The Lifeguard

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.

THE LIFEGUARD

Chapter 15

Eric had another week off from school, so I didn't go to work on Monday. I was also kind of tired after the ordeal the day before.

Annie got home from New York around noon. We gave her a chance to unwind before telling her about what had happened.

She wasn't mad or upset when she heard the story, she was furious. Not at Tina or Gunter, but at her mother. Gunter would "get his", she felt, and Tina would recover, but Georgia was another matter.

Even though I fully agreed with her, I didn't say anything. Her fury ran its course, and we settled down.

"As far as I'm concerned, Georgia's dead," she said. "I never want to talk to her or see her again." She needed a hug and I gave her one.

Tina's first crisis happened on Wednesday. The Clinic called Ingrid, and Ingrid called me. The plane was on standby, and Eric picked her up and made the trip with her. Since I couldn't see Tina, I stayed home. And waited.

Eric brought his mother home with him. Annie was home, too.

"I'm going to take a chance on 'Doctor - Patient Confidentiality', " she told us. "By knowing what's going on, I think you can do her a lot more good than if you're in the dark."

"She's a very scared little girl," she continued. "This morning she wanted to leave the clinic. She called her Mother. Georgia wouldn't talk to her and hung up on her. Tina panicked. That's when they called me."

"That bitch!" Annie said. "I mean Georgia."

Ingrid smiled and continued. "Tina's lost and very alone. She feels that her mother's abandoned her, Gunter used her, and she's scared to death of you, Dave. She doesn't know where to turn."

I could only shake my head in amazement.

"We talked for almost three hours," she went on. "I told her about my relationship to you, that my son is your lover, and that you are a gentle, caring man. Even though you've never told me, I know that you love her and would do anything in your power for her. That was obvious to me when we found her in that awful room in Indianapolis. I told her all this, and I think I got through to her, but it's going to be up to you to convince her."

"You know I'll do anything I can," I said.

"She needs you now, more than she ever has," Ingrid said. "She will stay at the clinic. I convinced her that that would be best, for now. She signed all the papers voluntarily, committing herself for a four-week treatment program."

"When can I see her?" I asked.

"I want to see her too," Annie added. "She's my little sister and I'll do whatever I can, too."

"That's what she needs," Ingrid said, "your love and support. The clinic would prefer that you don't visit her for another week or so. They want to work on the drug problem first and help her physically. I plan to see her again on Friday, and we can go from there."

"I plan to be out of town on Sunday and Monday, at least," I said, "but those plans can be changed very easily."

"She's in the best hands available," Ingrid said. "Let them tell us when to come see her."

While Eric took his mom home, Annie and I talked.

"I have a pretty good idea how she feels. I felt pretty much the same way when I left Mom. I hated her and I didn't know what to expect from you. I'm damned glad I took the chance, though. You turned out to be a pretty nice guy," she said, smiling.

Eric went to the office with me the next two days to sit in on the brainstorming sessions on the Milton deal. A lot was accomplished and Eric's contributions were substantial.

Since he was starting school on Monday, we decided that I would go to New York alone. It would be preliminary, anyway.

I left at noon on Sunday and planned to return as soon as the meeting was over. It would be my first night away from Eric since his accident and I wasn't looking forward to sleeping alone.

We were all staying at a hotel near the airport since Ron and Jason would be waiting for me. I waited as they "bedded down" the plane, then we all took the rental car to the hotel.

We had dinner together, and naturally, the conversation was about flying.

"If this deal goes through," I told them, "we're probably going to need another plane. Hell, I'm virtually monopolizing the one we've got, and everybody else is having to fly commercial."

"We kinda figured that," Jason said. "We've got some feelers out for a couple more pilots. I talked to your buddy Russ, and he's working with a couple of Air Force guys right now that might be just what we're looking for."

"They're gay?" I asked.

"Of course," Ron said, "and a couple of real hunks from what I hear," he leered.

"But can they fly?" I asked, chuckling.

"That comes first," Ron said. "Anyway, we're all married, so what they look like really doesn't matter."

"Happily, too, I might add," I said.

With the time difference, it was late, and my meeting was early, so we headed for our rooms. I called Eric. Our conversation was short. We missed each other already, and didn't want to prolong our talk.

I climbed into an empty bed for the first time in months. It wasn't pleasant. Of course, I thought about Eric and what he had become to me.

Admittedly, sex was a big part of our relationship, but, its importance was diminishing every day. There was so much more to Eric than his big dick and ability to use it. In less than a year our love for one another had grown and deepened. Just his presence had become an integral part of my life.

I could see the changes, too, in both of us. Eric had matured, grown in his outlook on life, and focused on his goals, developing a distinct personality along the way. That personality was certainly different from mine, which I admired. Still fiercely independent, but able to compromise a little without compromising his values.

Being around him had changed me a lot. My general outlook on life had become a lot more optomistic and adventurous. I guess the security of having someone by my side did that. Never before in my life had I had these feelings of security and contentment. I also felt completely confident in the love that we shared. That's the key word, "shared". It wasn't lopsided with one loving the other more. As I saw it, it was pretty equal.

Eric had also brought out something else in me - the ability to share my feelings. With me, his feelings were almost transparent, and he freely discussed them. I responded in kind, something I had never done with anyone, and I felt comfortable about it too.

God how I loved that man! Being away from him, even if for a few hours, gave me the opportunity to really see how big a part of my life he had become. We were as one, but still two completely different people.

Jason drove me to the meeting. He kept street maps of every city on the plane and always planned his route - just like a flight plan.

The Milton brothers were waiting, formal as usual. I kind of expected that there would be more "family" involved, but these two evidently spoke for the whole tribe.

After pleasantries were exchanged, Edward got down to business.

"I think you understand us, Mr. Rush," he said, "we are interested in a private sale, not a public auction."

"I fully understand, Mr. Milton," I answered. "There will be no press leaks from my side until an agreement is reached."

"Thank you," he said. "I also understand that you have very little information to work with, our being a private company and all that. Here is a copy of our last audited financial statement with all of the supporting documents. They're for the quarter ended last September. We'll have the year-end statements in three weeks. I realize that you might wish to delve deeper into some of our operating statements, and we have arranged for that also."

He paused for a sip of coffee before continuing. "We would appreciate if only people from your own organization looked at our books. Outside accounting firms are supposed to be confidential, but we have had some bad experiences with them."

"I see no problem there," I said. "We have very capable people who can do whatever needs to be done, and I assure you, they know how to maintain confidentiality."

"Excellent," he answered. "Just let us know what you want to see, and we will make all the arrangements. Our people will be most cooperative."

"Once we analyze your statements," I said, "we'll have a better idea of the areas where we need more detail, and I'll let you know."

"Based upon these statements," he said, handing me a small envelope, "and a fair market multiple, we have come up with an asking price for the company. It is negotiable, but not much." He smiled.

"Our terms are also included," he continued, "and we are interested in an expeditious conclusion to the matter. For your information, you are the only potential buyer that we are talking with. There are other possible suitors, but we feel that you would carry on our traditions better than anyone else."

"Thank you," I said, and pointing at the financial statements, continued "Our best people are waiting for this information, and will give it their full attention."

I rose and picked up the two envelopes. "We have a lot of work ahead of us," I said, "and it's time to get started. You will be hearing from me in a few days, no doubt with a lot of questions, and I look forward to personally working with you toward a rapid conclusion."

So stiff, so fucking formal. I wanted to yell "shit" or "fuck" to see if they would have any reaction. More politeness, and I was on my way. Another quick meeting over with.

"Get what you wanted?" Jason wanted to know.

"Got something," I said. "I don't know if it's what we need or not yet. Those guys are so goddam formal I want to yell!"

Somehow, I managed to suppress the urge to dig into the envelopes in my lap. I decided to wait until I was on board the plane. It wasn't easy. My curiosity was killing me.

Ron was waiting for us when we pulled up. We jumped on board and were quickly in line for takeoff. I dug out the envelopes and ripped open the big one, the one with the statements.

The first thing I noticed was that the statement had been prepared by a local firm, not one of the Big 5. They'd be losing the account, and we couldn't expect much help from them.

I bypassed the Balance Sheet and went straight to the Income Statement. It was a five year comparison spread across two pages. I glanced at the current year's bottom line. About $100 million, but when I looked at the comparisons, I saw that in 5 years, it had declined more than a third from more than $160 million. Interesting.

Sales had increased substantially each year, but so had expenses. General and Administrative had soared and so had Cost of Goods Sold. That told me that they were top- heavy and either weren't very efficient or had no control over manufacturing costs.

I looked at the supporting schedules. Not much there that revealed anything. Last, I looked at the Balance Sheet.

No surprises there. Very conservative. A lot of cash, and a lot of depreciable plant and equipment. Book value was a not surprising $2.6 billion.

Finally, I opened the other envelope. The price, "respectfully submitted" was $3.25 billion. Cash.

With the time difference, Eric hadn't left for school yet, so I called him. He wanted all the details, but I told him he'd have to wait. He got out of class at 2:00, and would come straight to the office.

I got out a pad and started making notes. I was so engrossed that the time flew by, and before I knew it, we were home. My pad was almost full.

The troops were assembled when I arrived at the office. I gave the Financial Statements to Nancy to make copies, and handed the "price quote" to Bill and Annie. I didn't want the rest to see it yet.

I had planned my instructions on the plane and explained them to the group. "As soon as copies are made, I want you all to take your copy and study it overnight. Look at it from the perspective of your area of expertise. Make notes, condense them, and we'll meet back here tomorrow to discuss the situation," I told them.

"I'll warn you," I continued. "These statements are pretty condensed, so I also suggest that you prepare a plan of action for getting the detailed information you'll need."

Nancy came in with the copies and distributed them. "Nancy will let you know what time tomorrow's meeting is scheduled."

They grabbed their copies and ran, as curious as I had been.

Bill didn't even look at his. He walked over to me and said "I really don't care how this thing turns out. Just seeing you back in action makes it all worthwhile!"

"I've been thinking about that, too," I told him. "I guess we both have Eric to thank for that."

About that time, Eric walked in. After a hug and a kiss, I gave him a copy of the Statements. He took it, found a chair and started poring over it.

I sat and waited for his reaction. Finally, he held up the copy and said "Either this is fishy as hell or nobody there gives a damn!"

"That's pretty much what I came up with, too," I told him.

"At the rate they're going, they'll be out of business in five years," he observed. "What the hell's going on?"

"Obviously, I don't have an answer to that," I said, "and they want three and a quarter billion for it."

"That'd be reasonable if their earnings were rising, but..." he paused. "By the way, you got the three billion?"

"Not on me," I chuckled, "but it'd be no problem."

"Someday you're gonna have to tell me what you're REALLY worth," he grinned at me.

We spent the rest of the afternoon and well into the evening going over the notes I'd made. Eric's insightful comments were added, and I used up the pad and had to get another.

We stopped for dinner on the way home, and when we got there, he announced "No more business. I missed you, and I need to hold you in my arms."

"Is that all I get?" I kidded him. The gleam in his eye told me that I'd be getting a whole lot more.

We were holding each other after a couple of mind-blowing orgasms when Eric commented "Do you realize what just happened?"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Your orgasms are lasting longer and longer, and seem to me to be a lot more intense," he said.

"In case you hadn't noticed, babe," I told him, "yours are getting a lot longer too. I told you it keeps getting better and better."

I called Nancy to tell her that the meeting would be at 1:30, and asked her to let everyone know. Eric wanted to sit in, and I wanted him there too. Bill would be delighted.

By now, virtually everyone at the office knew who Eric was, and his relationship to me. Last week when he had sat in on our brainstorming sessions, I had noticed a little animosity from some of our people. Even though nothing was said, I'm sure a few wondered "Who is this guy, and what the hell does he know about anything."

Eric's comments and probing questions soon dissipated any of these feelings, and I could sense mutual respect developing. There would be a few new people at today's meeting, and they would undoubtedly feel the same. Give them a little time.

Of course, I was immensely proud of Eric. He had a quick mind and the ability to cut to the heart of the issue. The phrase "cut the crap" could have been invented for him.

Just about all of the top management of Metalco were younger guys. Annie was the only female in the upper echelon. Bill did most of the hiring at that level, and I don't think he was sexist, though I kidded him about it a lot.

They worked as a team. No little "fiefdoms" were allowed to develop, and the resulting cooperation contributed a lot to our success. It had taken some time, but Annie had been assimilated into the group. In time, I hoped that Eric would, too.

I knew that they had worked together overnight on analyzing the Milton statements, so when everyone was assembled around the conference table in my office, I asked "Well, guys, what's the verdict?"

Mike, our Manager of Production spoke up first. "There's something wrong. They're hemorrhaging."

I saw a general nodding of heads.

John, our Chief Financial Officer added "It looks like there aren't any controls, or if there are, nobody's paying any attention. And, my God, the overhead! They must have the whole family on the payroll drawing seven figure salaries."

"I want to see those plants," Mike said. "Production costs are out of sight, and getting worse."

From there, the discussion got really lively. Everybody, including Eric, joined in. Each area had been analyzed, and, the consensus of opinion was that a LOT of digging was needed.

Working together, they had come up with a plan of action that would get the answers that were needed. Everyone had been assigned an "area" to investigate, and, with their staff, they were ready to get going almost immediately.

At this point, Eric snapped everybody back to reality. "Nobody's come right out and said it, but I think we all agree that it looks like somebody is ripping the company off big time. We're talking major money so it isn't just one or two people who are involved, and either they've covered themselves well, or nobody's paying any attention. Either way, they're not going to be very eager to cooperate with you guys. They won't want to lose a good thing."

"That's another thing," I added, "the Miltons are a very private bunch, and don't want any publicity whatsoever. I don't know what they've told their people, but I doubt that it has been much, so far. They WANT to sell to us, but they're going to have to bite the bullet and let us find out what's going on if they expect us to buy. Afterall, they want more than $3 billion for the company."

"That's a lot of money for a sinking ship," John commented.

"I have no intention of buying a 'sinking ship', as you call it, John. If it really is sinking, we'll run like hell, but I don't think that's really the case," I said.

"Maybe they think that because we're a private company we won't really dig," Eric chimed in.

"Then they've underestimated us," Bill added.

"The first order of business," I said, "is to let the Miltons know what we want to see. I hope they're cooperative. Another thing I'd like to mention is that we need to keep whatever we find to ourselves. We are under no obligation to let the Miltons know where the leaks are if we find any."

"I think it's important that we hit them from every angle at the same time so that they won't be able to mount a coverup before we get there. This means coordination, which I will leave to Bill," I said. "It's too late today to talk to the Miltons, but I'll call them early tomorrow morning. If possible, I'd like all of you guys out of here by tomorrow night."

Since most of the Milton's operations were in the New York area, it was agreed that we'd all meet there over the weekend to discuss our findings.

The meeting was over. Bill, Eric and I went to work on the list of areas to be investigated to make it more palatable to the Miltons and not give them any more idea of what we were looking for than necessary.

At 6:00 AM our time, 9:00 Eastern Time, I called the Miltons from the den at home. It was on speakerphone and Eric, Bill and Annie were there.

We went through the usual politeness thing, then I got down to business.

"We'd like to send some people to look into a few things," I said.

"That would be fine," Edward answered.

I then read off the list of areas we wanted to investigate. When I was finished, Edward asked "When do you wish to begin this ambitious project?"

"We'd like to start tomorrow morning," I told him.

"Oh," Edward answered, "I don't think that would be possible."

"Why not?" I asked. "A few phone calls should handle everything."

"I think not, Mr. Rush," Edward said. "The earliest would be sometime next week or the following."

"Then," I said, "I don't think we have anything further to discuss."

"Is that an ultimatum, Mr. Rush?" he asked.

"I'm afraid it is," I said. "You want to close this deal in a hurry, and we're doing our part."

"Can we compromise?" he asked.

"No," I said. I was getting tired of this bullshit.

"Can we think this over and call you back?" he asked.

"I'll give you an hour, that's all," I said, giving him the number.

"You will hear from us," he answered and hung up.

"They're scared," Eric commented as soon as our phone was hung up.

"I'm sure they didn't expect you to act this fast," Annie commented. "Sounds like they need to get shaken up a little. Good work, Dad."

"A masterful performance," Bill added.

"Those guys had better get off their prim and proper asses if they intend to do business with us," I said. "I'm getting tired of their bullshit. Maybe I'm not as polished as they are, but who gives a damn."

"Our money's just about as old as theirs," Annie said. "And we've got a helluva lot more of it than they do. They're selling, we're buying."

Time for more coffee and clock watching.

"I may be late for class, but I wouldn't miss this for anything," Eric said.

We waited. 55 minutes later, the phone rang.

I answered.

"Mr. Rush," Edward said, "I believe we can accomodate you, but I must protest your bullying tactics."

I chose to ignore that. "Thank you, Mr. Milton, our people will be there tomorrow morning. We expect to have free and complete access to everything."

"We will do our best," he answered. "How many people should we expect?"

I looked at Bill who mouthed "60". "There will be about sixty," I said.

"Oh my," Edward sighed. "Why are you sending so many?"

"We want to complete the job as fast as possible," I told him.

"We will prepare for them," he said, and after a terse goodbye, hung up.

"This whole thing is starting to smell," I said. "I want an even more thorough audit than we were planning. We need to verify everything down to the last nut and bolt."

"I fully agree," Bill said.

"What're you working on, Annie?" I asked.

"The real estate," she said. "As soon as I can get a list, I'll get appraisals and title searches underway."

"As soon as they find out where everything is, the troops will be fanning out," Bill said. "Dan will be handling all the travel arrangements from here."

"OK," I said, "let's deploy the troops."

I could tell that Eric was disappointed that he wouldn't be in the middle of all the action. We talked about it, and he quickly worked out which classes he could miss so that he could be with me as much as possible. It was going to be exciting.

The office was bedlam. Excitement was at fever pitch, with everyone involved - those who were going East and those who would stay home and hold down the fort.

It was Company policy that everyone, down to the people in our factories were informed on what was going on in the company, and the current flurry of activity wouldn't go unnoticed. I decided to send an Email to all of our installations to explain what was going on. It would be distributed to every employee, and was as specific as I could make it without divulging the target of our acquisition efforts.

Dan had chartered a plane for the trip and would have a bus waiting at the other end. Service, in flight, would be first class all the way.

After everyone left for the airport, there wasn't much to do but wait. I went home early to try to unwind.

Eric was already home, studying out by the pool. I joined him.

He wanted to know the "latest". There wasn't much to report except that the troops were on their way.

"They'll think they're being invaded tomorrow morning," he chuckled. "How many went?"

"Sixty three," I told him. "They'll be getting rental cars in the morning. We thought it'd be overdoing it if they arrived in a bus."

"From what you say about the Miltons, they'll shit their drawers anyway," he said.

"There's one thing bothering me," I told him. "When you think of New Jersey, I, at least, think Mafia. I know that's not always the case, but you still hear about all the stuff they are still doing. If it turns out that they've infiltrated Milton, we're going to drop everything and run like hell. I just don't want to deal with THAT regardless of how much I want to buy them."

"That thought crossed my mind too," he said. "Let's hope that isn't the case. Oh, by the way, I talked to Mom today and Tina's doing great. Mom would like you to call her."

"I'll do it right now," I said. "I've been thinking about Tina and wondering."

I called Ingrid. She had been to Palm Springs last Friday and again that morning. According to her, Tina was making great progress physically, but still had a lot of other issues to deal with.

"May I make a suggestion?" she asked.

"Absolutely," I said.

"From what Tina tells me, Annie was in a similar situation when she left her mother to come to you. Possibly, if Annie went to see Tina first, she could clear up some of the misconceptions about you that Tina has," she said.

"Annie said something about that," I said, "how she'd felt when she came here, not knowing exactly what to expect. Even though Annie and Tina haven't been close, I know she's willing to do anything she can to help her, and me, for that matter."

"Do you think she could go over to Palm Springs on Friday?" Ingrid asked.

"Annie's on her way to New Jersey," I said, "but I'll be talking to her in the morning. I'm sure we can arrange it."

"Let me know so I can alert the Clinic," she said, "then we'll see when you should go see her."

"I will," I said. "Ingrid, you have no idea how much I appreciate everything you're doing."

"Glad to do it, Dave, and you'll be getting a hefty bill, too," she laughed.

That night, on our way to bed, I noticed that Eric had a huge bulge in his shorts. I patted him and asked "Happy to see me, or what?"

"You're gonna think I'm weird," he grinned.

"That isn't weird," I said giving him a good grope. "I kind of like it."

"It started this morning," he said.

"You mean you've been going around like that all day?" I asked.

"No, well, kinda," he said.

We undressed. His cock popped out hard as a rock.

"It started this morning," he repeated. "On my way to school, I started thinking about your conversation with the Miltons, how it demonstrated the power you have. It gave me a hardon then."

"What power?" I asked.

"The power to talk to billionaires like that, to make them do what you want. You're usually so subtle, but this morning, you made them back down. That's what I call power, and it turned me on," he said.

"That turned you on?" I asked.

"Oh God yes," he said. "Knowing that you have that kind of power, and that I belong to you really got me hot. I was thinking about it again a few minutes ago, and you see what happened." He paused. "I've heard somewhere that 'power' is an aphrodesiac, but never realized it would affect me this way. Hell, I'm about to shoot just thinking about it."

"Wait for me," I kidded.

"Seriously," he said, "I want you to fuck me senseless!"

It only took one long stroke and Eric was convulsed in a powerful orgasm. I rode it out, barely staying inside him.

"More," he said, and I obliged. When I reached my peak, he was ready again, and joined me in the throes of ecstacy.

When we were both coherent again, he said "I think I've found my 'button'. You've got my arm, and now, all you have to say is 'power' and I'm a goner!"

By the time I got there, reports were already coming into the office. All our troops had cell phones, and Bill's office was the command center. He briefed me.

"About all I know so far," he said, "is that they were cordially welcomed. Not by the Miltons themselves, but by their staff, and, it seems like everything will be open to them."

It was soon noon, east coast time, and a flurry of calls came in. We took Mike's call first, and had the others wait.

"I've been all over the plant here," he said. "Everything looks good. Very modern, efficient. The only thing is that it's an old building and stuff has to be moved from floor to floor. There aren't any obvious problems."

"What's next?" Bill asked.

"I'm taking my bunch to their Ohio plant this afternoon," Mike said. "That's their biggest operation, and we want to look it over from top to bottom. After that, we'll decide which one to look at next. They have 43 factories here in the U.S., and I'm faxing you the list."

"Keep us informed," Bill asked.

"Will do," Mike said and hung up.

Next was Annie. She had gotten a fixed asset list, and was ready to head home, feeling that she could handle her end from here. We discussed Tina and she was eager to go to Palm Springs on Friday. She'd be on a plane home that afternoon, and she'd already arranged for Jason to meet her.

John was next. He reported that they had been given free access to everything, but that their computer system was rather antiquated and they'd have a lot of digging ahead. In effect, they were performing a complete audit. He felt it might take a week or more to complete the task, maybe even longer.

Others called, all pretty much reporting the same thing. Everything "looked" OK on the surface, and they were getting the cooperation they needed.

"I still think something's fishy," I told Bill.

"Whatever it is, they'll find it," he assured me.

Annie made the trip to Palm Springs and came home quite enthused about the progress Tina was making.

"Between Ingrid and me, I think we're getting through to her," she reported. "Since she really doesn't know you and has been filled with so much crap from Mom, we have to start from the beginning. Since I was in the same boat a few years ago, she's listening to me."

"What did I do to change your thinking back then?" I asked.

"You were just yourself," she said. "You didn't ask a lot of questions that I didn't want to answer, you weren't judgmental, and you didn't tell me what to do. That's what I really like about you. You don't boss anybody around or give advice."

"I can't believe I'm that wonderful," I said.

"Actually, you are, Dad," she said. "You let me make my own mistakes, but you're always there for me, not blaming me or giving me hell for what I've done. You let me learn from my mistakes, but you're there in case I get into real trouble."

"How else can you learn?" I asked.

"That's just it," she said. "When I ask for advice, you don't tell me what to do, instead you tell me about my options, usually some I haven't thought of, then let me make my own decisions, right or wrong, and you back me up whatever I do."

"Isn't that what Dads are for?" I answered. "How's she dealing with the gay issue?"

"Ingrid's the one who's making progress in that area," she said. "It makes sense. Here's a very respectable lady, a Doctor, too, and her son is your lover and she totally approves. That's about as convincing as you can get!"

"If anybody can convince Tina, Ingrid can," I said.

"I don't know what awful things Mom told her, but I can guess," Annie said. "I told her how I felt too, that I was totally comfortable around you and Eric, and that neither one of you were ogres or monsters. It just happens that you are two men who like men and love each other, and I couldn't be happier for both of you. I think Tina'll come around."

Eric came in and wanted to know about Tina. Annie gave him a brief but complete report on her progress.

"What's happening with Milton?" she asked after she finished.

"Nothing new," I told them. "Everything looks good on the surface, but we all know that a ton of money is going someplace. The troops are still digging. Since there isn't anything to really talk about, we've canceled the 'get-together' in New York this weekend. They'll keep going until they find something."

"Have you heard anything from the Milton brothers?" Eric asked.

"Not a word," I said.

"I wonder what they're thinking," he mused.

"I don't know why," I said, "but I'm expecting a big breakthrough next week. I can just feel it."

"The suspense is killing me," Annie said. "I should be getting some information back by then on their properties that may shed some light. In the meantime, I have a date with Kevin, I'm outta here."

"What do you feel like doing tonight?" I asked Eric.

"Hadn't thought about it," he said.

"I feel like doing something wild and crazy," I told him. "All this tension has gotten to me."

"You got any ideas?" he asked, perking up.

"How about Vegas? See a show, lose some money," I suggested.

"Sounds like fun," he said. "I hear they have a new gay revue with lots of hot guys."

"Let's go!" I said. "We'll spend the night."

There was no news from the East Coast until Thursday.

"The only thing that the Miltons won't let us look at are their Stockholder records," Bill told me. "For some reason, they don't want us to see who owns what percentages of the company. We got around that, though. One of our guys got 'real friendly' with a gal in that department, and she gave him some really interesting information."

"What?" I asked.

"John and Edward only own five percent each," he said.

"I don't understand," I said. "I got the impression that they held control of the company."

"They don't," he said. "Their older sister has the largest chunk of stock, around 75%, and the rest is spread around among cousins and a few trusts. The brothers run it for the rest of the family, it seems."

"Maybe we should look into that a little deeper," I suggested.

"We already are," Bill said. "The information we have isn't all that reliable, so we're digging into the family's history. That should tell us something."

"Do you think it means anything?" I asked.

"Hard to tell at this point," he said. "Wait until we get more information."

Friday, there were more revelations. Some cross-checking had shown that paychecks were being sent to people who didn't actually work where they were supposed to. In fact, they didn't exist. It wasn't one or two, but literally hundreds, and they were all receiving six figure salaries.

When Bill told me about this, he added that these checks were direct deposited to bank accounts all around the New York area, and that the funds were periodically withdrawn by checks that were cashed in the Bahamas, all at the same time. More than a coincidence.

I wanted to know how in hell we had gotten information like this. Banks are pretty touchy about giving out that kind of information.

"You don't want to know," he said. "I can assure you, though, that the information is accurate. We're working right now on finding out who owns the accounts in the Bahamas. That may take some time."

"You're right," I said. "I don't want to know. Just let me know what you find out. What kind of money are we talking about here?"

"Our preliminary estimate is between sixty and a hundred million a year," he answered.

"That explains the bloated overhead," I said.

"Just eliminating that drain would make their bottom line look a helluva lot better," he said, "but I think theres more, a whole lot more."

"I do too," I said. "I wonder who's behind it."

"We won't know until we find out about the accounts in the Bahamas," he said.

That evening, Eric and I discussed the findings of the day.

He was incredulous that we had been able to get this information. "I'm not all that familiar with banks, but I know they wouldn't give out that kind of information willingly," he said.

"Maybe they didn't," I said.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"A few years ago, a bunch of hackers attacked the computers at Metalco," I told him. "When we found them, instead of pressing charges, we hired them. Ever since, they've been working on breaking into our systems. When they find a hole, we plug it. It's a guess, but I'll bet they've been hacking somebody else's computers lately."

"That would explain it," he said. "Another thing I wonder about is how they're getting around the IRS. Milton has to report earnings every year, and anybody getting that kind of salary would surely have to file a tax return."

"I don't know," I said. "Obviously, whoever's doing this has done a lot of careful planning. It's also pretty obvious to me that it's an inside job."

"For sure," he said. "How could the Miltons fail to notice?"

"Look at the statements," I told him, "the overhead has really jumped in the last three years, and has been gradual, so it could, possibly, be justified."

"I really want to meet those guys sometime," he said. "I want to see what stupid looks like."

That got us both laughing.

Another week passed with no new revelations. Bill was uncommonly busy and uncommunicative. I felt left out but didn't complain because I trusted him implicitly.

Sunday evening Bill called me at home. "Everybody's on their way home," he said. "We've put all the pieces of the puzzle together, but I don't know what we're going to do with the solution. It's not a pretty picture, but you'll get it in the morning. I want them to tell you themselves."

"You expect me to wait until tomorrow?" I yelled.

"I don't know all the details myself," he said, "you'll hear it all at the same time I do."

"That's not very comforting," I told him, getting rather pissed.

"I know, Dave, and I'm sorry, but it's the best I can do," he said.

To be Continued.

Author's Note: I really appreciate the suggestions I've been receiving from you guys. I'm using most of the ones I receive. I answer all mail, and love to hear from you, and don't mind getting bashed when I make a mistake. orrinrush@yahoo.com