Claire Gulliver #02 - Washington Weirdos

by Gayle Wigglesworth

  “Jack and Doug.” She read off their name tags as she shook hands with each.

  “I’m so sorry you’ve been kept waiting but we’re running a little over. Neil Pinschley, our Chief Financial Officer, is just finishing, and then everyone will break for a few minutes before the meeting resumes. As soon as they break, I’ll take you in to introduce you to the Lickmans. They’re so excited about meeting you. You are really special to this group of people as I’m sure they’ll tell you themselves in a moment.”

  Then she changed the subject inquiring of Claire, “How was your flight? Are you comfortable at the hotel?”

  Claire smiled. “Fine, fine. Everything and everyone was perfect. I’m getting spoiled riding in first class. I don’t know if I’ll be able to adjust to steerage the next time I take a trip.”

  “Good. Good.” Suzanne laughed then returned to the agenda. “Now, after the break there will be a presentation from Wiley Blackford. He’s one of our senior vice presidents and he’s the Director of Safety and Security for Vantage. After his presentation he will introduce each of you and then open the discussion to the Board. I’m sure there will be questions. Don’t worry; it will be very informal at this point. If someone asks something you can’t answer, just refer those questions to Wiley. I suspect they will have lots of questions on this subject. Wiley has a lot to explain.”

  She looked at each of them and seeing no questions, continued. “After Wiley’s presentation we’ll all adjourn to the Executive Dining Room for lunch, and after lunch we will continue back in the boardroom with a presentation of the new advertising campaign. I think you may enjoy that. Then it will be over.”

  Just then the young woman who had ushered Claire upstairs poked her head in the room and nodded at Suzanne.

  “Okay, they’re on break. Follow me please.”

  David Lickman was a pleasant looking man with white thinning hair and a tanned face and scalp. He was dressed expensively in a charcoal gray suit, snowy white shirt and attractively patterned red, black and white tie. He looked like an actor who was perfectly cast in the role of a CEO. He was very gracious and greeted them warmly before turning to introduce them to his wife, MiMi.

  Claire felt as if she had been enveloped in a warm hug even though Mrs. Lickman had only clasped her hands and smiled at her. She liked Mrs. Lickman immediately. She looked like a very stylish grand-mother, slightly round and kind of short. Her hair was short and fluffy; its natural silver didn’t look as if it had been introduced to a bottle of hair color. She wore a light mauve suit with burgundy shoes and gold jewelry. And while her manner was warm, her eyes radiated her intelligence. MiMi Lickman had an unusual role in Vantage Airline, as Claire had discovered when she researched the Lickmans. MiMi’s father had started the airline and passed the reins to David on retirement. However, he continued to provide guidance to his son-in-law through control of the large block of stock he retained and when he died the stock was left to MiMi so she could have a say in the management of the company. While many women might have abdicated the voting rights to their husband, MiMi had not. She had become involved as her father had wished her to. And apparently her husband appreciated her involvement in the business.

  The Lickmans were reported to enjoy a unique relationship of friendship, respect and love. They were reputed to be a happy, devoted couple and their track record in managing the airline included conservative but innovative actions that paid off.

  “Neil, let me introduce you to our guest of honor.” David Lickman gestured to a younger man as he came into the boardroom. “Claire, this is Neil Pinschley, Vantage’s Vice Chairman and CFO. Neil is my right hand man. I sleep better each night knowing he’s here for Vantage.” He patted Neil’s shoulder fondly.

  “Neil, this is Claire Gulliver.”

  “Claire, I can’t tell you how glad I am to meet you. Thank you so much for coming to our meeting. Vantage Airlines owes you a debt it can never repay.” He looked earnestly into her eyes; his intensity embarrassed her.

  Neil was handsome, self-assured and outgoing and, except for the slight tick she saw controlling his left eyelid, perfect in almost every way.

  Claire continued to study him while David introduced Neil to Jack and Doug and then another man joined them. David went through the intro-ductions once again. This time he told them how Wiley Blackford, Senior Vice President and Director of Safety and Security would be explaining to the Board about the incident and describing what steps had been taken to correct the breach of their security.

  Wiley said soberly, “And I’ll be sweating the questions. They love to make me squirm.” He was a big man, probably six foot four inches, and while easily well over two hundred pounds, there didn’t appear to be an ounce of fat on him. His military bearing gave his conservative suit the look of a uniform. His large coffee colored hand swallowed Claire’s in his grasp. “They’re going to be successful today. I squirm every time I think about the what ifs. I thank you very much for your brave actions.”

  Wiley’s admiration shone from his eyes.

  She demurred, “Remember, I was on that flight. I was trying to save my own skin.”

  Suddenly the Board members were taking their seats. Wiley seated Claire next to him at the large oval table. The water pitchers, the glasses and the little bowls of mints, sitting at intervals down the middle of the table, were filled and waiting. In front of each person lay a little stack of papers, an agenda, a yellow lined tablet and a couple of sharpened pencils.

  The faces turned her way were expectant. Claire felt their curiosity picking over her. She took a sip of water, her mouth suddenly dry with nerves. Neither Jack, nor Doug looked concerned and she envied them their panache.

  David Lickman called the meeting to order and for the benefit of the guests introduced each member. Claire tried to concentrate so she could remember who was who, noting each one on the list of attendees provided for her with the agenda. Some registered well, the graceful, fifty-something Asian American woman, Bernice Eng-Smith, who was Vantage’s Director of Customer Service and, of course, George Warton the former senator from Maryland. There was a Robert Pollack, who needed no announcement that he was retired military, his whole body screamed it, and a stunning woman who was apparently the head of her own public relations firm. As David Lickman moved around the table Claire gave up keeping the Board members fixed in mind, resorting instead to nodding and smiling while she tried to read the names on the badges pinned to their lapels.

  When Wiley began his presentation, Claire was intrigued with the story he told. It wasn’t a new story for her. She had been there. But somehow Wiley’s factual accounting became a suspenseful drama.

  “Excuse me, Wiley.”

  Claire thought the woman who spoke was the one in the public relations business and found her name, Katherine Gilford-Merrith, on her list.

  “I don’t understand about this Carol Daley. How did she explain her actions? How could she have so flagrantly ignored our safety rules? Why would she allow that woman to pass through to the boarding area without the proper screening?”

  Wiley looked very uncomfortable. “Good question, Katherine. One we asked ourselves. Unfortunately, we will probably never hear the answer. Ms. Daley left early that day, shortly after this group was boarded and the plane had pulled back from the gate. Naturally, as soon as her role in this was revealed we conducted an all out search for some answers from her. But too late!”

  He looked around the room, his eyes focusing on Katherine. “That day there was an incident in the Tube Station near her house. You might have heard about it? Two groups of rival football fans had a rather severe ruckus. Three people were killed, one died later in the hospital and about twenty were injured to varying degrees. One of the dead was Carol Daley. She was apparently in the wrong place at the wrong time. She never made it home. And we never got the chance to question her.”

  Shock appeared on Katherine’s face; this whole incident had just become more real for her.
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br />   Claire felt a wave of sadness wash over her. Somehow when she agreed to come she hadn’t thought about it all being dredged up again.

  Carol Daley, the Vantage Customer Service Manager, who met them at Heathrow, had been a godsend for Claire just when Rosa refused to have her computer X-rayed at security for fear it would damage the hard drive. Then to complicate matters, Rosa’s battery was dead. Had Claire been a more experienced traveler she would have known Rosa needed to keep her adapter plug with her so she could plug into an electrical outlet to boot up the computer for the security check. But Rosa had packed the adapter, relying on the fickle battery. Claire thought she was going to have to leave Rosa and the computer in London until Carol pulled strings to get them through security.

  It was only later she had realized what a disservice that favor had really been.

  She remembered how she had become nauseous when she learned what had happened to Carol, but then it was only one of many things which had that effect on her during that time.

  Neil Pinschley looked sharply at the attractive Asian cast woman. “Bernice, she was one of your people, wasn’t she? What’s your explanation of Carol’s behavior?”

  Bernice Eng-Smith spoke calmly. “Carol Daley was one of our best senior Customer Service Managers. Ordinarily she was used to assist our most important customers. No one knows how she got involved with this Springer tour group. Frequently she would get a request directly from a senior executive without going through the usual channels and when that happened she usually reported those to her supervisor either before or after she took care of the situation.”

  “Are you suggesting that a senior executive of Vantage Airlines instructed her to break security rules?” Neil was outraged. “Wiley, have you had any indication of this?”

  Wiley shook his head as Bernice continued, “No, of course I’m not accusing anyone. I’m just explaining how Carol worked.

  “One of the ladies on duty in the Advantage Club that day said Carol did receive a phone call before hurrying out. The timing was such that we assume she went directly out to the check-in counter and connected up with the Springer tour. However, there was no indication as to who the call was from or even if it had anything to do with the tour.”

  Bernice continued in her calm voice. “As you know, delicate situations develop frequently and this group of employees is prepared to fix whatever is wrong.

  “Actually, I remember that one of our people took care of one of your clients for you once, didn’t they, Katherine? Some emergency situation you had in New York?” She waited for Katherine’s agreement. “That’s their job, solving problems. Ensuring the customer is being served appropriately. That’s the Vantage way.”

  She paused, looking around the table, then said firmly, “Carol Daley was one of our best. We can’t conceive how this happened. All of her colleagues and the people she worked with over the past years had nothing but respect for her. They are devastated at what happened to her.”

  The room was silent, absorbing Bernice’s information.

  “Katherine,” Wiley addressed her in a respectful tone, “Do you have any more questions, or shall I continue?”

  Katherine gestured turning both hands up. “Please go on.”

  Wiley continued with his story, pausing now and then to answer another question. But Claire’s mind had drifted off. She knew this story and frankly, she didn’t really want to hear it again. It haunted her, all the questions, all the what ifs. Looking back she wondered why they just didn’t go home when things started going wrong on that tour. But then it was so subtle, even though now it looked obvious. It wasn’t like all of a sudden she knew they were in danger. She kept thinking she was overreacting. She thought experienced travelers knew how to deal with these types of incidences.

  She felt a shiver down her spine. It wasn’t like that man in the park last night. That wasn’t subtle. That was an out and out attempt on her life.

  She felt her resolve stiffen. She wasn’t going to be stupid again. She was not staying. She would explain to the Lickmans over lunch. They would understand. The incident last night was a warning. This time she would heed it.

  “And, as you all know the fate which befell Pan Am subsequent to the Lockerbie incident, I’m sure you understand our gratitude to Claire Gulliver for piecing this together and refusing to be intimidated. She brought that plane to a halt on the runway and for that Vantage Airlines will be eternally grateful.” Wiley stood up clapping, as did the other Board members.

  That brought Claire’s attention back to the meeting. Her cheeks turned pink as she reluctantly got to her feet. MiMi hurried around the table and gave her a big hug.

  David Lickman walked up to her and put his arm around her shoulders and faced the group. “As Chairman and President of Vantage, I would like to echo Wiley’s words. And I would like to present Claire a small token of esteem from Vantage.” He nodded at his wife, “My dear,” as MiMi handed Claire a beautifully wrapped box.

  Claire’s fingers tripped over the wrapping but finally she got to the velvet box, which she opened to find a beautiful gold and diamond Cartier watch. MiMi reached in and took it out of the box, turning it over so Claire could see it was inscribed – CG, Vantage Airlines thanks you.

  Claire was speechless. Her fingers trembled on the clasp so much that finally she held out her wrist so MiMi could fasten it for her.

  “So, let’s move into lunch, shall we? We can continue our discussion there.” David cavalierly took MiMi’s arm on one side and Claire’s on the other and guided them towards the dining room.

  “I can’t tell you how thrilled I am with the watch. I will cherish it.” Then she leaned around David to better see MiMi. “But, MiMi, I’m so sorry to tell you I can’t come to your house party this weekend. I’m leaving for the coast as soon as I can get on a plane.”

  “Oh, dear, have you had an emergency?” Her genuine look of distress was too much for Claire’s conscience and her polite little lie withered on her tongue.

  “Well, not exactly. No.” She paused groping for something to cover her hasty retreat. “Well, I had an incident on the Mall last night, and frankly, listening to Wiley I realized I had had so many opportunities to avoid being involved last spring but I never saw them. And now I’m saying to myself, don’t do that again. Just go home.”

  ”Incident? What kind of incident?” David’s authoritative voice didn’t leave room for waffling.

  “I was mugged.”

  MiMi gasped. “Oh my dear, how awful. Did you lose all your money?”

  “Well, it was a little more serious than that. He had a knife. I’m pretty sure he meant to kill me.” She couldn’t stop the shiver up her spine at the memory of the look in his eyes.

  “But obviously he didn’t. Why?” David demanded the details.

  “Well, actually, Jack came to my rescue. He had come by the hotel and when he learned I was heading down the Mall, he followed and caught up with me just about the time the mugger attacked.” She tried to maintain her calm demeanor as she could see how upsetting this news was to MiMi. “Anyway, he saved me but the mugger got away. So I think it would be wise for me just to play it safe and go home.”

  David nodded gravely as he indicated the place at the table for Claire, on his right side. She felt relieved at having told them, knowing that after lunch she could be on her way home.

  Claire laid the crisp white napkin on her lap and turned to answer a question put by a pleasant man on her right. He was one of the Directors whose name badge she couldn’t see without twisting obviously in front of him.

  The dining room was rich with dark wood, light walls and attractive artwork. The staff served unobtrusively. First came a bowl of luscious pumpkin bisque, followed by a Greek Salad accompanied by flaky hot rolls. The conversation flowed around the table, multiple conversations cohering into a single topic; then fragmenting again. She was pleasantly surprised when a beautiful Dover Sole was laid in front of her. She found it tasted e
ven better than it looked, and she did a fair job of demolishing it between conversations.

  One of the gentlemen, Cliff Denning, across the table had spent a great deal of time in San Francisco and was enjoying telling her about some of the finer restaurants he had visited there.

  “Have you ever been to Bill’s? It’s a little hamburger joint out on Clement. Probably the best burgers I’ve ever had,” clearly boasting of his knowledge of the hideaway.

  She smiled. “And his garden? Have you been there in the spring when he has the garden filled with orchids? I grew up not far from there. Even now my mother and I have to go for an occasional burger fix.”

  He was so pleased; it was as if he found she was related to him. He wanted to tell everyone. But no one else had heard of Bill’s and apparently didn’t even think they were missing anything.

  Claire knew the meal was almost over when the little dish of ripe berries arrived in front of her with a dollop of heavy cream. She didn’t even think of demurring, as she thought they were the perfect ending to a wonderful meal.

  Just before they left the dining room David leaned over and whispered, “Claire, I’d like you to stay a few minutes after the meeting is over, if you would?”

  She nodded, wondering what he wanted. “Of course.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  Claire applied a fresh coat of lipstick, then couldn’t help twisting her wrist to better admire the beautiful watch she saw reflected in the mirror. She was thrilled. She had never owned anything so extravagant. And yet, despite the lavish praise heaped on her, she really didn’t think she was deserving of it. She had really only done what anyone would have done in the same situation.

  She gave one last tweak to a lock of hair which wanted to go its own way and then left the ladies room. She promised to meet with Mr. Lickman and as soon as she was finished with him she was going to find Suzanne and have her get her on the next flight home. And it certainly didn’t have to be a seat in first class, she resolved; she was more than accustomed to sitting in coach. She admitted to being a little disappointed about missing the Vietnam Memorial, but she would come back another time. Right now she was more interested in getting home safely.