I was bouncing by the time Anthony's phone started ringing. We stared at it for a moment, pleased that they had been unable to trace my cell-phone as of yet. We let them ring through one round and then cut the phone. I knew this routine. This was an immature, yet cruel comeback on the part of Anthony. He was giving off the message that he was utterly pissed and that this would not end well. It was exactly what he wanted to do. The idea was to keep them guessing and on their toes. It would lead us to be one step ahead of them and in control of the situation. Their anxiety to deal with the situation would be higher than inspecting the main reason behind the sudden need for negotiation.
The phone rang again and I reached out to pick it up as Anthony had instructed me to. I held the phone to my ears to check to was speaking and then put the phone on the loudspeaker.
