The Lifeguard

By Orrin Rush (Of Blessed Memory)

Published on Dec 28, 2001

Gay

Disclaimer: The following is a work of fiction. If you are

offended by graphic descriptions of homosexual acts, go

somewhere else.

Copyright c 2001 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 51

Evidently Sarah considered the matter unimportant and went on

to other subjects. As soon as we could gracefully extricate

ourselves, we said our good-bys and left.

"This is beyond weird," Eric said in the elevator.

"I'm thoroughly confused," I admitted.

"I wonder who he really is?"

We discussed the so called Alan Sloan all the way to the

airport. There were no plausable answers that we could come

up with.


First thing Monday morning, I summoned the General to my

office.

He came in all jovial, and I was smiling. When he was seated

in front of my desk, I turned serious.

"Sam," I said, "I understand that you're trying to do a good

job, keeping the planes as tightly scheduled as possible, but

there's one thing you haven't taken into consideration.

That's the fact that I OWN Metalco, the planes, and

everything else.

"What I want goes. When I want to use a plane, or have it

sit on the ground and wait for me, that's what's going to

happen. I do not have to make excuses or give explanations.

That's the way it is.

"While we were on this trip, you called twice a day to find

out when we were coming home. That will never happen again.

"Since I've requested that Ron and Jason be assigned as my

pilots whenever possible, I suggest that you work out some

arrangement with them to keep you informed on what to expect,

but I don't want you to unnecessarily pester them either."

Sam didn't make any excuses. "I apologise for being over

zealous," was all he said.

"You're doing a great job," I told him. "We're getting

better usage out of our equipment than we ever have. It's

just that when it comes to Eric or me, the rules change

slightly."

"I understand."

"Unfortunately," I continued, "neither Eric or I are able to

plan too far ahead, and then, we rarely know how long we're

going to be in a particular place. We'll let you know when

we can, but flexibility is important to us, so you'd better

plan on surprises. Do we understand each other?"

"I do now," Sam said. "Knowing the rules helps a lot."

We shook hands and he went back to work.


Our surveillance operation was now limited to the Miltons and

the Mob. From what we heard, the mob was satisfied. Getting

rid of Tony had satisfied their lust for revenge and we

hadn't been mentioned.

The Miltons were evidently suspicious. Where they'd been

very open about their activities they were now being real

cagey and had ditched their "tails" on more than one

occasion. In my opinion, it was only a matter of time before

they tried something else.

Dale was accepting of the arrangements that had been made.

Jack was not. He gave me unmitigated hell and threatened to

quit.

"This is the first time in over twenty years that you've

'caved in'," he'd roared. "You know a serious, heinous crime

has been committed, and in effect, you're condoning it."

Our talk got a lot more heated than that, but I refused to

back down even though I wasn't too sure how successful the

arrangement would be. I was finally able to placate Jack by

pointing out that if the Miltons even wavered, we'd know, and

he would be turned loose to nail them in any way possible.

Having Jack's respect was important to me and I didn't want

to lose him either. I didn't think he was being fair to me,

and hoped that he'd see things my way eventually.


Micron had leased the top four floors of our old building

downtown, and what used to be the Metalco building was now

the Micron building. Annie had gotten top dollar from them

and even a premium for signage, but they were delighted with

the arrangement.

From what I heard, their floors were fully occupied and

people were still being hired.

Greg was making one of his periodic trips to town and wanted

to get together with Eric and me for dinner. It sounded to

me like he had more on his mind than food.

I wasn't wrong. The first item on his agenda was to tell us

that Micron was moving their entire Operating System and

Platform project to the West Coast and wanted as much space

as Annie still had available.

There were several reasons, he explained. First was Spence's

proximity. Even though he spent little time at the office,

he was nevertheless available when needed.

Second was cost. Even though Annie was getting top buck, it

was a helluva lot cheaper than Manhattan, and third, they

needed all their New York people to concentrate on developing

programs to run on the new system. Only key people would be

moving West.

Last, he wanted to talk about Lundborg Rush. "I see from the

statements we get that you guys are doing rather well," he

observed. "Your last quarter was phenominal!"

"You ain't seen nuthin' yet," Eric told him. "We're soon

going to be the number one supplier of digital ROM in the

world," and went on to tell him about the new directions we

were going.

"Is there going to be room for Micron?" Greg chuckled.

"You bet!" Eric said. "The building we're in right now is

leased from Metalco, and we've already outgrown it. We've

got a whole new facility on the drawing boards right now, and

there'll be plenty of room for expansion."

"You'll need it if our projections prove even close to

right," Greg answered. "By the way, Warren's a great guy to

work with."

"I know we're shipping software all over the world for you

now, so would you consider making some of it overseas?" Eric

asked. "Cut down on freight and duty for your customers,

we'll probably be setting up somewhere in the EEC."

"I'm pretty sure that the Government's going to try to

control export of Spence's stuff, but that won't last long,"

Greg said. "We all know that disks have a way of getting all

over regardless."

"That's down the road a ways, but it's something to consider,"

Eric said.

There was something else that Greg had on his mind but he

seemed hesitant to come out with it. The conversation danced

around, and finally over dessert, he looked at me and spit it

out. "Dave, I know you've never sat on outside Boards, but

we'd like to invite you to join our Board of Directors."

I thought about it for a minute. I'd been invited many times

to sit on other boards, some of the biggest Corporations in

the country, and had always turned them down. I'd always

figured that I had enough to do.

"I can give you a hundred reasons why I should say no," I

told him. "First, we're already so involved in so many ways

that it's becoming incestuous, and the list goes on from

there."

"It's only four times a year, and we only pay a hundred

thousand, which I know is peanuts to you, but we DO pick up

all the liability premiums," he said.

"I said I SHOULD say no," I said. "I didn't say I was going

to."

"You'd consider it?"

"I am, right now, and the answer's yes, I'd be honored," I

told him. "Somebody's got to watch all of Eric's money, and

he's too busy to do it himself."

After the laughing stopped, they both congratulated me.

"One condition," I said. "No pictures in any reports."

"You're quite a 'catch'," Eric told me later. "You blew me

away when you said yes."

"I surprised myself too, I think," I said. "I'll try it for a

year and see how I like it." I held him close, "are you

disappointed that they didn't ask you instead?"

"Hell no! Having you there will protect my investment, and

besides, it's a good excuse to go to New York a little more

often."


From the time that Tina had met Rick, they'd pretty much led

their own lives. Now, we were seeing a lot more of them.

They joined us for dinner frequently, used the pool and

tennis courts, and were just "around" more than they'd ever

been.

I think Rick was a bit intimidated by me, so I made an effort

to be approachable. Gradually he warmed up to me once he

realized that I didn't bite. He and Eric got along great,

doing a lot of kidding as well as having serious discussions.

It was clear to me that Tina was very serious about this boy,

and I had a fair idea what was going on. She was

"conditioning" him to her oddball family.

The more I was around Rick, the better I liked him. Even

though he had received a lot of recognition for our office

building resulting in more business than he could handle, it

hadn't inflated his ego. He was self-effacing and didn't take

any of it seriously.

His quiet nature seemed to match Tina's, certainly a contrast

to Gunter's arrogance.

After discussing Hydra matters one day at the office, Tina

changed the subject. "Dad, I've got something to tell you,"

she said. "Rick and I have been talking about getting

married."

"Are congratulations in order?" I asked.

"Not yet. He's kind of old-fashioned. He wants to talk to

you first before it's official," she said. "I just wanted to

know how you felt about it."

"Do I approve? Is that it?" I asked. "The answer to that is

most definitely! My question is: is this what YOU want?"

"My answer to that is a resounding YES!" she said mimicing me.

"It took me a while to tie him down," she giggled, "but it's

what we both want."

"You have my approval and my blessings," I told her. "Is

Rick afraid I wouldn't approve?"

"He's a little nervous," she admitted. "He comes from a

different background and wasn't sure you'd accept him. He's

still a little bit uncomfortable in the world we live in."

"He doesn't have a thing to worry about," I told her. "The

kind of man he is is a lot more important to me than how much

money he's got."

"How do you think Eric'll react? His approval is important

to me too."

"No problem, but why don't you ask him yourself? I know

that'd make him very happy."

"I will," she promised, gave me a kiss on the cheek and was

gone. "Thanks, Dad," she said from the door.

Not too much later, Eric came in and perched on my desk. He

was a little misty eyed. "I just got one of the biggest

compliments of my life," he said. "Tina just came in to ask

for my approval for her to marry Rick."

"You're her mean old stepmother, remember?" I said, laughing.

"No, seriously, it meant so much to me. I've never felt more

a part of the 'family', and it feels so damned good."

"You are, more than you realize," I said, standing to hold

him. "They love you as much as I do. You've earned it."


The next time Rick was over for dinner, Tina, Annie and Eric

"just happened" to leave Rick and me alone. I watched him

screw up his courage, then he took the plunge.

"Mr. R," he said, "I'd like to ask for your approval for Tina

and me to get married."

"You have it," I said simply.

"I take it you were expecting this?" he asked, grinning from

ear to ear.

"When I see two people very much in love, this is the next

logical step, isn't it?" I laughed.

"There are some differences," he pointed out. "I come from a

working family, and I'm just getting started on my own

career. I can't give Tina everything she's used to."

"That isn't important," I told him. "What matters is that

you love each other and learn how to compromise. Tina's got

more money than she'll ever need, and I hope you'll accept

that, and not feel in any way intimidated because of it. You

have a brilliant future ahead of you, so relax and let her do

what she can for both of you."

"That doesn't bother me at all," he said. "We've discussed

this issue at length, and I don't see any problems."

"I'm not worried," I told him, rising to give him a

handshake. Hell, that wasn't enough. I drug him close and

gave him a brief hug. He didn't flinch. "Welcome to the

family," I told him.

"Hey, it's official!" I yelled. "Get out the champagne,

Jacques."

Everybody hugged everybody else. Jacques poured the

champagne and I toasted the happy couple, followed by another

one from Eric. I noticed that Tina only raised the glass to

her lips but didn't actually take a drink.

"Have you set a date?" I asked.

"Next spring," Tina answered.

"Oh shit!" Annie said. "That means that Mom's going to get

involved. You know about HER, don't you, Rick?"

"Tina's told me a little," he said, diplomatically.

"We'll work around her," I assured them.

The next day, Tina was sporting a three or four carat

solitaire.


Both the County and the State had filed appeals in New

Hampshire, both claiming that the lower courts had erred in

denying them immunity.

Dr. Naimann had answered the County's claim in the State

Court of Appeals and the State's in the Second Circuit Court

of Appeals. Briefs had been filed, and the State Court had

handed down it's decision.

It was a resounding victory for us. The court's opinion that

the lower court had not erred let the judgment of $95 million

stand. For all intents and purposes, it was "case closed".

Now, all we had to do was try to collect.

The Circuit Court's decision quickly followed. A per curiam

opinion upheld the Federal Court's decision. Another victory

for us.

Jack was of the opinion that we'd never see a cent. Dr.

Naimann felt differently and went to work to prove his point,

asking that we have a little patience while he worked on it.


In less than a month, the Milton brothers were back in

business. According to our surveillance reports, they'd

merely moved to another apartment in New York, and a steady

stream of children were visiting.

I couldn't believe their arrogance. Either the drugs weren't

working or they were doing something else. Regardless,

children were involved, and it had to be stopped.

Immediately.

This time, the decision wasn't difficult. In a conference

call, Eric and I advised Sarah what was going on, and warned

her that we had no choice but to turn them in. She wasn't

happy, but realized that we had no other option, and thanked

us for warning her.

"We gave it a try, but it didn't work," I told Jack. "Now

it's time to turn over everything you have."

"I admire you guys for trying to protect a friend," he said,

"but this can't be allowed to continue. I'll have Bob pull

off surveillance so there's no chance it can be traced back

to us, and see that those bastards get crucified."

"We don't need details," I said. "It's all in your hands."

We didn't hear the full story until much later.


It didn't take all that long for Dr. Naimann to get back to

us. He wanted to outline his plan, in person, before he

implemented it.

"Are you ready for another battle?" was his opening remark,

his eyes twinkling gleefully. "At the moment, they're

sitting there gloating, thinking we can't touch them. I even

approached them with a settlement but they laughed at me."

"Is there any hope?" Eric asked.

"I think so," Dr. Naimann answered. "It's pretty hard to

execute judgment against a Governmental body unless they want

to pay up, and in this case, this bunch sure as hell doesn't

want to.

"I anticipated this, in the event we won, and I've had some

of my brightest researchers working on it since day one," he

smiled.

"The County's going to be the easiest. They own a lot of

land that we can attach and foreclose on, including the Court

House," he continued. "I don't think it's worth $95 million,

but it's better than nothing. They'll fight us, but I think

this part's relatively cut and dried.

"The State's another matter. We got lucky. When the state

was admitted to the Union in 1788, the Constitution they

adopted included most of the Colonial laws that had been in

effect before statehood. One of those old laws provided for

'discharge of public debts'. It very clearly states that

when 'public liability has been incurred through negligence

or malfeasance, and so adjudicated', the obligation must be

'discharged forthwith'.

"Malfeasance was the basis of our whole case - that

Governmental officials overstepped their legal authority with

the sole purpose of harming a specific individual or

individuals, and we proved it to the Court's satisfaction.

"We also went over every law passed since then, and can't

find any that even came close to repealing this law, and

we're convinced it's still valid and on the books."

"What does all this mean to us?" I asked.

"Citing this law, we can go back to Court, get a writ of

execution, and use that to freeze every bank account and

investment that the State has. No financial institution is

going to ignore the writ because if they do, they could be

liable themselves. They won't hand the money over to us, but

they won't let the State have it either. If anything will

make the State talk turkey, this is it, if you want to

proceed, that is."

Jack was smiling, Eric was giggling, and I was smiling too.

"Why not?" I ventured. "We've invested a lot in this

already, and I'm not one to walk away from victory without

collecting."

"I vote GO!" Eric said.

"Me too," I said.

"I'm all ready to file," Dr. Naimann said. "We should have

some answers pretty fast."

The wait was short. Dr. Naimann called, obviously delighted.

"We got the writs," he said, "and they've already been

served. I'm sure we'll be hearing from the State by

tomorrow. They're fobidden, by law, to write rubber checks."

"What do you expect them to do?" I asked.

"Beg," he said, laughing. "They're literally forced to reach

a settlement. Hell, they can't pay their bills, meet payroll

or anything else. I'll put them off as long as I can, the

more pressure, the better the settlement we'll be able to

negotiate. Oh, by the way, I leaked the whole thing to the

press. Better watch the news tonight."

Word of our latest maneuver spread through the Metalco

building like wildfire. I would be willing to bet that 90%

of our troops were glued to their TV that night. We were.

Eric, Annie, Tina, Rick and I were assembled in the den in

front of the big screen, VCR running, when the national news

came on.

It was the lead story. "As of tonight, the State of New

Hampshire is broke. In a surprise move, Attorneys for Eric

Lundborg and Dave Rush used a law from Colonial times to

freeze every bank account the state has. They are totally

without funds. Now to our Legal Correspondent..."

"Ever since the whopping judgment against them, the State of

New Hampshire has been sitting back laughing at Lundborg and

Rush. Today, their laughter stopped. Using a long-forgotten

Colonial law that's still on the books, their Attorney

Dr. Leonard Naimann, brought the State to a standstill.

"The results haven't been felt yet, but within a few days,

the effects will be widespread - a curtailment of services,

inability to pay state employees, and Lord only knows what

else. The State is finally going to have to face reality and

settle the claims against them that they should've done

months ago. A groundswell of public opinion, already

underway, is going to force the State to act, but they're not

in a very strong bargaining position."

The mike was passed to the network's political correspondent.

"We all feel sorry for the citizens of New Hampshire, but

they elected their officials and now must suffer the

consequences. From what we've heard 'on the street' New

Hampshireites aren't too happy."

Next came interview clips. "Could've been avoided..." "They

screwed this thing up from the beginning, throw the bums

out..." "Bungled from the beginning.." and "The Governor

should have stopped this a long time ago..." were some of the

comments.

The anchor summed up the story. "A sad day for the State,

the repurcussions may be far greater than anyone expected."

"Wow!" Rick said, "You've brought a whole State to its

knees. They deserve it, though."

"I want to call Naimann," I announced and went over to get

the speakerphone.

"We've got 'em by the balls," Naimann shouted gleefully.

"They've already called for a meeting in the morning, and

I'll definitely be there. Public opinion is definitely on

our side."

"How much should we settle for?" Eric asked.

"I'm going for blood," Dr. Naimann answered. "Not a penny

less than seven and a half billion, and any agreement we

reach has to be ratified by the State Legislature."

"And," he continued, "the County's not off the hook yet,

either."

"It's all going to charity, you know," I told him.

"That makes it even sweeter! I'll call you every hour at

your office tomorrow," he promised.


"All that POWER!" Eric growled. "I'm not sure whether I want

to fuck or be fucked."

"Let's do both," I suggested.


CNN had live coverage, and from what they showed, every other

news service was there too.

My office was full, all eyes glued to the tube, listening to

the commentators speculate. When the phone rang, everybody

jumped, including me.

"They're trying to low-ball us," Naimann said. "Their best

offer, so far, is $100 million. If this goes on much longer,

I'm going to walk...and hold a press conference. I've got to

be careful though, I want us to stay the 'good guys'."

We waited some more, no developments were reported on CNN.

A half hour later, we saw Dr. Naimann and his entourage

emerge and walk up to the massed microphones. He was smiling

but serious.

"I'm very sorry to report that our talks have broken off.

Elected Representatives of the good people of New Hampshire

refuse to negotiate in good faith, so I have been forced to

leave the bargaining table. I am available to resume talks

at any time they are ready to address this issue

realistically. Thank you."

He ignored the barrage of questions that flew at him and

stepped into a waiting car. A few minutes later the phone

rang. It was Naimann.

"How'd I do?" he asked.

"You put the ball squarely in their court," I answered.

"Those arrogant assholes are digging their own graves. The

Governor sneered at me the whole time. He's even more of a

pompous prick than the Attorney General - who was there too."

What's next?" Eric asked.

"We wait for them to call, and I assure you they will," he

said. "As soon as public opinion weighs in, the pressure is

going to take its toll. I'll let you know as soon as I hear

anything."

"Damn, 'ol Doc Naimann is sure one hell of a poker player,"

Jack commented.

By afternoon, CNN reported that recall petitions were being

circulated on street corners in every city of the state to

remove the Governor, the Attorney General, and anybody else

even remotely connected to the mess.

At no time was there any public comment made by anyone from

the State.

On the evening news it was reported that the State Legislature

was in closed-door emergency session considering whether to

remove the Governor from negotiations and take over

themselves.

We didn't hear from Dr. Naimann until morning, and he didn't

have much to report. Noone had called him. Yet.

"How's it feel to have a whole State by the balls?" Eric

asked me.

"It's no particular thrill," I admitted. "This whole thing

could have been avoided if people weren't so damned greedy.

I wish the whole thing would hurry up and get settled so we

could get back to normal."

"We seem to attract chaos," he laughed. "That's becoming

'normal' for us!"

Nothing happened all day. Or the next. We talked frequently

with Dr. Naimann, and he advised us to remain calm and wait

it out. That's what he said he was doing.

According to the news, the situation was reaching crisis

proportions. Nonessential services were curtailed, suppliers

refused to deliver to the state, being unsure when or if

they'd get paid, contractors were walking off jobs, and State

Employees were staying home in droves. Unofficial tallies

indicated that more than enough signatures had been collected

to force recall elections of several officials. It was a

mess and growing hourly, with a mass protest rally scheduled

for the Capitol steps the following day.

Thinking about it, realizing that we were responsible for

making life difficult for more than a million people, made me

wonder if we were doing the right thing. I asked Dr. Naimann

if maybe we shouldn't back off a little. On this he was

adamant, "NO WAY!" he said. "Granted, only a handful of

people got them into this perdicament, but there have been

many opportunities to put an end to the whole thing. They

either ignored these or tossed them away.

"We're talking about an affront to an individual's rights

that is protected by our Constitution, and if they get away

with it, life in these United States will never be the same.

We've got the support of more than 70% of the country. We

just can't back off now."

"The people of New Hampshire are beginning to realize this,

and see what fools they elected," he continued. "They're not

blaming you, but their own officials."

I was convinced. Naimann made it sound like we had a "duty"

to see this thing through.

Although they were working behind closed doors, rumors leaked

out that the Legislature had reached agreement on a

settlement offer, circumventing the Governor.

When Dr. Naimann was contacted, a secret meeting was arranged,

he reported to us.

Representatives from both houses of the Legislature came to

the meeting. According to Naimann, they recognized that they

were "over a barrel", and didn't try to play games. Their

offer of $8 billion, payable over five years without interest

was acceptable, and a deal was made. However, it wouldn't be

a "done-deal" until an Appropriations Bill was passed and

signed by the Governor.

Once all this was agreed to, the news was made public, the

Bill was drafted, was quickly passed and sent to the Governor

with great fanfare.

There were a lot of politics involved. Both Houses of the

State Legislature were controlled by one party, the Governor

was from the other party. The Legislature's actions were

clearly designed to embarass the Governor and he wasn't too

happy about this turn of events.

The Governor had three options: Sign the bill, veto it, or

sit on it - a "Pocket Veto". He chose the latter course of

action.

The citizens of New Hampshire were resigned to the fact that

they'd be paying higher taxes, but this action by the

Governor was an outrage. It would be sixty days before the

Legislature could override his veto, and by then, the whole

State would grind to a standstill.

The media reported that a general rebellion was "in the

making" with the whole world watching. Analysts speculated

on the Governor's motives, none coming up with anything

reasonable.

It was an impasse.

In all the hubub, "Lundborg and Rush" were completely

forgotten. The focus was on the Governor.

It got worse in a hurry. The Governor's Mansion was under

siege by angry crowds. The Governor tried to call out the

National Guard to protect him, and they refused.

The President himself tried to reason with the Governor "for

the good of the people of your State", but he continued to

stonewall.

The recall movement was moving full speed ahead, but that

took time too, more than overriding the veto. The only way

the Governor could be removed in a hurry was in the event of

his "incapacity", and since he was isolating himself, he

couldn't be examined to determine this.

Somebody came up with the idea that this determination could

be made on the basis of his actions, that no man in his right

mind would be acting like he was. That concept was jumped

on, and he was "diagnosed" in absentia.

On this basis, the Governor was removed and the Lieutenant

Governor sworn in as "acting" Governor. He immediately

signed the Appropriations Bill into law.

Dr. Naimann was skeptical. This was new legal territory and

he wondered if future litigation might invalidate our claim.

To be on the safe side, he demanded that payment of the first

year's installment be made immediately. The Legislature

agreed.

Naimann "unfroze" the State's bank accounts, and within a

week had $1.6 billion in his Trust Account. It was over.


Since the money belonged to Lundborg Rush which was, in turn,

owned by the four of us, we sat down to talk over what we

were going to do with it. Everybody had opinions.

"After we reimburse the Company for it's out-of-pocket, I

suggest we give Annie the $250 million she was awarded, then

divide up what's left," I suggested.

"No," Annie said, "it's all going to some charity anyway.

That money stays in the pot."

"Do you have any particular cause in mind?" Tina wanted to

know.

"Eric has a great idea," I said, "my share goes with him."

"What's that?" Tina asked him.

Eric explained his idea of the "Lifeguard Foundation" to them

in detail.

"My share goes with you too," Tina said. "I like the fact

that none of our names are going to be on it."

"Count me in too," Annie said.

"If you all do that," Eric said, "just this first installment

is going to be far more money than I'll need to do everything

I want. Since the focus will be on education, there are a

lot of other areas where we could do something worthwhile.

Any ideas?"

We all agreed to think about it, and I added "Down the road,

I'd like to give some to my animals."

"There'll be plenty for everything anybody wants to do," Eric

answered.


Since they were also LR stockholders, we talked to the Micron

boys about our plans. They were in total agreement, saying

that it wouldn't be right to line our own pockets, and that I

could help them pass a Board resolution to that effect at the

next meeting which was coming up soon.

Eric was anxious to get started and wanted to draw on Sarah's

expertise. He was a bit hesitant to call her, though, not

knowing how she'd feel toward us after what we'd done to her

brothers.

Several weeks had elapsed since Jack had set the wheels in

motion and we hadn't heard anything about what had happened.

We were both a little nervous about the reception we'd

receive when we called her. Eric insisted I be there when he

called to provide moral support.

We didn't have anything to worry about. "You did it again,"

she said happily. "Whether it was intentional or not, you

got me off the hook."

"What do you mean?" Eric asked.

"That fracas you caused up in New Hampshire pushed everything

else off the front page. My brothers' case was pushed to a

back page and hardly got noticed," she said.

"To be honest, we haven't heard anything about what happened,"

Eric admitted.

"The New York police caught them red-handed in that awful

apartment, and the New Jersey police searched their homes and

found their tape collections. Confronted with this, for the

first time in their lives, they acted like gentlemen, admitted

their guilt and were sentenced to 20 year terms without a

trial. They'll never leave prison alive. It was all handled

very quickly and quietly."

"For your sake, I'm happy about that," Eric said.

Then they got down to the real reason for the call. Eric

gave her a quick description of what we wanted to do and

Sarah was eager to help. A time was set for Eric to see her

in New York.

"Bring Dave," she said, "so you can both come to Brad's

opening."

I hadn't said a word during the whole conversation. "You

know, don't you, that child molesters aren't the most popular

people in prison?" I asked him. He nodded. "They'll never

last out their term."

"I thought about that," he said, "but I didn't want to

mention it to Sarah."


The timing was good. We'd be able to accomplish a lot of

things at the same time - my Board meeting, Eric's meeting

with Sarah, and Brad's opening, something I knew we'd have to

go to. There was a two-week gap, however.

I pointed this out to Eric. "We have a whole week with

nothing to do."

"Except work," he laughed.

"No we don't, that's why we delegate," I told him. "Besides,

it's getting kind of cold around here."

"Sure, it's clear down to the high 60's," he teased. "Hell,

we haven't had a vacation in two whole months! Where do you

want to go?"

"I was thinking about the Virgin Islands, never been there."

"Which one, I hear tell there's three of them?"

"Smartass. You choose."

"Eeny, meenie..." he said, laughing.

"Call Dan," I suggested. "He'll have some ideas."

"You're serious?" he asked.

"Damned right."

"OK, I'll call him."

I heard him joking with Dan, then he held the phone away "He

wants to know if we want nightlife, history or peace and

quiet."

"How about peace and quiet where we can fuck our brains out

on the beach?"

"Hear that?" Eric asked Dan. "Sounds good to me too."

Eric listened some more, then asked me, "Private Villa or a

Resort?"

"Let's go for a resort so we don't have to take a crew along,"

I suggested.

"He says the Caneel Bay Resort on St. John would be the best,

that sound OK?"

"Go for it," I told him.

"Dan's faxing us all the details," he said after he hung up.

"I realize this was rather abrupt," I said. "I didn't even

ask if you wanted to take anybody else along."

"Not really," he said, then thought a minute. "You know who

might be interesting?" I shook my head. "Dr. Naimann and

his S.O."

"Might be!" I said. "Call him if you want, I'm agreeable."

Eric was on the phone again. "They'd love to go," he said.

"I told them all they'd need was a couple of swimsuits and

lots of lube," he giggled.


When we mentioned that we'd be in the Caribbean the following

week and New York the next, Annie, with a big grin, said

"What a coincidence! I may run into you in New York. I'm

meeting Hans. We're staying with Sarah."

"Gee, you mean I'm going to have a little peace and quiet

around here?" Tina said with a big smile.

Tina would have a little time alone with Rick, and I was

happy to see that Annie and Hans were getting together. Who

knows? Maybe a double wedding next spring.

Eric and I agreed, spontaneous trips were more fun. No

chance to build expectations, just go and see what happens.

This would be different from our recent trips in another way

  • no bodyguards, no entourage. Nice.

Dan had sent over brochures and all sorts of stuff on what we

could do. We decided not to even look at them until we got

there.


By now, Jacques had become an indispensible part of our

lives. In reality, we didn't see that much of him. He was

never underfoot, and protected our privacy with a vengeance.

I was almost surprised not to find him sitting outside our

bedroom door at night making sure that nobody disturbed us.

Rarely did either of us have to give him instructions. He

had the uncanny ability to anticipate. In many ways, he had

US trained. Little things that I'd taken responsibility for

all my life, frequently forgetting, were no longer a part of

my life. Such simple things as toothpaste, something I'd

often run out of in the past, were automatically replenished.

He'd trained us to forget about them completely.

The only thing about Jacques that bothered me was his total

dedication to our happiness. It seemed like he never took a

day off or had any life of his own. Frankly, it made me feel

a little guilty.

I broached the subject to Eric. "I don't know what you're

paying that guy, but it isn't enough," I told him.

"He's making as much as some of our executives," he told me,

"and worth every penny."

"But, does the poor guy have a life? He's here 24 hours a

day, seven days a week."

"There's a lot that you evidently don't know," Eric said with

a smirk. "Have you checked out the 'servants quarters' over

the garage lately?"

"No."

"It's a lot different than it used to be. I gave Jacques a

credit card to do our shopping with, and told him to use it

to fix the place up however he wanted, no limit. He took me

seriously, and now that place is nicer than most homes."

"Does he live there alone?" I asked.

"No, Rene, the chef, lives out there too," he said giggling.

"You're not very observant," he kidded. "Jacques and Rene

have been an 'item' almost since the day he arrived."

"I must be going blind in my old age," I teased. "All this

going on right under my nose and I didn't even notice. How'd

you find out about it?"

"Jacques confides in me," he said. "As you've noticed, or

NOT noticed, they're really discreet. By the way, since

we're going to be gone next week, I've arranged with Mary to

take over so they both can have a little time off. I hope

you don't mind."

"Certainly not! You know, I think I married a helluva nice

guy."

Although Jacques wasn't going with us on this trip, he did

all our packing. Neither of us even bothered to check what

he'd packed. We KNEW that everything we'd need would be

there.


We would pick up Dr. Naimann and his partner in Miami. For a

change, the General was happy, we had a real schedule for

this trip, and we would be taken care of by the Steward that

he'd hired. Ron and Jason were, as usual, our pilots, and we

were using the GV.

We left early so we'd get there in daylight. Actual flying

time wasn't that long, but we'd be losing several hours.

Our Steward was a cutie. Tall, slim, with huge brown eyes.

Since this was his first flight with us, he seemed a little

nervous, a little too eager to please. I sat him down and

told him to relax, that we were Dave and Eric, and that we

liked informality.

After breakfast, he advised us that he was going to the crew

quarters, and wouldn't be back until we called him, very

subtly telling us that we wouldn't be disturbed.

"That was thoughtful," Eric commented with a leer. "There's

something we've never done on any of the planes."

"What's that?"

"Fuck."


To be continued.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I appreciate hearing your comments on the

story, my writing, and anything you would like to offer -

good or not so good. Send me a message at

orrinrush@yahoo.com

Next: Chapter 52


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