Jack Hudson found the contact information for Century Concessions easily enough and made the first call from Eaton.
“Good afternoon, Century Concessions, how may I help you?” said the chipper operator.
“My name is Jack Hudson and I wonder if you could connect me with Mr. Davies or Mr. Wix please?”
“I'm sorry Mr. Hudson, they are both out of the office, may I ask what this is about?” she asked with an even tone and no hint of concern. She was playing the role of screener well.
“I would like to discuss a matter of security with one of them. I believe it will be of significant interest to them and will affect the smooth running of the company” Jack said, dangling the hook but not giving anything away.
“Hold on please, Mr. Hudson” she said and Jack got switched over to the Musak. He waited patiently and used the few moments it took to formulate his story.
The woman came back on the line “Mr. Hudson? I have Mr. Wix on the line.” There were some clicks on the line followed by “Hello, this is Jim Wix, how can I help you?”
“Hello Mr. Wix, I am Jack Hudson. I have some knowledge of the workings of the concession business and as it happens, I may be able to provide for you some assistance with the smooth running of your company.” Jack wanted his introduction to sound vaguely like a mob threat and had no way to know yet it would work. Jim Wix on the other end of the line had alarm bells going off in his head because he had schemes going that were precarious.
“What are you proposing here Mr. Hudson?” Jim Wix said a bit warily. That was the response Jack was hoping for.
“As it turns out Mr. Wix, I am recently retired from the San Francisco police department and I am discovering the retired life of luxury does not suit me all that well. My brother-in-law operates a concession business like yours in Orlando and I have helped him out from time to time with the security problems associated with handling large amounts of cash.” Jack paused to allow Wix to respond and the pause was encouraging, he was probably turning over in fine points in his head.
Wix didn't respond quickly so Jack continued to make sure the pause didn't turn pregnant. “So Mr. Wix, if there are some services I might be able to perform occasionally or even arrange for money to be kept safe, I would be interested in meeting with you to talk it over.” Jack did not want to give too much away at this point.
Jack waited him out this time and Jim Wix finally responded in a soft and deliberate tone “As it happens, I may have a job now and again that you may be able to help with. You say you are retired, does that mean you are not looking for benefits or full time work?”
“By no means do I want the full 40 hour thing. Oh no, I did that for 26 years and I've had enough of that. I'm just looking to dabble now and then to keep me from drinking too much.”
“Alright Mr. Hudson, I am not in Sacramento now, where are you located?”
“I'm on my way to Sacramento to visit my daughter and the kids, let's see, I'm probably half way there from San Francisco.” Jack rustled some papers to sound like maps.
“That's not terribly far. If you could swing down to Eaton, we could meet this afternoon. It's only an hour south of where you are. I'll give you the directions.”