"Let's Do This"

[Apollos]

Things were moving fast. Van Hauter had succeeded in convincing PEBA commissioner Harry Castle that his plan had legs, and may have even used some unspecified ‘leverage’ to achieve his desired result. Leaving PEBA headquarters in Asheville, North Carolina, Van Hauter had traveled straight to Florence, Kentucky where he had an unproductive sit down with retired PEBA star Conan McCullough. Van Hauter boarded his private jet from the tarmac in Louisville and consulted the head of his business empire, and son, Lance Van Hauter on the next steps.



“Conan is out… it seems he’s happy sitting in a rocking chair and whittling wood. No matter, he didn’t know he was plan B anyway,” Van Hauter said self assuredly.



“I’ve spoken to the stadium authority, dad. There’s no obstacles there. We can re-sign a lease deal and move back in almost immediately. We’ll just need to work out scheduling with the soccer hooligans.” Lance was full of bravado – no doubt an inherited trait from his old man.



“Right, lad. Good job. It’s time to take the final step then. We need someone new to front this thing — bring it all together. Alvarado’s a decent enough guy, but no chance he’s gonna’ cut it up there. Who did you have in mind?”



“I’ve put out some initial feelers and gotten a little bit of decent feedback, but here’s also a lot of folks nervous.”



“Nervous about what!?” Van Hauter had grown tired of the skepticism over the years. What more did he need to do to prove himself?



“They’re afraid we’ll pick up and leave again, dad. The move in ‘23 left a bad taste in a lot of people’s mouths, ya know?” It was refreshing to see Lance, only 36 years old, be the voice of reason.



“Well be that as it may, we need someone with big league credentials. So… where are we?”



“Listen, I’ve got a line into Hazelwood…” Lance responded cautiously.



“The guy that ditched out of Crystal Lake around the same time we left Tempe? I thought he was sharing a drink with Giesey on some Caribbean island?”



“He was, errr, is.. but turns out he never let his agent go and I guess the turtles and rum aren’t enough to keep him occupied anymore. He wants back in the big chair.”



“What do you think, Lance? Honest opinion. Is this the best we can do?” Van Hauter was openly skeptical.



“He had a decent track record. I mean, there’s a lot of questions about his ability to put together a championship team, but he certainly didn’t fail in the Lake,” Lance wasn’t sure if he was trying to convince himself, or his father.



Van Hauter took a deep breath and considered his options. “Ok then. If you tell me it’s our best option then I’m on my way. Where’s he at?” Van Hauter was concerned that he was settling. Powerful men hate to settle, but to be fair, he wasn’t exactly taking his time on this one.



“St. Lucia, evidently. I’ll have Evie send the address to the ground crew on the island. They can take you to his place.”



“Let’s do this,” Van Hauter said.