Date: Tue, 7 Nov 2000 11:41:57 -0800 (PST)
From: Orrin Rush <orrinrush@yahoo.com>
Subject: Lifeguard Story
Disclaimer: The following is a work of fiction. If you are
offended by graphic descriptions of homosexual acts, go
somewhere else.
Copyright c 2000 by Orrin C. Rush. All rights reserved.
Neither this story nor any parts of it may be distributed
electronically or in any other manner without the express,
written consent of the author.
This is a work of fiction, any resemblance of the characters
to anyone living or dead is pure coincidence and not
intended. They are all products of the author's imagination.
--------------------------------------------------------------
THE LIFEGUARD
Chapter 29
We were loaded and ready for takeoff around noon on Friday.
On orders from Bob, the family was split up. Tina, Annie and
Kevin on one plane, Eric and I on the other. Two security
men on each plane.
Our plane was the first to take off. Jason ran the engines
up to a scream before releasing the brakes. We shot forward,
then up. Ricky and his partner were wide eyed.
When we reached cruising altitude, Eric stretched out, his
head in my lap. I watched the other two. I noticed Ricky's
hand go out toward his partner, but he caught himself and
retracted it. I smiled. Nothing needed to be said.
There was a welcoming comittee at the hangar. A slightly
different one than usual. Bob was clearly in charge.
He tried to lead us directly to waiting cars, but I insisted
on giving each of the pilots and each of the guards either a
hug or a handshake and my sincere thanks. The rest of the
family did the same thing.
We got into the waiting cars, Eric and I in one, the three
kids in another. Bob rode with us.
"We're not taking any chances until some arrests are made,"
he informed us. "We've got a few things to talk about this
afternoon, so if you don't mind, I'll go home with you."
The gates had been repaired and were closed. What used to be
open ironwork was now a solid steel plate, adorned with some
wrought ironwork, but nevertheless looked impervious. When
opened, they revealed a huge concrete pylon in the middle of
the driveway. We drove around it and on up to the front of
the house. It too had been completely restored.
Mary opened the door when we drove up. At least, she hadn't
quit yet. She gave us each a silent hug.
"Enough of this funereal bullshit," I said. "We're home,
we're safe, and it's time to get on with our lives.
Everybody lighten up!"
"While I've got you all together," Bob said, "There's a favor
I'd like to ask. For the next few days, please don't leave
any of your cars unattended, and make sure they're locked
up. That's all."
We all nodded and went inside. The kids went in one
direction and we went in another. Eric led Bob into the den,
and I stopped to chat with Mary. She needed reassurance.
When I rejoined them, Eric and Bob were definitely lightened
up, laughing and joking.
"We waited for you before we got serious," Bob chuckled.
"I'm sure you guys want to know everything that's going on,
so here goes.
"First, I don't think the Police are even going to ask either
of you for an interview. The Chief is so damned grateful to
us for handing Barbara to him that he'll do just about
anything we ask. Legal, of course.
"Barbara's the key, and I hear she's singing like an Opera
Star already. They're keeping mum about her, building their
cases against the rest she's implicated real carefully so
they can get convictions.
"As to any charges or suits about duress or illegal
imprisonment, forget them. The Chief's already on the record
as instructing you to detain her. Nobody'd believe the
duress part, anyway. You're just too damned respectable!
"We all think the perps are in total disarray at the moment.
They don't know what's going on, and we don't think they'll
try anything else for a while, but we're not taking any
chances."
"Do you know who they're going to arrest?" I asked.
"They'd tell me if I asked, but I want to hang onto as many
markers as possible. Maybe it'll be better for all concerned
if we don't know."
"Do you have any idea how long before they'll start making
arrests?"
"I'd give it a week," Bob said. "They should be able to nail
down the main ones by then. That's all I've got. How did my
boys behave."
"Beautifully," Eric said. "You didn't tell me a couple of
them were gay."
"All four of them are," Bob answered. "You don't think I'd
send a bunch of homophobes, do you?"
"Are a lot of your men gay?" Eric asked.
"Quite a few, actually. We don't ask, straight out, of
course. Part of our screening process is a 'Sensitivity
Evaluation' that gives us a pretty good idea of their
attitude. We certainly don't want any homophobes in our
ranks. At some point in time, they're going to come in
contact with you two, and we want them on our side."
"That's nice to know," I commented.
"Oh yeah, Dave, on that Tony Ruzillo matter. You were
right. He's got a rap sheet a mile long. Never been
convicted, though. The latest is that he's into truck
highjacking and Unions."
"That doesn't sound like somebody Edward would be palling
around with. I wonder..."
"We'll know soon," Bob assured me. "He's getting tapped
right about now."
"How was the news coverage while we were gone?" I asked.
"See for yourself. I've got all the papers and tapes of all
the news for you. That's about it, gentlemen, see you at
work Monday. Oh yes, please don't say anything to anyone
about this until the Chief of Police makes an announcement.
He gets the credit, and we stay out of the papers."
"Another week of this," Eric said dejectedly. "While I'm
thinking about it, can you get the names of the four guards
who were with us? I want to get something for them."
"They'll definitely be on MY Christmas bonus list too. I'll
find out all about them."
"I've got an idea," he said suddenly. "Let's talk business
today, get things set up for next week, then spend tomorrow
and Sunday vegging... and fucking our brains out."
Top on Eric's agenda was finding a Chief Operating Officer for
Lundborg Rush, then assembling a sales effort to sell our
current excess capacity and getting commitments for the
capacity we'd have in a few months.
I didn't have that much. Getting updated on everything
happening, and the new Computers. Then, there were the next
acquisitions. Reports would be ready by now, but I wanted
Eric in on any presentations.
At dinner that night, Mary was back in the kitchen. She even
served it herself. Gabriella was on paid leave pending Bob's
background check.
"Mary," Eric said. "I've got an idea on how to find a new
Chef for you. We've got a friend in New York who's the head
Chef for a hotel chain. No doubt he sees a lot of applicants
who'd be just what you need. Want to talk to him?"
"I'd like that," she said. "There aren't that many to choose
from around here. All the agencies have are 'cooks', and
most of them only know how to prepare Mexican food."
"We'll do it tomorrow," he told her.
Later, when Eric called his parents, he came back with
interesting news. Ryan, Diane and the new baby would be
coming to town the next week. They'd be staying with Eric's
parents, but he definitely wanted to spend some time with
Ryan.
"Shall we have them all over for dinner?" I asked.
"That'd be nice, but I'd like to get Ryan off by himself for
a talk. Would you mind if we had a night out together?"
"Hell no, take several. I know you're curious, so take him
out and get him drunk and satisfy your curiosity."
"You think I'm nosy, don't you?"
"No, you care about him. I understand that."
"Let's use the hot tub tonight, just the two of us?" he
changed the subject abruptly. "I've got some grass."
I knew where this was heading, and eagerly got in line.
"I'll put up the 'Do Not Disturb' sign," I told him.
"Didn't know we had such a thing. We'll have to do this more
often!"
Before long, we were in the bedroom getting ready. Eric went
into his study and I followed. He took out a tin box and
rolled a perfect joint.
"For such a 'Straight and Narrow' guy as you are, you look
like you know what you're doing," I chuckled.
"I'm certainly NOT straight," he giggled, "and I don't think
I've ever been narrow, either."
I got a bottle of wine and glasses and put up the sign.
Sitting across from each other, sipping, puffing, and rubbing
legs, Eric made a very profound statement.
"Danger, I think, makes you think a lot more about what
you've got."
I nodded, waiting for him to continue.
"Lying there on the floor with you the other night with hot
lead flying, I thought about you, mainly, and how lucky I am
to have you in my life.
"Realistically, you could have anyone you wanted, if you
tried, and you chose me."
"That's a two-way street," I told him. "You could have
anybody YOU wanted, and you chose me. I'm convinced that
fate brought us together."
"What I'm trying to tell you is that at that particular
moment, I realized how much I really do love you. All of
you. Every part of you. You make my life complete."
"Everything you've said goes for me too," I said, sliding
around the tub so I could hold him.
We held. He kissed me lightly on the lips, tenderly,
lovingly. I reached for him, and he was completely soft, a
rarity.
"We have that, too," he said softly, "wonderful beyond
anything anybody could expect, but that's minor in view of
the bigger picture, the life we have together."
We hardened in each other's hands.
"Hey, that was pretty hot in front of the fireplace the other
night," he said. "I couldn't see much, but enough."
"I had a better vantage point," I agreed. "Ron and Jason
didn't surprise me, but the rest of them did."
"Old Ricky's sure got a pecker on him!"
"Nowhere as nice as this one," I said squeezing the beauty in
my hand. "He'd be marginal, to me. Almost too thick to
really enjoy... anywhere. You're just right, and I need some
of it right now."
"Me too," he said with a squeeze. "Let's see what we can
work out."
- - - - -
Monday started out chaotic. I spent the entire morning
proving that I was alive and well. I appreciated the
concern, but wanted to get back to normal.
After lunch, Eric and I looked at the potential acquisition
reports. There were two piles, manufacturing and Real
Estate. There wasn't anything that caught my attention in
the manufacturing pile. All plodders, it seemed to me.
Those were everywhere, and most were for sale if anybody was
interested.
The Real Estate pile was a lot more interesting. Buying
hotels was an ongoing thing, so that wasn't included. There
were four REITs and a Development Company.
The Development Company was a publicly traded subsidiary of a
West Coast railroad. Interestingly, the book value, per
share, was double what the stock was currently trading for.
That was an obvious bargain, so there had to be a reason why
it hadn't already been snapped up. I read further.
An Eastern group had tried, a few years ago, but had been
thwarted by the parent company. At that time, the parent had
owned more than fifty percent, and wasn't interested in
selling. Times had changed. The railroad itself wasn't
doing very well, and it's stock price had hit the toilet.
Now, the combined market price of the Railroad AND the
subsidiary were barely more than the book value of the
subsidiary.
There had to be a catch, but I wanted to know more.
Eric was waiting for me to finish reading. "What do you
think?" he asked.
"Only one's interesting," I said.
"Here, too. The Development Company?"
I had to laugh. Of course, we thought along the same lines.
"Ready to become a Corporate raider?" he asked.
"Why not? We haven't tried that one yet. Let's find out
more."
Bill came in to get our reaction. "Only one," I told him.
"Development?" he asked. We nodded. "I was pretty
disappointed with the other prospects, too," he said.
"What's the problem?" I asked. "Why hasn't anybody else done
it?"
"The Railroad's pretty closely held. A bunch of San Francisco
Bankers and Brokerage Firms own most of it. It's barely
traded, and the Big Board is threatening to de-list them."
"You know who they are?"
"Burdette and Company is one, Muir Bank is another, and I
can't think of the rest."
My interest picked up when he mentioned Burdette, but I
groaned when he mentioned Muir.
Eric looked at me with a frown. "Burdette is Diane's father,
my buddy Edgar is Muir," I told him. He groaned too.
"What's with this Edgar?" Bill wanted to know.
"He's an old college friend of mine, you should remember him
too," I explained. "He caught Eric and me holding hands at
Ryan and Diane's wedding and freaked. Not exactly what you'd
call open-minded these days."
"Oh yeah, I remember him now. Edgar the nerd, but we called
him something else back in those days. He was an asshole
then, I can only imagine what he'd be like today."
"I can talk to Ryan," Eric offered. "He works for Burdette
now."
"That'd be a start, but I want to know a whole lot more.
I'll make a list. Can you have somebody work on it?"
"I'll get somebody right on it," Bill said.
"This might be fun!" I told Eric after Bill left. "I don't
know the rules, but I know what I'd like to do. I may be
wrong, but I think we'd only have to get numerical control of
the Railroad, then we could sell off the subsidiary, to
ourselves, of course. I don't know if we can get away with
that, but it's worth looking into."
"We'll need to know a lot more. Can I help you with your
list?"
"We'll use the old 'School Project' routine," I told him.
"What the hell is that?"
"Get somebody relatively young to call their Stockholder
Relations Department, tell them they're doing a college-level
report on their company, and you'd be amazed at how much you
can learn."
"You're a devious SOB," he said, chuckling.
"It usually works. Who can refuse a poor student? Human
nature responds to requests for help, particularly if the ego
gets stroked in the process. It's only for a college paper,
so who's going to see all that sensitive information?"
"Where'd you come up with that one?"
"I learned it from a Professor back when I was in College," I
told him. "They were a little less 'proper' back in those
days."
"Why screw around?" he asked. "Go for the throat, hack 'em."
"If we need to," I said. "This one's 'Public', so we'd
better play by the rules as much as we can."
We made a preliminary list and took it in to Bill. I also
told him about my idea to use the "School Project" ploy.
He started laughing. "I remember that," he said. "Wasn't it
'The Admiral' who told us about that one?"
"I think so," I said. "He was a crusty old bastard, but he
had some good ideas."
"I'll get somebody to do it for you," he assured us.
By quitting time, Eric had learned Ryan's planned schedule
from his mother. They'd be arriving on Tuesday, and going
back to San Francisco on Sunday. He called Ryan and invited
him to spend all day Wednesday with him.
We'd be having dinner at Eric's parents' on Wednesday, having
them all to our house on Friday, and Eric planned to take
Ryan out on the free nights. Our social schedule for the
week was set.
The next day, I spent several hours with Annie, our Real
Estate expert, discussing the Development Company. She
already knew a lot more about it than I did.
According to her, they hadn't done any "developing" for
almost 10 years. Actually they were a land holding company
consisting of a skeleton staff at their Los Angeles
Headquarters, nothing more.
Their last projects had been a couple of office buildings in
Los Angeles that they still owned. The company's value was
in the undeveloped land they owned.
Although Annie didn't have the full inventory yet, she knew
that they owned most of the undeveloped land along the
waterfront in San Diego, a lot of underdeveloped land in Los
Angeles, and other potentially commercial sites throughout
California. That's what she was "sure" of, and expected to
find a lot more.
"The acreage in Los Angeles alone is worth ten times the book
value of the whole company," she said. "The San Diego land
is worth even more. It could be a goldmine!"
"I see two problems," I told her. "First, it's not going to
be easy to buy, and second, we're in no better position to
develop it than they are."
"The first problem belongs to you and Eric. I'm already
working on the second one. As soon as I have something
definite, I'll tell you all about it."
A little more information, the Financial Reports for both the
Railroad and the subsidiary came in. Annie, Eric and I went
to work analyzing it.
Annie interrupted our concentration. "Before we go too much
further, we really need the parcel inventory and appraisals.
I've got somebody downloading the inventory from one of the
services right now, and since I have so much appraisal work
done, I've got a good price on having all the urban stuff
valued.
"Kevin introduced me to this guy they use on Real Estate.
He's kind of the Guru of Land Planning. I've talked to him
about helping us out, for a fee, of course."
"You really see something here, don't you?" I asked.
"I think this thing has the potential of making Chateau look
like it's nothing. By the way, I'd like to change the name
of Chateau."
"What do you want to call it?" I asked.
"Anything BUT 'Chateau'. That name's so damned tacky. How
about 'Rush' something - Properties, Investments, or
something like that?"
"I agree," Eric said. "Chateau is really, really tacky. I'd
go for 'Rush Properties'. Investments is too broad."
"About all it'd take is a little legal and some new
stationery. That awful name, thankfully, isn't on anything
else. I like your idea, Eric, we'll save 'Investments' for
the development company," Annie said.
"Go for it," I told her. "You're the President anyway, so do
whatever you want."
"I wanted your approval first," she said. "Now I'll have
something to do while we wait for those appraisals."
Eric went straight from work to his parents' house to see
Ryan. He said he'd be back early, but I knew better. There
was a lot of catching-up to do with Ryan, and he hadn't spent
hardly any time with his Dad lately.
I didn't care. I wasn't invited along, thankfully. This was
their time together, and I could put off "oohing" and
"aahing" over the new baby at least another twenty four
hours.
I'd do it, of course. It was expected, but it would be
totally phony on my part. I think babies are delightful
little creatures. They sleep a lot and, thankfully, are
eventually taken home. Been there, done that. It's not that
I don't like them, it's a matter of total disinterest, unless
they're mine. When I become a grandfather, I'll probably be
a complete pain in the ass!
- - - - -
The next day, Eric and Ryan showed up at the office just
before lunch. Ryan looked a helluva lot different. In a
word, "prosperous". He'd put on a little weight, his hair
was styled, and his suit shouted "Establishment".
In the looks department, he couldn't compare with Eric, but
the two of them made a rather spectacular pair, a fact that
wasn't overlooked when we went to lunch.
It was good to see him, particularly when he seemed so happy
and relaxed. We heard all about the excitement of
fatherhood, and his accomplishments as an executive at
Burdette and Company. It wasn't nepotism, he assured us,
he'd earned his way.
"Forget nepotism," Eric told him. "I've got a better deal.
I sleep with the boss, and don't even have to work!"
"Don't let him kid you," I chuckled. "He doesn't get paid, I
let Micron do that, but I'm working his ass off."
Eventually, the conversation turned to business, Ryan asking
who we were going to buy next.
"I'm not digging for privileged information," I told him,
"but we're looking at the Catalina Long Beach and Pacific."
"Why, for chrissake?" he asked, totally surprised. "Every
time the subject of that dog comes up, Mike Burdette goes
ballistic! What in the hell do you want it for?"
"CLP Development."
"Ooooh! I see!"
"We figure we're going to have to get control of the Railroad
to get it," Eric added. "Think Burdette might cooperate?"
"Cooperate hell!" Ryan answered. "Give Mike a chance to bail
out and he'll be your friend for life. What do you plan to
do?"
"I think it'd be a good idea to talk to the 'friendly' ones
who hold big positions, Mike Burdette, first."
"I can almost guarantee that he'll work with you, however you
want," Ryan said. "If he wants to, he can pull some of the
others in. The only one who might be a problem is your buddy
Edgar."
"We've got a plan worked out that sets up a win-win situation,
IF we can get control of the Railroad," Eric told him.
"Can I set up the meeting?" Ryan asked.
"Sure," I told him. "Give us a chance to do our homework.
We should be ready in a week or two."
"If anybody can unlock the assets of CLP, it's you, Dave," he
said, shaking his head. "Of course, I'm dying of curiosity
about how you plan to pull it off."
"Sorry, Bro," we're not ready to let anybody know that, yet,"
Eric told him. "I also think we'd better keep this whole
thing pretty quiet until we talk to Mr. Burdette."
I was as comfortable at the Lundborg's as I hoped they were
at our house. Afterall, we really were "family".
The baby was a baby, starting to show a little personality,
but hell, he was only a couple of months old! I made the
appropriate noises, evidently to everyone's satisfaction.
"I hear you had a little excitement last week," Karl said over
dinner. "Eric won't tell us much, but I thought maybe you
would."
"The Police asked us to keep quiet until they make a few
arrests. That's the price we pay for keeping our names out
of the paper, I guess."
"I've put two and two together, and I think that bomb that
went off downtown wasn't meant to go off there. Am I
correct?" Karl probed.
"We can't confirm or deny that," Eric said, giving me a
warning with his eyes to shut up. "We'll be able to tell you
the whole story next week, hopefully, and not the cleaned-up
version that we hope is in the papers."
"Guess I'll have to wait," Karl said.
"I'm not sure I want to hear," Ingrid added.
Diane was a very charming, likeable girl. Not the slightest
pretentious or snooty. After dinner, we had the opportunity
to talk one-on-one, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. She
surprised me by saying that Ryan talked about me all the
time, that I was such a "fascinating" man with all my varied
interests. Frankly, I didn't think he'd noticed.
Eric's "night out" with Ryan was unproductive, at least Eric
thought so. Ryan did his best to convince him that all the
past demons had been slain, and that he was happy and
content. For some reason, Eric didn't buy a word of it.
"What're you looking for, anyway?" I asked him.
"I'm not sure, but I have this gut feeling that something's
really eating on him. A year ago, he was a total mess, now,
he's too damn happy, or wants us all to believe that."
"He'll tell you when he's ready," I assured him.
- - - - -
Saturday morning, I slept in. Eric was already up, so I
lazed, taking my time.
"Sit up," Eric said as he came in carrying a breakfast tray.
"Happy Birthday," he said after the tray was across my lap.
"Huh?" was the only response I could come up with.
"Forget?" he asked as he gave me a kiss.
"I try to," I admitted.
"Why? You're getting better, not older. "Today's YOUR day,
no more surprises, I promise. I'm your slave for the day, if
you get into that sorta thing," he giggled.
"Might take you up on that," I said seriously.
"I'll go get a leash. And a collar."
"Don't be ridiculous," I told him. "You know I'm not into
that shit."
"Don't you have any fantasies?"
"Darlin', you're my living, breathing fantasy. That's about
all I can handle."
I dug into the breakfast before me. He sat on the bed and we
talked while I ate.
I had planned to spend the day by the pool, expecting Eric to
be with Ryan, but he assured me that Ryan had other plans,
and he wanted to "just be with me" all day. Can't complain
about that!
We swam and soaked up the winter sun, talking about us,
mostly. Business was for weekdays.
A good dose of sun always makes me horny, so when we went in,
that followed naturally. A short prelude, then he was inside
of me, and I was in heaven. An orgasm could have come very
easily and quickly for me, but he didn't let that happen. He
knew me too well. When I'd approach, he'd stop or change his
rhythm to push me away. By varying his strokes, he was able
to get me up there, and maintain me there, close but not too
close.
Never had we lasted this long. At this level of bliss, I was
in a state of confusion. I wanted to cum, but I didn't want
the feeling to stop. I knew we were nearing the end when he
took my dick in his lubed hand and stroked me, fast, pumping
my butt with the same rhythm. All I remember from that
point on is that every nerve in my body was reacting, the
synapses in my brain were snapping audibly. It went on and
on and on.
When my eyes came back into focus, there were two loving blue
eyes waiting for me, smiling. "Wow! I started after you
did, had what I thought was a really long one, and you were
still going when I came back down."
His dick, softening a little, was still in me. I was afraid
if he moved, I'd start all over again. He leaned forward to
kiss me. All I could do was groan.
"A real shame the camera wasn't running for that one!"
It took me a half hour before I could move.
As he'd arranged, Mary cooked my favorite simple dinner.
Beef filet, broiled rare, and a bottle of Chateauneuf du Pape.
Another surprise when he handed me a beautifully wrapped box.
"Nothing special," he said, "just something I saw that I
thought you might like."
It was a Ushabti, about eight inches tall, ceramic with a
faience glaze. Absolutely beautiful. It had a museum-type
mounting for display. I gave him a big hug and thank you.
"Only 364 more to go," he said. "They couldn't prove that
this one is authentic because they don't know the
provenance. Their best guess was that it's around 4,000
years old, Middle Kingdom."
He'd learned his Egyptian History well. Ushabtis are
figurines of people, placed in tombs, and were believed to
become servants of the deceased in the afterlife.
Customarily, Pharaohs were entombed with 365 of them, one for
every day of the year.
"I don't care if it's real or not," I told him. "It's
beautiful, and more importantly, I got it from you. I will
treasure it."
- - - - -
Monday it was work without distractions. Eric shared my
office, but wanted a desk, so we got one for him. He had
over a hundred resumes for the COO at Lundborg Rush to go
over. I read the Monday reports that I usually ignored
because Bill always filled me in on anything important.
Sales of the new computers were mushrooming, which was good
news. Other builders of computers, monitors, printers,
scanners and other peripherals wanted to jump aboard and
serious inquiries were coming in. Some wanted licenses to
produce the units themselves. That'd happen only if they
bought the metal components from us.
I interrupted Eric. "Looks like the new computers are taking
off. We've got the metal parts pretty well sewed up, maybe
we ought to look at making the plastic components too."
"I'll bet you buy a lot of plastic components for your own
lines. I've wondered why you didn't make them yourself," he
answered.
"Maybe we do and I just don't know about it. I'll ask around."
Annie roared in, all excited. "You won't believe what we're
finding," she said. "We've got somebody working the 'School
Project' thing on CLP properties, and found out that they own
land under a lot of different names.
"Our first search was only under the CLP name. What we found
there was exciting, but what we're finding now is
unbelievable. How about this: they've got thousands and
thousands of acres in the Silicon Valley. If it's
developable for housing, it's worth even more than the San
Diego waterfront property, and we ain't done diggin' yet.
"It'll take us months to get all this appraised and to figure
out what it's good for."
"What you find out is going to play a big part in how high
we're willing to go on this thing," I told her. "concentrate
on the most important pieces. That'll give us a rough idea,
and we can get started. How long do you think that'll take?"
"At least a month, even if we do a hurry-up job. Figure the
10th of January."
"Put more people on it and try for January 1st. OK?"
"It'll cost a little bit more, but we'll do it."
"I'll make you guys a little bet," Eric said, speaking for
the first time. "I'll bet that Burdette and Edgar don't
really have any idea of what they've got."
"Wouldn't surprise me," I said. "Let's talk about Christmas
tonight," I added, changing the subject. "It's only a couple
of weeks away."
"I'll be there," Annie assured us.
We got started over dinner. Annie gave Tina a quick
description of what we'd done last year. I added that I was
in favor of having another "Open House". Eric was agreeable
to everything.
Annie also informed us that Kevin's family was anxious to
meet us and to be prepared for an invitation any minute.
"Is this the prelude to another announcement?" I asked
innocently.
Reddening but not revealing anything, all she would say was
"Who knows?"
The three of them got down to planning. I didn't add much,
just a comment or observation here or there.
This gave me a chance to think about two things which were
foremost in my mind at the moment - whether the danger would
be over by then so we could actually have the parties, and
what was happening with Annie.
There was nothing I could do about the Police. They would
work at their own pace, but surely they must be getting close
to making arrests by now.
Annie's happiness was my primary concern. If Kevin was the
one, I'd be happy. I really liked him, but, like every
father, I guess, nobody was quite good enough for my little
girl. I'd take the ordeal of meeting his parents in stride,
for her sake. We'd be under the microscope, and I hoped we'd
pass muster.
- - - - -
During the next few days, things started to unfold. There
was a leak, planned, I'm sure, from the District Attorney's
office that the bombing case was about to be solved.
A few days later the D.A. held a press conference. It was
carried live on local TV. We watched, holding our breath
waiting to see how involved we were going to be.
In his opening statement, he announced that all of the people
involved in the crime had been arrested. He went on to say
that it was a conspiracy that reached from Coast to Coast
and that most of those arrested were in other states and were
awaiting extradition.
The entire incident had been a "Tragedy of Errors," he
continued, stating that the truck bomb had been intended for
a local businessman, David Rush, and had failed to detonate.
While being held as evidence by the police, the truck had
detonated and innocent people had been killed. Regardless of
their original intent, it was nevertheless murder, and would
be prosecuted accordingly.
He finished by saying that one of the people most deeply
involved in the crime was cooperating with the police, and
would be the star witness for the Prosecution. There would
be press handouts, but no questions.
There was no mention of the four who had been killed when they
came after us up at the lake.
I looked at Eric. He nodded.
"They're going to want to know WHY we were targeted, and we
won't get any peace until we make a statement," I told him.
"The quicker we do it, the sooner this will blow over," he
answered. "We really don't have much to go on, though. We
don't even know who they've arrested. We'd better be careful
or we could screw up the D.A.'s case."
"That's an idea," I said. "We're really not qualified to
comment and if we say the wrong thing, could do more harm
than good. I think the D.A. would agree with that. Let's
see if we can get him to issue a statement saying that he's
asked us not to say anything, that everything will come out
at the trials."
"Worth a try," he said. "Bob should know how to handle it."
As usual, Bob came through. A conference call was arranged
with the D.A., the Chief of Police, and us. We took it on
the speakerphone in my office.
First, I explained our position. As the intended targets, we
had a pretty good idea who did it and why, but weren't privy
to the investigation, so anything we might say would be pure
conjecture. The press was howling for a statement from us,
so I asked the D.A. for direction. We'd do whatever they
wanted us to do, and would cooperate in any way they wished.
"The whole case is 'about' you," the D.A. said. "You are only
peripherally involved, and I understand your well-taken
position. When we get to trial, we may have to call on you,
or some of your people, to prove motive, but that's a long
way down the road. Until then, I agree, the less you say,
the better.
"If you agree, I'll issue a statement that you and all your
family have been asked to refrain from comment until trial.
You can issue a similar statement, and you should be left
alone."
"I agree, and thank you," I said.
"That was easy enough," Eric said.
"Almost too easy."
"Just get out your checkbook when election time rolls
around," he chuckled.
Mrs. Leach, Kevin's mother, called me with an invitation to
dinner. She was very pleasant, but I declined, citing a
previous engagement. Eric had not been included.
This put me in a corner. I wouldn't compromise my
principles, and at the same time, I didn't want to create
problems for Annie. No point in making an issue about it,
maybe Mrs. Leach would realize her mistake and try again.
She did. Same invitation, getting the same response.
A day or two later, Annie confronted me. "Kevin's mom has
called you twice, and you turned her down both times. Is
something wrong?"
"Afraid so, Eric wasn't invited."
"Oh."
"I'm in kind of an awkward situation. I have my principles
and I want you to be happy. I know it isn't easy having a
queer dad."
"Dad, understand one thing. You're my Dad, and I love you
regardless. The fact that you happen to be gay isn't, or
shouldn't be a big deal. I also have grown to love Eric an
awful lot too."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence. What do we do now?"
"I can't understand Mrs. Leach. She knows all about you and
Eric. Maybe it was just an oversight. I'll talk to Kevin
and let you know."
Now that it was out in the open, I had to talk to Eric.
He was incredulous. "You did that for me?" he asked.
"Actually, for me," I told him. "I'm not a hypocrite and
nobody is going to ignore the fact that you're my mate and my
partner. That's the way it is."
"But what about Annie?"
"She doesn't have to choose sides. This doesn't affect her or
Kevin. It's strictly between Mrs. Leach and me. I know, bad
relations between in-laws can cause problems, but if Annie
and Kevin are really serious, it won't matter."
"I love you, you know?" he said. "You're my man and you
stand up for me."
"I'm not standing up for you, I'm standing up for us, and
that's the most important thing there is. Where I go, you
go. Case closed."
- - - - -
The newspaper published a list of the people arrested in the
bombing case. Out of seven names, the only one I recognized
was Barbara's. It wasn't surprising to me that Gordon Pike
from York wasn't on the list. He was too slick to get
directly involved. Hopefully, he'd learned his lesson.
There was no mention of the attack at the lake. The whole
incident had been handled locally, and dismissed quickly as
self defense. No charges had been filed, and no stories had
hit any major newspapers.
Although it seemed to be over and done with, I still was a
little nervous. The ones caught were small fry. Somebody,
as yet unidentified, had to be behind the whole thing,
organizing and providing the resources for such a
sophisticated attempt. Hopefully, one of those caught would
point the finger.
I had a talk with Bob about this. Being as chummy as he now
was with the Chief of Police, he promised to drop some hints,
mention Pike, and see if any connections developed. He
agreed that there was still a small possibility that they'd
make another try, but he assured me that his troops were
always around even if we didn't see them.
- - - - -
Most of Metalco's output is consumer goods. Demand is
year-round, but a large amount of sales volume, at the retail
level, is around the Christmas holidays. In order to reach
the stores in time, these items had been produced in the
summer and fall, and shipped out in October and November.
December was our slowest production month, so, years ago, we
had established the practice of shutting down all production
facilities for the last two weeks of the month. All our
workers were given paid holidays, and those doing annual
maintenance on equipment and facilities got extra pay.
This year, we had decided to include the offices as well.
Only a skeleton crew would come in, part time, to handle
vital functions - such as processing receivables. For the
first time, Metalco would be shut down entirely.
Milton factories had not practiced this, but they would this
year, in spite of Union contracts that didn't call for this
added, extra time off with full pay.
With the shutdown approaching, there was a flurry of activity,
an attempt to get all urgent matters handled.
Annie had no intention of letting her appraisers and other
outside crews have any slack, so would be working from home,
monitoring their progress. Tina, who now virtually lived at
the Architect's office, would continue to be there. That
would leave Eric and I some time alone.
"I have too much work to do to take two weeks off," Eric
moaned. "If you won't let me get anything done at home, I'm
going to use my Micron office. It'll be open."
"I'll give you peace and quiet," I promised.
"That's something we need to talk about. I'm thinking of
moving over to the Lundborg Rush office."
I was shocked. "Why," I asked.
"Two reasons," he said. "First, I can't get anything done
around here. We have different work styles. You have fifty
things going on at the same time, people running in and out
all the time, and still get everything done. I can't work
like that. I need a little uninterrupted time to
concentrate. As it is, I don't feel that I'm getting
anything accomplished, and I feel guilty about that."
"I understand," I said, though I really didn't. "What else?"
"We're spending too goddamned much time together. Don't get
me wrong, I love every minute I'm with you, but I'm afraid
that being together almost 24 hours a day, will make me take
you for granted, or even worse, we could get bored with each
other. That's the last thing I ever want to happen."
"I see your point," I said, actually seeing his logic. "I
don't want anything like that to happen either. The time
we're together should be special, and always will be, as far
as I'm concerned."
"I want to be involved in everything you do, but I don't need
to be part of your everyday routine. I'd feel much better
and more satisfied if I was actually getting something done.
I need that, for me."
"C'mere," I said, patting the cushion beside me.
"I hope you're not mad at me," he said rather sheepishly.
"Not a bit," I said, giving him a peck on the cheek. "How
long have you felt this way?"
"Not long. It's just been the last week or so that I've
started feeling a little frustrated. I wanted to get it out
in the open as soon as I could."
"Let's 'fix' it before it becomes a problem," I said. "If
you want to move over there, it's fine with me."
"It'll also give me a chance to get more involved in what's
going on over there. I want to learn everything there is to
learn about the business. I've already talked to the Plant
Manager about working in the shop."
"Just because I did that doesn't mean that you have to."
"I want to. I think I'd have a better understanding about how
everything works. Are you sure you're not upset?"
"I'm fine," I assured him.
We discussed it further. He would move after we returned
from the holidays. The issue was settled. I understood,
too.
To be continued.
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