Tainted Waters

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

"How's the landing strip coming?"

"The extension is finished. Mostly, anyway. It needs a bit more work. The maiden flight for the bigger planes will be this morning at 12:45 a.m. Then we'll have a good idea of what we need to adjust, to ensure we can handle the increased size and number of shipments leaving here. We'll go from two to three loads a month to ten, for sure. Maybe more. We'll need more than the one plane we currently have. If you want to expand that is."

"Excellent." Mr. Ozz smiled. Things were finally coming together. It had been a long time in the making but the timing was finally right. The people he needed were in the right positions.

"It'll be another week before we go into full production. We also need to hire more men with the increased demand. There's no way we can do it with the manpower we have now."

"Do it. You can get some quickly?"

"Yeah. Housing them will be a bit of an issue. We've already bought up all the current houses in the hamlet and a few in the area. We can move some trailers in for now. We don't want to draw too much attention there. It's quite secluded, quiet, and has been all but abandoned for years. So, at first glance, no one would know what was going on but still. "

"Make it happen, Steele."

"On it."

"I hear there's some problem with the land we're using for our operations."

"Well, the divorce is raising some issues. The Spencer woman has hired that big shot, Reardon, and wants to keep the land in the family. Her to-be ex, Talbot, is pushing her to sell. It's in the courts right now."

The son of a b***h had said the land was his. He'd even signed legal papers, not that they were worth anything, especially now that his wife, who owned the land, was divorcing him. The man had even accepted payment. Ozz thumped his fist on the side of his hot tub. Even though what they paid him had only been a pittance of what the land was worth, he hated being lied to. "And?"

"And we're monitoring it. Can't really get near Reardon because of that goon he has following him around." He paused for a minute before adding, "I tried to call him to get some information on the case, but I couldn't get past his secretary. Unless I was hiring him or was a witness for one of his clients, he didn't want to talk to me. And when I showed up in person, his bodyguard made it clear I wasn't getting near him. I didn't want to draw too much attention, so I backed off. I don't know what he has or is using against Talbot. I get a sense it'll turn ugly."

"Hmmm. Leave it with me. I'll talk to Reardon. He'll talk to me."

"Oh, okay. Sorry, Boss."

There wasn't anyone Mr. Ozz couldn't get information from; he knew everyone's dirty little secrets. Well, at least anyone in power. Talking to the lawyer would be easy. "Make the drop happen tonight."

He clicked his burner phone closed. It was something he made sure his key employees used as well. Especially Steele. He'd lasted the longest of any of his employees. Almost two years. The position wasn't an easy one. Whoever got into it often got a bit greedy and felt like he could take over at some point. Not something Mr. Ozz would allow to happen.

The much-needed land, he thought they'd already acquired, was a forested valley. It was useless for anything unless someone was willing to bush it which his men had partially done. The area hadn't been used for anything, ever, even though it had been owned by one family for over eighty years. It was more out of pride that the woman didn't want to give it up. She'd be in a real tizzy if she knew that her soon-to-be ex-husband had already made him a deal and he was not letting the guy go back on it. If the stupid ass had kept his pants zipped, none of this would be an issue. That bit of information had not come out in the media yet. And maybe wouldn't. If the man had shown a little more discretion, his wife would still be married to the sorry jerk and she wouldn't be concerned about that piece of property. Something he wasn't about to give up. The problem was that eventually, someone would want to look at the land in question. That was what the real problem was. He couldn't afford to have people snooping around out there.

That he was using the land wasn't anything new. He'd been using it for years. He had thought he might as well get the land title, just in case. Besides the husband had been easy to blackmail to sign it over. Too easy it appeared, since he didn't own it.

The piece of property was the perfect out-of-the-way airstrip, wide enough to land planes on, in enough of a valley to hide it from too many prying eyes, with almost no one living in the area. Well, there was one but that would be dealt with soon, she'd be removed.

The problem with the area was that he was expanding his business, so he'd made some changes to the property. Changes he really didn't want anyone to know about, ones that would make it obvious what was going on in the area. Well, at least if someone followed a flight to its destination on the airstrip. He'd worked hard to build his business. He would not allow it to fall apart now. It had been years of playing on a small field. Well, now he was going for the big times and no one was going to screw that up.

How best to handle this?