stays. It’s not for sale and it’s not open to extortion.”
    “Everything is for sale, Jackson. And everybody has their pressure points.”
    “In your world, maybe. So what happens now? Do you send Guido and Dutch over here to tip over my vegetable stand and break my windows, just to show me you’re serious?”
    “Do you really take me for a thug, Jackson?”
    “‘I would you were so honest a man.’”
    “What’s that supposed to mean?”
    “It means get the hell out of here.”
    He sighed and turned around. “It always starts this way,” he said. And without waiting for my brilliant retort, he left, once again crossing the street against the light and without looking either way.
    “Nice fellow,” I said, “but very confused.”
    “How did he know about your layoff rate, do you suppose?”
    “You picked up on that, too, did you, Aggie?”
    “He made it hard to miss.”
    “It could be a guess on his part,” I said, not really believing it, “but if so, it hit awfully close to the truth. I’m sure that’s one of the things he wants us to contemplate while he’s gone.”
    “I take it you’re expecting him back.”
    “Oh, I think we can count on that. And the next time, he’ll have something to up the ante with.”
    “What do you think his ‘big, important people’ really want, Herman? Is this whole act really just simple extortion?”
    “It’s some kind of extortion for sure, but I don’t think it’s so simple. I’m guessing they really do want to buy my business, but not before they’ve screwed it up somehow, so