downtown were dark and the normally busy streets were empty. He opened the car door , placed his wrinkled suit coat on the seat next to him , and went to check on Marshall.
Morgan Hamilton was in the middle of a lovely dream about running her own company. She was at the head of a long table with her employees around it . They were all facing her and listening to her morning briefing before she sent them out to conquer the world.
Her very own executive assistant came into the room with a stack of papers. He opened his mouth and all that came out was a ringing noise. The man tried again to tell her something and again all that came out was that annoying ringing sound.
Morgan groaned and without lifting her head from her extra - fluffy pillow she slowly reached her perfectly manicured hand out from under her comforter. She didn't bother to open her eyes. She'd find the blasted ringing cell phone in just a minute. Morgan felt her hand hit the nightstand and slapped around until she felt the phone. She grabbed the phone and pulled it under the comforte r before putting it to her ear.
"Thi s better be good," she mumbled.
"It is. Now get your ass out of bed." Morgan's eyes shot open as she bolted upright on the bed at the sound of her boss, David Wa shington.
"What's going on?"
"I need you to start an investigation for me. Tad found a company he thought might be a good prospect. I’ve l ooked over the surface material, newspaper coverage , and so on and thi nk it has potential for a takeover,” David snapped. He never sounded nice and it was particularly grating so early in the morning.
“Why isn’t Tad doing the investigation?” Tad was an ass - kisser and David loved to pit them against each other.
“ Oh, Tad wants it and he’ll get it if you screw up. But t he company is over in Lexington, Kentucky. You're from Kentucky, aren't you?" h er boss asked with his constant ly disapproving voice.
"Yes, I grew up close to Lexington. I know the area well."
"Good. That’s why you have the lead. This has potential to be a big deal. I want to know everything about this company —f inancials, the ones on the record and the ones hidden. I want to know their standing in the community, who each member is , and what they grow. I want to know what the president of the company eats for breakfast and what the table he eats it on is worth. Assets, debts, deals in the works —I need all of it.”
“That’s going to take a while, David,” Morgan told him as she typed notes into her tablet.
“I know it is. Just do it right. I need to have all my ducks in a row for this one. Then we’ll see if you can actually close the deal,” David sneered. She could feel his squinty eyes over the phone.
It didn’t matter that she had been doing just that for five years at Top Producers. David was still surprised she managed to drive herself to work through DC traffic in the morning, let alone actually clos e a deal. He was just a prick. Th ere was no other way to put it.
"Of course I can. What am I working with?" Morgan asked as she took more notes .
"The company name is Family Farms . It's this co-op type business. Pain in the ass is what it is. Just took the Kentucky Restaurant Council contract from us. All the farmers a re members in the LLC. The president of the LLC neg otiates contracts on the farmer s ’ behalf in order to compete with companies like mine. I sent the bastard an email congratulating him. I’m sure it would make him suspicious if he had half a brain, but he’s nothing but a redneck. I need all the info you can find ."
"I can do that. What do you think it’s worth now?” Her fingers flew over the tablet as she tapped in her notes.
"Twenty million. The by-laws require the president to take any offer to the farmers who hold a stake in the company. My guess is the majority will agree to allow him to negotiate the best deal he can on their behalf… or reject any such deal. The best is to stop him from getting