Hannah and her girlfriends arrived at Tampa International airport Friday morning at 6am. She insisted everyone stay at her apartment the night before so they could all go to the airport together. It was, after all, her bachorlette party.
Most of the girls were dressed in their favorite short shorts, either white or light brown cowgirl boots and cowgirl hats. Hannah wore a thin scarf lined with pink frizzies and feathers, so all attention was focused on her, which was the point. They were all smiles and bursting with anticipation of a long weekend in Nashville.
Emma was one of the eight in the bachorlette entourage. She knew about half of the girls through Hannah and had not met the other half until the night before. She was an old soul and not dressed like Daisy Duke, but instead had on comfy pajama pants, slides and her hair up in a messy bun.
She was there because she was Hannah’s oldest friend. Their friendship began in the first grade and they grew up in the same neighborhood. She was not Hannah’s maid of honor, that was Madison, who was the ringleader of this circus.
The plane landed in Nashville by mid-morning and they were safely delivered to the hotel before lunch. Madison took control as soon as everyone was checked in.
“Ok girls, meet in the lobby in 15 and we’ll go get something to eat,” she said with a confident smile. Everyone agreed and took off to the elevators.
Hannah walked up behind Emma and gently put her arm around her. “I’m glad you’re here,” she whispered. “I’m glad I’m here too," and they both tilted their heads together as they walked down the hall behind everyone.
The girls changed out of their travel attire and were ready to start the party. Emma changed from her pajama pants to respectable jeans and sandals.
For lunch, Madison picked a bougie little spot in the gentrified 12 South neighborhood. It was an old house remolded into a restaurant and no expense was spared to modernize, but keep its Southern charm.
Everyone started out with a Mimosa and a glass of water. Midway through the meal, some of the girls were on their third glass and were feeling good, while Emma was still sipping on her first one.
After lunch, Madison announced they were going next door to look around. The entourage made their way to the new age boutique and oohhed and aahhed over the clothes while saying, “That is so cute!” every few seconds.
Emma strolled through the store nonchalantly picking up the occasional shirt and glancing at it before putting it back on the rack.
Madison shouted that an Uber would be there in ten minutes to take them back to hotel. She ordered the Premium XXL to accommodate their size. Guerinos arrived on time and they piled in the luxury van.
On the way back, half the girls were talking over each other while the other half gazed down at their phones either texting or scrolling through their social media accounts. Emma texted with her boyfriend, Jacob. Fifteen minutes later, Guerinos pulled up in front of the hotel and everyone spilled out and into the lobby.
As soon as the last door shut, Guerinos picked up his phone and made a call. “Just dropped off a group at the Holston House. Yeah, it’s a bachorlette party, I heard one of the girls talking about the wedding. Ok boss.” He hung up the phone and checked his app for the next pick up.
The call went to The Operator, who passed the information to his boss, The Director. No one knew anyone’s names on the team, just their title. The Director decided who worked the cases. It was always a team of three, one woman and two men, who were called The Handlers.
The Company was the self-proclaimed name of the organization. It was the brainchild of Nathaniel Jackson, the grandson of a Gulf Coast Dixie Mafia member. The old criminal organization was gone, but The Company had risen from its ashes to become bigger and more powerful than the old men could have ever imagined.
They had teams all over the world...New York, Paris, New Orleans and Bangkok. The Directors took painstaking measures to rotate The Handlers in and out of cities so no one’s face became a recognizable regular in the tourist traps.
Everything started with the ride share drivers. The Operators researched certain drivers for months and recruited only people that would be loyal. They were paid well for their services and information.
Drivers were given a thousand dollars for every tip called in to The Operator and depending on the ransom paid, they could make thousands more.
The Director dispatched the Blue Team to the Holston House where they set up reconnaissance to watch for the girls to leave the hotel. The Plan was simple, yet concise. Any deviation and it would be called off.
The Plan rarely made it to the last phase because the teams were given the freedom to walk away at any time, especially if one of them had a weird feeling or saw something out of the ordinary. Instinct was considered a virtue and not discouraged.
There were half a dozen branches of The Company and each was dedicated to a different set of criminal activities. The Nashville branch specialized in kidnapping, for sex trafficking and extortion.
Hannah, Madison, Emma and the rest of the girls were oblivious that their lives were about to change forever.
Southern Gotham©
John Clayton Hale
Five Horizons Publishing
All Rights Reserved
04/11/2026