Crown's Law

by Wolf Wootan

  “OK, OK. I’ll try and sweet-talk ’em a little longer. If they don’t put out, I’ll fire ’em. Get replacements! What’s that blonde’s name?”

  Bobby looked at a paper in front of him and answered, “Rebecca Rogers, aged 22. Straight A student.”

  “Yeah. If she loses the glasses, lets down her hair, she’d make a fine piece of ass. So . . . I’ll hire her. I can’t wait to partake of her delights! Now for number two. Maybe I should hire one of the men just to make it look good. What do you think?”

  Chapter 22

  Saturday, May 26, 2001

  Irvine, CA

  Chance and D’Orr were watching when Becky retrieved the bug from her coat pocket, but their eyes were focused on other parts of her body, not her hand. Once she had the bug in her hand, she began to sweat even more.

  Calm down! This is easy! Even if someone is watching, this should work. Just like I practiced.

  As she lowered her hand to her lap and began the tricky process of removing the plastic membrane, the bug fell from her slippery hands to the rug, near her right foot.

  Oh, shit! What now? I’ll have to bend down and get it without raising suspicion!

  Suddenly, she had an idea. She squirmed in her chair, and in the process, her hand knocked her pencil off the table. She forced herself to put a look of consternation on her face and acted flustered. She leaned down to pick it up. The top of her blouse fell away from her body and the two men in the security booth zoomed in and looked into the opening created. They never saw her hand flick under the table and stick the bug to the underside of the conference room table.

  “Yeah, that blonde has great cleavage!” smiled Chance. “She could have a great future here!”

  Becky straightened up, laid her pencil on the table, and wiped her sweaty hands again. Then she finished off her test and checked the wall clock again. She had 30 minutes left to kill. Two of the men had finished the first nine problems of their tests also, but were still struggling with the last page: Problem 10. Becky let her mind wander. If this was the executive conference room, there must be executive offices on this floor—probably just down the hall. She still had one bug left—not counting the one in she’d stuffed into her bra.

  You can probably hear all sorts of secrets from an executive office! she mused, a wicked smile on her lips.

  ***

  Sam had gone to his van to wait and had exchanged his earplug for a more comfortable set of padded earphones. For the last hour and a half he had played with the volume knob, but had picked up only breathing, pencils scratching, paper rustling, and an occasional cough. At 11:33 A.M., he heard a voice for the first time. It was Becky’s.

  “Excuse me, miss. I need to use the ladies’ room. Could you direct me to one, please?”

  “Certainly, Ms. Rogers. Leave your test booklet on the table. Go out that door and turn right. The facilities are at the end of the hall, next to the elevators.”

  “Thank you. I’ll be right back,” said Becky.

  Sam heard a door open and close, then silence. He turned the gain up and heard a thumping sound. He adjusted the knob again, then it hit him. He was listening to Becky’s heartbeat—and it was way too fast! What was going on? Why was she so excited? Say something, Becky!

  ***

  When Becky closed the conference room door, she looked to the right and spotted the ladies’ room. She glanced to the left and saw doors along both sides. If there were any executive offices, they would be down that way—probably on the outside wall so they would have windows for the big wheels. She was so nervous now that she thought her heart was going to jump right out of her chest! At the moment, there was no one in the hallway. After all, it was Saturday. Most likely, none of the top management was at work today. She had to hurry if she was going to do something. The guard would become suspicious if she was gone too long.

  She turned left and walked rapidly down the hall, reading the nameplates on the office doors. When she got to an office whose nameplate read William Bryce, CEO, she stopped and checked the hallway again.

  Bingo! The CEO’s office!

  Then she froze! They’re bound to have security cameras in the halls, so they’ll see me going in here! Shit! What should I do? What would Sam do? Maybe I shouldn’t do this!

  ***

  A few minutes earlier in the security control room, Chase observed, “Look, the cute blonde is leaving the room. Probably going to take a pee. If I hurry, I can get up to four in time to bump into her coming out of the john. See her up close and personal. Be right back!”

  He jumped up and left the room, heading for the elevators.

  ***

  Becky was so nervous by now that she really did need to pee! She looked back down the hall toward the ladies’ room and decided she would never make it that far before she wet her pants.

  A CEO’s office must have a bathroom, right? I’ll just go check it out. If it doesn’t, I’ll have to use a wastebasket!

  She opened the door, went in, then closed the door behind her.

  ***

  In the control room, when Chase left, D’Orr started watching the monitor that showed the hallway so he could witness the encounter between Chase and the blonde. He saw the blonde woman go the opposite way from the restrooms.

  Stupid blonde’s going the wrong way! Uh oh, she just went into Bryce’s office! I’d better call Chase and let him know. He should check that out.

  D’Orr saw Chase get off the elevator and sidle over to the restrooms as he dialed Chase’s cell phone number. There were no cameras in Bryce’s office (Bryce didn’t allow them), so he had no idea what was going on in there.

  ***

  Becky’s bladder was about to let loose. She opened a door, but it was filled with filing cabinets and computer equipment. She dashed to the other door and found the restroom. In addition to the usual amenities, it had a glassed-in shower. At the moment, she was only interested in the toilet.

  After she was through, she washed her hands and checked herself in the mirror, then realized that she had left her glasses on the conference room table. No problem. She only needed them for reading.

  Now, to find a place to plant the bug and get back to the conference room. Hmm. There’re probably no cameras in here in the restroom—they wouldn’t dare, would they? With the door closed though, the bug wouldn’t work too well for conversations in the office proper. I’ll have to plant it in there, or not at all.

  She flushed the toilet and turned to leave the bathroom when she heard a man’s voice call out, “Who’s in here? Anybody here?”

  ***

  Sam was becoming more nervous by the second, then he finally heard the toilet flush, followed by a man’s voice.

  What the hell? What’s a man’s voice doing in the ladies’ room? Where the hell is she? Say something, Becky! Let me know what’s going on! Dammit!

  ***

  Becky froze when she heard the man’s voice.

  Who’s that? What do I do now? she thought in a panic. I can’t stay in here! He undoubtedly heard the toilet flush. I’ll just have to bluff my way out somehow! Shit! Why did I do this?

  She opened the bathroom door and stepped out into the CEO’s office area, smoothing her skirt as if she belonged there. A man in a gray suit and maroon tie was standing in the office. He had a narrow, bird-like face with a thin, brown mustache—hair thin on top, but not gray. Becky thought his brown eyes were beady.

  “What are you doing in here?” he asked gruffly as he gave her body the once over. She looked even more luscious to him up close and in the flesh.

  Becky trembled a bit, but managed to say, “I’m sorry, Mr. Bryce, but I had to use the bathroom real bad and I left my glasses in the conference room so I couldn’t find the ladies’ room so I hoped that I’d find one in here.” She ran all of her words together without punctuation. “Lucky for me, I did.”

  Chase said, “The ladies’ room is down the hall the other way. How could you have missed it?”

/>   “I told you. I left my glasses in the testing room—I’m here taking a test—and I guess I got confused.”

  She squinted to indicate how blind she was.

  “Well,” he said, “I suppose things happen. I’m not Mr. Bryce, though. I’m Mr. Chase. I’m Director of the Testing Division, and I’m the one doing the hiring.”

  He gave her a wicked, toothy grin.

  Dirty old man! she thought. You remind me of my stepfather. His beady little eyes are like lasers! He’s trying to X-ray me! Asshole!

  He continued, “If you do well on the test, you could be working for me. Opportunity for advancement here is quite good, if you have career aspirations in this field. You could be working right under me in no time!”

  Yeah, I bet! I understand that double entendre! thought Becky.

  “How interesting. I do want to find the right company. I have applications in at several other places. But I think there’s room for women at the top, don’t you? Someday, I intend to break the glass ceiling!”

  Becky walked behind the huge, mahogany executive desk and plopped down in the plush leather swivel chair. She leaned back in the chair and her skirt hiked up a few inches, showing Chase a lot of leg. He ogled her legs shamelessly, just what Becky wanted.

  “I’ll be in a chair and office like this someday,” she said with conviction.

  She suddenly sat up, and as she did, he failed to see her slap the bug under the kneehole of the desk and plant it firmly on the underside of the desk.

  Becky stood and said, “Well, thank you, Mr. Chase. I’d better get back to the conference room and finish my test.”

  “Ah, yes. I suppose you should.”

  He walked Becky back to the conference room, and she left him standing in the hall as she went back to her chair and opened her test booklet. She had not decided what to do about Problem Number 10 yet, but she finally just put a question mark on it. She didn’t want them to know how much she really knew about those equations. Then, even though it wounded her ego to do so, she flipped to Problem Number 9 and changed her answer, making it wrong. She did the same with Problem 3. Even though she had never intended to take a job here, she wanted her test results to be so bad that they would have a hard time justifying calling her in for an interview. She wanted nothing more to do with the horny Mr. Chase!

  At twelve noon, everyone’s test booklets were collected, and the group was escorted down to the lobby. They were all offered a free lunch in the Dynology cafeteria, but Becky declined, saying she had another appointment. She dashed down the front steps to her white VW, and before she could unlock the door, her cell phone rang.

  She fished it out of her shoulder bag and put it to her ear and heard Sam’s voice say, “What happened in there, Becky?”

  “I’ll tell you at lunch. Where do you want to meet?” Becky answered.

  “How about the Italian place in Lake Forest? Just past the El Toro Y.”

  “Right.”

  “See you there.”

  Sam saw Becky’s bug zoom out of the parking lot before he could get his van started.

  Chapter 23

  Saturday, May 26, 2001

  Lake Forest, CA

  As Sam drove into D’Angelo’s parking lot, he spotted Becky’s VW. He parked next to her car and walked quickly into the restaurant, spotting her in a back booth by a window that had a view of the patio. Out on the patio, Italian-style red and green umbrellas shaded several tables. He strode over and sat down opposite her. Becky had a pad of quad paper in front of her and was furiously writing equations. She looked up and smiled, her jitters long gone.

  “Now, young lady, I . . .”

  “Just a minute, Sam. Let me finish putting this stuff on paper before you start yelling at me,” interrupted Becky.

  She was writing down the equations from Problem 10 while they were still fresh in her memory, not that they were likely to fade.

  Sam picked up a menu and fumed.

  “This is no time to be doing homework, Beck! I want to know . . .”

  Becky said, “Shh!” as she held up a finger.

  He fumed some more, read the menu. The waitress came to take their order. She had on a short, colorful skirt and a white peasant blouse that exposed a lot of cleavage. That cheered Sam up a bit.

  Sam gave her an obvious body scan, then said, “I’ll have sausage and peppers with linguini and a glass of house red. Lot’s of garlic bread.”

  The waitress smiled at him, then looked at Becky, eyebrow arched. Becky said, without looking up, “I’ll have the same.” She glanced up at Sam and added with a sheepish smile, “Make my drink a Sprite.”

  He scowled at her. She shrugged and went back to her writing. After a moment, she put down her pen.

  “There,” she exclaimed. “I wanted to make sure I got those equations down on paper. Now, you can chastise me.”

  Sam had cooled off some, so he simply said, “Tell me about it.”

  She did. He let her finish without comment.

  Then he had his say. “Dammit, Beck! Don’t ever try and talk me into something like this again! What possessed you to go into the CEO’s office?”

  “Well,” replied Becky, “it was sort of by accident. I really did want to plant that second bug for you, so I just wandered down the hall reading door signs like I was looking for the ladies’ room. In case there were cameras, like you taught me. Then, I got so nervous that I really had to pee! I hoped the CEO’s office would have a bathroom, so I just dashed in. Luckily, it did!”

  “So, you went ahead and planted that bug while that Chase guy was watching you!” exclaimed Sam. “Why, for Christ’s sake?”

  “Calm down, Sam! I planted the bug with my hand, just like you taught me. Remember, Sam, he was a dirty old man and his beady little eyes were not looking at my hands!” smiled Becky.

  “Beck! What are you saying?”

  “You know what I’m saying. After all, he didn’t know I was underage. He thought I was 22 and fair game.”

  Sam was embarrassed having this discussion with Becky. Mostly, though, he was furious at Chase. He considered paying the guy a visit and pounding his head to mush.

  Becky giggled, “I sure feel sorry for the woman who gets that job. If there is a glass ceiling for women in that company, she’ll get a good view of it—from her back!”

  “Becky!”

  “Well, that’s my assessment. But let me get to a more interesting subject. It’s actually quite mystifying. These equations I wrote down,” she said as she pointed to the pad of paper in front of her, “represent Problem 10 on the test. Don’t flinch, I’ll try and keep it simple.”

  “Thanks.”

  “The first nine questions were quite simple, and covered areas of math one might expect from a scientific testing company. This Number 10 is off the wall. It’s a set of simultaneous polynomials, but at least one, maybe more, of the equations is missing. As presented, it’s unsolvable.”

  “Becky, I thought you were going to use English!” said Sam.

  “Sorry. It’s hard to simplify this stuff. In a nutshell, I think it got on the test by accident. But now here’s the zinger. These equations have nothing to do with testing. They deal with fluid mechanics, friction in venturis, stuff like that. What would Dynology be doing with math like that? Some of it is quite clever,” Becky went on.

  “What’s fluid mechanics? Oil changes?” asked Sam with a grin.

  “You really don’t mean that, do you?” laughed Becky.

  The waitress arrived with their food and they ate in silence until she moved away to another table.

  Becky continued, “I’ve been searching my brain to place what those equations are all about. It finally dawned on me.”

  Sam took a sip of his wine and said, “Something too deep for me to understand, right?”

  “No. These equations could represent a jet flow engine using water—a fluid, at least—as the propellant,” explained Becky.

  “So? Give me an example,”
shrugged Sam as he took a fork-full of food.

  “Like an engine for a submarine. A very quiet submarine.”

  Sam took a gulp of his wine as he pondered Becky’s statement.

  “Why would that place be designing submarine engines?” Sam finally said, more rhetorically than a question to Becky.

  “Exactly,” she replied. “They wouldn’t. The question is, where did they get these equations?”

  “Good question, Beck. We’ll have to kick that around. Maybe we’ll pick up something on the bugs you planted to help us figure it out. Which reminds me: Tell me again why you put yourself in such danger to plant that bug in the CEO’s office? I’m still not happy about that!”

  “I thought you would be pleased with me for being so innovative! Instead, you’re busting my chops!” said Becky, her eyes becoming moist.

  “Aww, Beck! I’m sorry! It’s all my fault anyway. I was crazy to let you even go in there,” said Sam, patting her hand.

  “I wanted to do it, Sam! I wanted to help you out. I like working on your cases with you,” she sniffed.

  “I know, but analyzing cases with me is a bit different than you using your body to distract a dirty old man while you do slight of hand! That really disturbs me!”

  “You have to face it, Sam. Look at my body! I’m not a little girl in pigtails and a pinafore anymore! I know you like to think of me as a little, naive child without any knowledge of sexuality, but remember my history! I was an expert on dirty old men before you even met me! And my sister was a hooker!” exclaimed Becky. “I didn’t plan it to be that way in the CEO’s office. I just took advantage of the situation!”

  Sam’s face turned red. He didn’t like discussing sexual things with Becky. That’s the one area of being a father to her that he felt very uncomfortable about. She was a young woman now . . . and he hated to admit it.

  “OK, Beck. I said I was sorry. You did real well. Fantastic, in fact! But don’t think we’ll be doing anything like this again real soon,” he said after a long pause.