Dead Presidents (An Aria Raymond Thriller Book 3) by Thomas Ransom (that summer book txt) 📕

be arriving in thirty minutes. I checked with your assistant and gave them the confirmation. I just thought I should check in with you too because the team had to meet thirty minutes early for your briefing, which is… right now.”

“It’s…. what? Umm…,” Wayne shook his head to think clearly. How can it be 10 in the morning? He just closed his eyes to sleep. He had a good five hours of sleep ahead of him. He groaned. “Yeah. Yeah. I am coming. You already know all the details, brief the team. I might be a few minutes late. Just cover for me.”

“But… this is not my job!” Tanya replied, frustrated.

“Just do as I say Tanya. I have a little errand to run before coming to work.”

“Wow! You are running errands and making everyone wait for you, even the clients? Can’t your “little errand” wait till after the meeting?”

“No!”

Wayne hung up the phone.

“Rude!” Tanya said out loud. Everyone was already gathered in the meeting room and looked towards her. She calmed herself down. No need to cause a panic telling them the boss is running late. The client was an important one for the firm. They had lost a few clients after Coon’s murder and Aria’s imprisonment, but now fortunately they were getting them back. This client was already a bit reluctant, and it took Tanya and Wayne plenty of effort to make him agree to a presentation. Now Wayne was acting all weird again. Tanya huffed. She made an excuse for Wayne and did the briefing.

The receptionist knocked on the door and informed Tanya that the client had arrived. “Has Wayne arrived yet?” The receptionist shook her head. Crap! She thought. “Okay guys,” she said, turning to the team. “Wayne will be here soon. We have to start. It’s show time.”

She hurried out to meet the client who immediately inquired about Wayne. “He is running a bit late. There was an urgent meeting called. He should be here any moment now, but we should probably start.”

“I’d rather wait for him. Thank you.”

Tanya forced a smile. “Of course. Let me check up on him. I am sure he is almost here.” She took out her cell phone and called Wayne. There was no answer. She called several times more and finally he answered.

“Finally!!! Where the hell are you?? The client is insisting…” She started.

“Hello? Who is this? Hello?” came a strange voice?”

Tanya checked her phone to see if she had dialed a wrong number. No, it was Wayne’s number. “Who is this?” She asked.

“Umm… Miss, my name is Clay. Do you know the owner of this phone?”

Great! The idiot has forgotten his phone somewhere. Tanya rolled her eyes, “Yes. I do. We work together. He is actually my boss. Has he forgotten his phone somewhere? I can text you the address and you can just send…”

“Actually…” the guy interrupted her. “There has been an accident.”

“What? Accident! What happened?”

“Umm this guy. He was attacked by someone. He was bleeding … a lot…”

“What do you mean “was”? What happened? Where is Wayne?” Tanya asked, panicked.

“Oh no. I am not sure. We called the ambulance. He was… well he was breathing… when they took him to the hospital. You better get in touch with them. They should be able to give you more information. The ambulance just left a few minutes ago. I was about to leave when I heard the phone ringing. No one noticed it. I figured I would give it to the police but if you want, I can leave the phone at the reception desk of the hospital, it is near here.”

“What hospital?”

She noted the name of the hospital and thanked the guy. Tanya stood in silence for a few minutes in shock, until the receptionist came in to tell her the client is asking for her. “Umm… yeah.”

Within an hour she had reached the hospital. They had to postpone the meeting of course. Fortunately, the client was understanding and asked them to schedule it at a later date. She had a feeling they might have lost the client. However, right now there were serious things to consider. She retrieved Wayne’s phone from the receptionist, who merely informed her that Wayne was in the ICU and his condition was critical and couldn’t tell her any further information. Frustrated, she turned around and almost bumped into Sanjay.

“What?! What are you doing here?”

“There was an attack on someone…”

“Wayne?”

He nodded. I was closest to the location so was called in. His face was pale.

“What happened? No one is telling me anything. Why would someone attack him?”

Sanjay looked around and signaled her to come into the room right next to them. It was an empty patient ward. “What the hell is happening?”

Tanya gasped. “But who… why?”

“I was about to go investigate the crime scene, but from what I know, there was a masked person who hit him with a hammer repeatedly and escaped on a motorcycle.  The attack was brutal, Tanya.”

“What do you mean? Is he going to be okay?”

“I … I don’t know. I don’t know the complete details, but the doctor is saying they are trying to do as much as they can. He had lost too much blood. The injury was in the head… and he could go into a coma… or he could die.”

Sanjay paused, “I have a feeling… It might be because he found out something.”

“Shit! What the hell is happening?!”

“I know. It just keeps getting messier. But we don’t know the full story yet. It could be a random freak accident. Let’s hope for the best for him.”

“Keep me updated please.”

“I will,” Sanjay said as he turned to leave and then paused, “Tanya?”

“Yeah?”

“Please stay safe. Things are messed up.”

“I know. I know.” She shivered as