The Morrisons Ch. 20

The elevator came to a stop and after a brief few seconds the doors opened. We walked off the elevator and once again, Frieda stood up and came around her desk and extended her hand to me and after we shook hands she shook hands with Beth saying, "Good Morning."

This time Klaudia stayed with us as Frieda knocked on the large doors behind her desk. We heard a male voice say "Come in." Frieda opened the door and waited for all of us to enter before she closed it behind us.

Stefan Kraus stood up and walked around his desk and shook hands with all of us and after a warm greeting he said, "Please follow me, I have a private breakfast set up for us."

We walked into the same board room as we had the previous morning. This time only two men were sitting at the large table talking. Both stood up and Stefan said, "Dan, I'm sure you remember John Atkins from last night and this fellow is Wilheim Strauss. He is our Chief Financial Officer (CFO)."

I shook hands with both men and then introduced them to Beth. I turned and looked at Klaudia and said to John and Wilheim, "I'd like you to meet Klaudia; Stefan has been so kind to assign her to Beth and me so she can help us while we're here. I might add that she has done a great job."

John stepped forward and shook hands with Klaudia and said, "I'm honored."

When Wilheim stepped forward he just shook hands with Klaudia. Stefan stood beside me and said, "Please put your bags down over there and let's have something to eat."

There was a large selection of food on the table for only five people so we ate well. When we finished eating, Stefan said, "We are going to have our meetings in this board room today. We will take a break so the staff can clean up and bring in a fresh pot of coffee. Dan, my computer technician should be outside waiting so he can help you and Beth set up your computers. If either of you need to use the bathroom, please use the one in my office. Klaudia, I would like to speak with you for a moment, please come with me."

A few moments after Stefan and Klaudia left the room, the door opened and a few people came into the board room and cleaned up. The computer tech stood by as Beth and I set up our laptops and made the connections with our company back home. Once we were connected he told us if we had any problems to let Mr. Kraus know and he would come back up and fix the problem.

About fifteen minutes later Stefan and Klaudia re-entered the room. Stefan said, "If either of you need the bathroom it's available."

I looked at Beth and she said, "Yes, I need to use it."

Both of us stood up and walked through Stefan's office and I waited outside the door just in case Stefan came back into his office. When Beth was finished I used the bathroom and then we re-joined the others in the board room. Shortly after we returned Stefan started the meeting with John Atkins who gave a presentation of his company in Ohio and after an hour of speaking he summarized his company's working relationship with Stefan's company.

Stefan said, "Let's take a ten minute break before the next person speaks."

When the break was finished, Stefan called upon Klaudia for the next presentation. With my best poker face I looked up from my computer screen after Beth typed "What the fuck?"

While Klaudia was getting set up, I typed, "I don't know yet. Set up?"

I watched Klaudia closely as she stood and gave a very well informed presentation using video graphics. She didn't hesitate or stumble as she moved through her presentation. Her closing words were directed at me when she said, "Dan, I hope you aren't upset with me but we are ready to move forward and negotiate a deal which will be beneficial to both our companies."

I leaned back in my chair and said, "John and Wilheim would you please step outside the door for a few minutes. I'd like to have a private conversation with Klaudia and Stefan."

After John and Wilheim left the room I leaned forward and planted both elbows on the table and in a very stern but low voice I said, "I want to know what the hell is going on here. I want to know immediately or I'll get up and walk out that door and I won't be back!"

Stefan started back peddling and he became so flustered to the point, he couldn't speak. Finally Klaudia spoke up and said, "Please forgive me Dan! What happened since yesterday morning was, and still is, all my idea. I didn't lie to you when I told you I'm a secretary in the head office and that really is my job here with the company. However, what you're about to hear has to stay in this room between the four of us. In the past twenty four hours I learned enough about you that I feel I can trust you."

"Stefan Kraus is my brother and he owns fifty percent of the company and I own the other fifty percent. To be very honest with both of you, we have had some internal problems and that's why I came to work here as a secretary. I won't bore you with a lot of the details but Stefan and I inherited this company from our parents when they were killed in a plane crash a few years ago."

"I'm sort of like an undercover boss because I never really did much with the business, so the employees don't know who I am. In my position as a secretary I have been able to pinpoint most of our problem areas and the people who were leaking valuable company information to other companies. I had to know if you were representing one of those other companies. We've successfully fought off two attempts to take over our company." Klaudia said.

"Now that I know you aren't one of those companies who want to swallow us up, we want to do business with your company. We have done our research on your company as well as I'm sure you've done research on our company. Doing business with us will give you the product your company wants and needs and it will bolster and solidify our company."

Klaudia continued with, "Dan, now that you know we are a vulnerable company, I hope you will not use that information to take advantage of our company in any negotiations we enter into later today."

I sat back in my chair and just stared at Klaudia and then at Stefan. At this point, you could have knocked me out of my chair with a feather. I looked at my computer screen and saw Beth had typed, HOLY SHIT!

The spokesman back in our company typed, what's going on there?

Beth typed, everything is under control here I was only sending the message to Dan.

I looked back at Klaudia asking, "Does John Atkins know any of the information you just revealed to me?"

Klaudia continued by saying, "The simple answer to that question is no. We brought him here under the guise of him helping us recruit your company's business. We also needed to know if his company was behind the last attempt to take over our company. We've discovered his company is far too small for any take-over. They want to continue doing business with us."

"As I said when I started talking, I'm only sharing this information with you and Beth. We can't afford for the information to get out to anyone else. I still have some investigative work to do as a secretary. Dan, I really hated to do what I did to you but I found you to be a man of true honor and that's hard to come by in the business world." Klaudia said in a much softer voice.

I sat in my chair and thought for a few minutes and finally I asked, "How do I know positively and unequivocally that you are not trying to pull something over on me right now with the story you've shared with us?"

Without any hesitation Klaudia reached around to her side and unbuttoned and unzipped her skirt and let it fall to the floor. She stood before me and her astonished brother in her blouse, jacket, stockings and shoes. Her pussy completely visible and she said, "This morning you didn't know Stefan was my brother. I handed you my panties and you have safeguarded them and have not divulged to my boss that I wasn't wearing panties. You told me you would never put me in danger of being harmed and I believed you. Right now, I'm asking you to believe me when I tell you what you heard is the complete truth and I'm not trying to pull anything over on you."

I sat back in my chair and stared at Klaudia then turned my attention to Stefan. We stared at each other with our best poker faces. My silence lasted for more than a few minutes and no one moved. Beth sat on my right with her fingers on the keyboard but she didn't type any messages.

Finally I leaned forward and once again planted my elbows on the table and said in an authoritative voice, "I have numbers in my head from the research we've done. If your company wants to do business with me, let's get down to negotiations and no more bullshit."

"There isn't any more bullshit, is there?" I asked while looking between Klaudia and Stefan.

Stefan spoke up saying, "Dan, I promise you, there is no more bullshit. You know more about our company than I or we really wanted to reveal. We are ready to negotiate but I must ask you again, please don't reveal what you've heard here today to anyone outside this room."

Stefan looked at Klaudia asking, "Aren't you going to put your skirt back on?"

Klaudia smiled and said, "Dan I took off my skirt to prove to you I was willing to trust you. Are you going to allow me to put my skirt back on and protect me and my identity?"

I stared at Klaudia's pussy for a few more moments before I smiled and said, "Yes, please put your skirt on. I have to say this is the wackiest moment of my business career."

All of us, including Stefan watched Klaudia put her skirt back on and prepare herself to continue with our business meeting. Klaudia looked at me and said, "As I mentioned to you yesterday, I didn't anticipate being present during the negotiations, however in light of the new revelations, I will remain in this room as the secretary and will take orders from my boss, Mr. Stefan Kraus."

Stefan pressed the intercom button and asked Frieda to send John and Wilheim back in. I spoke up and said, "I really don't want John present during our negotiations since he has nothing to gain or lose."

Stefan said, "I didn't want to leave him sitting out ....."

The door opened and both men walked in and I saw John look at me and Beth immediately. I leaned back in my chair and stared back at him without any emotion showing on my face. Stefan cleared his throat before saying, "We have finished the presentations and I want to thank John Atkins for his cooperation and his great presentation. If there are no questions, we are going to take a ten minute break and then get down to negotiations. Wilheim please notify your team."

Everyone stood up and I signaled Klaudia to come over to me, with my hand. When she walked over I said, "I want to have a few words with you privately before the meeting starts. But first, let me say good bye to John and I'll be right with you."

I shook hands with John and quietly said, "I'll see you back at the hotel."

I turned and asked Stefan, "May I use your office for a few moments?"

While Stefan was giving me the ok, I signaled for Beth and Klaudia to follow me. When the door closed to Stefan's office I turned to Klaudia and said, "Personally, I would have preferred you told me the truth up front because I pride myself on being nonjudgmental and make decisions based on facts. Although I understand why you did what you did, I want you to understand that I demand honesty from those I deal with. I want you to know before we start negotiations, I hold no ill will towards you or your brother. As a businessman I will negotiate in good faith with your team. As I said, I have numbers in my head and if your company comes close to those numbers today, we can close on a deal."

Klaudia looked me straight in the eyes and said, "I want to hug you but will you grant me permission to do it?"

I stared into her eyes for a few more seconds then smiled and said, "Come here, I'm not upset with you anymore. I appreciate you and your brother working hard to keep your company functional and prosperous."

Klaudia melted in my arms and said, "I'll make it up to you for what I've done. From now on I will always tell you the truth. There aren't that many men of your caliber in the business world so I'm going to treat you special."

I pulled back and looked at Klaudia asking, "That was a pretty gutsy move to drop your skirt in front of your brother. Has he ever seen your pussy before?"

Klaudia smiled and said, "The truth .... my brother and I are the only two children my parents had, we also inherited everything including their very large house. After my parents were killed, Stefan and his wife moved into my parent's house and we live together in our home. Even though Stefan is married, he and I are also lovers. It started when we were comforting each other after the death of our parents. I hope that information won't change your opinion of me."

I looked at Klaudia and said, "Those who would live in glass houses shouldn't cast stones."

My statement caused Klaudia to look at me with a degree of curiosity before she asked, "Do you indulge also?"

I smiled and intentionally paused before saying, "The truth .... yes, we indulge."

Klaudia hugged and kissed me before she stepped back and said, "I hope we can make a deal with your company. I want to come to your country and visit you."

I smiled and said, "You can always come and visit me and be a guest in my home and that offer doesn't hinge on our companies doing business. However, we won't know if our companies are going to be doing business until we get back in there and start crunching numbers."

We stepped apart and Beth stepped up and gave Klaudia a hug and kiss before saying, "Let's go in there. The sooner we get done in there, the sooner we can get back to the hotel."

****************************

At home, Joanna, Beth and Patty had only been sleeping less than an hour when the alarm sounded. It was going off for almost thirty seconds before all three of them woke up. It took a few seconds longer before Joanna's brain realized what the noise was and when it registered, Joanna bounded out of bed completely naked, Patty jumped up and ran into the hall and yelled for Tony with Beth right behind her.

Joanna pushed the power button on the monitor remote then reached for her pistol and radio while she looked up at the monitor. The monitor came to life immediately and Joanna saw five figures on the deck and one walking through the broken sliding glass doors, at the same time she heard Patty scream. Everything happened so rapidly there was no time for any of them to put clothes on.

Joanna keyed her radio and yelled into it, "THIS IS LOCKED GATE - WE HAVE AN EMERGENCY - SEND BACKUP!"

Joanna ran into the hall, flipped the light switch and turned on the hall light. She saw Patty crouched on the floor with a person in camouflage standing over her. Without hesitation Joanna's training kicked in immediately and she leapt into the air and caught the intruder in the throat with the heel of her right foot. As the person fell to the floor, Joanna followed up and delivered a second blow to the side of his head, with her fist, knocking the male out cold.

Tony came running out of the bedroom with his pistol just as the second intruder stepped up on the landing at the top of the stairs. Once again Joanna took flight and with a huge round house kick, she sent the person flying backwards down the stairs. Joanna quickly moved back away from the top of the stairs and snapped off the hall light so she wouldn't be seen. She picked up her radio and pistol where they landed when she threw the kick at the second intruder.

Barbie followed Tony into the hall and Patty and Beth ran into the bedroom and got their pistols. With all five of them armed, Tony told Patty to keep her pistol pointed on the intruder and shoot him if he moved. Then he told Barbie to go find something to tie him up with.

As Tony and Joanna kept watch on the stairs to make sure no one else came up they heard a lot of commotion and stuff breaking downstairs. Joanna said, "Beth go look at the monitor and see how many we have to deal with."

Beth scampered into the master bedroom and then came running back to Joanna and Tony, and she gave Joanna a report of what she'd seen on the monitor. Joanna held her radio and she reported, "This is Locked Gate, we have at least six intruders and there may be more."

Suddenly Joanna and Tony heard a female voice say, "Don't shoot, it's all clear down here, the intruders have been rendered defenseless. The one you kicked down the stairs is dead, it looks like he broke his neck."

Joanna called out, "Who the fuck are you telling me it's all clear? You aren't supposed to be in this house so until you're down and handcuffed, it isn't all clear!"

The female voice once again said, "You don't know me and I don't have time to explain, all I'm going to tell you is you need to talk to Ted Johnson or Dan Morrison immediately. The cops will be here any second so we have to leave. All the intruders have been rendered defenseless. On my way out, I'll turn on the lights for you."

The downstairs lights came on and Joanna said, "Tony, stay up here and cover me. I'm going down there."

Tony moved over to the railing and even though Joanna was completely naked she was in cop mode and wasn't about to take any shit from anyone. Tony watched Joanna's naked body move slowly down the stairs. Before she reached the bottom, Beth moved over next to Tony and said, "You go down with Joanna and I'll stay here and cover both of you. Patty and Barbie have this intruder covered.

Tony hurried down the stairs to catch up with Joanna, and the two of them saw a body lying at a weird angle with its head twisted backwards. There were two other unconscious, tied up bodies at the bottom of the stairs, and three more in the kitchen. No sooner had Joanna and Tony made their discovery, uniformed police officers stormed into the house through both the front door and the broken sliding glass doors. All of them were yelling, "DROP YOUR GUNS!"

Immediately Tony and Joanna dropped their handguns on the floor and without thinking of their nakedness, they raised their hands above their heads. The officers had their weapons pointed at both Joanna and Tony as they all yelled, "GET DOWN ON THE FLOOR!"

Joanna hesitated for a second and said, "I'm Police Officer Joanna Doyle, I'm the security here."

One of the cops said without yelling, "Until we figure this out, get down on the floor."

Joanna and Tony kneeled on the floor and suddenly they heard shouting coming from upstairs, "PUT DOWN YOUR GUNS!"

Tony yelled to the officers, "Don't shoot, that's my wife and two sisters up there guarding one of the intruders."

While officers held their weapons on Tony and Joanna, the lead officer stepped past them and called upstairs asking, "Do you have three females up there?"

They heard a voice respond, "Yes, we have three naked females up here and a guy tied up."

The officer came back and asked Joanna, "Who are you and why are you here?"

Joanna remained kneeling and looked up at the officer and said, "I am Officer Joanna Doyle and I'm on special assignment. My badge is upstairs in my bedroom. The office knows I'm here so you can contact them. The code I used to call over the radio is "Locked Gate" I'm the one who called in this emergency. If you need additional information I have a cell phone over there on the counter for you to contact Sergeant Ted Johnson. However, I suggest you secure those people in camo because they're the intruders. One of them at the bottom of the stairs is dead. When I kicked him downstairs he must have broken his neck, in the fall."

The officer looked at Joanna and said, "Sergeant Johnson is on vacation this week."

Then he looked at the other officers and said, "Don't touch anything around that dead one at the bottom of the stairs but collect the rest of those guys who are tied up and get them out here. Call in and have the investigators come out here. We need to get statements from everyone."