To get the ball rolling

It was close to midnight when everything had been confirmed and the perfect plan had been made. Noah had called Laila to let her know that he wouldn't be coming home tonight and Steve had done the same with Maria. They planned on acting in the middle of the night. That way the blow would most likely come unexpected. Striking them when they least expected, would hopefully also mean that their defences would be the weakest at that moment.

The entire team that they had formed was confident in their success. Since they now had the exact location of his company, they had used that to gather more information that would be useful to them. Rebecca and Anthony had spent hours digging into what his company does and who his partners are. Noah and Steve had then taken that information and pinpointed what the weak spots would most likely be. For each potential weak spot, they had set something or someone in place to carry out an attack.

As for the nephew, Noah had the company lawyer spit through whatever possible part of the law that they could have him arrested for. At least long enough and seemingly serious enough, to have the nephew get worried and get his uncle involved. If they were lucky and found something before morning came, they had a chance of getting Harold at the police station even faster. So, with that goal in mind, the lawyer got to work and Noah and Steve helped him every step of the way in order to get things done quicker.

Once they had picked the perfect piece of legislation to match his crime, the lawyer contact his judge buddies to get a warrant out for his arrest. They had managed to get this done close to one in the morning, earning them a bit of a grumble from the judge. But hearing who it was for, he ended up obliging anyways. The lawyer had ended up choosing to use the strict privacy laws and stalking laws in their country to serve Harold Richardson's nephew with the papers. He was taken into custody in the middle of the night, being picked up at his home and having his mother witness the whole ordeal. This was sure to get the ball rolling even faster than what they had initially anticipated on, making this indeed a lucky evening for Noah and the others.

Noah and Steve counted the minutes as they stared at the monitor showing them the footage of the police station where the nephew was being kept. They had been permitted to look at the footage live, as at that time of night, not many cases are being handled. Mostly drunk people being put in a cell to sleep the booze off or other small crimes causing people to be put into custody until the next morning when there was more staff available to listen to their case. So, they used this opportunity to listen and watch until the police would receive a phone call from Harold Richardson.

They were looking at the screen along with a few other people who had decided to stick around and everyone was either brimming with excitement or anxiously staring until they would hear the fated ring, biting their nails with every second that passed. The other people on the team, with the exception of the lawyer, who had completed his task in record time, were each getting ready in their own way. Waiting until it was time to put the plan into action. Among these people were also Anthony and Rebecca, who had each been given an important task. As they all counted down, though some to a different end point, the plan was progressing smoothly.

The nephew had been brought in for no more than ten minutes, when the phone started to ring. Everyone's eyes became glued to the screen even more and their breaths stopped for a second as they watched the officer pick up the phone. He answered the call with the regular introduction, before confirming that the person that was shouting on the other side of the phone, a sound that managed to even reach the microphone of the camera, was indeed Harold Richardson. In a calm voice the officer said, "Mr. Richardson, I understand that you are upset but I need you to calm down. Otherwise I will have to end this phone call."

This sentence caused the room, including Noah and Steve, to start laughing as they loved the way the officer in question was dealing with the situation. Treating Harold's little hissy fit and his intended intimidating shouting as a child's temper tantrum. They could learn a thing or two from that. Though they assumed that the only reason that the officer would be getting away with speaking to him like that, was exactly because he was an officer. Harold didn't want unnecessary trouble with law enforcement as it could cause them to start sniffing where he didn't want them to.

And sure enough, after the officer's warning, Harold's volume lowered. His words were no longer audible for them but it was clear by his tone, that he was still quite upset and unamused by the situation. They could pretty much predict what he was saying by the words that the officer was parroting back to him as a way of communicating with them.

"I understand that you are demanding to see your nephew but that isn't possible at the moment as we do not have enough staff to accompany you to him. You may talk to him on the phone and so may a lawyer if he wishes one. If not, at 7 AM sharp, you can come and see your nephew in person and talk to him."

This was followed by some more unintelligible mumbling on the phone to which the officer replied, "Well I would tell you what he is being held for but out of privacy considerations, I am not at liberty to share that type of information to anyone other than a parent or a lawyer. As you have stated that you are his uncle, you are neither of those things and thus I can only let you speak with him and have him tell you for himself or you can wait and find out tomorrow morning."

And again heated mumblings came from the direction of the phone, making it clear that he was not liking the officer's cryptic words and lack of cooperation at all. But for them as viewers of this unique, limited and highly entertaining show, they were loving every minute of it. If the situation wasn't so serious, they would be rolling on the floor laughing.

Seconds of this interaction passed and suddenly they heard their cue. "Mr. Richardson, I have told you before and I will tell you again. There are no visitors at the moment. You can come down here all you want and with however many lawyers you want but it won't make any difference. I will simply have you waiting until 7 AM along with the people who are being kept in custody. But if you still insist, be my guest. We will welcome you and all your lawyers with open arms over at this police department."

Knowing Harold and his inflated ego, there was no way he would not be stomping over after not getting his way over the phone He had a reputation to uphold, even if it was just the one in his mind. His sister had called him crying and begging for his help. He could not just go back to sleep until tomorrow 7 AM in order to do what he had promised her, which gave them the perfect moment to launch their attack and initiate the next phase of their complex plan.