The next morning, I was awoken by the sound of knocking upon the door. Steve was sound asleep, so I got up and went over to answer it. It was JT.

“Hi, everyone's awake and is wanting to go to Mabel's for breakfast. I told them what a great breakfast she cooks, so they all want to go see for themselves.”

“Ok, I'll be down in a moment as soon as I get Steve up.”

He smiled and said, “Thanks.”

“Do you like him?”

“He's great. The more we get to talking, the more I like. He's a great guy.”

“Good. I'm happy.”

He looked at me strangely and said, “He told me what happened.”

“I imagine it was hard for him.”

“He's kicking himself in the ass for it.”

“It. Well, there were quite a few 'it's'.”

He nodded and said, “That's my error. He told me about everything... about the affairs and then laying his hands upon you.”

“Well, that's water under the bridge as long as it never happens again. If it does, you bust your ass to a phone and you get me called. He knows as well as I that mistake won't be allowed to happen again. His anger and his stupidity caused us to disintegrate and I'll be damned if it happens to someone I care about.”

He hugged me and said, “Rhette, I don't think it will happen. The look on his face tells me he's really regretting what he's done.”

“Well, I'll forgive, but I won't forget. Never ever let a man lay his hands upon you. Steve knows it won't be tolerated and you need to know you don't need love in that form.”

“I know. I think we'll be fine. He's told me a lot of funny stories about you.”

“I imagine there are quite a few he could tell.”

“What's funny is he goes into details you mentioned in your story “With Love”, but what you didn't do was go into it as much as he does.”

“I couldn't. In the story I had to leave some privacy for us. It was a tell-all, but it wasn't to be all told.”

“I understand that. It's just funny to hear him tell the same story but the details he saw things as...”

“He's got a few of them. If he ever gets to telling you about the hell I raise when we go to restaurants and I don't see someone wash their hands, just know it's all true. I know he was embarrassed quite often about it, but it's something that just grosses me out.”

“He's told me!”

“Well, know it's true. The other night up there at that Crab Shack, I was really sitting on my hands wanting to get up and raise some hell but it wouldn't have looked good for Steve and I's first date to go completely off on people for sloppiness.”

“Well, I'll have everyone waiting.”

“Would you do me a favor and go knock on little John's door and tell him we're going to breakfast?”

“I'll go tell his guys. They're so severe they block off the hallway.”

“I'll get that stopped. This is a home first and foremost and they need to know they're guests.”

“I think it's great. It says they're on their jobs. You really need to have your guards on you more.”

“Guards are fine, but you need to know they'll die just as easily if someone wants to really kill you. Fortunately, you won't have to worry about that.”

“I think we're all in range to be targets from what I hear.”

“What have you heard?”

“I've heard some of those guys who were involved over there didn't get caught and are liable to target us.”

“I doubt that. I think the one that's involved who wasn't caught is going to be exposed today.”

“You know who it is!”

“Yeah. Unfortunately, if I let you know who it was, you'd wonder how easily someone could infiltrate and get us all. Fortunately, we know and we're on it.”

“Who is it?”

“I'm not at liberty to say. What I will say is if you keep your eyes open, you'll notice someone is going to be gone and when he's gone, you're going to be blown away.”

“Man, that's got me wondering.”

“Well, let me get him up and I'll get us ready. What's everyone else wearing?”

“They're all going casual. Your mom is in blue jeans. She's pretty hot for being an older woman.”

“Well, coming from someone who's dated most of the female population in these parts, I'll take that as a compliment.”

“I wasn't that bad!”

“I've heard different. Have you and Brent had a chance to talk?”

“Yeah, he's funny. He's really itching to go into town to scope out the girls.”

“Well, you probably will have to keep a close eye on him because he'll probably be taking numbers and using the jets to come here for dates. “

“I'll give him pointers as to who to go for. That should get him with some of the better ones.”

“Put him with girls who are relationship minded and who are from well to do families. Steer him clear of judge's daughters though.”

He laughed and said, “What about preacher's daughters?”

“He won't go for them. What would be nice is if there are any men who have daughters which are prominent businessmen, then hook them up.”

“Ok, there are a few that come to mind.”

“Keep in mind he doesn't know how to back off of them. That scar in the middle of his forehead came from a fight he got in. The guy was wearing a class ring. The interesting thing about that fight was it was in the middle of a grocery store.”

“Really!”

“Yeah, so that should tell you he's an idiot.”

He laughed and said, “Not like you wouldn't do something like that!”

“Oh no he didn't!”

“Yeah, something about a fight in frozen foods!”

“Oh man, I've got to tell him to keep his mouth shut!”

“I think it's funny. It was hard for me to imagine, but your reaction told me it's true.”

“Yeah, unfortunately, it is. Let's just say a life long friend started dating my worst enemy. I saw him at the grocery store and he tried to warn me his lover was going to get something. About that time, the guy got back and made the comment, “I found the trash bags, but I see you already found one.” The fight was on.”

“Oh man. He told me about it, but I'd probably done the same thing.”

“That was when I was younger and a whole lot dumber.”

“He said it was only a few years ago!”

“It was, but now I've got a different attitude.”

He smiled and said, “He really likes Steve.”

“Good. It'll make things more comfortable.”

“I'm glad too. Did Steve say much about him?”

“No, we talked mostly about what our plans are for the day and what we've got to do. Just the same, let me get him up and we'll be down.”

“Ok, I'll get word to Little John.”

“Thanks.”

I shut the door and went over and shook Steve. “Babe, it's time to get up.”

“How long have you been up?”

“I slept the whole night through. I'm finding I'm doing that with you.”

“Well, yesterday was a big day. Hopefully, today won't be as packed.”

“I'm afraid it will be for me.

Everyones already up and waiting on us to come down so we can all go to Mabel's.”

“Ok, I'll have to wear my uniform from yesterday. I don't have a clean change here.”

“Why don't you dress down and wear your badge. “

“No, people have to respect the authority of the uniform.”

“Ok, well, dress down for breakfast and then get a clean change after the funeral home. That way it differentiates the personal life and the public.”

“Ok, that's a good plan.”

“We have to do these things so people will know the difference with us. If we don't the public side will always be on when you get to the Governor's mansion.”

“I've not thought that far ahead. How am I going to tell the difference when I'm in office?”

“Suits mean you're doing your job and dressed down means you're not. The press will be told that and they'll know when to ask questions.”

“Ok, that's a good plan.”

“The good thing is when you do an interview without the suit on, it will show everyone it was a matter of dire emergency. You can use that to your advantage too.”

“I get what you're saying. That's good.”

“Well get dressed and we'll get downstairs. I've had JT go get Little John up so he can go with us.”

“How did things go for he and Kevin?”

“They're going good. The bad thing is I think Kevin spent a good portion of the time talking about me.”

“Well, he does still love you.”

“He has to move on. JT likes him so he needs to drop all that and get on with life.”

“Easier said than done.”

“Well, I'd prefer if he did.”

He smiled and said, “Kevin did have some funny stories about you.”

“I imagine he did. I've got some funny ones about him too, but I'd not tell them on my first date with you!”

“Well, it'd be funny to hear just the same.”

“That's good and I'd like to hear them too, but I think it showed good taste for JT not to ditch his ass too.”

“JT's a lot easier on people than that.”

“Well, I wouldn't be.”

“Hon, we were all letting our hair down last night when Kevin was talking. He's funnier than hell. I think that's his way of disarming people when he's in nervous situations.”

“Yes, and he can sell ice to an eskimo with that charm. It's one thing I borrowed from him when I get into situations of which I'm uncertain. If I get into a situation which I don't know how to handle, I think to myself 'how would Kevin handle it?' and then do it. It works.”

“Well, that says the love you shared is returned.”

“Yes, I don't deny that, but he needs to let people get to know him too.”

“Well, they'll do that. I think JT is head over heels for him already, so that's not a problem.”

“I see that too. JT's eyes are saying it really loudly.”

“Are you feeling threatened?”

“No! What I feel is wanting Kevin to get to know JT on his terms and not based upon our past. It saddens me to think he's not doing that.”

“I think it will happen. I imagine it's already happening to an extent.”

“I hope.”

I got dressed and as I dressed, Steve's eyes were all over me. He was wearing his black outfit which really looked hot on him.

“Hon, you look awesome in that outfit.”

“Thanks.” he said with a slight grin. “It makes me feel good you give me compliments so freely.”

“Well, the first thing I think is you look hot enough to rip them off. Maybe it's a good thing you're not wearing that outfit all day long. All the women of this country would be salivating.”

He laughed and said, “Nope, my eyes are only one you.”

“Well, let's wear that to the funeral home and to McDonald's. It'll differentiate your personal side with the kids and then it'll have the professional side later.

You need to get cameras up there to that site so they can get good photos. I want the shock of that thing to be etched in people's minds.”

“Ok, I'll do that after I make the announcement of there being no casualties other than the ones responsible. That way it won't be seen as a sacred area but something people can imagine happening in their own neighborhoods.”

“It's a shame there aren't any before photos....hold up! We've got the aerial shots from the helicopter which can show the before. I'll tell the helicopter pilot to study the shots and get the after photos so they can be compared. We'll get those out on CNN so it can show the difference.”

“Good looking out.”

“I'm trying.”

We went downstairs and I went over and gave my mom a hug and kiss. Then, I went over to Rose and did likewise.

When Steve came down, he went over to his mom and did the same. What was nice was he went over to my mom and gave her a hug. Afterwards, he went over and gave all of my family hugs too.

Brent said, “Jeez, someone woke up happy this morning!”

I smiled and said, “No, that's him. You should see him and JT when they're together, you'd know how they love each other.”

Brent smiled and said, “Well, it looks like we've got a new tradition to uphold.”

“With our Italian heritage, you'd think we'd already be doing that.”

He nodded and said, “Come here brother.”

I went over and gave him a hug. He smiled and said, “That felt good. We'll do that a lot from now on.”

I hugged Ash and his wife. I made a mental note to find them something for their baby that was really special.

“You guys ready for breakfast?”

Mom said, “Little John isn't down yet.”

“Ok, let me go get him and then we'll get a move on.”

I headed up the steps when little John was on his way down. He smiled and said, “I was coming! It's just hard leaving that comfortable bed!”

“I know. I slept all night again which is rare.”

We went into the living room where everyone was congregated. It was decided who all would ride with whom and we'd meet up at Mabel's. In my car was my mom and dad, Rose, Steve, and I.

Mom said, “This car is nice. Even the back seat is comfortable and not cramped.”

“Yes, did you get ample time to drive it?”

“Yes! That's why I'm looking forward to getting home!” She laughed.

“I understand. I'm glad things worked out as they have so I could get the boys theirs.”

“They're really proud about that. You did good.”

“I'm glad. If it pulls us together, then that's nice.”

“Brent's making plans of heading this way as much as he can.”

“Steve and I discussed him earlier with his seeking greener pastures. There's a whole new crop of girls for him to conquer. The good thing is I spoke with JT and he's going to point him in the direction of upstanding daughters who are relationship minded. Hopefully, that will put him on the right path.”

“I think he's looking at colleges out here. Don't ask me how I know, but a part of me says he's not doing so good at that school he's going too.”

“It's the college mom. The partying atmosphere up there is prevalent. I graduated, but don't ask me how I did it.”

“You partied too, I know. I just think he's partied too much.”

“If his grades will let him, then maybe he'll see it as a fresh start. If not, then he'll have to bring them up. I know we'll concentrate on those with him.”

“Good. Don't let him think it's all a party here.”

“I won't. Things will settle back down here and he'll see we're not about that.”

When we arrived at Mabel's, we went in and JT had her up in the air. When Steve came in, he hugged her as did I. She smiled and said, “The best for last in my ear. I saw you on the news!”

“Don't tell all my secrets hon!”

She laughed and said, “I think it's great. The locals will probably know sooner than later, but he's loved enough, they're going to let him be him.”

“How are you doing today?”

“Oh hell, this place could fall down around me and I'd still have a smile. You'll learn that about me.”

“That's the best way to be. Here, I'd like for you to meet my mama and daddy. Mom, this is Mabel.”

The greeted each other and I said, “Mom, she's a hugger. You gotta hug her in order to get a seat!”

Mom laughed and hugged Mabel. Mabel said, “I tell all the guys that so I get to hug them.”

Dad said, “In that case, I gotta hug her!” He hugged her and Mabel blushed.

“You guys go over there to that table. It's big enough to seat everyone.”

Little John came up and I said, “Mabel, this here is a special friend of mine. His name is John, but we call him Little John.”

She looked at him and said, “Little John, who's your daddy?”

He blushed and said, “Ma'am, you probably didn't know him. He's from New York City.”

She nodded and said, “I have a good feeling I know who it is. You've got the same eyes. Tell your mama I've not heard from her often enough and tell her I still make those strawberry pies. I'll get you one to take home to her when you go.”

Little John looked surprised and said, “You're the one that makes those pies!”

“Yes dear, your mama and daddy were down through here on a trip a long while ago and your mama fell in love with those pies. She'd pay high dollar to have me send them to her.”

“I bet she did. She'd rave on and on about them. To her, if you got a piece of that pie, it really told you that you were in good standing with her.”

Mabel smiled and said, “Your mama is a nice woman. Your daddy, well, he was a man.” she said with a disgusted look upon her face. “Don't you be like him!”

“I try not, but it's hard.”

“Just don't you get yourself caught. I think that's the most disappointed I was in anyone. He let that persona go to his head.”

“I try harder at that than he did. Let's hope it never comes to that.”

She smiled and said, “I don't judge people harshly. It takes all kinds to make this world go around. I know well enough that if you're down here, someone screwed up and I have a good feeling I know who it was.”

“Yes ma'am, you'd be correct. We're getting that taken care of.”

“Well go on and have a seat. I'll be over directly. I've got to go check to see we've got a fresh pie for your mama in the oven.”

She gave me a look and from her gaze, I couldn't make heads nor tales from it. We went over and sat down. The waitress brought out drinks and plates for us to fill. Everyone made a line to go up to get what they wanted. Before we began eating, my daddy said grace.

After breakfast, I went up to pay the bill. She smiled and said, “Hon, it's on me. You thought enough of me to bring your family in to meet me.”

“Thank you. I'll remember that favor.”

“Hon, I don't know why you're involved with him, but don't you let him drag you and Steve down.”

“We're not. We're calling in the big guns so Steve's got a fair shot at the Governor's office.”

“So he's going to run!”

“You've got the scoop, but don't let it out.”

“Well, that does my heart good. If I could have the scoop of he and you getting hitched, I'd be a lot happier.”

“I wish it were possible in this state, but it's not.”

“I'll tell you how to do it if you'll do it.”

“How?”

“You and he go through the motions and you have yourself a huge wedding ceremony here. No one is the wiser that it's not for real. Then, you and he go on a round the world trip and you get yourself hitched over in one of those countries that makes it legal. Then, when you get back over here, you take it to someone John knows and you have him make it legal. The only ones who are wise to it are you, he, me, and those that really don't care. In the eyes of everyone, you're married and they don't care how you did it. You just play the part and let him do some good for people. You can do that, right?”

“Oh yes ma'am.”

“Well, what does it matter none?”

“I'll give it some thought and run it by him. I do know he wanted to announce to everyone he'd proposed and I'd accepted today, but that'd get everyone investigating my background which wouldn't be good.”

“I understand. That's something which needs to be private. Go public with it after the wedding and the trip when everything's done. By then, no one's going to say anything and go snooping where they're not wanted.”

“I'll do that. By then, things will be so if anyone does, they'll only find what they've been meant to find.”

“Damned smart of you.” She smiled.

I gave her another hug and said, “Well, it's off to the funeral home to plan for his daddy's funeral and then we've got to eat at McDonald's for lunch. If you had carry out, I'd sneak by here and get me some!”

She laughed and said, “What do you want? I'll have you a special go bag made up.”

“A nice chicken sandwich would be wonderful.”

“Anything else?”

“No, I'll have a salad at McDonald's that should do a good job of filling me.”

“You need to eat more.”

“If I did, I'd be as big as a house. It doesn't take a lot to fill me up.”

She smiled and said, “You know, you look damned fine as a man, but when I saw you on the news yesterday, I was amazed.”

“Thanks.”

“You just keep the eyes of this nation on him and thinking good thoughts and you'll get that office. For the life of me, I can't imagine why that Governor isn't here!”

“I believe he's been told to stay away.”

She nodded and said, “Well, he lost his seat. All the eyes of this state are going to be on him. When's he going to make the announcement?”

“Probably on Tuesday. We've got a lot we're planning on releasing and doing to carry this thing out longer. CNN will hold the spotlight on him, but I want to be sure he's seen as someone that will last a week under pressure so when people compare it to a hurricane, they'll see he'll do well under that pressure too.”

“You just know this. Yesterday the whole place was talking about you two. No one was talking bad about you and all of them were talking about how damned proud they were you were holding him up as you were. I'll tell you now if the election had been thrown yesterday, you'd won by a landslide!”

“That's why we've got to keep the spotlight upon him. We'll be in and I'll keep you more up to date as to what we're doing and how we're doing it, but rest assured, I've got a good plan.”

She smiled and said, “Hon, where my worries rest is you two leave this town and you won't come back.”

“That's hardly going to happen. I've got kids to raise and there's a big plan for that.”

“How are you doing that?”

“I've got word through my family and all the girls who want to do something with their future are going to be paid well to be our surrogates. That way, the babies will have his blood and mine.”

She looked surprised and said, “My lands! You do have a good plan!”

“Yes, that way it's not seen as a hand out to those family members, and it gets them something in return for the precious gifts we're given.”

She nodded and said, “It'll do Rose's heart good.”

“Yes, Rose has some bit of a bad past, but happiness is well ahead of her.”

“I really hope that. Lord knows she needs someone to give her a smile or two.”

“It's going to happen. I can't say much, but just know that's in the works.”

She smiled and said, “Well, you run along. I'll have your sandwich when you're ready.”

“Make it about one o'clock. We've got to do that appearance and then I've got to head out. I'll stop by here before I go to the airport.”

She looked perplexed and said, “Is this something you really need to do?”

“It pays the bills and keeps him away from taking contributions which would put him to beholding to someone he shouldn't.”

“We'll sit down and talk some day.”

“I promise we'll do that. With your support, I think we can do anything.”

She smiled and said, “Just know I'll make some phone calls and we'll have the skids greased in a big way.”

“Ok.”

I went out and got in the Rolls. Mom said, “She's taken a liking to you.”

“Yes, She's getting me a sandwich made so I can get it on my way out of town today.”

“When are those jets going to be available?”

“I don't know. I'll ask Little John. They should be available shortly. Do you want to use mine to go home today?”

“No, Little John said he'd lend us his.”

“Ok, I just didn't want you thinking you had to wait for it to come back.”

“We'll stay a bit and then we'll be leaving later. If you don't mind, I imagine we'll use your car to do some sight seeing.”

“No problem. Feel free in knowing you're completely welcome here anytime you want to come. It's not always going to be that we'll have a house full like we do now.”

“I know hon. This is a difficult time. I really want to let Rose know how happy I am she's being as gracious as she's being. I know if I'd lost your daddy, I'd not want all the turmoil going on.”

“Steve and I were speaking about that. I feel badly about how things have happened and I really want you to know Rose, it's not my intention to have done this.”

“I know dear. What you need to know is I completely support what you're doing. If things were different between James and I, I'd probably feel a lot worse. What I see going on is giving me the boost I need to go on with life. You're doing this for Steve and I really want that too. So, don't get yourself down about what's happened.”

When we arrived at the funeral home, we went in and found Rose had everything pretty much decided. It barely took thirty minutes for everything to be decided from the flowers to the music.”

When we left, Steve said, “Rhette and I have an appearance at McDonald's with a bunch of kids. I don't know how many are going to show, but we've given them our word, so we've got to be there. One child is plenty and the more is better.”

Mom said, “I imagine a whole lot will show.”

“That'd be good.” Steve said. “It'd get the no drugs message across and get a theme to them which we can hold them to.”

We went back to the house and when we pulled up, I saw Andrew and June. I went over and greeted them. Andrew smiled and I said, “I hope you were treated well with what you had to tell Steve?”

“Yes, he's great!”

“Good. Now, I need to speak with you a moment.”

“Sure. What's up?”

“Tomorrow, I need you to do us a favor. This favor is going to bring you a lot of clout in this town, so it's imperative you help us.”

“What is it?”

“I'm going to give you an address and it's going to be your job to go over and be seen at that address by some neighbors. Then, later, I'm going to want you to go to the doings downtown and be seen by CNN speaking with Steve.”

“What's going on?”

“If you can hold a secret, I'll tell you, but you've got to understand what I'm going to do has to be kept in the strictest of confidences.”

“Ok”

“What you're doing is you're going over to a house which is a grow house. Inside is a bunch of pot plants and the likes. What we're going to do is we're going to have Steve's guys bust it on Tuesday morning. With you being seen speaking to Steve, it's going to be giving you the credit for bringing it down.”

“How come they don't already have it busted into?”

“It's a plant for the press. I want him to be on camera when they do it and I want you to get the credit. Everyone that's judging you will suddenly be out numbered by the people that are saying good things about you in this town.”

“What if a neighbor calls the cops and reports me?”

“It'll be ignored. You have to be seen there and that's to get you the credit. Is it a go?”

“Ok, but I'm not understanding why you're not having him do it if he already knows it's there.”

June smiled and said, “Andrew, they're doing it this way so you can have credit. They know about it and probably could have busted in and got the credit for it without you. They're doing it this way so you can rub the people's noses in it that speak bad about you. Rhette's doing it this way so you will be better in this town.”

“Ok, it's just weird.”

She smiled and said, “Why don't you run along. I've got to look to Rhette and get him looking his part.”

I sat down and said, “Thanks”

“Sometimes he doesn't know about that world. I know you guys set that house up to be found, but he doesn't. I'm assuming it's for a reason.”

“Steve's going to run for Governor. We need to have him seem unaware of that house so it can be found. Then, we're going to have him find it on CNN so it looks like he's completely unaware of the drugs in this town. Then, we're going to have him get tough on drugs and wipe them out.”

“Ok, what's Andrew's situation going to help?”

“Well, Andrew's going to suddenly get the credit. For that, he'll be given an award. What it will do is it will make everyone across this nation see they could have grow houses in their neighborhoods and if they report it, they could be the hero of the day.

You don't know it, but back home, we had a grow house and no one knew. It was in the nicest neighborhood where no one called the police and everyone minded their own business. It was a complete surprise it was even there. I have a feeling there are probably hundreds of them across this country.

The fact it's being shown live on CNN is the plan. What will follow is a platform for Steve with what he's going to do in this county before the election. He'll use that to get publicity as being hard on crime. The votes it pulls from the Republicans will be good for his election.”

“Ok, you're saying pulling from the Republicans. He's a Republican.”

“Yes, but he won't be when he runs.”

“Huh?”

“He's running on a platform of the American party...not Democrat and not Republican, but down the middle.”

“Oh, that's going to be hard to do.”

“Yes, and that's why we need all the publicity. If you take a look at what all we've done, it's drawing him attention. Every appearance I made yesterday was for a reason. We hit it like a campaign and it was orchestrated as being such.”

“Well you sure had people talking!”

“Good. My hope is we had people talking all over this state as well as across the country. I want them begging him to run and I want them to be doing it from both parties.”

“I'll tell you now. If you'd been running, you'd gotten it!”

“Good. I've got to look good for him.”

“How'd the rest of your day go yesterday?”

“It went well. My disguise worked too well. I had no idea this nation would see me as a woman, but now that they do, I've got to run with it. If I don't and they find out we're gay, it could turn the tide completely against us.”

“How are you going to handle that?”

“To be honest, we're going to run with it for as long as it takes. If it comes out, then he said he'll gladly come out, but if not, then we'll have everyone thinking we're a normal straight couple. I'll run with it because that's what people want.”

“Ok, so we'll be seeing a lot of each other.”

“Yes, now what I've got to do is I've got to go find an outfit to wear which will look nice because we've got a few public appearances before I've got to leave town again.”

“Oh!”

“A friend of mine got beaten up yesterday. He's lucky he's still alive. Besides that, the meeting I went to yesterday turned about to be a really huge opportunity. I can't say much more, but you know the business I'm in.”

“Yes.”

“Well, let's just say I'm a first of firsts.”

“That sounds really interesting.”

“Oh hell. I got given the whole Miami area of being under me. Along with that, I got given the Missouri area. Both Kansas City and St. Louis are going to be under me. Also, I think Tampa will be under me too.”

“Man!”

“Yeah, I can't go into more than that, but it's rare that anyone would get more than one area, but now I've got all those areas.”

“Can you run it all?”

“It's going to take a lot of management and delegating authority, but it can be done.”

I went to Rose who got me something to wear, she picked out a nice pant suit which looked businesslike, yet masculine. She smiled and said, “Hon, we've got to get you clothes here. You're so tiny, I don't think there's anything else of mine which will fit you! James got me this outfit for some Sheriff's seminar he was to go to. At the last minute, he changed his mind and I didn't get to go. He still went, but I didn't get to go.”

I changed into it and then went to June who got my hair and makeup complete. While we did this, I told her of our plans to put in a washing stand for our hair and how much Steve liked the scalp massage getting his hair washed last evening.

When everything was done, I said, “The man who was to teach you everything with serving food had a change of plans. He won't be with us any longer.”

She nodded and asked, “How are you going to feed all these men?”

“We're looking into that. Today, we're going to cater it. Tomorrow, I don't know. I'm trying to find someone who will come out and work the food buggy.”

“Hon, let me worry about that. I'll find some people to help.”

“They've got to be sworn to secrecy and be told this is a top secret plan of the Sheriff's to wipe out the drugs in this town. They'll know as soon as they start doing take downs what is happening, but right now, they're still gathering information.”

“Ok, I'll do that.”

“I appreciate this. My hands are so full I've not had time to even begin looking for someone. I should make the time, but it's something which came up rather suddenly.”

“I thought your guys were sworn to loyalty!”

“Yes, but this man attempted to kill me not once, but twice last night. He's got to go.”

“Oh!”

“Yes, he's been feeding Gypsy and all I can say is if he'd wanted to get to me, all he had to do was kill her and my heart would have been gone.”

“I understand. What I'll do is I'll get Andrew and we'll start preparing some things for dinner. It might not be the best, but it will be something they'll appreciate.”

“Well, I apologize for things not being as they were yesterday when we spoke, but as you can see, they don't turn out the way they're supposed to around here.”

“It's understandable. I'll take up the slack until you can get back.”

I gave her a hug and took her to show her the food buggy. Little John was there. I looked at him and asked him to speak privately to the side.

“She's going to take up the slack for dinner. As for lunch, I have no clue what we're going to feed them.”

“Ok, he's about to be told he's got an unexpected emergency. The blue and white plane you see at the airport is the one. If it's not there when you get there, then know it's happening.”

“Ok, I doubt if I see it. I've got to go with Steve to make an appearance at McDonald's and then we'll be leaving.”

He nodded and I said, “Have a good afternoon.”

“I'll probably see you sooner than later.”

“My family will need a jet to get them home. Are they getting those delivered?”

“They've been called and they're working on it.”

“Working on it?”

“Yes, it's taking them some time to get the planes you want.”

“Well, it doesn't matter what they ride home in as long as they get there. I told my mom she'd have a ride home and planes to use at her disposal.”

He nodded and said, “You're doing this right. Your family knows and they're supporting you.”

“I wouldn't do it any other way. Did you get your mama's pie sent home to her?”

He smiled and said, “Yes, I gave her a call and you'd think I told her she'd won the lottery. As of now, I'm her favorite son.”

“I thought you were the only son!”

“Yes, but even then sometimes I'm not the favorite.”

“Well, I've got to get. Before I leave, I have to have the pilot notified he's got to get Rose to the airport when I call.”

“I'll let them know.”

“Have that slow copter with nitrous on it. I'll use it for my aerials.”

He smiled and said, “That will scream like a striped ass ape.”

“Yup, and hopefully, I can get it to do a double loop.”

“It's not a plane!”

“Nope, that's what makes it so exciting.”

“What I'll do is I'll get your parents the trip home and tell the pilot to stay on call there. Then, I'll get Rose readied and go ahead and take her down with me. On our way, I'll take the guy from Tampa's wife down with us.”

“I'm sorry I didn't get to meet her.”

“She knows. We've discussed what we've got planned and she's in on it. She'll do anything to feel useful. She's filled me in on a lot of things she's seen what needs to be handled. I'll fill you in on what I know when I get a chance.”

“That might be a while. Our schedules are a bit hectic.”

“I'll try to make some time this afternoon when I'm down there.”

“Ok, but my time there is going to be abbreviated. David is a priority.”

He nodded and said, “I understand. I need to get people in my organization which have that right.”

“It's all about making your job easier through delegating the authority. When you do it, make sure they're loyal, but don't have the aspirations to run it themselves. One thing I'd do that Gino taught me is when you pull them up, you tell them their job and if they think they have any future aspirations, to forget them because you'd hate to kill them. They get the point. The good thing there is you have their oath on that then and if anything's discovered later, you can bring them to trial on it.”

He nodded and I said, “Well, I'll see you later.”

I went upstairs and gave everyone hugs and kissed. From the look in my brother's eye, I knew he found me attractive.

“You like the disguise?”

“Hell yeah!”

“I thought so. Your eyes give you away.”

When I kissed and hugged Kevin, I said, “Kevin, build it up right with him. He's head over heels for you already and I'd hate to see you mess up a good opportunity.”

He smiled and said, “Rhette, it's hard. My loyalties are to you, but I have to realize it can't be.”

“You're right. It's hard, but I'm moving on. Thing could have been different, but they weren't. I'm not going to repeatedly kick you in the ass over it, but that's the way the cards played. Hopefully, you'll see someone can love you if you'll love him. If not, then be honest and then find someone who will.”

“I think it will work. I do find him attractive in so many ways.”

“I know. He's a cute little shit, but keep your hands to yourself. If I hear otherwise, you won't deal with his wrath but mine. I thought of you because I wanted him to have the best. Give him that and don't prove me wrong.”

He smiled, but there were tears in his eyes. “I do love you.”

“I love you too. Now, life's going on.”

I went over to Steve and said, “Well, you ready to go do this?”

“As ready as ever. You look the knock out.”

“Thanks.”

We went out to the car and he drove. On the way in, I was quiet and pensive.

“What's on your mind?”

“So many things. So much done already today and yet, so much needs to be done. I've got to get used to this grind.”

“I thought it might be Kevin.”

“No, that's dealt with and in the past. What I need to do is I need to bring you up to speed on what's happening with the planes. My family's plane is supposed to be here and will go home with them. That's going to leave two more. If you have time, you might take one and come South. I don't know how long we'll be at the hospital.”

“I'll try, but I don't know what the day is going to bring either.”

When we arrived at McDonald's, we got out. There were several media crews. Some questions got asked about the car. I answered.

“Gentlemen, that car is mine. My income is such I can afford it and that multi-million dollar house up there I bought with cash. If you choose to look into it, you'll see I own the rights to the program for the electronic billboards which make the advertisements chase you. For each of those, I get four hundred grand. Sales are such I've made fifty million in the last six months.

If you look further, you'll see I've got a trust fund from the Ha Corporation. I don't go into that money much and there's more there than can be spent in this lifetime. I'll tell you this. IF he chooses to run for Governor, I'll dive into that money like you've never seen anyone before so this race is not funded by special interests.” I said smiling.

“Do you think he will run?”

“Between you and I, we spoke about it last night. That decision is ultimately his, but I can't tell you what we'll decide. BUT, in all fairness to him, we spoke about many things last night from marriage, to our futures, to a potential run for Governor.”

That immediately sent the crews over to Steve to ask him if he's running. He looked at them and said, “Guys, if I answer that now, then this thing in here will look like a campaign stop rather than what it really is and was meant to be. This is to get pledges from kids they won't do drugs. Let's let the kids have their time and then after I take Rhette to the airport, I'll give you a statement.”

What was interesting was when I went inside, the place was full of kids seated in all the booths with families. When I entered, a huge cheer went up. The smile hit my face and I said, “Hi everyone! Did you give them your orders?”

One kid said, “No, they made us sit until you got here.”

“Well, let's see they work really hard. Are you all hungry?”

A huge cheer went up with a loud “Yes” being the main chorus.

I went over to the counter and asked someone. “Could I speak with your manager please?”

“He's out with the kids.”

“Well, I guess I'll have to find him.” I said rather irked.

I turned around and did a scan. No manager was present.

“He's not within eyesight, so here's what we're going to do. I'm going to send all these people up here and I want a grand total of what they're orders total so I can pay you. I'll need to speak with the manager because already, I'm not happy.”

“I'll see what I can do to find him.”

“Thank you.” I said. What I thought was, 'If you were about your job, you'd already done that.'

I went back to the dining room and said, “What we're going to do is we're going to take 4 tables at a time to get everyone their food. They're rather under staffed, so we'll have to be patient with them. What I will do is get everyone cups so they can at least get their drinks over at the drink fountain.”

The manager came over and said, “Hi, I'm the manager, how can I help you.”

“First of all, these people should have been fed. Second of all, I had this place called yesterday so you definitely knew we were coming. A call out went out on CNN to draw people in, so you definitely knew it was happening. Now, we get here and I find people hungry and I find you have what, three people working?”

“Well, more than that, but we weren't expecting the amount of people. Your people never told us what to expect.”

“We didn't know. Now, if I were a real bitch, I'd be moving this down the street to the Burger King, but there are parents who dropped off their kids and they'd be alarmed if they came and never found their kid here. So, we're staying put. What I expect is some good fast food. If you need, I'll run a fry station. I've done that before, but I doubt if I plan on anything at this McDonald's again. So total up the orders and I'll get you paid.”

“I might need you to run that fry station.”

“If CNN can film it. I want there to be some goodwill that comes of this. You might put the Sheriff on something too so he can get the press from it as well.”

“What can he do?”

“One second.”

I looked over at Steve who was speaking with the press. “Steve, they don't have enough help. Have you ever worked in fast food?”

“I was a cook in high school.”

“Your hired. Come on. I'm doing fries.”

I went back and said, “I need a hat and an apron.”

The manager got them to me and I asked the kid cooking fries. What button does what?”

“That button puts them down and then they cook automatically. They'll come up when they're done.”

“Ok, I'll do that. You give each kid an extra large order no matter what they order.”

I went up to the counter people and said, “When they order, you put in extra large orders for their fries.”

“A bunch are ordering Happy Meals.”

“Oh, damn. Ok. Well, we'll handle that, but anyone else that orders fries separately, you give them extra large.”

I went back and said, “Ok, this thing delves the fries into the basket, right?”

“Yeah, all you do is turn that crank and it dumps them into the basket.”

“Ok, well, let's get this thing running full speed ahead.”

He smiled and said, “You're going to make too many fries.”

“That's the price they pay for not having enough help on hand today, isn't it!” I smiled.

We made fries and I couldn't begin to tell you how long I cooked the things. I do know about the time I thought we were ahead, the whole rack would disappear. I had eight baskets going and then someone came up and rather frantically was telling me I needed to drop fish and chicken.

“What the hell!”

The kid helping laughed and said, “Here, you have to drop the chicken and fish over here.”

“Why can't I use that fryer for fries?”

“It's not what we use.”

“Oh, well, I don't remember cooking chicken this way when I worked at McDonald's.”

CNN's camera guy came over and he was filming me cooking fries. I looked up and smiled and said, “You really ought to help. To all the parents that forgot we're down here. Go ahead and come, we'll be giving your family food.”

I looked over at Steve and he was popping away at the condiments on the buns. He was doing it like an old pro. He caught my eye and mouthed the words, “I love you”

The CNN guy said, “I got that!”

“Good, now you know adults can have love affairs working at McDonald's too!” I giggled.

When I got caught up, I looked out and saw families leaving. I thought to myself, “Well, there goes the opportunity for Steve to make his speech, but our call out on CNN apparently was heard because families were showing up in droves.”

I turned to the Manager and said, “You need to tell the counter help to tell the people their meals are compliments of Sheriff Steve Jackson's campaign to get rid of drugs in our town.”

“Ok, I can do that. IF it were for a political campaign, I couldn't do that.”

“That's understandable. I wouldn't expect you to. Our fund raising campaign will be at someplace other than McDonald's.”

He smiled and said, “Well, it'd reach the people who are the working class.”

“Yes, but I'd be too busy working to get a damned dollar.”

“I'm sorry about that.”

“Well, as you see, I keep my word to people. You ought to tell the owners of this restaurant we really would have appreciated if they'd helped.”

“I'll pass along the message.”

I thought to myself, “Yeah, I bet.”

So, another frantic round of cooking fries went on and then it suddenly hit me. If we had held the dinner in the gymnasium at that school, we could have had a time to speak with everyone and get the meal catered.

Oh well, next time, I won't do it by the seat of my pants.

When the wave of people died down, I saw it was nearly one thirty. I was upset with myself for taking too much time and said, “Steve, we're done, let's pay the bill and get out of here.”

We went up to the front and I said, “Here's my Visa Check card. Give me a receipt and charge it to that.”

The manager looked doubtful, but right then I didn't really care. I took a look at the total and saw the privledge of working at McDonald's and feeding all the people cost us nearly twelve thousand dollars.

I'd say they padded the bill.

Steve got out to the car with me and said, “I need a bath.”

“I do too. Let's go by your apartment and get one. I'll have to go to my place to get clothes.”

“Why don't we go by the apartment and I can get my uniform and then we can go to your place and get showers. Then, I can drop you off by the airport.”

“Ok. I really wish you would have had a chance to speak to everyone.”

“It didn't work out that way, the guy from CNN kept filming, so I'd say the announcers for CNN were giving us national publicity for the deal.”

“Good because if you were officially running, I'd hand your campaign the receipt. Instead, we took this one on the chin.”

“Give it to me and I'll have the Sheriff's department reimburse us.”

“It's twelve grand.”

“Damn! They never cut us any slack at all, did they?”

“No, but look at it as future seed for the campaign. Unfortunately, I don't know if you can legally pay it from the Sheriff's department since I'm the one that made that plan. Let me just handle it, but in the future, we're going to do things different.”

He smiled and said, “I thought that about thirty minutes after I got mustard on me for the umpteenth time!”

I laughed and said, “Well, you looked cute over there. If we'd worked at a McDonald's together, I'd sure picked you as my boyfriend.”

“I would have been too shy to ask you out.”

“Well, I'd let you know I was interested enough it'd been known by everyone. I'm glad that guy from CNN caught you telling me you loved me.”

“It wasn't done for the camera.”

“I know, but I'm glad it happened because that goes on to show all the women out there the love story is real between us.”

“I never thought of that.”

“It's good when we tug at heart strings. They know it wasn't meant for them to see, but when they go into that voting booth, they're going to remember us and they're going to feel privileged to see these intimate moments and know we're real people who fall in love and have feelings just like them.”

“Cool. When you put it into words, I can see where we're getting to them.”

We got to his apartment and he said, “How about I run in and get my uniform and you make the call to see how things are going.”

“OK”

He ran in and I called Little John. From the background, I could tell they were in the jet. He answered and said, “We were watching it on CNN. Their whole thing was like one long political advertisement for him. Their re-running that mouthed “I love you” into the ground. The announcers are calling you two the next Jack and Jackie because of the love affair you are having in front of the cameras.”

“Good, I was hoping it was carrying over.”

“It's going flawlessly. How much did that little shindig set you back?”

“Twelve grand.”

“Jeez. Well, when you get to Miami, you hand the receipt to one of your guys down there and you tell him you want that money put back into your account. It's their fault you're having to go the route against the drugs, so let them pay.”

“Ok, I never thought about that. We need to get the bank accounts.”

“My guys are in the house now looking for the records.”

“Ok, let me know what you find. I want those accounts to be brought back home so we can use it to pull Miami, and Tampa back from the stone age and get them some ordinances.”

“There's plenty there. From what I can figure, it's going to be a lot.”

“They should have used some of it then.”

“They didn't need to. From what I'm finding out, they've got a grave yard full someplace of all those they've killed.”

“Oh, so the guys probably think I'm falling right into line as to how they did business.”

“No, I think it was swift and sudden with them. I think they're seeing you get a kick out of it and want to see people suffer.”

“Thanks a lot asshole.”

“You know what I meant.”

“Yeah, but the way it sounded made it sound like I was into this shit. My goal is to have it be so awful it deters them away from that decision they make that gets them there.”

“I'm sorry. I know you don't like it any more than I do. What I meant is you definitely have a way of thinking up different and unique ways of doing things. Maybe you don't get a kick out of it, but it's a kick for me to see what your mind can come up with next.”

“Well, there's no manual for this shit.”

He laughed and I said, “What I'll do is I'll try to come up with something that's standard.”

“No, because then they know what's going to happen and they can prepare themselves for it mentally.”

“Ok, that's not why I'm calling. What's the doctor have to say?”

“He said he made it through the night so that's a good sign. If he can turn the bend and regain consciousness, then that will be better. They put in shunts to take the swelling down and that's helping, so we're doing good.”

“What's the alternative. I don't want him to be a vegetable.”

“I don't think we're at that stage yet. One thing I do have is a phone call out to San Diego.”

“Don't bother them with this. They've got enough on their plate.”

“No, I think it's what they need. If they worry about someone else, then it takes their minds off him.”

“That's rather inconsequential. Lance is probably thinking to himself he'll see Dave when he dies.”

“They said he feels better today. That treatment is supposed to have them feeling sick for so long and then, they get to feeling better. I made some phone calls.”

“Ok, it will be nice. What I do need is someone to get to South Carolina and get me some drawings for a port there. We need to go with this full speed.”

“I'll get that done. You can use the money from Miami for it.”

“There's going to be that much!”

“Yeah. I'm not going to ask for any of it even though they should have paid me a percentage, but if you can funnel your reserves into it, then that will be a good place for it.”

“I need to find out which hospitals across the country are for sale. We're going to be putting money into those.”

“Bad investment.”

“You have no clue where I'm going with this. When I'm done, you'll think I'm Midas with the golden touch.”

“I hope. They're going out of business because they're losing money.”

“No, they're going out of business due to bad management. They hang onto bad people because they're so understaffed. What you don't know is we're going to be going into the teaching side of things and we're going to be taking underprivileged and putting them in a slowed curriculum which doesn't shove a mountain at them in hopes they flunk out. With a slowed curriculum, we'll have more time and with a study team approach like Silvan learning centers, we'll have a lot higher percentage of graduates. The key to it is to get them to sign a pledge to work for the hospital for five years afterwards.”

“That might work. I'm not all caught up on the schooling.”

“Nursing school is like medical school. A nurse has to memorize a mountain of shit in nine months. If we take twice as long, then we'll get them through it and make ourselves staffed so we can afford to weed out the bad.

One other thing I think we could do is to go into a lot more of the treatment side of things. A lot of hospitals contract out the MRI's and CAT scans which make someone else money, but not them.

Another thing which makes them poorer is a lot of needed services aren't under their roof like Lasik eye surgeries and a lot of the cosmetic surgeries. I think if we have people who do that under rheir roof, then insurance would be more apt to pay for them.”

“I'll get you a list of them. We'll have to have some specialists go in and do studies to see which are worth purchasing and which aren't.”

“Ok, we'll do that. One thing I want you to know now is if it's because a building is inefficient, don't let that be a rule out factor. There are a lot of ways to make the boilers and the electricals more efficient. I'll work on that as I have a family member who specializes in those sorts of things.”

“Good, I do know that's a reason a lot of them aren't making it.”

“Yes, and that's why they need help. One of the things I thought of when I was at a local hospital back in Missouri was they were keeping a whole floor open for like four patients. To me, those patients could have been put elsewhere and that floor shut down. They wouldn't dare do that in the hotel industry, so they shouldn't have to do it in the health care field.”

“I think a lot of that is due to guidelines.”

“Well, we'll find loopholes. Steve's coming back, so I'll get off here. I just wanted to check in.”

“Ok, I'll let you know more if it's needed before you get here.”

“I'll be there by three thirty. Have a helicopter meet me at the airport. I'll fly directly in with it. What are you doing about that chauffeur?”

“I'm going to have you speak with him to get the passwords he knows and then, we're doing a background check on him. Believe me, when I get done with him, I'll know all the way back to grade school what he's been doing.”

“I want to know what he's been promised. I told him I'd put him over an ordinance warehouse which was a total crock. If he's a fed, there's no place like that I want him near.”

“What I think is without saying anything to him, we should plan on putting him out there at that lab to guard that guy. Then, when the feds raid the place, they can get him too. If he's one of them, they're not going to say anything to us and the guy will not be a problem.”

“My fear is he's reporting back to them information already. He's probably made friends and he'll cultivate those friendships to get information. With him being on the inside, the guys probably think he's in some sort of position for authority. They'll probably tell him things they'd normally keep quiet, so what we need to do is get all the important documents out of there and get them to a place where we can run it in case the place gets raided.”

“Ok, good thinking. What I think you should do is have a place where it can be run without any of the guys really knowing that's the place where it's ran. Then, have a place which can take the fall.”

“Ok, but have your people who know phone systems get me a good idea if the lines are tapped. If we ask the people down there to do it and they're in on the taps, they're sure not going to report them back to us.”

“My guys are already on that. We're also pulling phone records from everywhere they called. I'm also cultivating some ins with the banking people to get us that money without anyone knowing about it.”

“That's going to be tricky.”

“Yeah, but it can be done. It's done all the time.”

“Did you call in Michael?”

“He's on his way. He's a bit perplexed, but he'll deal I think.”

“It's either that or we'll have to go a different way with them.”

“He's going to really wonder what's going on when I have him move to Tampa and swear allegiance to you.”

“Well, tell him we're doing things a different way.”

“I've also called in little Jimmy.”

“Is that safe?”

“It's a hunch. I have a strong feeling he'll gladly step up if it's to be with a new way of running things. I'm not sure where we can use him, but just say it's a hunch I feel.”

“He's not yours?”

“He's up under Michael. But he's not mine.”

“Ok, then I'll take him. For all we know, he might have skills which are really good.”

“What about little David?”

“Little David isn't coming. I think we're going to have to deal with him directly.”

“Did you give him a direct order?”

“No. If I did that, it'd set off alarm bells we don't need right now. If we did that, we'd have war erupting while everyone's gone.”

“By him?”

“Yeah, the tensions are such in St. Louis they'd take anything like someone being gone as a weakness.”

“Well, we need to get in there and get a foot into their asses telling them who's in authority.”

“It's going to be touch and go.”

“Well, Chicago's been called off right?”

“Yes, and I've spoken with Memphis. The way Memphis looks at St. Louis is like a bastard son. They don't want anything to do with them.”

“That's what they say, but I really think they'd take them over in a heartbeat if they knew what was happening.”

“No, the guy down there is in ill health. He's been letting things slide.”

“Well, when he goes, you get the new guy in under me. We'll teach him the new management styles and then we'll have them where they should be. With them having the tenth largest shipping port in the country, they sure as hell should be healthy financially.”

“Oh, they are. They've got all that where they need them.”

“Good because that'd be insane if they didn't. They should be financially up there with Kansas City if they're running things right.”

“They're not.”

“What!”

“Let's just say they've put money where they shouldn't. All the heads live in mansions which rival palaces. All of them are so full of security measures it's amazing the amount of money they've put out.”

“Do you have people in there telling you what you need?”

“You know how I operate. My guys are the ones that are over it all. I know more about their dealings than them.”

“I know I would. I've got to learn who to trust and get teams of people trained.”

“My advice is to get to some of the top colleges and get the new graduates. They know more about computers than seasoned veterans do in ten years of working with the stuff.”

“Ok, we'll work on that. Well, Steve's in the car, I'll talk with you later.”

“Ok, fly safe.”

“I will. Is that guy up in the air?”

“I took them to the airport myself. I've not gotten the call yet, but the boat to retrieve our pilot is some three hundred miles out.”

“Ok, I hope all goes well.”

“It will. I'm using one of your pilots to fly us down and using my own pilot for that flight.”

“Good. Well, I'll see you later.”

I hung up and Steve said, “All going well?”

“Dave made it through the night and all we're waiting for is him to regain consciousness. When he gets over that hurdle things will be better.”

“You were talking about that flight?”

“The guy's in the air.”

“I guess that's good.”

“It's the best way. We've got some other loose ends, but I think rather than killing someone, we're going to be giving the fed their guy back.”

“You've got a fed in there!”

“I think so. If it were up to me Steve, I'd have him killed. I'll tell you that now. If the man goes back to them and tells them I'm in on it, then we're in a world of shit.”

“Oh, well, I'm not going to tell you what to do. That's a whole other realm I know nothing about.”

“It's not much more than running a company. I'll tell you I know management of people, but I've never managed people to this extent. To say I've went from little league to the major leagues is an understatement. I'm doing so many things by the seat of my pants, it's scary.”

“Well, hope for the best and trust you've put good people in.”

“I'm doing that, but we've got a lot going on and each time I think I've got things to where I need them to be, someone new gets put on the dance card. I just got told I've got another chief and no where I know of mentally I can put him. This is going to be tough.”

“What would David do?”

“Dave would probably be doing a whole lot better about this than me. To be honest, I have no clue what he'd be doing right now. What I think is I'll have this new guy start looking at hospitals for me. That way, I can have someone in that I can trust there.”

“Can you trust him?”

“I don't know. We're playing hunches now. If we guess wrong, then the good thing is we'll have him where he can't hurt us too bad.”

“I've got a question but you might not know the answer.”

“Ok, go ahead.”

“What happens if this should all come down?”

“If it comes down, I'm hoping I'll have advanced notice. If it comes down, I hope with the notice, I can have a plane in the air and be far enough away towards either Australia or Argentina there's not going to be a problem. What I do know is I won't ever be able to come back stateside.”

“If that happens, I'll pull up stakes and get to where you are.”

“It's going to be embarrassing like hell for you.”

“Yes, but as you know, we're in this together. I'll stand with you to the end.”

“It could be messy. What I do know is the charges will be so many and the penalties so severe that I'll not be able to be extradited back.”

“Well, that's a safe guard we can count on.”

“Yes, but what I have to hope for is we don't get to that point. If I'm careful, I'll not have to worry about that. That's going to require me taking care of loose ends in the manner which assures me it won't happen. You need to know that.”

“I don't like it, but I also know you're doing it for the good of us. If it were just for you, I'd tell you to leave it be.”

“I know and I wouldn't be involved. What you need to do is we need to wrap this up by Friday and next weekend, we need to put the take downs in motion. The sooner we get that army of guys done with their jobs and away from that house, the quicker we can get on with the next phase.”

“And what's that?”

“You getting the work crews working on the roads and showing you're tough on crime.”

“Ok, that's easy.”

“Yeah, and we're going to be working on the Sheriff's department so you can house all those people. The thought of us housing a lot of inmates in school gymnasiums and the like just doesn't sound appealing to me. So, we've got to have housing and toilet facilities which can handle them all.”

“You think there's going to be that many?”

“When you start pulling in all the people involved, you're going to be pulling in buyers as well as sellers. I'll tell you now that's going to be a lot. We need to think about housing a thousand people and I know you don't have the facilities for that influx.”

“No, the most I can house is a hundred and twenty.”

“Right, so we've got to be prepared so when the take downs happen, it happens and we get everyone. A lot will go out on probation, but what we're going to have is a lot of people who aren't going to meet that bond money. In order to have the work crews, you've got to house them. So, be prepared to feed that many.”

“We'll have to work on that. I know we've only got two kitchen staff.”

“We'll hire on another two. What I will tell you is if you don't have a Hobart meat slider that's automatic, then get one. You'll need it for all the sliced meats and cheeses you'll be serving. If you don't buy potato chips and Nutter Butters in individual serving sizes, then start because you'll need them for all the sack lunches. You'll also need vans and trailers so you can put porta potties on them for the crews.”

“I'll get them going on that. Thanks for telling me what to expect.”

“My advice with the vans is to lease them. I doubt if you can lease the trailers, but you can the porta potties. You'll also need to get a lot of weed scythes and a lot of sticks with nails in the ends to pick up trash.”

“Ok, I'll have them ready. Anything else?”

“Yeah, but it's nothing you can get. What you'll need to do is you're going to have to have extensive training for the people who are running the road crews. Management of people is going to be paramount. You can't have enemies working with enemies. They're going to be working with things that could kill other people if used in that way. You sure don't want a lesser charge grow to be a bigger charge with them. That'd be bad publicity for you.”

“Ok, that's a good thought.”

“What you could do is go with gas powered weed eaters, but those get into money. A pair of gloves a day and a scythe goes a lot easier on your budget. What I will say is you're going to have to have a welding shop weld you up a chair on that trailer which has a sunbrella over it so your guy that's keeping an eye on them can sit there with a shot gun rest right next to him.”

“What I'll do is get your guys on making the trailers how we need them.”

“Ok, that's no problem.”

We arrived at my house and went in. There were guys milling around and when I arrived, they snapped to. I let everyone know we were only there to take showers and to get a change of clothes. They went back to what they were doing, so there wasn't a big deal.

We went to the bedroom and I saw the bed unmade. “Remind me to get a housekeeper. If it's up to Kevin to make a bed, it's not going to happen. I guess it's the same with JT.”

“We need to get some for the main house too.”

“Ok, that's on the to-do list for tomorrow. I'll ask June to be on the lookout for some women. What's the laundry facilities like at the main house?”

“Mom has a washing machine, but for that amount, we probably need to get another set.”

“Get two sets of Wascomat washer and dryers. I'd tell you to get Fisher Pykel, but they don't make industrial sized appliances. The Wascomat ones are on the same principle.”

“You seem to know about that.”

“Yeah, unfortunately, I do. In the little house, I went downstairs to find ten inches of water in the basement from a broken washing machine. Fortunately, just two weeks earlier, Kevin showed me where the master shut off valves were for the water and the gas. If he hadn't, I'd have had to make some frantic phone calls. Instead, I went over and hit the main shut off. That's when I saw the water coming from the washer. It totally pissed me off.”

“So you replaced with professional grade?”:

“Yeah, the reason is I've been having to take the feather mattresses to the coin laundry. Now, I can do them at home.”

“How do you wash a feather mattress?”

“As you would anything else. The key to drying one is putting some soft balls in the dryer with them so they beat against it and fluff it up.”

“How often do you wash them?”

“For my house, it's always once a month. The sheets get changed more often, but those get washed once a month.”

“Do they ever bust open?”

“No, not yet. I've had holes, but they get darned up before I wash them.”

“You have a problem with that? The holes I mean. The reason I'm asking is you're wanting to order a bunch of them.”

“Interestingly, the ones I ordered from a company that's supposed to specialize in them, are the ones that get holes. The one's which were cheaper from Ginnys.com are the ones that don't have problems. What I find is a problem with Ginny's are the feathers coming through. If you notice, I had you write down duvets on that list so we could put them in those which keeps the feathers from poking. Washing the duvets is easier, but putting the big things in them is a chore.”

He smiled. “You sound so domestic when you talk about that.”

“Well, I like things nice. If you don't remember, we're going to have Mike's six kids here this Summer. I want them to remember things being nice so when I get that option again, they'll want to come. A part of that is them remembering things like that.”

“What are we going to do with six kids?”

“The same thing we'd do with our own when we have them. Consider it parental training because believe me, there's drama with six!”

He laughed and said, “They can't be that bad.”

“Not when you're a referee, there isn't. But, they can be a handful. What I'll probably do is have them busy going to Myrtle Beach and to Charleston and Savannah. That way there's plenty for them to do. If one of them got into the woods with all those snakes, I don't know what we're going to do.”

“They'd not do that, would they?”

“Mike's son is all boy. He's only 4, but I'll tell you now that one there is going to be a hand full. He'll see those horses and want to ride one. Then, he'll see that tractor and want to ride on it. He'll see your police car and want to ride in it. So be prepared.”

He smiled and said, “I guess you're right.”

“Just be prepared to have a little deputy and you'll do fine.”

“Ok, that'll be neat. I'll have to get his measurements so I have him a little uniform.”

“That will be neat. He'll really eat that up.”

“What about his other kids?”

“He's got four teen aged daughters and one that's going to be nine that's a wanna be teen.”

“Oh, well you get them.”

“Yeah, we'll have to go to that park with the light house too. They can go up there and have a fun filled day.”

“When you plan on taking them to Myrtle Beach, we'll make it a go so we can all go for a couple of days. There's too much to do in one day there, so we'll have a little trip of it.”

“I've not been there since I was a kid myself. I know it's changed, but what's changed are all the hotels on the beach. What I remember is we stayed in a campground in North Myrtle which probably isn't there any longer. What I remember are the cockroaches being so friggin' big they were scary.”

“Your mom made mention of some home movies.”

“Oh Lord, you don't want to see them.” I said cringing.

“Why not!”

“Hon, I was a super geeky kid. You'll see things I did on those and just laugh. Me, I'll be trying to hide under a pillow.”

“We all have those moments caught on tape.”

“Mine were never ending. When I was 8, I thought I was hot stuff. We went on a vacation out West to Ely, Nevada where my aunt used to live and on the way, we stopped at Pikes Peak. On that tape is me doing this Kung Fu dance that just screamed for someone to shoot me and put me out of that misery.”

He laughed and said, “It can't be that bad.”

“Oh yeah, it's beyond bad. You'll see a lot of those moments where I was either too cool or pure girly boy cringing in fear from a friggin' Trout.”

“At least you got those vacations.”

“It's weird because every year we went West, we had car troubles. Every year we went East, we had a great time. It's no wonder when I chose to get the hell out of dodge, I headed East.”

“It's a good thing. Let's get our shower.”

“Yeah, we taking it together again?”

“Yeah, I'm spoiled by you washing my hair.”

“I'm spoiled for washing other things.”

“We have time if you'd like to make out.”

“Not in that bed. JT and Kevin probably made out in it.”

“I'm talking about the shower.”

“Ok, that sound nice.”

“Hon, I hate to disappoint you, but I doubt if I have time to fly down to Miami.”

“I understand. The day's not getting younger and I've got a mountain of things to do. I'll probably be late in coming home tonight.”

“If it's too late, you could stay down there.”

“It's depending upon what goes on with Dave and whether your mom feels up to it. If she wants to come home, we're flying in. If she wants to stay, I'll find us a nice place to stay.”

“It's up to you. The thought of you flying tired is frightening.”

“I'm ok when I'm flying. It doesn't take that long. It'll be faster when we get a jet with super fast engines, but I can deal with a slow one for now.”

“What's the time difference with them?”

“On that trip, it's probably 20 minutes. On a trip back to Missouri, it's probably a good hour and a half time savings.”

“That's quite a bit.”

“Yeah, until we can teleport, it's a real savings of time when a jet can haul ass.”

“The thought of you flying to San Diego to check on things is a bit overwhelming.”

“It won't be that often. With them out there, I don't have to worry because they're trusted completely. Until I can gain that trust for Miami and Tampa, I'll have to spend time there. I'll probably have to do overnighters when that happens. By then, there will be a penthouse bought, so we can have it to stay in.”

“Find something that's really nice that will feel like a vacation when we go down there.”

“So you're wanting to go there?”

“Yeah, I'd like to have a feel for what you do although I'll probably not want to know what all is going on.”

“Until things settle, I'll keep you out of it. When things settle, you'll find it's rather boring. We're going to have to do quite a bit to gain the territory so it's firmly under our control, but when it's done it'll be a lot better.”

“You're going to have to do it like up here?”

“Yeah, on a large scale. With Miami being known as a drug capital, it's going to be hard. Maybe I'm too sold on what Miami Vice and CSI Miami shows on television, but if I am, it'll be a lot easier than I'm thinking.”

“I don't know. Until you and Dave spoke about what you had to do in Kansas City, I never envisioned Kansas City being that bad.”

“It was touch and go. The key to the whole thing was getting Sky Marshalls on those flights. Until then, we'd get rid of a bunch only to find out there was a new bunch on the next flight. It got so bad we'd have guys in the airport watching the flights.”

“Then it changed?”

“Yeah, but it was bad. Gino had his hands full.”

We took our shower and while we did, we made slow passionate love. When we were finished, we got out and got dressed. My whole style of dress changed. Instead of the feminine attire, I went for dockers and a polo shirt.

One of the things I did with my hair was I dried it so it was a lot more styled and easy to just push back if it fell down. I knew in a week, I'd have a hair cut and a dye job which would be spikier and a lot more manageable. It'd give me more of a goth look, but the make up I'd have to wear would be tricky as all get out.

Once we were ready, I pulled out my phone and called Mabel's. Instead of one sandwich, I ordered two plus a strawberry pie. She said she'd gladly have it ready for me when I arrived.

We went out into the car and drove by Mabel's and then to the airport. Once there, I gave him a kiss and then got in the jet. The guard for the plane was standing by and said, “Mr Michaels, I'm supposed to ride with you and then guard the plane when we get down there.”

“Ok, at least I'll have company.”

Steve smiled and said, “It's a good plan.”

We took off and I told the guy. “They don't put radios in these things up here so I can jam out. It gets monotonous, but this is all there is to it.”

“It's pretty interesting.”

“It's rather easy once you learn. The stories of kids learning to fly tell you how easy it is. The only hard part of the whole thing is the test you have to take to fly. The flying part is easy.”

He nodded and said, “I've flown in big jets, but never anything small.”

“They're getting them so the principle is all the same. There's a whole lot more instruments and gauges, but they're all the same with the computers.”

When we were arriving to Miami, I radioed in our location and then got our heading. Once that was done, I called Little John's cell to have the helicopter pick me up. He said it'd be there waiting, so all we had to do was land.

Landing a plane is the hard part. Your senses have to be on alert for wind gusts and wind shear. Wind shear is a sudden down gust of wind which will take a plane twenty five or fifty feet off the ground and put it on the ground now.

Flying once in Denver, I had a wind shear which took us from about a hundred and fifty feet to within mere feet of slamming on the ground. I pulled it out, but had to abort the landing. I kicked myself, but at the same time, I was really thankful I didn't crash it. Crashing a plane like that isn't something which is like a car wreck. It's going 200mph and hitting the ground is not going to be easy. It's going to flip and it's going to be really a mess. A lightly as planes are built, they're not built for crashes. They're built to be light and stay in the air.

We landed safely and taxied in to the hangar. I made a mental note to get hangar space leased so we'd have it. I took it to the parking area and said, “You might want to watch from the terminal. It's going to be boring. The thing they never told you is in order for someone to get to the planes, you have to have clearances. I don't know who got through the clearances, but I'll assure you that if you see anyone near the plane, you shoot to kill and don't ask questions. I'll get it cleaned up before you are taken into custody.”

“Can I stay with the plane?”

“No. That's their policy and not mine. It wouldn't matter to me if you did, but it'd be boring as all get out.”

“Are they going to find it suspicious someone's guarding the plane?”

“I'd say yes, but after the plane caught fire last night, I think they'll understand. If they don't, I'll make it so they do understand real fast.”

We walked into the terminal and I told the receptionist behind the counter he would be staying to guard the plane. She took note of my name and said, “Sure, there's no problem.”

I turned to him and said, “I wasn't prepared for you to come. If you'd like, you can go get something to eat. I'll wait.”

“No, that'll be ok. I'll find some things to read and then entertain myself.”

“Ok, let me go see where that helicopter is and then I'll go get you something.”

He smiled and I said, “The part of keeping you happy is where it's at. If you're happy, then I'm happy.”

“There's no problem.” he said but his eyes didn't show that.

“Wait here, I'll be back.”

We were in the North Terminal area. Miami's airport is a huge and I mean HUGE giant horseshoe shape. Looking at the map of the place, I saw the shop I had in mind was clear over on the South Terminal area. I began to walk and as I got closer, I began to look at the map signs more to see the sign for the Duty Free Tech store.

I eventually found it and went inside. There, they had a Toshiba laptop which wasn't badly priced. I asked for one and asked the guy to keep the box. He got it prepared for me and then, I got a pair of headphones so they could be used with it. Once it was set up, I asked if they had a bag to carry the thing in. The man found me a cheaply made imitation leather one which would serve the purpose.

Going back across the terminal, I stopped at McDonald's and got 2 Big Macs, a large order of fries and a large Coke. He might not think he was hungry, but waiting for the amount of time I knew he'd be waiting, I knew he'd at least have one meal he'd need to eat.

When I got back to him, I saw him reading some informational pamphlet they had up by the desk.

“Here's a laptop. I'm sure there's an outlet here you can use so play games, write a novel, or whatever. There's headphones so if you can pick up internet, you can download some tunes and tap your toes. In that bag is some lunch for you. The amount of time you'll be waiting, I know you'll have at least one meal which will be missed if you don't have something.”

He smiled and nodded. “I've got to get that copter, so I'll see you when we get back. If we're not back, I'll give you a call. What's your cell number?”

He gave it to me and then, I asked, “Do you have money if we need to stay down here?”

“I've got fifty bucks.”

“Ok, if we have to stay, I'll get you money over here. All I have is my debit card. What I'll do is get you a room at the Holiday Inn over there. They have airport shuttles which will be able to get you there if need be. I'm not sure how long we're going to be staying, but if you have to stay, feel free to use room service and use the laptop on the internet if they charge for it. It'll be charged to the room which will be charged to my debit card.”

He nodded and asked, “Do you think it will take long?”

“I'm not sure. My partner isn't in good shape. He's in the hospital, so it depends. If we're needed to stay here, then we'll be staying. What are they paying you?”

He told me and I said, “Well, as soon as I can get you a raise, you'll be up to the same rate as a personal body guard of mine. They're paid for 24 hour care. You see how much I use them, so if they can afford to waste that much money, then we can afford to waste some what we will be using. In this job, you'll be flying with me a lot. I don't mind it because your job is essential to me. Those other guys aren't.”

He nodded and said, “I'm in for it. If you need personal protection, I can do that too.”

“Hopefully, we'll never have a need for it. If we do, feel free to step up.”

He nodded and I went over to the desk to gain permission to go out to the chopper. It was allowed and I went.

When I got on the chopper, I said, “Our landing probably isn't going to be legal. It'll be a touch and go, so do what you can to get back up without being noticed.”

“Ok”

We flew to the warehouse. When we got there, he brought it down on the roof and I hopped out. He was back up in the air before I made it two steps.

Now, I'm afraid of heights. I'll make it clear I hate ladders. The ladder they had coming off that roof was one of the old rusty kind which had a cage on the back of it. Believe me, things would have to change if we were going to keep doing this stuff.

Climbing down the ladder, I had no idea what I was facing when I got down it. Here's what I faced. At the bottom of this puppy, someone put an extension ladder up and propped it up against the rungs of the ladder on the side of the building. I looked at the jump and it was about 12 feet to asphalt pavement. I was not happy, but there wasn't much of a choice.

With sweaty hands and an ache in my feet, I slowly, slowly got onto the extension ladder. Once I was on the thing, it's flimsiness was real evident. I crept down a step at a time and by the time I was down three steps, I was seeing black spots from holding my breath. On top of that, there was an overwhelming feeling of up chuckiness to my whole body. The only thing which got me down the damned thing was I was so pissed about no one being there and the situation not being better, I was definitely going to make some changes.

At the bottom, I said a quick prayer of thanks. That's when one of the guards wanted to stop me at gunpoint. I'll tell you anger flared and that's when the yelling began.

“Where the fuck were you when I needed help off that fucking ladder! And why the hell do we have to use a fucking ladder to get off the roof?”

He realized who I was and he began stuttering.

“Fuck it. I know it's not you that's at fault here. The next time you hear I'm coming in, you definitely have your ass at the bottom of the ladder. I've got one fear in this world and that's ladders!”

I went into the warehouse and went over to the guy I knew was over everything. I looked over and saw the fire chief guy in the hot tub. “Do we have the sauna set up?”

“Yeah, it's over there.”

“Ok, let's get this motherfucker in there and then I'll speak with him. I want someone standing by the door so if I need them, they can kill that dumb fuck.”

He smiled and said, “He's in terrible shape.”

“Good. It'll teach him not to piss me off in the future.”

I went over and they took him physically by force out of the water. He stood there buck assed naked.

“I never told anyone to take his clothes off! Sheesh. The wet clothes were supposed to make him colder!”

They laughed and I said, “Well, he's been getting the spa treatment, let's go to the sauna.”

I went in and they brought him in and physically sat him on the bench. It was warm, but not unbearably steamy.

“How long's this thing been here? There's not enough steam and there's definitely not enough heat! Throw some water on the heater and get us some steam.”

The guy looked at me and I said, “Yeah, I'm trying to give you pneumonia. Sue me you dumb fuck!”

Someone came in and poured a cup of water on the rocks. The steam rose up and I said. “Well, it'll serve our purpose I hope. Leave us be, but stay close.”

When the door shut, I said, “I hope you now have a clue as to who the hell I am. Now, what am I going to do with you?”

He gave me a really tired look and then began crying.

“Guy, you're at the breaking point. Let me tell you I was there last night when my plane caught on fire. Then, I had to deal with your smart ass. You were told to leave well enough alone, but No fucking way. You had to attempt to contact the press and tell them what you know. Fortunately, I've got enough connections that got stopped before any damage could be done. SO, do I kill you? Or, do I let you go and hope you're smart enough to let well enough alone.?”

“Let me go. I'll act like I never ever knew who you were.”

“Well you can speak! I'll tell you what's wrong with that equation. First of all, you're going to leave and then, you'll get your bearings. About the time you find out you DO NOT have a job any longer, you're going to get pissed off all over and then I'll have a loose cannon which will probably find a news outlet which will listen to you and repeat your story. Then, I'll be sorry I didn't kill you already.

My problem is my boyfriend up there is the Sheriff. He doesn't want me to kill your dumb ass. So, I told him I wouldn't.

I did tell him I would make your life hell, but here's the problem with the things I told you I was going to do last night. You see, if I penalize your wife and family, I'm dead to the wrongs. They didn't do a thing to me, but you did.

What we had talked about was putting you in a place where you'd be found by the feds in a very compromising position. You'd be alive, but you'd be buried under federal charges so much there'd be no believing anything you had to say in order to get out of it.

Your wife and family have no idea where you are and what you're doing. They're probably worried sick about you and it's because of your actions you're even in this position. Now, what do I do with you?”

“I don't know. If you'll let me go, I know I'll never bother you again.”

“What do you know besides fire fighting at a major airport?”

“Nothing much, that's my whole life.”

“Well, that job's gone. It's over. You're never going to be in the position where you can harass anyone who is gay again.

You're a bigot and I'll tell you that to your face. Yeah, I'm a little guy and yes, I'm with the Sheriff up there. We did nothing to you, but you insisted on making life miserable because you thought you had damaging information. Well, I'll tell you now the information you have about me being over Miami is more damaging than being gay ever will be to him. He's running for Governor of that state and the mere thought of you some day rolling out that accusation is enough to have you gone, and ground up into little pieces.

In that freezer, you saw a stack of bodies. Those bodies are of people who refused to pledge loyalty to me. That's it nothing more and nothing less. You see, I took over down here yesterday and they had to either swear to me or they had to die. They chose death. So, I had them freeze to death.

You've seen those bodies. You have that confession. And you can make the accusation, but their bodies will never be found. They're going to be ground up with a tree limb shredder and loaded onto a ship. That ships going to sail and it's going to sink. They'll feed some really happy fish and Mrs. Paul will love me.

So, we're at a point where I have to figure out what to do with you. A big part of me had it all figured out. I even told Steve what I was going to do with you, but because it's up to me to make him happy, I'm now having second thoughts.

It's not in me to just up and kill people. Life is full of adversity and if I can't over come an asshole like you, then I've got to kill a lot of people. So, tell me what I should do?”

“Let me go.”

“That's not an alternative. What is an alternative is I find you a job you can do and make you swear loyalty to me and you work in that job capacity. What I do need to tell you is if I choose that option and you dare fuck with me, I'll put an axe so deep into your forehead, they'll pull it out your ass for easier removal. So, do we work together?”

“If that's what you want.”

“Dude, I'm not sure what I want. What I want is your wife and your kids to be happy knowing daddy is going to come home and leave me the fuck alone. I got you fired from your job, so I'm responsible for you.

Being responsible, I have to find an alternative which will make you happy and will give you an income which is comparable to what you made at the airport. What did you make there?”

“Sixty grand a year.”

“Damn, I guess you were skilled!”

“It was something I trained extensively for.”

“Ok, here's the deal. You can take it or you can leave it, but I have no idea what the fuck I'm going to do with you.

I'm over the docks down here and the port. Yes, there's a company that runs it, but the person who's really over it is me. That company answers to me and both of us are happy with that relationship.

I'm sure they're in need of someone who knows how to fight fires. I'm sure they've got fire boats and I'm sure we can get you in there.”

“The fire fighting is provided by the city.”

“Oh.”

“The docks have a fire department which is private though.”

“Ok, so we'll get you in there. Now, will you pledge loyalty and join up with us so I can rest assured you're not going to be a problem for me anymore?”

“I will.”

“Ok, here's what we're going to do. Your pay went up. Consider it a part of the job, but let me tell you what the job is going to entail first.

Since I just took over yesterday, I've got to have people who are loyal and faithful to me. Those guys pledged to me, but I strongly suspect they're not any more loyal to me than your right shoe is to your foot. As soon as they're off, they're forgotten about.

What I expect you to do is you to report to whomever is in charge if there's any grumblings going on. IF they're bitching and moaning enough to cause me problems, I want to hear about it. If they're just bitching about what a shitty job they have, then I don't want to hear about it. If they're fed up enough, they can go get another job. I'm sure they're paid well, so I'm sure they'll stay with the job and bitch a whole lot before they leave.

BUT, if there's ever talk about an overthrow of power in any way, shape, or form, I want to be called and I want names and as much information as you can get me. Believe me, I've been in power wars before I as much as I play to win, you've not seen this bitch when I go to war. I'll tell you now this organization is getting serious ordinances from rocket launchers, to a complete military arsenal. Those fuckers don't have the income, nor do they have the means to secure them.”

“How do you get them?”

“I can't tell you. Let me just say it's directly from the source and it's the latest of what the military specs require. You'll probably see the new military trucks which are bomb proof here in solid black and you're going to wonder how I get them. Let me just say the company is providing them before the military gets them themselves.”

He nodded and said, “With enough money, you could do that, I'm sure.”

“Yes, and we do. Now, are you in for the haul?”

“I'll do it. I don't have a choice.”

“Yes, you could go back in that freezer and die like those guys did. They had a choice.”

“I want to live. I don't have kids, but I do have a wife who is probably very worried.”

“Well, what I'll do is I'll speak with her.”

“No!”

“Sir, you have no idea what you're getting into then. Let me lay it out to you.

Should I so deem, you'll be pulled off your job and you'll be required to report here, or wherever, and at a moment's notice travel to another city to do something for us. That means fight in a war if it happens.

Under me, there are over one hundred thousand men. Well, that's a stretch of the number, but at least sixty thousand. In a month, there will be a hundred thousand, and probably in a year, there will be five hundred thousand.

Yes, we're big. In every state, there's at least a goodly number of men who are a part of our organization.

A part of that is wives and families. What that means is if you fall and die, or get maimed and injured, your wife will never see a bill. Your hospital bills and your care is taken care of no questions asked. For that, it requires her to know what you're doing and what you are.

Yes, it's something which is an embarrassment, but at the same time, there are men in our organization which haven't ever had to up and leave. There are some who've never been involved in a war. There are some who do their jobs and then retire out. We pay full retirement and our benefits are way better than any corporation on the face of the planet...well, probably not in Japan, but you get the drift....in the United States, we're the best...well, probably not the US Senate, but you get my point.”

He smiled. “It sounds too good to be true.”

“No, it's good, but it's bad if you have to pull up and be gone. What I will say is if you are pulled up, then you gotta go. There's no alternatives...well, death, but that would suck.”

“I'll do it. What will I make?”

“Right now, you're making five grand a month. That's ok, but it's not what my security people make. The guys out there who are my lead guys are making ten grand a month. My security people make half a million a year and do you see them? Fuck no, they're back home and I'm trying to get them taken off me, but as you can see, I need them because some dumb fuck burned my plane. Then, when I got home, I found my helicopter was tampered with in the same manner.”

He looked shocked.

“Yeah, if I'd flown it, it would have caught fire and I would have bailed into the ocean. BUT, the guy was caught and he's now on a trip to death.”

“He should be.”

“You should be too. You were going to jeopardize my boyfriend's reputation!”

“Do you really love him?”

“As much as I can love another person right now, he's loved. I imagine it will grow stronger as I learn I can trust him, but right now it's pretty strong.”

“Good. I was thinking in that freezer about what I thought of you and I really thought I was selfish.”

“Well, I'm not going to argue. I am someone who's trying to live the best I can just like you are with your wife. How would you feel if I chose to fuck with your wife's reputation? Would you come out swinging for her? Hell yeah. That's why you got the full brunt of my anger. That's why you spent last night in hell. SO, if you will agree to go home and tell her and agree to get her down here, I'll explain it to her.”

“She's not going to like it.”

“Well, she has to sign on too. IF she doesn't like it enough she dumps you, then that's what has to happen. You're in and can't get out unless it's death. I'm sure she'd rather have you alive, but if not, then it can be arranged.”

“You have an uphill battle. The mafia here has a really bad reputation.”

“I know. Their brains got blown out right out there yesterday in front of me for what they've done.

With me, I get in and I do things which get results. I'm over another city and a whole other state and got pulled in to take over because I get the results so good. So, now I'm seated with not only Miami, but Tampa too. It's a helluva job, but someone's got to do it.”

“It sound like you do your job well.”

“Well, my partner is good enough he gets the results. Me, I am the one that people don't know and yet, I'm the one whose reputation is so well known for what I'm capable of, it scares them.”

“If what you did to me is anything of what you're capable of, I can believe it.”

“Hell, they were told to leave the cattle prod off you! Did they do that?”

He looked frightened. “NO!”

“Well, then it's not what I'm capable of with that torture. Before, they were using cattle prods at least three times between the freezer and the water. We don't do it after the water because it tend to kill people too fast. I wanted you alive, so it's been ordered. I'm glad to see it wasn't done.”

“Let me hope I never have to face it again.”

“The next time, I'll kill you myself. I want you to definitely know you've fucked with the wrong person and fucked up to the point there's no forgiveness.”

“What will my wife be expected to do in this?”

“For wives, it's entirely different. Right now, they're in on humanitarian aid. When you have a hurricane down here, wives are called in. What we do is we're going to have semi truck trailers with freezers on them which people can bring their perishables like meat so when everyone's without power, we're providing a way for people to save their belongings.

Another thing we do is we have mobile clinics which we'll be using during those times.

Another is mobile water stations which people can come get water and then, there's bathing facilities and toilet facilities.

One other thing is mobile kitchens which we set up so people can get fed. We do all this as a complimentary goodwill gesture to the city so we can get the publicity for ourselves or our corporations which are under us. You'll see our corporations are proud sponsors of a lot of things we promote.”

“That sounds awesome. We've not had anyone do that before.”

“The dumb fucks should have, but they were too selfish. Instead, they were about sucking dollars into private bank accounts instead of giving back to the community. If they'd been on top of their jobs, they'd had people proud to be a member.

One other thing I'll tell you which is a benefit of ours and then I'll stop selling it.

Right now, we've got casinos out in Las Vegas. When you want, you and your wife can take a vacation and fly there and stay compliments of our organization. It's a perk which just started, but it's something which I'm sure you can see will be something you can do for a weekend getaway and or a vacation in itself.”

“Sounds nice.”

“Well, it is. It's so new not even I've had time to get out there. As you can see, I have a jet and now a fleet of them compliments of the company that builds them because they're under us. I need to get out there because we've got four hotel casinos and soon to be seven. Believe me, there's going to be enough space for everyone to come and get a room.”

“Ok, so is this all there is?”

“What I'm going to expect is phone calls. You're going to be getting my personal cell phone number. What I'm going to do is I'm going to expect each and every week when you get your paycheck, you're to call me and report in. If there's nothing to report, then that will be good. If there is, I expect a complete and total account of it. IF I find out there's a problem which you could have and would have known and you didn't report it, consider it your last mistake because I'll be on my way. Until then, my hope is I see you occasionally, but my next personal dealing with you is at your retirement.”

He nodded and asked. “Can I get my clothes now?”

“We'll get you clothes and we'll get my limo driver to get you home. Now, on the way home, try to get that driver to tell you some things. I don't trust him.”

“Ok, I'll see what I can do.”

“Ok, now, is there anything else I can do for you?”

“My car is out at the airport. I need to go get it. They took my clearance pass, so I'm not allowed in there.”

“Ok, I'll call and get you cleared. You're to go in and get the car and that's it. If you have anything in that office, leave it. I'll get it for you, but you're not to do anything but get your car. I would have thought you would have had a car provided.”

“No, they don't unless it's a company vehicle for business use.”

“Coming out in the middle of a plane crash from home didn't count?”

“Not to them.”

“That's bullshit. I'll get that changed. It looks like by the time I'm through the city and county are going to dread me on the scene.”

He chuckled and said, “The last guys were afraid of the Sheriff.”

“They'll see I'm here for a working relationship and not just to be the low life we've got the reputation to be.”

I got up and said, “Now, here's the ring. You've got to bow and kiss it and pledge your loyalty to me that you'll not hold anyone any higher than me. That means not even your wife, your kids, and anyone else except your God. It's a take off of the oath they swear to the Pope.”

“Ok”

He got on his knees and kissed the ring and then looked up and said, “You have my loyalty I will put you above any and all others.”

“Good, that's it. Now, I'll get your clothes. Let me go out and tell these guys they can pull off you and not bug you anymore.”

I went out and said, “Get him his clothes, he's sworn to me.”

The guys went over and got his clothes. They brought them to me and I handed them in to him.

When I stepped back out, I said, “Is the limo driver here?”

“Haven't seen him all day.”

Instantly, I was pissed. “Find him and get his ass down here! He told me he'd be here to pledge his loyalty. He's got my fucking car and I've got a guy that needs a ride home and to his car.”

I stepped back into the sauna and said, “Our driver isn't here. When he gets here, he's going to be detained and the cattle prods will be used. Someone else will drive it for you. You're to go home and get your wife and then go to the airport and get your car and bring her to me. Ok?”

“Sure.”

“Explain the best that you can what your doing and I'll explain the rest when you get here. I'm sure she'll be agreeable.”

“I think so. She'll be impressed with what your plans are for the goodwill.”

“We try.”

I stepped back out and the guy said, “I've got him on the line. He's on his way.”

I went over and asked the guy in charge, “Where are the guys who are supposed to be here to pledge loyalty?”

“There over there in those chairs.”

“Ok, we'll get them signed up and then we'll be done for the day I hope. When the limo driver gets here, he's got a hard day ahead of him. What I need is you to find me at least two cattle prods. The kind that are used to shock. If not, then get me some stun guns. I need them to deal with him.”

“Ok, right on it.”

I went over to the lectern and said, “Guys, I'm little Gino. I'm now over Miami. What you're here to do today is to pledge loyalty to me. The way things have been run down here isn't the way it's going to be. Business and life as you've known it is now changing.

First of all, if you're over a bar, restaurant, or tavern, nightclub, or establishment where food, drinks, or spirits are imbibed, please raise your hands.”

Several raised their hands and I said, “Life as you know it is changing. Force as you've applied it is changing. Until further notice, you're to be seen and not heard. You're to not touch a patron and you're not to even as so much as intimidate anyone in that establishment. If you do, then you answer to me and I guarantee you that you won't be on that beat any longer. We've got plenty of other jobs you can do in which the public is never seen. There are nice janitor jobs to be held in high rise office towers in the middle of the night where your coworkers probably don't even speak the same language as you. So, if you want to go there, let me get a report you did and I'll have you pulled as soon as I get that report. Do you understand?”

I heard a lot of yeses. One guy raised his hand and asked, “How are we supposed to bounce people out if we can't touch them?”

“Here's how. You use enough force to break up a fight as you need. No broken bones and no other people but the ones involved. You separate and then you wait on the police to come.”

“The police usually don't come.”

“The city is now going to be doing their job. So is the county. The days of you running off customers is over. My income and yours too comes from customers in those establishments. If they don't make profits, then I don't get a percentage. If I don't get a percentage, then I'm pissed and I'll deal with the business owner personally. What I don't expect to hear is you ran away the customers and therefore there were no profits. If I hear that, I'll pull you and that means all the pussy and all those days are over. You will never be placed in that position again. You got me?”

“Yes.”

“Good, now, the next are my dock workers, port workers, airport workers, and factory workers. If you are in that membership, then let me see hands.”

A goodly number raised their hands.

“For you, you're union. Your jobs are outlined. If there are issues which you have grievances, then you come here first. You do not go to the union, you come here. We're the liaison for you to the union. Unions are there for us to get you benefits, but their power against where you work is pretty limited. From now on, you have a voice and that voice is me. IF I've got to shut a port, airport, or a dock down, I'll do it. It's been done before and it most likely will be done again.

On this piece of paper, you'll be given, is a list of phone numbers. They're to those guys over there. You're to call them and they're to report it to the place where you work. Your name is out of it at that point because we're in there working for all workers.

If you are working with substandard equipment. If you're working with equipment which is dangerous. If you're working with too many expectations and limits, then I want to hear about it. If those guys can't get concessions, then I'll order the place shut until we get them. Believe me, if a plane can't land and if a ship can't dock, you'll get your equipment and it will be brand new. At that point, I'm not taking used or reconditioned, I'm only going to settle for new. Believe me, if it's a crane that is holding things up and they're too concerned for a dollar, they'll be concerned about a lot of dollars when I order a shut down.

If I order a shut down, you'll get a call and I expect everyone of you to put down your job you're doing and go to your break room and sit there until you get the call to go back to work. IF at that point you wait for an hour, then you go home and you'll be called back in when we get what we're going for.

If you're at home and you get that call, you do NOT report to work. If you go to work and I find out you've been called, you will be brought here forcibly and you'll be dealt with accordingly. Do you understand. I'm your voice and we'll get you safe environments to work under.

Now, hotel and service industries, who are you out there?”

Hands raised and I said, “Ok, the same goes. Here's what I expect of you.

Unsanitary environments are no more. If you are not allowed to work in an clean environment, then I want to know. If you're told to do something unsanitary, I expect to hear. Of all of you out there, this is the part which I expect to hear the most. Believe me, I'm expecting calls every day and I'll be dealing with a lot of head aches from them.

What you fail to realize is your health is at stake. Your customers health is at stake. The community will appreciate it and you will appreciate it if you don't have to deal with that.”

Hands raised and I pointed to someone.

“I work at the Radisson as do many others here. Our break room is in a basement. For the past week, we've had six inches of water in the break room. We've spoken to union and we've spoken to management and nothings been done.”

“Ok, watch this.”

I turned and said, “Get me the owner of the Radisson's phone number.”

The guy ran upstairs to the office and then came back with the number. When he got there, I said, “I need all the phone numbers of the people who work under us at the Radisson because they're about to be called.”

He nodded and said, “I'll have that in a moment.”

I dialed the number and got someone on the first ring.

“Hello?”

“Hi, is this the owner of the Radisson hotel?”

“One moment, I'll get him.”

“Ok”

I looked at the people and said, “First mistake is I didn't have that man's personal cell phone number. That's about to change.”

“Hello?”

“Hi, this is Rhette Michaels. You probably are unaware as to who I am, but you have a good number of my people working for you.”

“You're the new guy?”

“Yes. Now, we're having a meeting down here and it's been brought to my attention they've been reporting six inches of water in their break room which has been there for a week.

Starting as soon as I can get trucks over there, we're going to blockade the entrance to your hotel. Your customers will be allowed to leave, but your customers will not be allowed to enter the establishment.

As of now, no deliveries to your hotel will be made. As of now, absolutely no room service and no maid service is going to be done. As of now sir, the workers which are in your building are going to be told to walk off the job and we won't be coming back until you get the break room cleaned and healthy environment to be made.”

“They're fired. Don't call me again.”

He hung up. I called back. He didn't answer.

“Would someone go to that man's house and get his stupid ass down here!”

Two guys took off running. They got in a car and drove off.

“Folks, here's the way this works. He's about to find out what it's like to live in a real shitty environment. Don't report to work for the next week. Come here for your paychecks and I'll have them drawn for you. Now, are there any other places which we need to confront?”

A guy stood up and said, “I work at the Bismark. The employee toilet has been disabled and padlocked. I've told union for six months, but nothing has been done.”

“Ok, let me get that person called and you'll see how I deal with it.”

Before I even asked, the guy who was getting me phone numbers was running.

“Any others? I'd rather not run his ass off so he can get the numbers while he's up there.”

None stood.

“Ok, last group. Truckers.

The same goes. You aren't a dock worker. You are a driver. You don't unload your trucks and if your equipment isn't safe, then I expect to hear about it. If you're ordered off the job or to blockade like we're having done, then you'll be called. Do you understand?”

One guy stood up. “I drive for Burton. My truck is routinely without brakes. The last time I reported it, I was told to drive it and shut up.”

“How many drivers do we have at Burton?”

“Thrity.”

“Any of them here besides you?”

Hands raised.

“Until further notice, don't report to work. If Burton can't afford new equipment, they're out of business. I'll tell you now, we'll float them a loan to get new equipment. I'm going to personally order the trucks for them so they don't run off with the money. You'll have the best to drive and if they don't like it, I'll take over the company and run it for them.”

I turned to the guy on the stairs, “I need the phone number for Burton. Then, I need someone to go get me the owner brought here.”

“Ok”

He turned and went back up the steps. A few moments passed and he got me the phone number.

I called the Bismark's owner. The phone rang and was answered. “Hello?”

“Is this the owner of the Bismark?”

“Yes.”

“This is Rhette Michaels. I'm now over the workers there. It's been brought to my attention an employee bathroom has been padlocked. Now, I want the padlock removed and I want it personally brought to me at my warehouse. Do you know where it's located?”

“No”

“Front and Jefferson. I'll be expecting you here. Thank you.”

“I'll be down there.”

“I'll be expecting you.”

I hung up. “He'll be down here.” I said smiling. “What he doesn't realize is you just got a dollar more an hour raise. If he refuses to pay it, I'll put his ass in a box with a suppository shoved up his ass and a stopper which won't allow him to go to the bathroom until he give in to that demand. He'll find out what it's like not to have a bathroom at his disposal.”

I picked up the phone and dialed Burton's owner's number.

“Hello?”

“Is this the owner of Burton trucking company?”

“Just a moment, someone's at the door.”

“That would be my men. I'm over your workers. It's been brought to my attention....hello?”

Apparently, the guy put the phone down to go answer the door. I heard talking in the background.

The phone was picked up and said, “Listen here you son of a bitch, I'm not coming down there. This is extortion!”

“Sir, you're about to be brought down here forcibly. It's kidnapping and extortion. You'll come or you will die. Either way doesn't matter to me.”

The phone was hung up and I said, “He made a mistake. My mom is not a bitch, she's a very nice woman. Second mistake was him thinking he could tell me what he was and wasn't going to do. He'll find out how I deal with his sort when he's brought here.”

A chuckle rose up from the group.

“Is there any group I left out?”

Three guys stood up and I said, “What group do you represent?”

“It's rather delicate.”

“Ok, come up here and tell me so no one can hear.”

They made their way up front and the guy said, “I work for the telephone company.”

“Do you all work there?”

“Yes” they said in chorus.

“Ok, well, these guys need to know we have you working for us. They need to know we reach into all aspects so they're protected, but they also need to know I can and will tap into their phones if they dare cross me.”

“Ok”

I stood up and went to the lectern. “They work for the telephone company. Their jobs for me is to tap lines and to tap your lines if needed. Their job is delicate because their job is to break laws for us every day. All the rest of you are expected to do your jobs to the best of your abilities, but to serve us if we need you. Those guys put their balls in vices every day. For that, I think they need a round of applause.”

I start clapping for them and then said, “If you ever have a problem, let me know. Believe me, we've got people on the board of your companies who will get you protected if need be. Ok?”

“Our job has a problem.”

“What's that?”

“We're being routinely held up by one supervisor. He constantly questions what we need and he's constantly having to be told by his superiors we need to have things done.”

“Ok, I need his name. He'll be brought down here and I believe as a blind man, he'll see the light or he won't work there any longer. Is there anything else?”

“No, that will be good enough.”

“Ok, now you've heard what I can do for you. What I need is for you to get the papers you see those guys holding and I need for you to come up in groups of five and to pledge loyalty.

Are there any here who don't want to do it?”

None stood.

“I was going to say, there's a group of corpses in the semi trailer over there you could join if you had a problem.

Now, if there's anyone you know who hasn't been down here, then tell them we need them to be down here to get pledged before they can work another day. Ok?”

The group stood up and I said, “The way we've done this is we've lined up in rows of five. It goes quicker that way.”

I went down and stood in front of the first set of five. They read from the paper and then went to their knees. They kissed the ring and then I said, “You need to go over to those guys and they'll get information we need from you. You'll be asked for ring sizes too since each of you will have a ring to wear at all times.”

They stood and the next group went down and kissed the ring. This continued until they were all sworn.

I went back up to the lectern and said, “Guys, those of you who complained, I'd like to have you report back here and I'll keep in touch with you as to what's happening and when you can return to work.

If you're not called, don't assume we missed you and report to work. If the owners can't reach a positive settlement to MY satisfaction, then you'll be hearing I just took over ownership of the business which you work. I will have your jobs made satisfactory and I promise you that under me, you will be completely satisfied with me as head of the business.

You're free to go.”

They left and soon, a guy was brought in. “Which one is this?”

“Burton.”

“Ok, Mr. Burton”

I reached out and slapped the fuck out of him. “That's from my mom. She is not a bitch and furthermore, if she were here, she'd be doing it herself. You WILL be calling her before our conversation is over and you WILL apologize to her personally for even assuming she was one.

Now, our problem is you apparently run junk for trucks. When your employees complain, you patch them up and then run them again without their satisfaction being met. So, what do we do about this? Do I take over your business? Or do you put all new trucks on the line?”

“Fuck you.”

“Wrong Answer! Go throw him in the freezer. But first dunk that son of a bitch in the water over there and do it this time with his clothes on.”

They did so and then I turned to the guy nearest to me and said, “How's it going so far?”

“We were told you wanted all the records from here packed. It's in boxes up in the office.”

“We'll be moving. I have a feeling the feds have been notified. Tomorrow, don't report here. I'll contact you where to report, but it won't be here. We'll have to contact everyone as to where to go, but it won't be here again. What they'll find here when they get here is a warehouse full of Gay Pride parade floats.”

He chuckled and I said, “Someone will need to go out to Burton's and bring a bob tail down to hook onto that trailer so we can get it up and away from here. It will need to be taken out there and placed upon the lot with the other trailers. We'll get those bodies disposed of as soon as we can. Until then, we'll need to keep that freezer running and fueled.”

He nodded and I said, “When the limo gets here, use it to haul the files. If it's too many, then we'll need to have multiple trips. No other vehicle gets used except for it.”

I went upstairs into the conference room and called Little John. “Hello?”

“How's he doing?”

“It's rough. He's not doing so good.”

“What's happened?”

“He's had seizures.”

“Ok, that's normal.”

“That's what the doctor said. I've never seen anyone go through this before.”

“I know it's rough. When you've not seen it before, it definitely sticks with you. Afterwards, he most likely won't have them again. It's his brain short circuiting from the swelling.”

“That's what the doctor said.”

“We had a guy once in Kansas City who went through it. He died.”

“Oh, you don't think that will happen here, do you?”

“Let's hope not.

I've got a problem here.”

“What is it?”

“Our suspect limo driver didn't show. I'm having him brought here.”

“He said he'd be there, didn't he?”

“Yes, that's why it's suspect. I think if he's a fed, he probably was staying away for a reason. What I'm doing is I'm going to put him in the freezer and he'll be dealt with.

I've got a few other people who are going in to be dealt with. It's nothing major, but I'm flexing muscles. You know how it is.”

“Yeah”

“We're going to be putting all the records and files into the limo. Tomorrow, I'll be buying a penthouse...”

“I've got one.”

“Where's it at?”

“Let me come down.”

“No, stay where you are. If the feds show, I don't want you caught up.”

“Ok, you need to get out of there.”

“I will, but for now, I want to be safe and count on you for bail money.”

He chuckled and said, “Get out of there.”

“I will. Where's it located.”

“There's an apartment building which is brand new. It's got a name called the Clocktower.”

“I've not heard of it, but then again, I've not heard of anything down here.”

As I was speaking with him, the limo arrived.

“The limo just showed. We'll get loaded up and will be out of here. Let me call you back.”

I snapped my phone shut and said, “When he gets out of the car, I want him put in that trailer. Then, I need everyone else to load those files into the limo and get them out of here.”

“Ok.”

“Everyone started moving at once. The limo driver got out and two guys grabbed him. He looked surprised. They drug him over to the trailer and got him put in.”

I got in and drove the limo closer to the stairs.

“Someone needs to get that room opened up and those hard drives out of those computers.”

Four guys went into the room and started taking drives out of servers. The computers which were normal computers were disconnected and thrown into the trunk of the limo.

The guys loading records were making fast work of it.

A semi pulled up and hooked up to the trailer. As fast as it was, I knew they didn't go to Burton to get it. The driver made short work of it and faster than five minutes, the trailer was on it's way.

When the files were loaded, the guy in charge came over and said, “We're done here.”

“Ok, here's the plan. For now, go to Burton and I'll go get the keys to the penthouse apartment we've got. When you get to Burton, get the limo unloaded into a pickup truck and then, when that's done, put the limo driver in the trunk and make sure he can't get out.

In regards to Burton, I want him kept there. I'll be there and will deal with him. If there's a mechanical area, fasten him to a line and have a welding torch close by so I can speak with him. He'll make a deal real fast if he thinks I'm going to cook his eyeballs.”

They nodded and I asked, “Who's driving the semi? I know you didn't get a truck from Burton here that fast?”

“We had a truck around the corner. It's standard protocol if we're using a semi trailer in that capacity.”

“Good, that was something even I didn't know.”

“Little John said to have it on hand.”

“He'd know. This is a whole new field for me. I'm not used to being out of a tunnel when I'm dealing with these things.”

He nodded and said, “I hear they have a nice setup up there.”

“It works. No one can get in without them blowing them and if they ever blow, the whole damned infrastructure for downtown will collapse.”

He nodded and I said, “Let's get out of here. If any of you are stopped by police, don't lead them on any chase other than away from Burton. As soon as the limo gets to Burton, we're going to need a crew to unload it and I mean fast. Because it's got to move again.”

“Ok. We'll get on it.

“They loaded into vehicles and I hopped into the driver's seat. As soon as the limo left the building, the one lone guy hit the lights and the door. It shut and he hopped in the front seat with me.”

“This is more excitement than I've ever dealt with.”

“Hopefully, it won't be more exciting than this.”

“I need to call the guys bringing people down here and get them re-routed.”

“I need to call that fire chief and get him re-routed too.”

I pulled out my cell phone and dialed.

“Hello?”

“Where you located?”

“Where about three blocks from the warehouse.”

“Turn around.”

“Where you want us to go?”

“Have you ever heard of a place called Burton trucking?”

“No”

“Let me get you the address”

I gave him the address and he said he'd get there.

“Your wife ok?”

“Surprisingly, she's all for it.”

“Great. I'm sorry about the turn around, but I have a sneaking suspicion the feds have been notified. We closed up shop there and we're heading to Burton's so we can work there for a bit.”

“Ok, we'll be right there. I think I see the limo in front of us.”

“That'd be me.”

“Ok, I'll follow you.”

“You might pass me and lead the way, I've never been here.”

He chuckled and said, “You'll have to come down and visit my wife and I. She's got a lot of neat ideas you could do for goodwill.”

“Great. We could sure use them. What does she do for a living?”

“She's in the health care profession.”

“Tell her we're expanding into those areas. I've just today put out word I'm wanting a list of every hospital that's up for sale.”

“She was mentioning that.”

“Good, if she's got know how, she can really help. Let me talk to you when you get there. I need to make another phone call.”

“Ok”

I hung up and called Little John. “Hello?”

“We're going to Burton trucking. Would you meet me at the entrance to the hospital with the address of the penthouse and the key?”

“Sure.”

“I've a question. Where are the St. Louis guys?”

“They're on their way. I'll notify them there's a change of location and tell them to stay put.”

“Give me a call when they get in. One thing you'll have to do is get another limo to get them to the penthouse. This one is about to be scrapped.”

“That's understandable. Be safe.”

“I'm trying. You might put someone on the warehouse as a watchful eye to see if anyone does a raid or if anyone goes snooping. I want whomever it is to be brought to me.”

“I'll get on it. You've got everyone moving away from the place now?”

“It's vacant...well, there's plenty there, but no one is in the place.”

“The guys abandoned the roof?”

“There wasn't anyone on the roof when I arrived.”

“Your guys were supposed to be there.”

“They weren't. I'll find out where they are.”

“How many guys do you have working with you?”

“About twenty, but they're all the new guys. None of my bunch or yours was there.”

“That's strange.”

“Let me pull over and you find out where they are. I'm not going to drive into an ambush at Burton's.”

“Let me call you back. You drive here and we'll find them.”

“Ok”

I got off the phone and looked over to the guy next to me. “If you are a fed, I'll blow your fucking brains out before this car stops.”

“Huh?”

“My guys have disappeared. The New York guys have disappeared. That speaks loud to me either they're in jail or they're away for a reason. The only people who were there were the new people of which you were one.”

“I'm not a fed.”

“What are you then?”

“I'm one of yours.”

“From Miami, or Kansas City?”

“Miami.”

“I'll trust you, but I'll be getting a phone call and if you're not for real, your brains are about to go out that fucking window.”

“Dude, you're panicking over shit that I'm not responsible for.”

“What do you know?”

“Nothing!”

“Ok, I'd like to believe you, but we're going to drive until I get a phone call telling me the coast is clear.”

I pulled out my cell phone and made a call to the fire chief. “Hello?”

“Break it off and go home. I'll give you a call and let you know when we can meet. Things are too strange and I don't want you apprehended if this is a setup.”

“Ok, give me a call later if you can.”

“I will.”

My cell phone rang. “Hello?”

It was Little John. “All of our guys were out at the house. It turns out my guys pulled everyone because they thought your Miami guys were doing well enough to work on their own.”

“Oh thank God. I was really panicking there for a second.”

“I would have been too. You didn't do anything did you?”

“No, I just told the guy who was riding with me I was about to put his brains out the window and canceled a very important meeting. No, nothing real calm went on at all!”

He chuckled and said, “It's green light.”

“Ok, I'll trust. Let me get off of here and clean things up.”

“Ok”

I snapped of and dialed the phone.

“Hello”

“The meeting is back on. I'm sorry. I'll explain it when you get there.”

“Ok, you had me worried.”

“Hell, I was worried myself! As it turned out, all of our guys thought the new guys were doing so well they left them to do it on themselves.”

“I'm not following.”

“I'll explain it when I see you.”

“Ok We'll be there.”

“Where are you at now?”

“Still behind you. I wasn't letting you go without seeing you were ok.”

“Ok, let's pull over and I'll get in with you.”

“Ok”

I snapped the phone shut and said, “As it turned out, my guys and the New York guys all thought the Miami guys were doing well enough they could do it themselves. They're onto something else. What I'm going to do is I'm going to go get the keys for the penthouse apartment and go over and open it up.

What I need for you to do is to drive the limo to Burtons and get the files switched over. When you're done there, drive the limo back down to the warehouse with the limo driver in the trunk. Put it in the warehouse and leave him there. I'll have him dealt with later.”

“Ok”

“I'll get the address of the penthouse to you guys and we'll have you guys meet up there. IF you see anyone strange at all following you, you give me a call and I'll have my helicopter come and get you. You take the limo to a parking garage and you drive it to the roof and we'll arrange the pick up of you from the roof.”

“You're not hanging me out on this, are you?”

“No! It's not that at all. I'm arranging contingency plans for chrissakes! If I weren't sincere, I'd be letting you hang out to be picked up. Right now, I need to get away from this. When I get paranoid, that's the best thing.”

“You had me worried.”

“I'm sorry. I hate feeling that way, but now I've got to take a break from it for a few minutes.”

He nodded and said, “I'll get everything done. You sure you don't want the limo driver killed?”

“I imagine he will be, but we're going to have to have him dealt with separately because if they put a tracking chip in him, then his body will lead them to all those others. What we'll probably do is we'll probably put him someplace where there won't be enough left of him that will ever be known for sure.”

“Ok, what I'll do is I'll use some tricks I learned in 'nam to get him to talk.”

“You're that old?”

“I'm no spring chicken!”

“Damn man, I thought you were in your thirties.”

“Good healthy diet. I'm 58.”

“Shit, here I was thinking you were just a little bit older than me.”

He laughed and said, “Go get your head right, everything you were describing was a perfect case of PTD Post Traumatic Disorder.”

“Really?”

“It happens when someone's under stress for too long.”

“That's me!”

“Go get your head right. I'll cover for you. Just between you and I, I'm gay too.”

“That's another surprise. Welcome to the club!”

He laughed and said, “I probably was in the club a long time before you. My lover died in 'nam.”

“I'm so sorry. I lost my first to suicide. He blew his head off in front of me.”

“Damn, and you wonder why you're feeling it. I'll see you later.”

“Ok”

I got out and walked back to their car and got in the back seat.

As soon as I got in, I held out my hand and said, “Hi, I'm Rhette Michaels. For all intents and purposes, they call me little Gino.”

“Hi, I'm Beck. It's short for Becky.”

“Hi Beck. I'm sorry about the hassle.”

“No problem at all. You don't have any idea what a huge favor you did for me.”

“Huh?”

“John here.”

“I'm not following.”

“Until tonight, he's hated my brother for being gay. Then, when he got home, he started apologizing and telling me what happened and what then happened to him. He told me about what he thought about while in that trailer and then what changed his mind about.”

“Oh, well he never mentioned anything to me.”

“Some day, he probably will. I'll tell you now what he's told me has really been great. You don't know it, but I hated his job out there for a long time. When he said you'd gotten him fired and then gotten him this new job, with a pay increase, it was the best news of our marriage.”

“Oh, well thanks I guess. Where we're going John is down to the hospital. I need to go there to pick up the keys to the penthouse and then we'll have to go there. Have you ever heard of a place called the Clocktower?”

“Oh man, that's the new place that just got built. It's beautiful.”

“Well, they got us the penthouse of it. I'm not familiar with this area, but I guess that's good to hear that it's really nice. The only thing I requested was a helipad on the roof so I can land my copter there.”

“They've got that! It's the nicest of the nice from what I hear.”

“Good.”

“The reason I wanted to meet you Beck, was to make sure he told you and that you were prepared to sign on with him. What I need to tell you is this is a lifetime thing. You can get out by divorcing him, but he can't get out.

The good thing about this is if you so choose, then you can join in yourself. Normally, and historically, we've not allowed women or any other group except Italians. They've let the Italian thing slide, but never the women or minority thing.

What's happening and I'll tell you so you know is this... We're breaking away from the Italian family. We're going to run it as the American Family. What we're going to be doing is we're bringing over the cities a few at a time and we're doing a switchover that's so subtle they won't know it's done until we've got everyone over on our side.”

“Isn't that dangerous?”

“It would be, but fortunately, the guy that's head of the Italian one here stateside is someone you're about to meet. He's in on this because he's seeing too many problems with the family being run from Italy instead of here in the states. We're working together to do the switchover.”

“Who's over the American one?”

“You're looking at him. So far, what I've got is Missouri and Florida. Well, I've also got a branch of San Diego and a part of South Carolina as Charleston is up under me.

In less than a month, Ohio will be switching over. Then, right after that, we'll have Texas and Arkansas coming over. Then, as the families gain new heads, they'll be sworn under me rather than the Italian.”

“Why?”

“Well, here's how it goes.

If you swear loyalty up under someone, then you're that leader for that city who is up under the head which has been Italian.

Little John, who's the head of the Italian side, has to go to meetings in Italy to get things done. The people over there are so slow about things it take 2 years to get a decision which normally should be a spontaneous yes or no answer.

Rather than keep up with the headaches, he and I got to talking and he realized this was his out. So, he's handing over control piece by piece with an agreement we'll be partners when it's complete.”

“Won't he be killed?”

“Hopefully, by then, he'll be retired. If he retires, then he's going to have me sworn in as head of the Italian branch and as soon as they kiss my ring, the switchover will be complete.”

“Won't you be killed?”

“No, because the second my life is threatened, I'll declare on the Italians and go nuclear with it to get rid of the whole bunch at once.”

She nodded and said, “It sounds confusing.”

“It's confusing for me, so I imagine it's confusing for you too. Now, here's where things are.

As you know, we make our livings the old fashioned way. We extort to get it.”

She chuckled.

“What we're doing is we're taking it legal and we're providing goods and services for the money we're getting. What that's basically done is it's made us the largest staffing agency in the world. With that comes a whole lot of money and income which we're having to invest at a pace you couldn't even begin to imagine.”

“He said you were building three more hotels out in Vegas?”

“That and a port in South Carolina which will be one of the largest on the East Coast and we're also now going to be buying up hospitals so when we kick in our own insurance company, we'll have plenty of places which we can treat our people.”

“What you need to know with the hospitals is the cost of staffing is horrendous.”

“I'm not following.”

“Ok, look at a budget in your mind. Now, look at a hospital.”

“Ok”

“In an ideal perfect world you have all the employees showing up and doing their job to the best of their abilities.

In a hospital, you have a situation of burn out and fatigue because of several reasons. First, there aren't enough nurses to go around and Second, the nurses that do show up have to do the work of three or more sometimes.”

“Ok, I'm following.”

“BUT, here's what kills a hospital. The nurses have to work overtime which gets hugely expensive. Plus, weekend nurses get paid huge money.”

“Ok, I'm working on those problems.”

“What's on your mind?”

“The problem I see with the shortage of nurses is because the school is so damned hard.”

“Yes”

“Well, what I think is the way to make the schooling easier is to slow down the curriculum and make sure the students pass the classes. Here's what I mean. Nursing school is nine months long normally for an LPN. Right?”

“Yes.”

“Ok, why don't we make it eighteen months long.”

“Because the student loan won't pay for it.”

“Ok, take the student loan out of the picture.”

“Then no one joins because they can't afford it”

“Wrong. Have corporations such as a hospital pay for the student to go to school with the guarantee they'll work for them for five years afterward. Then, slow the curriculum down and institute a program which resembles what Silvan Learning Centers do for the students. That way, rather than cramming it all in all the time, you have study days which the students can work and learn it so their tests are passed and they stay in the course.”

“Excellent, but who's going to pay their living expenses while they go?”

“The hospital.”

She said, “That will break a budget.”

“Not if it's one of our hospitals it won't! We're doing everything we can now to ditch and hide money, so if we're investing it into employees, then we'll be money ahead when it counts.”

“I think you're onto something.”

“The other side of things is we're going to go wholesale with our insurance. What I mean is we're going to be the largest staffing agency. If we start our own insurance company, then we take it to the corporations which hire our people and charge them an affordable rate to insure the workers, then they'll sign on. The goal then will be to decrease health costs at the hospitals by having doctors on the same insurance which can get affordable malpractice insurance and low overhead costs whether we provide offices, staffing, or whatever.”

“Wow, you're taking it on and really making it seem like it will work!”

“That's the goal. What I see is if doctors have an insurance company that will charge less and represent them if they are sued, then their costs go down. When they have staffing needs such as nurses, then we have them, so those are taken care of.”

“I think that would work. I know I have to have malpractice insurance, but it's really affordable.”

“Do you pay, or does the hospital?”

“I pay. If I counted on the hospital to cover me, they'd have me paying for it in taxes as a perk which would up my income.”

“No, the hospital needs to pay. That's a cost of their doing business to get you as an employee.”

“They don't see it that way.”

“Well, I see it that way. IF we don't, then the nurses bring home less because they have to pay it themselves. The same goes for uniforms. To me, the hospital should provide them and launder them.”

“We provide our own and we launder our own.”

“Well, who pays for the cell phone for when you're on call?”

“We do.”

“Not in our hospitals they won't. If we require someone be on call, then that's an expectation of the job. Man, nurses need a good union.”

“Some do, but they don't even get those perks.”

“That's dumb. Well, now you know which hospital nurses will want to work at and which ones the nurses won't.”

She smiled and said, “John was mentioning about you possibly needing me to go with someone to look at the hospitals?”

“Yeah, what I'm wanting to do is I'm wanting to buy hospitals. Tonight, I'm supposed to meet some guys to discuss them coming over. One of them I'm going to be putting in charge of the purchasing of the hospitals. He probably won't know a good one from a bad one, so he'll need someone there to hold his hand.”

“I'll do that if you can guarantee I can be home most nights.”

“I've got a fleet of jets. With the exception of instances where the trips are to like the far western states, I'd say you could fly up and look the place over and then fly back on the same day. Because the work day will be so long, I'll have to have you on salary. BUT, what I want you to know is on those long trips, the next day will be spent with you not working. I can't expect to wear you out doing that over and over and over.”

“To be quite honest, most of the things I'd learn in a hospital is going to come from speaking with the nurses. If I ask questions, I can find out where they're losing money and where they could do better.

I'll tell you now, most of the hospitals are bleeding dollars due to the overtime of nurses, but you can improve that if you start those classes and start hiring instructors.”

“Ok, so do you think if I implement the changes with the perks, it'd get the nurses in there to cover until the new nurses would be coming out of those classes?”

“Yes, if you compound it with a terrific sign on bonus.”

“What's the average sign on?”

“Some places pay fifteen hundred. Others pay five grand.”

“Ok, so if I offer ten grand, then we'll have more coming over?”

“If you offer the perks with the ten grand and a good starting wage, I think you'd get a whole bunch of them.”

“Ok, here's the next thing I'm going to ask. Are there a tremendous amount of rooms not used in a hospital?”

“Most hospitals see a 40% room usage.”

“So that means 60% stay empty.”

“Yes.”

“Are there guidelines as to what rooms get used for what patients? Or is that traditional rather than required.”

“Surgical care has to be surgical care. ICU has to be ICU. Pediatrics has to be peds, and maternity has to be maternity.”

“Ok, does that have to be on separate floors?”

“No, you could put ICU and surgical on the same floor. Peds and Maternity could go on another.”

“Ok, I'm wondering if I can compact them together, then I can open up rooms to become doctors offices and clinics and pull in services which aren't normally in a hospital to increase the usage of the space.”

“Most hospitals are too big, too old, and the staffing is bleeding them. If you get rid of those, then you've got a profitable hospital. The reason they go up for sale is because the cost to do modernizations is too costly. If money's no object, then you can do it and not have a problem.”

“Good, then what we'll do is we'll go ahead and start finding how much it will take to turn one around and then we'll have a good idea of how many we can buy with the income we've got.”

“It's going to take considerable income. Right here in Miami, I know of two that are for sale.”

“Ok, let's get those looked at and let's decide upon one. If both are well worth the money, then we'll get both, but the goal is to get a start and get to going with it.”

She smiled and said, “You do realize they're going to be expensive.”

“Yes, but what you don't realize is walking into this, I'm told Miami has secret accounts which have more than ample money which hasn't been used which needs to be used for something which puts it on the map with the future rather than the drugs, and labs which aren't going to be a part of any future I'm associated with.”

She nodded and said, “I'm glad you said that because it's long been a mumbled secret the drugs were the main source of income for organized crime in this area.”

“And those secrets were true.

Now, you know that's not a part of anything I'll associate myself with. Yes, there's really good money in that activity, but it's a never ending source of heat which is like a flashing beacon to the feds as well as everyone else.

If there are those in this organization which think they're going to carry that forward without my consent, then they'll be brought to trial and I'll be the judge, and executioner to those people. They're not to do anything I don't want and if they do, then they're subverting things which I'm trying to make productive here.

I guess what you need to know is really what we're about. If you don't know, then you'll be assuming things and I don't like that.”

In our organization, we go into a business or corporation and we say, “Hey, here's what we do. We provide the staffing and we get you results so your business is more productive. From the profits, we'll take 4%. We don't take an arm and a leg, but we don't put up with our crews being subjected to things which are unsanitary, unhealthy, and will draw that business down.

We're in everything from trucking companies, to hotels, bars, restaurants, the port, airport, and the things which make this city work. What we do is we're the voice for the worker before the union because although the unions are us, they're really deaf when it comes to a worker's needs.

Right now, I've got to have a conversation with a man that has a hotel because his employees are being expected to have their break room in six inches of water. Whether it's waste water, run off, or whatever, I'm not sure, but you wouldn't want that and neither would I. So, why would that man want his workers who are my people be in there working with that hardship? So, he thought he could hang up on me and totally ignore what I'm demanding.

What's now happened is his hotel is being blockaded. Nothing will go into that place and no one will stay there until I get results and it's completely satisfactory.

The same goes with that man who has that trucking company. He's expecting his workers who are my people to drive substandard equipment. Personally, that's a liability. He's not standing trial if one of my guys goes out and kills someone, but his profits suffer if he's sued because of it. Rather than put up with it, I'll shut him down until new trucks are bought. BUT, I'll also front him the money to buy those trucks if he can't get that money elsewhere.

Contrary to popular opinion, I'm not charging 36% interest, I'm going to charge him the same as what a bank would charge him. What he will do is he'll either make that decision, or he'll turn over ownership to me and I'll do it. That's not something which I'm going to put up with because if I were driving a truck for him, I'd want it and as a business owner, he should be demanding from himself.”

She smiled and said, “You're giving me a good idea of what you do and I really like that.”

“Well, it's not a big secret. If John here has a problem working down on the docks, I'd expect him to come to me and say, 'hey, our fire truck is broke down and they're not doing anything. They think just because a fire hasn't happened in the past ten years that one's not going to happen tomorrow.'

In the old days, we would have went in and set a fire and then went in and broken some legs to get it done. That's the way it was done in the old days. Nowadays, we go in and say, 'hey, we'll pull our workers and shut down the docks, airport, or whatever until it's fixed to our satisfaction.'

That's why that terminal manager last night, John, came hauling ass because your actions led me to make a phone call that gave him a phone call that told him we were about to shut the whole fucking thing. Your harassment of me led me to make that phone call which told you I was shutting down all of your banking. Your house, car, credit cards, and whatever would have been shut off. Your bank would have came in and said, 'Get out because we're foreclosing.' You don't realize those powers are within my reach. They do it because they know I can shut down their corporate headquarters in a heartbeat.”

“Man!” John said shaking his head.

“Yeah, so when you thought you'd got to CNN to leak the fact I'm gay to jeopardize my lover, I came at you and very easily could have killed you and then went to Beck and said, “Ok, we killed him, but we'll support you and get you all the help you need.”

She looked at me and said, “He never told me all about that!”

“Well, that's what happened. What he doesn't know is the guy I'm working with is using CNN to get my lover a spotlight for the sole reason because I want him to be Governor of our state. Now, am I going to manipulate that? NO. What I will do is I'll manipulate things so he can make our state the best in the nation.

I'll be up front and tell you that we're going to be building a port up there which will be the biggest north of Miami and south of New York City. What that will do is it'll get a hundred thousand jobs in our state. Those workers pay taxes which builds the infrastructure which gets the economy thriving.

What that does is it gets people to thinking good things about him.

Now, does it affect my income? Yes. Because my money is what's going to build that port. Not the governments, and certainly not special interests. We'll control rail, trucking, and the operation of that port. We'll control everything which gets you the potential of being over that fire department and possibly over the security of that entire facility. Speaking of which, that facility is going to be something like ten thousand acres. So you know I'm talking about something which isn't a little deal.”

“Man!”

“Yeah, we've got the experience because that's what our base of operations is in San Diego. Out there, we control it all. We run it and there are so many dollars coming in from it that we reinvest into other places and things which in turn gets us more money. One of those namely is the hotel/casino operations in Las Vegas.

What comes of those is a measure we can use to give everyone a bit of a better life. You can take your family there and have fun and enjoyment, but it also adds to our funds because we can write it off and while out there, it's hoped you drop some change at a casino or spend money in a shop which we control.”

She nodded and said, “So that's where that is for you?”

“Yes, but what you don't know is we've got income coming in so much that we've gotten to the point we've got to shuck and jive and ditch it because about the time we get it done for this month, next month happens and we have to do it all over again.”

She laughed and said, “Man! I wish I had those problems!”

“You'd trade spaces with me for about a day and then you'd give it back and say it was out of your hands. This job is something that's a sun up to sun down and on kind of thing. Do I enjoy it? Well, let's just say it's fine, but to have a relationship with Steve and build it, I'm really worried I'm not going to be able to give him what he needs.”

“Why don't you get some help?”

“I am. Tonight, I've got meetings with several guys who are going to be managing things for me in cities. One of those is going to be in charge of buying the hospitals. He doesn't know it, but if I choose to have him then that's where he'll be placed. Do I know if he'll excel doing that? I have no clue. All I know is I've got to put him someplace, but being over a city isn't going to be an option because of his family name and no other reason than that.”

“What's his family name?”

“It's mine, but we're no relation. All of the people in that family could die as far as I'm concerned and I'd not shed one moment's worry. The bad blood in the past is what causes me to think that.

As you go along and you learn the histories, then you'll know what I'm referring, but for me to explain it would be a long long story which I don't have the luxury.”

As I was talking, we were pulling up to the entrance of the hospital. I hopped out and Little John came over.

“Who's that?”

“He's now working for us.”

“Who is he?”

“The fire chief. I've spoken with him and got him to pledge, so he's going to work for me down on the docks to see if things are being said and if people are really going to work for me.”

“Smart, but him?”

“Let me just say I didn't kill him, so Steve's happy and I'm going to turn a minus into a positive.”

“Be careful.”

“I am. She's signed on with him and I think it's going to be excellent.”

“What are you going to do now?”

“I'm going to go to the penthouse and I've got to set up shop and get business done. Give me a call if things aren't going good. I'll be here in a flash. What I'll try to do is I'll try to get things finished and get back here sooner than later, but it's already taking way more time that I'd like.”

“Well, I think it's smart we closed up down there. Where'd you move everyone?”

“Burton's trucking company. The trailer went there and I think it'll keep. The trailer blends in and no one will think it strange. Other than that, I've got to lay down the law to three business owners and possibly take the businesses over. IF I have to do that, then I will, but hopefully, they'll agree to get shit up to snuff.”

“Ok, so it's business as usual.”

“Yeah, but it all takes time which is a luxury I don't have. What's going on out there at the house.”

“I'll have the guys come up and explain it as well as bring you those records. We do have account numbers, passwords, and the ability to get in. They found those, so you might want to give them a big thank you.”

“Ok, I'm glad to hear it. How much is there?”

“Billions. Almost a hundred billion.”

“Man, that'll help out a lot. I'm going to go ahead with some plans I've got going and then we'll get back on the same page later tonight. Right now, I'll leave and go get the penthouse opened. Is there furniture there?”

“It's supposed to be decorated this week. The real estate agent has made a deal with me that she'll get it outfitted for fifty grand.”

“I'd hope. Jeez, she's making a big profit!”

“Well, hopefully it'll be done with some taste and class. I did tell her if that wasn't enough money, then to spend and I'd repay her. What I told her is we needed it to be tasteful, elegant, and something to which we could bring business contacts and not be embarrassed.”

“Well, I guess furniture here probably cost a lot more than what I'd pay if I were scouring to decorate, but if it's nice, I'm not going to complain. All that I hope is there's a bed to lay my head if I have to stay over.”

“I told her to get the nicest and not to spare cost there. I imagine the fifty grand isn't going to be enough at all. We'll see.”

“Ok, I'll pay.”

“No, it's my treat. Let's say it's a welcome present.”

“Thanks.” I said smiling.

“You doing ok?”

“I'm great. I was panicked like hell when I was wondering where our guys went, but only one person seen it.”

“I'm sorry. We really should have been together and we should have recognized our people weren't there. If it had been a set up, we'd have been in a real mess.”

“That's why I didn't want you in there. I needed someone to get me out of the jamb if I needed it.”

He chuckled and said, “That would have been funny.”

“No it wouldn't because they would have roasted me and Steve would have been history politically before he even started.”

“I know, it's just me bailing you out when I'm the one that's supposed to have that reputation. That's what the funny part of it is.”

“I know. But, I really know now how I would get if it came down and the animal instincts showed. All the alarm bells were sounding and rather than go out, I wasn't going near the place.

What I will say is I think the feds are onto us. That limo is going to be scrapped. I feel strange about it, so rather than continue, I'm going to get rid of that driver. The potential for what he could give up on us is too damaging.

IF he's a fed, then that limo is pegged and is telling them everywhere it's going. That's why I'm having the documents taken from it and hauled to the penthouse separately. The feds will be led to the trucking company, but won't be led to the penthouse.”

“Smart thinking. I'll be giving you a call later.”

“Ok, I'd appreciate it. Let me know when the guys get in. They can fly in from the airport, or whatever. Just give me the heads up so I know they're on their way.”

“You're nervous about Michael.”

“Michael's a fantasy of mine. I'm nervous, but now that you're throwing Jimmy at me, I'm really nervous. You know my feelings about him and for me to be nice to anyone from that family is going to take every ounce of reserve strength I have to not want to reach out and kill him.”

“I think he's the one good one from that bunch. Don't put him in any power or authority.”

“He's going to buy hospitals for me. That woman is going to be with him every step of the way and she'll report to me anything he does wrong or says.”

“Good thinking. I'm glad you're cultivating them if they can work for you.”

“They want to and she does more so than he. SO, I think it's going to be great.”

“Good. Well, I'll get up there. Keep in touch and I will too.”

“Thanks.”

We hugged and gave each other kisses.

When I got back in the car, I said, “Sorry it took so long, but I had to get him on the same page as I am.”

“He looks familiar.”

“His dad was world famous. That's probably where you recognize him.”

“Ok, I know who he is now.”

“He's the head of the Italian side. We're in this neck deep together and we're good as a team.”

“You've got powerful friends.”

“It helps.”

“What I was meaning is you have those sorts of friends and yet, you seem so normal.”

“Well, I consider myself normal. What you don't know is normal people get nervous when they get around famous and infamous people. That man and I just had a conversation where he told me what I'm working with monetarily from those accounts and a normal person have their head swimming. Me, I've been around it so long, it was like water off a ducks back. All it told me was I can buy a lot of hospitals.”

“Really?”

“He said Billions and almost a hundred billion.”

“Man!”

“You know as well as I do that if I spend a hundred million on a hospital, then it's not going to go far. What it will do is it will fill our ordinance warehouses nicely and get us on the road to being secure down here.”

“I'd say!”

“No, what you don't know is we pay premium price for a truck, helicopter, the jets you'll be riding in, and for weapons and ammunition. When it comes to weaponry, we pay a lot and that's pretty much a wasted dollar. With good management, we have it, but it never gets used. BUT, if things go south, then we've got it and we can get a war won really fast.”

“I guess with that said, it wouldn't go that far.”

“No, but it sure helps.”

We drove towards the water district. As we got closer, they pointed at the sky and said, “That building there is the Clocktower Apartments.”

“OK, the penthouse is ours. It's a pretty building.”

When we got to the parking lot, I said, “Pull on in to the private parking garage. Use my key pass here to go on in. It'll get us up there a lot faster.”

“Man, this is nice.” John said awed.

“Yeah, it is, isn't it.”

“And you didn't know you had anything here?”

“No, he just bought it. I couldn't tell you a thing about it.”

When we got out of the car, I looked up and saw surveillance everywhere. Mentally, I made a note to allow nothing to ever happen here.”

We went to the elevator and I took a look for the slot for the key to fit to go to the penthouse. Unfortunately, it didn't allow us the option. Mentally, I took a point off for what I would have paid for the place.

We went to the main lobby and I asked a doorman which elevator took us to the penthouse. He looked at me and I showed him the key. “Just bought it, so get used to this face.”

He smiled and said, “What's your name?”

“Rhette. Rhette Michaels, but don't ever call me Mr. Michaels.”

“Ok Rhette.”

“Good, that sounds nice.”

He smiled and said, “Welcome to the Clocktower. The elevator to the right is the one that gets you to the penthouse. You'll like it.”

“I hope.”

We went over and as soon as we entered, I saw the spot to put the key. I turned it and the elevator started up.

“I'm a bit anxious to see what security we'll need for up here. I hope it doesn't open directly into the apartment.”

“Why?”

“Look at it from a security stand point. If it opens directly into the apartment, then you and I could be going up to kill me and once the doors open get a surprise shot off before I even know you're on the way.”

“Wouldn't you know?”

“I could, but a good man with bypassing the controls could get up there with no problem.”

“When the doors opened, I saw a short hallway. “Good, we can place a man here and what's nice is there's a camera there which hopefully allows me to see who's on this side.”

“You have to think of those things, huh.”

“Yeah, not all the players in this game are on my side. Hopefully, they'll not want me out, but if they do, I have to be prepared. What will be nice is if there's a safe room in this place which I can get to for security.”

“What's a safe room?”

“It's a room that's bullet proof so if someone gets in, they won't find it and they can't find me. If they do take shots, then it won't get me in there. When the coast is clear, I can come out and still be able to operate.”

“That'd be good.”

“We have to think of all the aspects of security.”

I opened the door and found the light switch. When I turned them on, the sight of all the white walls with the white marble floor was nearly blinding.

“We've got to get color in this place. It looks like a friggin' doctors office. The woman is to decorate this week, so I'll tell her I want color.”

“A nice beige would be good.”

“I was thinking the same thing. The marble has beige and it'd tone it down, but look nice with a lot of wood pieces.”

We went through the entry and I saw a panorama of windows which were probably fourteen feet tall.

“Man, window treatments should have came with the place! Whoa!”

“It's a bit overwhelming.” Beck said.

“You telling me! Man! What I'll do is go with some bone Damask for curtains and get those round tops up there done in fans.”

“We'd get along great. I was thinking on the same lines.”

“In here, I'd like to have the main sitting room in which I greet business people. Some wing backs and a really nice set of sofas would pull out that fireplace. We'll have to go with brass because that's what they went with, but to me, it's a bit tacky.”

“You think?”

“The brass should have been antiqued. We could have went with wood pieces. With all this white, and that bright brass, it looks too cold. When we try to tone it down with paint, that bright brass will stick out like a sore thumb.

What I think in here is a nice soft pastel peach. With color, we can tone down the emotions of the room and keep the business meetings on a more civil manner. Color is what it takes.”

“You're good. You use the colors to dictate what the room is supposed to give off as far as feel.”

“With this bright white, all the conversations would lead to yelling and we'd be getting migraines.”

As I talked, I walked from space to space. Since the living and the dining and kitchen were all open, it didn't give me a real good feeling. I liked defined spaces.

“This place is nice, but for what you're wanting, I think a complete rehab is in order.”

“I was thinking the same thing. Some false walls will have to be built so we can have it giving off what I want. I can see why they wanted it open because of the views, but this is a bit overwhelming.”

“I'd say! It's screaming loud!”

“I agree. Well, let's look at the rest of the place before I get a call made that gets everyone up here.”

“Don't get me wrong, this place is beautiful, but man!”

“I'm not disagreeing. I think he bought it sight unseen and thought it'd be more than it is. I'm not sure what he paid, but we'll be doing a lot of redoing of the place. It's not what I'd pick if I had bought it.”

I went over to the windows and saw where the dining room was located, there was a balcony. I opened the doors and went out. The wind was nice and the view of the ship yard and the port was amazing.

“This is why I wanted the place. It overlooks the ship yard and the port. I can look out and do business while seeing what we run.”

“That makes a lot of sense.”

“It's beautiful, but the inside of the place isn't.”

Beck smiled and John was all eyes.

“Let's go look at the bedrooms. Hopefully, there's an office in here so I can have it for more intimate meetings. The bedrooms, we'll need at least three.”

We walked through and I found the library which would serve for the office.”

“Whoa! This place has to be made over big time! Man, if there was a volume switch on the wall, I'd be turning it down fast!”

She laughed and said, “It's hardly a masculine room. How are you going to make it into what you want?”

“What we'll have to do is I'll have to really get those windows covered. Maybe some deep burgundy paisley and a lot of wood panels on the walls. That fireplace needs a mantel and those book cases really need to be redone so they look like they're wood. On the walls which aren't wood, I'm going to have to put some leather or some material which will get a feeling that will pull the leather of the wing back chairs and the office chair will be. Whatever the desk is we put in here, I've got to get it so all the wood matches.

One thing I will say is this place is hardly what it's going to be.”

I went over and did a back kick into the wall. A hole quickly went through the plaster.

“Just as I thought. We've got to take out this wall and get something in here which will stop a bullet. Someone could come in and let loose with a machine gun and I'd be dead in here. Those walls aren't going to stop anything.”

“I'd say! I can't believe you just did that!”

“Well, it's got to change. I'm glad I didn't meet up with a stud, but this has got to change.”

“From what you say, this place is going to take a couple of months to be up to what you want.”

“Yes, but with our people, I'll get them on it and they'll have it done in a week tops. What I need to do is tell that decorator to keep her money and not do a thing with it. It's got to be redone.”

“I think it's the wrong place for you.”

“Yeah, but it's what we got, so I'll make it something I can use. I sure know if David were here, he'd be bitching to high Heaven.”

“Who's David?”

“He's my business partner. He's going to be the person that is running Miami for me. He's in the hospital because an assassin got through our security and almost killed him.”

“Oh my!”

“Yeah, if he'd been less physically fit, he'd be dead. As it is, he's laying in a coma and has gone through a few surgeries for what was done in just a few hits.”

“Really!”

“Yeah, it's not often we mess up like that, but when it happens to someone up where we are, it's devastating. That's why I have to be here and that's why my days run so long. If he were handling things, then he'd have it taken care of in a flash and have the right people in place so he'd not have to work so hard.

Me, I don't know the management like him, so it takes me longer.”

“What do you do then?”

“I'm his boss. My job is to go around and see that he's doing his job and all of my other key people over all the cities do theirs.

What you don't know is you're seeing our organization coming in from running another city where we've been for the past 20 years and starting at the ground floor.”

“What city do you run?”

“Kansas City. But, the entire state of Missouri was just given to me, so I've got St. Louis people coming in and having to set it up so I can deal with those people.”

“From the tone of your voice, you don't care for them.”

“To be honest, St. Louis is an infighting bitch to even think about managing. There are so many factions there, it's going to be tough.

What I'm doing is I'm pulling the guy who is the head of the family there out and I'm placing him elsewhere.

The guy you're going to be working with, Beck, is a junior member of one of the factions. If it were up to me, I'd kill everyone of those people down to the smallest of children and raise them up to hate their family name. With Jimmy, I've got to handle him and hope he's going to be an asset to me. If he comes in and thinks he's going to take me out in the future, then you need to report that to me.”

“Do you think he'd do it?”

“I think any of them would do it. In this game, you don't trust any of them. So, if you ever hear any suspect conversations from him, then you get to me pronto. What I'll do is I'll get him pulled and get someone I can trust in there. That person most likely will be you. I have a gut feeling I can trust you, but with some of these characters, I can't trust at all.”

“I understand. So, he's someone you don't like? Then why put him in?”

“Here's why. We work off gut instincts and hunches. The man you just saw at the hospital says he has a feeling Jimmy will work with us. I'll work off that hunch, but if he's bad, then I'll pull him and deal with that bad decision when it comes.”

“You mention others.”

“Yeah, there is one other from St. Louis who I absolutely don't want to deal with. He's over the third faction from St. Louis.

What's interesting is I have no clue or idea how those three could even ride on the same jet together. The three have been raised from birth like pit bulls to hate each other from birth.

I've put them in the same jet to get them here and then once they're here, I'm going to yank them out of the city they're in and put them elsewhere. They're going to be pissed and they're going to be making phone calls and trying to enlist help who is going to tell them they're not going to mess with me. “

“Man! I'd not be looking forward to that meeting at all!”

“I'm not, but the advantage is I'll take them on one by one. What I have as an advantage is the element of surprise by telling them I'm now over them and an ace up my sleeve that one is attractive as all get out.”

“Who's he?”

“His name is Michael. He's the one running St. Louis now. When you see him, you'll be amazed. The man has charisma and sexuality that just oozes from him. I'll admit he takes my breath away.”

“Your eyes say he's good looking to you when you speak of him.”

“I'll admit it. I'm blown away by him. What you don't know is this... had it been a different place and time, he could have added me as a notch in his bedpost. BUT, what you'll hear now is I'm his boss and as an underling of mine, he'd never have that opportunity because it'd be me giving up some of my authority over him. The plus side of it is he's hopelessly straight and has a huge family with a wife he's devoted to.

What you don't know is there are looks and there are looks and he gives off the looks that tell me he's as hot for me as I am him. That in itself is something that is like putting a match to a bunch of kindling. It could be combustible if I let it, but what I need to do is to use it to my advantage and get over on him before he has a chance to get over on me.”

She smiled and said, “You're cute when you talk about that.”

“I'm giving you honesty. Had it been different, I'll tell you I'd gladly have been his mister on the side. BUT, there's no potential for that now.”

“It seems sad when you say that.”

“It's something I know and fortunately, with Steve, I don't have the desire to ever let it happen. The relationship with him has to mean something to me and the good thing is I've been honest with him in regards to all my feelings. He thinks it's great I'm honest and can tell him when I find someone attractive.”

“That's good. John and I have that. It says there's strength to the relationship when you have it.”

“I think so. My last relationship didn't have that. We used to, but he screwed around on me and once that trust was gone, it opened up a lot of things I didn't like.”

“I'd say!”

“Well, let me go look at the bedrooms and then get everyone called in.”

“Are you sure you want to bring people in here?”

“Yeah, it's what we do. This place is going to be where we have meetings, but not the main headquarters. For that, we've got to find another place.”

“Oh, ok. So this is like corporate headquarters and only the top brass comes here.”

“Yeah. The place where everyone will be coming in the future won't be here. That keeps the traffic at a minimum and the eyebrows of the tenants here unraised. They'll see foot traffic occasionally, but they're not going to see hundreds of men in here.”

“So, we're privileged to be here.”

“Yeah, in a way, but you'll see the place more often than John.”

John nodded and said, “I'm glad you've found a place for Beck.”

“I am too. I like her. Well, I like you too. What I get from you is a gut instinct I can trust you. If I didn't get it, alarm bells would go off and I'd be a whole lot more reserved.”

Beck nodded and said, “What I like is you're being so candid and you're letting us know what you do. To me, that gives me a good feeling. It tells me I can be proud to be a part of things and the position I'll have will be something which will have a positive impact upon the world we live in.”

“That's my goal. As I said, we're at a starting point on so many levels. In twenty years, this foundation we're building is going to be so much more and such a structured corporation it'll be the epitome of what things could be now if more people had cared.”

She nodded and said, “You know, it's interesting because you find problems and you have ways of alleviating them which I can see working. What's neat is you're not afraid to put your money where your mouth is and get results.”

“I like to think that. What you don't know is I inherited all this from a man who was a potential lover. The man is now deceased, but his vision is what I aspire to have fulfilled. If you'd ever met him, you'd have thought him to be fascinating and yet his charisma was powerful to the point you just knew he was someone who was very influential. What he was, was a man and he'd have you think he wasn't anyone powerful, but his authority was so much more than that.”

John said, “Man, the way you say it is so reverent!”

“I loved him. Without him, I'd be nothing. His son is my business partner that's laying up there in that hospital. His son is by far his son. What I mean is he's as much his father as he is his own man, but he can get people to do things for him in ways I couldn't ever get them to work. That's what he inherited from his dad.”

“Why'd you inherit it instead of him?”

“I'll tell you and what you're about to hear is honesty to my core.

Back when I knew his dad, a decision had to be made because things were terrible. We held a trial and people were going to die. You've never even begun to know what happens if we take someone to trial, but it's not good.

What happened is Gino was so tired physically from everything that someone had to step in. I stepped forward and did it for him. When that happened, without knowing it, power transferred because no one and I mean no one is allowed to do that. Because he loved me, I lived, and because he loved me, I inherited it.

What Gino did, was he put David in because I left. But, what he did was he told David not to tell me I was the power. I lived life without knowing and then, I needed Dave because of things that happened. I called him and that's when he let me know I was owed so much. That formed the bond because I knew rightfully he was the one that should have gotten it. I tried to give it to him, but then things happened and he's now laying in that hospital.”

“Oh my!” said Beck. “You had no idea?”

“No, it'd be like you and I going out nearly fifteen years ago and then splitting up and then you needing help from my son and you asking him for that help and you finding out a whole city is under your power. That's what happened.”

“That'd be overwhelming.”

“Yes, but since I'm being honest, I'll tell you some more background.

Before Gino and I had the relationship, I was with someone who was a billionaire's son. Things happened and he committed suicide. Because I needed help, I reached out to Gino and because of his attraction, he helped me. Until then, we knew each other on an acquaintance friend basis, but nothing like it became.

What I wanted was for Gino to get off the merry-go-round and to be lovers. At that time, he had a choice to make...the family, or me. He couldn't give up the family, so I moved on.

Right after that, I got together with another billionaire's son and we began an intense relationship. For six weeks, he was my everything, and then, one night, he had a car wreck and died. Instantly, it was over.”

“Oh no!”

“Yeah, it was such a freak accident, it was amazing. If you looked at it as you drove past, you'd not think it was life ending. He went off the road and hit a box culvert. The car had side impact bags as well as an air bag in the steering wheel. Because of the angle it hit, the steering wheel bag deployed and the side impact bag deployed almost simultaneously. The result was a one two punch that killed him. If it hadn't the steering column being driven into his chest would have.”

“Sounds like it was with a lot of force.”

“It was. But, because his heart was so damaged from the steering column, they can't tell if he had a heart attack at the wheel or not. What I do know is he was at the office and called me. He was complaining of a stomach ache, but he thought it was something he'd had for lunch. Looking back, I think he was having a heart attack, but because he was in his early 30's, I didn't think it was.”

“You poor thing! That's terrible!”

“Yeah, what his death did was it gave me the black widow complex where anyone I loved died, so I was really putting people distant to myself.

What I decided to do was go back to school to get a degree in something I could use in life and that's when I met my next lover. We were together for nine months. He was going to law school and graduated. As soon as he passed the bar exam, he took off to Los Angeles. So once again, I felt loss.

At that time, I was ready to end it all. To be honest, I was numb and without love to fill that void, I was just going through the motions.

I tried to end it, but a dear friend stopped me. She came and saved me and I got help. What I didn't get was a meaning and fulfillment to fill that void. What happened then, was life threw a curve ball and I met Chad who was underage. We began a relationship and rather than being fulfilling, it was a very sexual relationship where the numbness abated, but life became a circus of parties and substance abuses namely alcohol.

At that point, the best way I can describe it was life was reactionary. I felt like the ball in a pinball machine. Things would happen and rather than being in control, I was rolling with the flow. That all came crashing down when I got arrested.

Then, I faced going through a lot of legal stuff and eventually, it led me to going to prison.

What I can say is prison saved my life in so many ways I can't even tell you. At that time, A.I.D.S, was really rampant and because I got locked away, I was taken out of circulation. Because I was so far off into my addictions, going to prison took it away and I really could think clearly. Because I was away, I wasn't available to make any other poor decisions and be with anyone that could have easily killed me.

While in prison, I met Kevin and he saved my life. One of the men who is coming tonight is brothers with a man who was a cell mate early on in Kevin's prison experience. What that man taught Kevin was how to psychoanalyze situations and people. He passed on that gift and with patience, he worked with me and got me to seeing myself and what it took to make me tick.

We got out and we built up life. I was happy and then the beating happened which messed up my face. Because of things, Kevin went into a spin emotionally and he reached out. Unfortunately because I was in a hospital bed, the person who was there was a nurse with whom he had an affair.

For six months, I dealt with the surgeries, plastic surgeries, and the ordeal of putting life back together. When I got out, part of that developing was me finding my attractiveness again and I did so by doing drag. One night, at a drag show, Kevin met a guy that manipulated him and they began another affair. That went through last year and finally in November, I put an end to it.

Because of things, it split us apart but we tried counseling. Finally, in late December, we had an argument and I decided to end things. I told him to go home and pack and I went to Hawaii. When I got back, he wasn't packed and we argued. He hit me and that really ended things.

Fast forward to the last few weeks, I bought a house in South Carolina and met Steve. Now we're together and I'm feeling more with him than I've felt with anyone in this life.”

“Man!”

“Yeah, so you got my history. Not many have that, and that's a lot of history I've got to hide so people and news people can't find it. All of it can be used against me and none of it's complimentary.”

“Oh honey, I'm so sorry.”

“It's not been a bad life. It's been an experience that leads me up to this point. Now I'm head of a family which has sections in four states and soon to be seven. How I got here I don't know, but what I can say is I'm going to milk the cow to help Steve become Governor and then I'm going to slow this thing down so I can be playing the part of first lady to the state.”

She giggled. “Can't you come out?”

“I wanted to, but unfortunately, life threw another curve ball and CNN broadcasted me while I was in drag. An entire nation thinks I'm his girlfriend instead of his boyfriend. We'd come out, but the scandal that would have us in would be devastating to his political career. That's why I struck out at John like I did.”

John blushed and said, “I'm sorry. I had no idea.”

“No, but you wanted to use it against me and I couldn't let that happen to Steve.”

Beck said, “So you're walking a tightrope!”

“Yeah, but the good thing is Steve supports me on what I do. He doesn't like the potential I have of killing people, but he realizes there's going to be some bad with all the good I can do.”

Beck nodded and John said, “It's got to be tough. Anyone could blackmail you in a heartbeat and you'd have to either lash out or become a pawn in order to save him.”

“My gut instinct is to lash out. You didn't know that. Of course, you didn't know when you were throwing attitude what all I had at my disposal and you saw how fast I set the wheels in motion of handling you.”

“It was interesting because what you did wasn't what I expected.”

“Don't ever underestimate your opponent. That's the first rule when you go into things.

I've got to make these phone calls to get these guys here.”

I pulled out my cell phone and dialed my guy at the trucking terminal. “We're at the Clocktower Building in the penthouse. Come in a few at a time and use the parking lot. Tell the guys whom you are bringing in here that if they dare try to look like it's against their will, I'll have them killed in a heartbeat.”

“Ok, we'll be there. You want all these records brought there?”

“Yes, but take that limo to the warehouse and put that limo driver in the trunk. Make sure he can't get out of that trunk. If he can, then you put duct tape on him to the point he can't move. Don't kill him, but you make sure he looks like the Michelin man with that shit.”

“Ok, we'll have it done.”

I snapped shut the phone and then called my Kansas City guys. “Hi, I need you to go to the warehouse and get the limo. Take it to a junkyard and you compact that car and then shred it.”

“Ok, I'll get it done. Anything else?”

“Someone's going to be in the trunk. Pay him no mind.”

“Ok, will do.”

“When you're done, come to the Clocktower building.”

“Ok”

“Send all the New York guys and the rest of our guys here. We need them here pronto because we're going to have visitors and I want a show of force. Everyone is to bring their weaponry but don't display it in the lobby or the premises as there are surveillance cameras all over the place.”

“Some of the New York people were called there already. They're probably manning the surveillance. I do know one of them was told to play the part of door man.”

“Good. He never let on to me that's who he was. I'm glad to know he's one of ours.”

“Just thought I'd pass it along.”

“I'm glad. Thanks for the info.”

“No problem. I'll get things handled.”

I snapped shut the phone and said, “The door man is ours. Thank God.”

She smiled and said, “That's good to know!”

“Yeah, I never thought about it, but from what I hear, our guys are on surveillance too. That's a relief.”

“Anything you need us to do while we wait?”

“I'd love to ask a world of things, but it'd be in the lines of having coffee and edibles for all the guys, but that'd be way too much.”

“What do you need?”

“Do you know if there's a grocery or a department store near that'd be open?”

“I'm not sure. Why?”

“A good sized coffee pot and a lot of chicken would be good. Some Ritz crackers and chicken salad would be awesome, but a ton of chicken salad and several loaves of rye bread would be great.”

“How many guys?”

“Probably fifty and that's not counting the guys out at the trucking company or the guys from St. Louis. You might want to get a bunch of bags of ice and several cases of Coke.”

“Ok”

“Here's my debit card. Use it. When it asks for a pin number, put in 1007. It should get you plenty of money.”

“John, come on! I'll need you to help carry.”

She turned to me and said, “I'll get a lot of paper plates and plastic utensils. We'll need some Solo cups as well as coffee creamer and sugar.”

“Get some of the pink packets. While you're at it, get a case of Diet Coke. That's all I'll drink.”

“Ok, anything else?”

“No, you're doing super. Consider yourself on the payroll already. I'm so sorry to have to ask you to do this.”

“That's fine. I know you're stressed. It's a pleasure to help.”

“Thank you.”

They left out and I called after them. The door man is ours, so he should be able to let you back in. If not, tell him to call up. I'm sure somewhere here there's a phone which is for that purpose.”

“In on the kitchen bar under the edge.”

“Thanks!”

They left and while they were gone, I finished the tour of the apartment. From what I could see, we had the whole top floor. There were four bedrooms as well as an office besides the library. It wasn't much more welcoming than what we had. Everything was in bright white with the brass accents. I'm sure in the day time the place was blinding.

As I walked around, I felt an overwhelming desire to call Steve. I pulled out the phone and hit speed dial.

“Hey babe, how's it going?”

“Slow. I doubt if I'm home tonight.”

“Ok, I'm sorry I can't be there.”

“How's your day been?”

“Full. I just got done with a news briefing. I'm glad you told me what to expect for the day because a whole army of lawyers have showed up.”

“Don't speak to anyone.”

“I'm not. They're plaguing the Sheriff's department for copies of the reports so they can go find out whose homes have been damaged. Fortunately, the guys up here have gone out and repaired all the windows we know about.”

“Good.”

“How are things there?”

“The guy who I told you about is now working for us. His wife is too.”

“Really!”

“Well, I took what you said to heart and found a purpose for him. The good thing is I met his wife and she's a real super gal. I really like her and think she's going to be a great asset for us.”

“You surprise me so good sometimes.”

“I try.”

“How's Dave?”

“From what Little John said it's not good.”

“Oh damn. How's mom doing?”

“I've not had time to even begin to know. I've not seen her.”

“Ok, that tells me you're running ragged. “

“Yeah, what I have done is I got things moved to the penthouse and am now here. It's the whole top floor of a building called the Clocktower.”

“Is it nice?”

“Hon, for me to answer that would be for me to begin bitching. Let me just say is if I were a middle age balding man who dressed in leisure suits and like a lot of gold chains around my neck, then I'd be deliriously happy. Otherwise, it's fit for a rap star, but not for what I need it for. What we're going to have to do is put probably a million dollar rehab into a brand new apartment in order to get it up to standards which will be about fifty percent of what I would find nice.”

“Oh man, that's terrible!”

“You get the point. Here's what I'm looking at. All the floors are marble...click click click go your heels with a whole lot of echos. All the walls are bright white to the point evening light is blinding. I have no idea what daylight would even begin to do. I imagine I'll need sunscreen.”

He laughed and said, “Oh jeez.”

“Yeah. The accents they have here are all bright brass which probably went out in the late 80's. It's nice, but it looks like a friggin' doctor's office. Other than that, there's no walls in the living, dining, and kitchen and it's all open. Compound that with twelve foot tall windows with round tops and you get a sixteen foot tall ceiling that's also bright white. The ceiling fans are guess what color.”

“Bright white. It sounds hideous.”

“It is. The one thing it's got going for it is it's got a view of the ship yard, docks, and port which is awesome at night time, so I imagine the view during the day time is incredible. There's a balcony which is triangular and it's enough to have a dinner party for about 20, so I like it, but there's tan walls with a bright white railing. The tile out on the balcony is once again...”

“Bright white. Is it marble?”

“No, it's a huge man made material.”

“Good, it won't be slick if it gets wet.”

“What I do like about it is the view. One thing I don't do in buildings like this is I don't look down because I get a sick feeling. As long as I look out, I'm fine.”

“I understand. Most people get that way.”

“As I speak, our guys are on their way over. What I'm going to do is I'm going to grab them and get them to remodeling the place. It'll probably take a week, but we'll have it where it needs to be.”

“You're going to be there for a week!”

“No, hell no! I'll be home tomorrow, but it'll take a week for them to whip this place into being what I want. The good thing is it's got some potential, but I don't know what Little John spent on the place, but he got fucked.”

“He bought it?”

“Yeah. I'd say he bought it sight unseen simply because it has the view of the port. That's what I asked for besides a heliport for the helicopter. I don't know if I can keep it up there, but if not, I'll have to have a pilot down here as well as a chopper.”

“I'm sure you'll have several, won't you?”

“Yeah, but...”

“Use them. That's what they're there for.”

“Ok babe. I'm glad I called. Hearing your voice means a lot to me right now.”

“You sound lonely.”

“It's going to be fine, but I'm a far cry from writing a romance novel right now.”

“I understand. Use that balcony down there to do it. I'm sure that'd be nice.”

“That gives me an idea. I'll do it.”

“You didn't take your laptop?”

“No and I'm kicking myself for not doing it right now.”

“Well hon!”

“I knew I'd be busy. I have been but there's a lull in things right now and I'm standing in an apartment with no furniture and it's really stark. If I even had a television, I'd have it on CNN right now trying to see you.”

“Well, I'm glad to hear your voice. You sound really down.”

“I am, but it's because I'm so caught up in things that don't mean a lick of anything to me and I'm so far away from you that it's just not good for me now.”

“I can hear it in your voice. I do love you.”

“I love you too. That's what makes this hard.”

“Babe, we're going to have times like this. We know it, but let's pull the good from it we can and not let it get to us.”

“Ok, but....tell me about your day some more.”

“Ok, well, what I did was I went into town and the first thing I got asked was where you were. I told them you had prior business commitments and couldn't reschedule. Then, I used that time to do the pitch again on the drugs staying away from kids speech I'd planned to give at the McDonald's.

Then, I went down to the causeway and did the hand shake thing again. This time, there were a whole lot of tourists who decided to come down to be where the action was. I used it to make a brief statement about thinking about running for Governor. The camera man asked me a few questions and I used that time to tell him about our state needing jobs and made sure I put the word “Good Paying” in there.

Then, I got permission to go over with the cameraman again and we went to the blast zone. He filmed and from what I heard later, everyone was blown away from it back at CNN.”

“Good.”

“Then, because so many people were asking about you, I had them make a call to that vet and when I got back across the causeway, I went up to check on that dog.”

“How's he doing?”