by Finian Blake
“We were parked illegally and he was supposed to watch the car.” Lloyd said sounding disappointed.
“Oh, all that you are worried about is getting towed,” the paramedic said in a sarcastic voice. “You don’t care that he is shitting sparks. Just so you know they towed a car out of the area before we loaded you in the ambulance.”
“Shit, that will be another $200,” Lloyd said dejectedly.
“Don’t worry you will have time to work things out,” the paramedic said acidly. “The police are right behind us, so you won’t have to call around. They will stay with you until you are taken to the security ward. They said that you attacked a Senator’s security detail.”
“That was Cherry. We put her other security broad in the hospital yesterday,” Lloyd said with venom in his voice. The paramedic looked up past Lloyd’s head.
“Did you get that officer?” Lloyd struggled to look over his head to see a uniformed police woman.
“I guess that is how the broad knew about your partner Steve,” the officer said coldly. “That is why she Tasered him too. Now it all makes sense I will need to add that to my report.” The ambulance slowed making a sharp turn before stopping and backing up. No sooner was Lloyd unloaded than the other ambulance was backing in with Steve. The two officers talked with each other briefly and the police woman informed Steve that they would be held in the security ward until the DA could sort things out at which point Steve started screaming obscenities at Lloyd.
6.
PUSHING THE ENVELOPE
Henry was researching Four Diamonds Security when a short briefing note appeared on his screen mentioning an incident on the Capital steps. Henry scanned the report noting that the two perpetrators were taken to the Hospital. It wasn’t much, but there wasn’t much discrete information on Four Diamonds in the Washington DC area. He called a friend in the capital police and was flatly refused. Next he called a friend in security at the hospital finding out that the two perpetrators had been moved to the security wing. It was too difficult to get information. Henry decided to play a hunch and send Perry Church chief of security for Ardent Computers over to the hospital.
“Perry, go over to the hospital and see what you can find out about two patients that were checked into the security ward.”
“Names would help,” Perry said impatiently.
“That’s the problem. There was an incident on the Capital steps involving Four Diamond’s personnel and two of the perpetrators were taken to the hospital’s security ward. The problem is that I can’t pull up anything, but I have a suspicion that this may be related to last night.”
“In that case I would be happy to go,” Perry said coldly.
“Take someone with you and be careful they made that whole team of Russians quit.” Henry cautioned. Perry stormed out of the room, he was head of security and Salvador brought in a mercenary team without even consulting him. He walked back to his office calling the security team for a teleconference deciding to skip the pleasantries going to the meat of the matter.
“Does anyone have friends on the hospital’s security force?”
“I have an old acquaintance over there,” Sean volunteered. “Mike Moore and I were in the same class at the military police school. When we got out of the service there were no jobs available for police work so we went private.”
“Were you close enough to be able to ask a favor,” Perry asked.
“We hoisted our share of beer in Germany while we were training at Sembach Annex while we were in Germany,” Sean said cautiously.
“Good we need to do some snooping around over there,” Perry said. “See if he wants to get some lunch with us. Change in to casual clothes and I will have someone relieve you.”
“Will do,” Sean exclaimed with pleasure, since being a security guard was a bore. He was dying to get away from the grind. The most action was when those two intruders broke in, totally embarrassing the night crew. Sean knew that it would have been a totally different story had he been there. He had just returned from changing when Perry arrived. The two men drove down to a parking lot near the hospital and walked two blocks to the lobby. Sean Aghra found a phone and called his longtime friend Cyrus who was now head of security at the hospital. They agreed to meet in the hospital cafeteria. Sean stood to greet Cyrus as he walked up to the table.
“Cyrus I would like to introduce my boss Perry Church,” Perry rose to shake hands with Cyrus.
“It is a pleasure to meet you Sean has said many good things about you.” Perry smiled warmly. “Please forgive me, but we are here on urgent business and must be direct. You are holding two men in your security wing that we need to interview,” Perry shifted close lowering his voice. “You see; someone broke into our facility taking out the night shift guards accessing our main frame computer. We believe that these two might have some information about this event.”
“That sounds like a major…” Cyrus started to say.
“Cluster fuck,” Perry finished. “We are trying to keep this quiet so that our customers don’t find out about this.” Perry paused before continuing. “At least until we find out how much damage has been done. We haven’t reported this to the police because once we do it is subject to public record, and we can’t do that blindly.”
“So I need to ask you for a huge personal favor,” Sean continued for Perry. “We need to have a very private conversation with these two without anyone knowing about it.”
“You two have come at just the right time,” Cyrus lowered his voice motioning both men to move closer. “The phone call that came in just before yours was from the Capital Police they refused to authorize over time for the two officers that came with these two. They dumped them on me without discussion. I tried to tell them that I was short of help myself, but they just said that I have them. They are in the ER waiting for someone to take them up to the security ward.” Cyrus pulled out two sets of handcuffs that he had for the purpose of transport. “Their names are Lloyd Stanton and Steve Wanzer. Just tell the ER people that you are taking them to jail and haul ass.”
“What do you want for this” Perry asked not believing his luck.
“Just get them out of here. Make sure that they don’t show up wandering the halls,” Cyrus said bitterly. “You are the police and you will sign for them taking them into custody.”
“Done,” Perry said flatly. “Get the car and I will bring them out through the emergency entrance.”
Perry walked into the treatment room where the doctor was reviewing Lloyd’s chart. “I will take them from here, Doc.”
“I was told that we would be taking them to a security ward,” Doctor Stein said.
“Yes, I will be taking them to the security ward. These two attacked a Senator on the capitol steps and we don’t want to take any chances on them escaping,” Perry said sternly. “I was warned that if they escaped that I would be writing parking tickets until someone made a bigger screw up. Whether you approve or not I will personally take these two to their destination.”
The doctor picked up the phone and after a few minutes conversation turned to Perry. “All right there has been a terrible accident, so it will be a while before we have anyone to take them there.”
“Come on Doc I have to pick my kids up from school,” Perry pleaded.
“All right,” the doctor relented having two of his own children. “Take them to room five ten.”
Perry seated Lloyd in a wheel chair with the two plastic bags containing their personal possessions instructing Steve to push it. The doctor frowned at the arrangement but a nurse covered in blood came up to him dragging him down the hall. Perry wordlessly indicated the direction that Steve was to push the chair. They went a short distance down the hall to a small door with an exit sign over it.
“Hey,” Steve protested, “I thought that we were going to the security ward.”
“If you don’t shut up they will be treating you for a gunshot wound,” Perry said quietly pressing his gun into S
teve’s back handing him the keys to the hand cuffs. “Uncuff your partner and let’s go.”
“You can’t do this to us, we have rights,” Steve protested.
“You have the right to bleed if you don’t do exactly as you are told.” Perry struck Steve in the head firmly with the barrel of his gun. “Help your friend through that door and get in the back seat of the car.”
Steve and Lloyd had no doubts that Perry was serious, so they complied. Once inside the car Perry cuffed them together relaxing only when the car made the turn on to the Belt way.
“Gentlemen I am going to ask you some questions and you are going to give me some answers. If there is any bullshit about your rights I will dump you in the Chesapeake as crab bait. Lloyd remembered how Tom and Ted forced him to sit in a box of crabs and the pain after only a few minutes.
“You are one of those assholes from Four Diamonds,” Lloyd blurted out.
“No, but you have brought us to the topic that we are going to discuss,” Perry said lowering the gun. “It appears that our conversation will not be unpleasant. Please tell me about Four Diamonds.” Lloyd spent the rest of the ride over to Ardent Computers relating his initial experience with Four Diamonds. Perry appreciated the venom in Lloyd’s voice as he related his experience with Ted and Nadia which particularly interested Perry. Salvador’s instincts had been right on target. He was happy to have Ted and Nadia’s names to tack on to their faces.
“Steve, you have been silent,” Perry commented softly.
“That’s because Lloyd had the floor,” Steve said not offering elaboration.
“Do you have anything to add to Lloyd’s observations?”
“No, Lloyd pretty much covered it. He has a keen eye. I don’t believe that I can add to what he told you.” Steve said having a feeling that they were about to get into the middle of a feud.
“Well then, we will just have to go with your partner’s observations,” Perry said as they pulled into the garage of Ardent computers. Perry had a feeling that Steve was the smarter member of this team and decided to separate them. Both men were still in their hospital gowns Perry took the elevator to the top floor to where the ‘guest accommodations’ were, showing Steve into a modest one-bedroom apartment.
“Please make yourself at home,” Perry said taking Steve’s bag of possessions from him removing his clothes leaving his wallet and keys. “I will have these washed for you. I believe that the police are still looking for you and Lloyd. I suggest that you stay here.”
“That sounds good,” Steve agreed having a feeling that arguing would serve no purpose.
“If you need anything just pick up that phone and ask for what you want. We don’t have a laundry so we will have to send your stuff out.”
“Can I at least get some sweats? I am going to catch pneumonia in this thing.” Steve indicated the hospital gown.
“You’re the same size as a few of my guards. I think that we can manage something,” Perry said with a smile. “Lloyd is going to look over some satellite photos with me. We have beer in the fridge and Cable TV, just make yourself at home.”
Cherry was having coffee with Molly when Paul and Senator Ransom walked in the room holding their sides from laughing so hard.
“Wayne Haggard went purple with rage when he found out that he couldn’t buy enough of Hall Shipbuilding to gain control of the patents. He sold his shares in Titan Shipyards to make the purchase finding out that the Hall stock was unavailable and found out that the Titan stock was also unavailable when he tried to repurchase it. Who in the hell is watching your portfolio?” Winnie asked.
“We are buying the stock through several different companies in several different countries.” Cherry smiled holding up her satellite phone. “I placed an order to buy every available share of both Titan and Hall that hits the market. We have a hundred people watching for any stray shares of either company. At last report we own almost 70% of Titan and 40% of Hall. Offering two old shares for one new share. We will own 60% of the new company.”
“What do you plan on doing with the Hall stock,” Paul asked with a concerned look on his face.
“I would sell them back to you if you had the money, but you don’t have that kind of a liquid asset. I will give you the Proxies and you can show eighty percent stock holder approval to initiate the merger.” Cherry said taking Paul lightly by the hand. “Felecia’s designs are your main asset we can buy facilities from several sources at a better price.”
“That’s our baby,” Paul said sounding jealous.
“No, Felicia is your baby and your future.” Cherry corrected pointing her finger directly at Paul’s nose. “And you should be her future. As CEO of Hall Shipbuilding you should guarantee your ownership by putting all of the patents under both of your names. That way the only thing that can be commandeered is your physical facilities.”
“Are you telling us how to block your move,” Paul could not believe his ears.
“We depend on loyalty not on piracy,” Cherry laughed.
“What about Titan shipyards?”
“They screwed themselves by trying to do a hostile takeover having Ardent Computers hack you,” Cherry said reflectively. “Wayne Haggard had Salvador Ardent clone your computers to steal your designs and get your personal sex tapes to blackmail you, which Boris discovered and blocked. If you back out on us now we will make a modest profit and your company will be safe. Our group can easily live with that. If you work with us both of our groups can potentially make a shit load of money while screwing Titan and Ardent at the same time without doing anything illegal.”
“I like that last choice,” Paul said enthusiastically. “I need to call Felicia.”
“Felicia is trying to max out one of our mainframes with her design ideas as we speak,” Cherry said in an amused voice. “Boris introduced her to the program. He gave her a work station and she has been tearing it up ever since. I seriously believe that you will need to talk to her face to face to interrupt her. We will be heading that way as soon as Winnie finishes her lunch with the gun lobby.”
“Oh,” Molly exclaimed, “Wendell from the Gun Lobby called to cancel. It seems that he had a conflicting appointment and will reschedule when he corrects his calendar.” Molly hung her head laughing into her chest. “I think that the problem is that Wendell didn’t want to eat in the Congressional dining room. That is like hanging out a ‘no sale sign’. After that they just move on to the next congressman that they want to buy.”
“Very good Molly, you are doing a good job of learning Washington double speak,” Senator Ransom said brightly. “I have been informed that the Senate has adjourned for the weekend, so we can call it a day. Cherry can you take us back to the center?”
“The reporters are forming up by the congressional exit as predicted. I recommend that we use the public lobby and I will bring the car around front.”
Cherry called Paul the supervisor of the Capital police asking him to quietly beef up the security at the Congressional exit for the next ten minutes which he was happy to do. Cherry brought the limo to the front steps calling Rene to bring everybody out for a fast exit. The press moved to the congressional exit when they noticed the extra security and the group left virtually unnoticed.
Wayne Haggard and Marvin Belight were still brooding about all of the surprises that were dropped on them concerning the deal. Marvin guessed that Senator Ransom would want to avoid the congressional exit since the reporters were staking that out. He and Wayne were just setting up for a long watch when Cherry pulled up to the steps in the limo. Wayne called his chauffer while Marvin kept an eye on his fellow senator. Winnie led the group of four to the car with Rene watching the rear. The four people entered without hesitation just as Gordon pulled up to the curb in Wayne’s limo. Gordon loaded his two passengers and starting out to tail the Bentley. He found that tailing it was more difficult than he imagined.
Cherry pulled the Bentley smartly away from the curb speeding down to the first tu
rn making it on two wheels. Rene in the front passenger seat smiled broadly as she was forced back in the seat with the extreme acceleration. Cherry turned on the rear view camera and slowed to five miles an hour below the speed limit pulling into the right hand lane. Rene looked disappointed.
“I thought that you did not want anyone following us,” Rene could not hide the disappointment in her voice.
“Watch and learn,” Cherry said calmly pointing to the rearview camera as a Cadillac limousine came up rapidly from behind swinging wide to pass and suddenly swinging back behind the Bentley slamming on its brakes to avoid rear ending the Bentley. Cherry turned to Rene with a gleeful smile.
“I am going to lose our tail now.” Cherry said pushing the button on the phone which was answered after one ring.
“Gordon, please maintain a safe distance I would hate to be rear ended,” Cherry said seductively.
“I would love nothing better than to run into your rear end,” Gordon bantered back.
“Tell your boss that we are heading to the private terminal at Regan National. You may either follow or meet us there if we are not driving fast enough.” Cherry had all that she could do not to break out laughing.
“How,” Rene asked with honest admiration.
“After you took the Bentley, I struck up a conversation with Gordon. We got in the back seat of Wayne’s Caddy. I let him play with my tits and ‘bumped’ him off leaving his load on the seat where our darling Mister Haggard is now sitting.” Cherry’s gleeful pronouncement brought tears of laughter to everyone.
“I hope he doesn’t stick to the seat,” Molly said breathlessly, starting another round of unrestrained laughter. When they reached the security gate Cherry asked the attendant to allow the Cadillac in behind them. Everyone watched Wayne climb out of the Caddy wondering if he was going to stick to the seat.
“Rene take everyone to the helicopter and do the preflight,” Cherry said fighting for control. She turned to the Cadillac in time to hear an argument between Gordon and Wayne.
