Second Chance Addison

Chance and Koty dragged the drunken would be assailant to the lobby and met up with Lola.

They then waited for Fait to catch up. She had been left behind to say goodbye to the chairman and the Domingo couple.

By the time she joined them in the lobby, the man was seated on the floor and appeared to rambling on and on about something.

"...and that's why you should never trust anyone who wears a suit. They are all greedy, greedy people." He seemed to be ignoring the fact that he, himself was wearing a suit.

"What's going on?" Fait's question was directed at Koty but the man on the floor suddenly turned his attention to her.

"Hello, pretty lady." He struggled to keep his head steady as he looked up to smile at her. "Pretty lady, can you help me out? These guys think I'm a bad guy. I'm not a bad guy. Can you tell them that I am not a bad guy?"

She was somewhat impressed by how clear his speech was, given how he was so drunk that he could hardly sit up right.

"Why would they think you're a bad guy?" She squatted down in front of him so they were almost eye level with each other.

"I dunno. They just do."

"Surely, you must have some idea. You see, these guys are fairly smart. They must have a good reason to think you are a bad guy."

Koty knew she was just trying to coax some answers out of the guy, but he smiled slightly when she called them smart. After he'd been thoroughly dissed earlier, it was nice to hear.

"Maybe it's 'cause I'm drunk. No one likes a drunk."

"It that all?"

"Maybe it's 'cause I have a pocket knife." His head lulled to the side a bit as he tried to look at the pocket he was messing with before he had been tackled.

"Do you always carry a pocket knife with you?"

"Not really. Just sometimes."

"So why right now?"

"Just 'cause I want to."

"Because you want to?"

"Yeah. Maybe I might need it later."

"I see." She paused for a moment and then changed the subject. "Mister, why did you drink so much?"

"I dunno. Stress?"

"Why are you stressed?"

"Maybe 'cause someone hired me to do a job. I didn't want to do it at all. So, I got real nervous and drank a teensy bit too much."

"Why didn't you turn them down and find a different job?"

"Maybe 'cause I can't."

"You can't what?"

"I just can't."

"Mister, can you tell me what you mean?"

He just sloppily shook his head back and forth before he then lowered it to face the floor.

"You think I'm a bad guy too." He said mournfully and then refused to say anymore.

Fait stood up and looked over at Koty again.

"I say to go ahead and call the police. I'm not sure that there is enough evidence charge him with much but it'll give him a place to sober up. We can ask more questions later."

The man forced his head up when he heard her say 'police' and his eyes became as round as saucers. "Please don't call them. Please don't. I'm not a bad man. I'm not. Just let me go home. I won't drink anymore. I won't bother you anymore. You'll never see me again. I promise. I promise." His voice was almost at a whisper and he continued to plead softly with them until the rest of the alcohol finally caught up to him and he passed out.

Fait looked down apathetically at the pitiful man and then up at the others. "So, who is he?"

"We don't know. He wouldn't tell us and we haven't tried to find his wallet yet." Koty replied as he carefully started to root through the man's pockets.

"Let's see..." He pulled out a cell phone, a set of keys, the aforementioned pocket knife, a few business cards, and finally the guy's wallet. Koty handed the wallet to Chance, who promptly removed the mystery man's driver's license.

"Tucker Malone." Chance frowned as he thought about the name. He repeated it a few times in his head and it sounded familiar.

He rifled through Tucker's wallet and found some more business cards. He flipped through them until he found a few that were all to familiar. His frown intensified and his brow furrowed.

There was one for him, Chance L. Addison, President, Addison Enterprises. There was one for Jerome Hughes, Senior Vice President, Addison Enterprises. There were several others for lesser vice presidents and even a few department heads too, all bearing the logo of Addison Enterprises.

And finally, all the way at the very bottom of the stack, were a few of the man's own business cards. Each one read Tucker Malone, Director of Human Resources, Addison Enterprises.