The Seminar
by
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"Ivonne, pick up the d*mn phone!" Brooks Pierce shouted to his secretary, Ivonne Lundrigan. There was no reply, and the ringing continued, so Brooks just let it ring without getting up from his easy chair or attempting to reroute the call. It would've been simple enough to push the button for the receptionist to take the blasted call, but that was too much to ask of Brooks Pierce, president of the Edgewater Hardware Company. He'd rather curse someone into doing his or her job, but his employees knew him too well and didn't run when he called. The phone continued ringing. Finally, he had to push himself off his easy chair and go see why no one was listening to him. As soon as he walked into Ivonne's office with some choice remarks on his lips, he stopped short. What he saw made him shiver hot and cold. Ivonne was slumped over her desk, looking at him with glassy eyes, but she didn't move or respond to his frantic calls. He didn't know what to do as he stared at her grotesque face. He wasn't aware that sweat was pouring from his face and body, soaking him from head to toe and dripping down to the gray carpet. He took one tiny step forward, then another, sliding forward until he came close to Ivonne's face, resting on her desk. He was afraid and didn't want to touch her for fear that whatever happened to her might be contagious. Instead, he turned and ran out of the office as fast as he could, shouting for help. None of his three salesmen wanted to get involved, especially when Brooks shouted like that. They turned away from the door so they wouldn't have to look at him. Besides, he had a tendency to exaggerate, and none of them had time for a lunatic. Finally, Brooks reached the receptionist's room. Miss Laura Fortnight didn't bother looking up. One foot rested on the telephone console while she painted her toenails bright red, blowing on them to make them dry faster. She didn't appreciate being interrupted by anyone, especially not her boss, then, when he screamed, she finally turned to see what he wanted. "Call the cops!" he shouted. "Call an ambulance! Something happened to Ivonne!" Prim Miss Laura Fortnight couldn't have cared less. She needed to look her best for her date that night, and she didn't want to smudge her bright-red polish, not even for the boss. She hadn't counted on his rage when he glared at her and added, "If she dies, it's your fault." He took the bottle of nail polish away and tossed it in the wastebasket. "Make that d*mn call or you're fired!" Laura knew what she wanted and wasn't frightened by him, but there was no telling what was going on in his deranged mind. He might even become violent, and then what would she do? She slowly removed her foot from the telephone console, nonchalantly picked up the receiver, and noticed her boss was sweating onto the black and white tiles of her floor. As he leaned forward, he slowly slid down to the floor. Laura chewed her gum and dialed 911. When the connection was made, the operator asked a lot of irritating questions. "How the hell should I know what's going on in her office?" Laura demanded. "All I know is, I was asked to make this d*mn call." She turned, but Brooks was gone. "You'll have to hold on for a minute, Sweetie. I gotta find the boss." Laura hopped on one foot as she came around her desk. There he was, stretched out in his dripping sweat. She made a face. "Are you measuring the floor, Mr. Pierce? The operator needs some questions answered, and you're the only one who knows the answers. You gotta talk to her." When she received nothing but a stare, she reached across the desk for the receiver, then her breasts got in the way. To save face, she pulled the entire console onto the floor and sat down beside him to hand him the receiver. Brooks babbled incoherently while the operator tried to calm him. "Please, Sir, tell me what happened so I can send an ambulance." "I don't know what happened! My secretary is glassy eyed and slumped over her desk. Get that d*mn ambulance down here on the double!"
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About the Book
Brooks Pierce, President of the Edgewater Hardware Company, wouldn’t lift a finger to answer the phone. Incensed by the lack of cooperation, he walked into his secretary’s office and found her slumped over her desk. He yelled out to his salesman to assist, but they wouldn’t help, not lunatic Brooks Pierce. He rushed into the reception room and yelled at Laura Fortnight to call the cops and ambulance, but prim Laura Fortnight was painting her nails and couldn’t care less. Laura, who was an undercover cop, was commissioned to Edgwater to find out why the business was losing millions of dollars. Her friendship and affair with the police commissioner ended rather abruptly because he refused to marry her. Laura resigned from the force, called her old friend and mentor, Sam Watsky, and together they formed the W&W Investigative Services. Laura, who was a whiz at electronics, had the entire office wired. She met many obstacles on the way to solving the problem and it took many hours of outdoor surveillance to finally come up with a plan. They would hold a seminar for the entire Edgewater Company and invite guests to expose the leader and his troupe who were so heavily involved in bilking millions from the company. While exposing them, her true identity was finally revealed to the perpetrators.
About the Author
Ruth Jonassohn left Germany as a child in 1939, and moved with her parents and siblings to La Paz, Bolivia, where she spent her childhood years. In 1949, they moved to the United States and settled in New Jersey. Ruth went to Business College and then worked in New York and Connecticut for a Nonprofit Corporation in the Baking Industry as a Packaging Buyer and Purchasing Manager. She was also a member of the Packaging Institute, U.S.A. In 1982, she and her husband moved to Tamarac, Florida, where she became an active member of the Board of Directors for their association. She is trilingual and enjoys classical music, opera, theater, reading, and writing. She is the author of six published novels.