Grand Father

Monday, the 2nd of May.

12:05pm.

New York had always been boasted to be the best place in the world to spend your spring break at, and so far it has lived up to the expectations and maybe even surpassed it by a whole lot. From flower festivals to the food fest, art fairs to relaxing boat rides, one could choose to enjoy the New York spring and engage in many exhilarating outdoor activities.

And as the flowers bloom in the New York spring season, so does the business world,. And although only a few businesses need the help of the different seasons on New York to boom and bloom as they work with the weathers, like businesses in the clothing line and occasionally tourism, a lot of other businesses boomed no matter what season flowed through New York.

As spring time was a time to enjoy the outdoor activities, and the night time coming alive more with longer days and relatively shorter nights, people had fun in as many ways as they possibly could. And one of such ways was clubbing.

New York was a rich city, no doubt and a lot of people just love to flaunt their wealth but many choose to do so by how they spend and what they eat, what they wear and the houses they lived in, the hotels they go to and the clubs they visited. One of such expensive places was the Skyline hotels and clubs.

Skyline travelling agency was owned and managed by Mr. Colin Hunt, known strictly as Mr. Hunt by his business partners and business associates, his acquaintances and to the outside world, but to the members of his family, he was known as Grand father.

Mr. Colin Hunt was a seventy seven year old business tycoon, his oddly still youthful and never smiling face would give one the impression that he was wicked perhaps, and strict and it was not entirely made up as Mr. Hunt was very strict. Strict to the core. His aura was one of such that if he entered a room, there would be immediate silence and in as much as Mr. Hunt took pride in the fact that people feared him, he had always admired the ones that would speak to him boldly and without any sort of tremble in their voices, one of such reason why he valued his right hand man, Daniel Noel Arnott.

Skyline travel agency took a lot of years to start up and took even longer to get to the position it was in today, the fame and popularity having grown so far and wide that Mr. Hunt had thought it wise to expand his line of business.

The rich loved to spend, they loved to go on tours and if they choose to find to New York, then they should enjoy their stay in New York. He established the Skyline hotels and clubs, and despite how expensive they were, people still flocked in. Skyline was a gem and grandfather Colin Hunt could not have been more proud of his accomplishments.

Mr. Colin Hunt was not one to be seen with women, except maybe his secretary but in public, that was on rare occasions. His total lack of interest in women caused a few people to raise the suspicious that he could be gay but that was far from the truth, Colin was just indifferent towards them and although the rumors had gotten to his ears, he could only care less. But the rumours died down any way because no body knew so much about Mr. Colin Hunt, his life was basically a secret even though he was such a huge business tycoon.

The Hunt mansion was usually empty as the place had turn cold, so asides from the very few servants they had, no body was ever home, and although Mr Hunt came home occasionally, he spent most of his nights at the Skyline hotel, having a secluded section of the hotel to himself. It was off limits to many and only few even knew about this secluded place. These selected few consisted of just eight men and they were Mr. Hunt's personal business partners and they had all gathered there today.

12:34pm

Mr. Hunt sat at the head of the table, his face straight and his expression unreadable, Daniel stood loyally behind him, he too had learned how to keep a neutral facial expression. The room was dimly lit, with the only source of light being the small chandelier which hung above the large oval, polished oak table. The tension in the room was stretched and Mr. Hunt remained quiet.

"Over the years, we have been rotating this responsibility..." A muscular man in his late fifties spoke, despite his age, he still managed to look absolutely stunning in the three piece navy blue suit he had on. He leaned closer on the table so that the light illuminated his face barely and continued. "...and now, we need to know that he is on our side."

"Is he in or out?" Another chipped in a question.

Mr. Hunt plopped his elbow on the chair arm and gently massage his index finger with his thumb. "He is in." He replied.

"He is in?"

"Did he say that or are you speaking for him right now?"

Mr. Hunt shot him an angry look but the man did not even flinch, rather he looked back at Mr. Hunt, waiting for an answer. "Well...?"

"I said he is in." Being a man of a few words, he did not bother trying to explain more. He leaned back on the chair, away from the light.

"We all know that he is in from what you have been telling us over the past few meetings." Another healthier looking man spoke up, leaning away from the table and away from the light.

"And so?" Mr. Hunt asked, he was already getting frustrated. Every time the meeting turned out like this, he always ended up with a head ache.

"We all want to see that he is in."

"Yes Colin, no more excuses for the boy." Another braved up.

Mr. Hunt leaned in on the table towards the direction of the person who had spoken last, he had called him Colin. He had dared to call him Colin. "Excuse me?"

"Well, he is not wrong. We want him present in the meetings from now going on." Another chipped in but Mr. Hunt was still very much focused on the man that had called him Colin.

"Colin?" He asked the man.

The man, as if just realizing what he had said gave a sigh and leaned in on the table. "Mr. Hunt..."

But Mr. Hunt had shot up from his chair, the back of his knees pushing the chair backwards, its wooden legs scraped against the rules flooring of the room. At the same time, be had already pulled out a gun and was pointing it towards the man, aiming the Glock 19 Gen14 at his bald and shiny head.

"Colin?" He asked again.

The whole room froze for a second. The man whom Mr. Hunt was pointing the gun at focused his eyes on the barrel and then at the man behind the gun. He did not look afraid, no, not in the least bit, what showed in his eyes was pure anger. Underneath the table, he placed a hand on the steel weapon tucked half way into his trousers, he wound his fingers around the handle, feeling the coolness of the steel.

Mr. Hunt noticed the movement of his hands and pulled back the safety of the gun.

"Stop this foolishness now and let us get back to what we were!" The first man yelled but Mr. Hunt did not flinch. Both men bored death glares into one another. Their stares carried threats but every one else in the room knew whose stare was just a threat, empty none the less, and whose stare sent devastating warnings. He was not placed at the head of this group for nothing.

Daniel placed a hand on Mr. Hunt shoulders and slowly, the man calmed down. He tossed the gun over to Daniel who caught the weapon effortlessly and he straightened up, adjusted his suit and tie.

"Chester would be here present for the next meeting." He announced.

"Al-right, that is good, so..."

"For now...!" Mr. Hunt's voice thundered, interrupting the man who had just started to speak. Then he lowered his voice again. "...this meeting is adjourned."

He pushed back the chair and made for the door, the soles of his shoe tapping loudly on the tiled floors. Daniel got to the door first and opened it for Mr. Hunt who walked out of the room, head held up high and without for once glancing back. Daniel followed suit and shut the doors quietly.

02:35pm

Within the secluded part of the hotel was an office, Mr. Hunt's office and only three people were ever allowed in; Mr. Hunt himself, Daniel; his right hand man and his son, Michael. Chester would have been allowed into the office too but the boy had left home a long time ago. Mr. Hunt had not bothered to stop him then when he was leaving because he felt like there would come a time when every boy would need to grow up to become a man. Chester had left the house eight years ago and had left the city.

In as much as Mr. Hunt had not shown any emotions at the time Chester was leaving, he still had him tracked and monitored because he actually loved him. From the time Chester left the house and moved out of the city, Mr. Hunt was aware of his every movement. When he had come back to New York, he had also known about that but since the time that Chester returned, he never for once came back home.

But still Mr Hunt was proud of his son, he had managed to achieve so much in such a short time. He was just to proud of him and it was this competence of his that made his personal business partners want Chester in on the business. But knowing the kind of person Chester was, Mr. Hunt knew that he would open decline immediately but at least he needed to bring him in first.

Mr. Hunt sighed and reclined back on the soft leather chair, he closed his eyes and brought a finger to his temple, slowly massaging his head.

"Daniel." He called.

"Yes, Grand father." Daniel stood up from his during position and came to his side.

"I need to contact Chester." He spoke slowly and without opening his eyes.

"Yes Grand father." Daniel bowed slightly. "I will get that arranged right away."

"You do that." He said and waved Daniel away. Just as he got to the door, Mr. Hunt added. "And tell Stacey to get in here, I am beginning to have a terrible head ache."

"Yes Grand father." He replied and left the office, shutting the door behind him as quietly as he possible could.

Mr. Hunt spun the chair to face back, when he was in this kind of mood, he enjoyed looking out of his office on the seventh floor, through the ceiling to floor windows that lined the whole wall on this side, looking out onto the busy Street of Tribeca, Manhattan. The spring season brought with it the bloom of flowers and the greens of the leaves on the multiple trees. This was his calm. He released a breath that was on his chest heavily as he allowed his mind go back to when The Hunt was still a family. They had lived so short a life and till now, thirty years later, their deaths still ached him.

There was a rapt knock on the door and a female voice followed. "Mr. Hunt?"

"Come in." He called and closed his eyes.

He heard the door click open and clicked shut a second later, followed by the tap tap tapping of shoes on tiles getting closer then a pause.

"You asked for me to come up Mr. Hunt." She spoke. Her voice was calm and soft and it soothed him.

"We are the only ones in here Stacey." He said, still with this eyes closed.

Stacey made her way around the large table and came to stop in front of him. She bent down and touched her fingers to his face, stroking gently.

"What is it Colin?" She asked.

He opened his eyes now and watched her watch him with so much admiration. He smiled. Stacey was the only woman who had warmed her way into his stone cold heart and although he could not say that he loved her, he did like her a whole lot. She made him feel warm. "I have a head ache."

Stacey chuckled and kissed him on the cheek. "Such a big baby."

https://m.goodnovel.com/book_info/31000096787/Mystery-Thriller/Undercover