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 2002 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.

-------------------------------------------------------------- AUTHOR'S NOTE:

First, my apology for the irregularity of postings. I am slowly recovering from the health problems that caused it. Thanks for your patience.

THE LIFEGUARD

Chapter 62

An hour after the Senator left, we were on our way to the airport.

Before we'd met with the Senator the first time, we'd decided that it wouldn't be a good idea to even mention our suspicions about the Senator from North Carolina. We figured that if they were true, our Senator would uncover them. If they weren't, and we had made an accusation, we'd be dead in the water.

We felt pretty optimistic. Something was obviously not right, but the wheels were in motion.

I'd kept Annie informed of developments every day, but wanted everyone to hear the latest. We all gathered in my office first thing Monday morning.

Eric told them about our Sunday morning meeting, repeating the Senator's words almost verbatim.

"What do you think'll happen?" Dean asked.

"I have no idea how this'll play out," I said, "but eventually we'll get what we want. We're just going to have to be patient."

"That's a relief," Dean said. "I'm sure glad we have the resources to wait this thing out. A setback like this would break just about any other developer."

"We're fortunate in that respect," Annie said. "I think this is a good time for us to start working on some of the other projects that we've got lined up so we can keep everybody busy. Dad, Eric, should we keep on working on Silicon, or should we put everything on hold?"

I looked at Eric. "Personally, I'd hate to see us lose any momentum," he said.

Tina spoke up. "What do you think, Dad?"

"I'm confident that this will all work out. I'd say go ahead."

"Then that's the way I vote, too," she said. "Annie?"

"I'll make it unanimous," Annie said, "but I still want to get going on other projects too."

Naturally, Eric was excited about the Micron announcement that would be made that day. Not telling him why, he invited Spence to have dinner with us, then watched the market until it closed. Micron was up 31 points.

"How's it feel to make almost two billion dollars in one day?" I kidded him.

He let his excitement show, grabbing me and swinging me around. "One billion nine hundred and thirty seven million five hundred thousand to be exact," he giggled. "It isn't real!"

"That was just the initial reaction," I told him. "Hold onto your hat, this is only the beginning."

Spence showed up looking tired. "Only three weeks to go," he said. "Finals start next week and Graduation is in three weeks.

"Are you going to invite us?" Eric asked.

"You'd BETTER be there," he laughed, "Dirk's gonna be here," he said with a twinkle in his eye.

"Here's something that might cheer you up until then," Eric said, toying with him. "Did you check the market today?"

"No, should I? The only stock I've got is Micron."

"Micron moved a little today."

"How much?"

"31 points," Eric said.

"Up, I hope," he said, not comprehending the significance.

"Yeah, you only made about ten billion today."

"I WHAT?" he yelled. "Now don't play with me, Eric!"

"It's true," Eric said, sobering.

"WHOOPEE!" he shouted and grabbed Eric. "It's all because of you, Big Bro."

I asked Spence if he wanted a drink to celebrate. He stuck to his soda. They sat on the couch, one on either side of me, my arms around both of them.

"You guys are my real family, you know," Spence said.

"How about Dirk?" Eric asked.

"He's my boyfriend, that's different. It's you guys I come to when I have a serious problem."

"How're things going with Dirk, anyway," Eric asked.

"Getting better all the time. I've gotten over the thing with his cousins, and it seems like he's getting comfortable with my money. I've been to Chicago three times and he was here for Tina's wedding, but, would you believe we still haven't slept together yet. Don't get me wrong, I WANT to, but the time just hasn't seemed right."

"You'll know when," I assured him.

Annie joined us for dinner. She liked Spence and kidded him unmercifully. He gave it right back to her.

"So, what's new with everybody," she asked.

"Eric and I made a few billion bucks today," Spence told her.

"Yeah, right," she said. "You print it yourselves?"

"Yep, just like that rock you're wearin' is glass. Hansie baby pop the question?"

"Yes, and don't you dare say a word to anybody. It's not official yet."

"Looks kinda old, just like him!"

"He's a MAN, little boy," she shot back.

"I like being a little boy," he said, "that means I always get my own way!"

"Truce!" Annie said, laughing. "What really happened to you guys?"

"Micron stock took a big jump today after they announced Spence's new system," Eric said.

"Congratulations on catching Hans," Spence said. "He's a terrific guy, and he has the cutest buns."

"Look but don't touch, dammit," she said. "He's MINE!"

It went on like this all the way through dinner. I stayed the hell out of it, just watching and laughing at the three of them having fun.

After dinner, Spence got serious. "I was planning to call you guys this week," he said. "I need a little help."

"Dirk?" Eric asked.

"No, my Dad. I've been getting a lot of letters from him, through my attorney, of course. He and my mother want to come to my graduation and are begging me to invite them. What should I do?"

"Do you want them to be there?" I asked.

"No way! After what they did..."

"We normally don't give advice, but in this case, I'm going to," I told him. "If you don't want them, don't give in and let them talk you into inviting them. If you do, they'll know where you are and you certainly don't want that."

"Unless he's stupid, which he isn't, he knows what city I'm in, but thankfully it's a big city and there are a lot of colleges here so he'd have a hard time finding me."

"I hate to burst your bubble," I told him. "Are you registered at UC under your own name? Is your condo in your name?"

"Yes and yes," Spence said warily.

"A few phone calls and he could pinpoint you," I said. "Start calling schools to find where you're registered, then, with proof that he's your Father, he could find out everything. Same thing about where you live, and that's public information that every Realtor has access to."

"I didn't know that," Spence said.

"It's almost impossible to disappear completely unless you lay the groundwork very carefully," I told him.

"Oh shit! I thought I was pretty safe."

"You probably are," I said, "but, if your Dad really wants to find you, he can. What do you think would happen if he did?"

"He's hard to predict. If he finds me, I know he'll do everything he can to get me to go back to Idaho, or Utah, and make my life miserable until I do."

"He's already proven that he's capable of physical abuse," I said, "so your protection should be our first concern."

"How do I do that?"

"Leave it to the experts," Eric said, knowing where I was going. "Ricky and Alex?" he asked me.

"Yep," I said. "They'll stick to Spence like a second skin from a week before graduation until as long afterward as necessary."

"Who're Ricky and Alex?" Spence asked.

"The best bodyguards we have," Eric told him. "They don't look like bodyguards, so nobody'll even notice them."

"What about Dirk? Will his being there create a problem?"

"Not at all," Eric said, giggling. "Ricky and Alex are a couple themselves."

"I'll set it up," I told him. "Come into the office next week so you can meet them and we'll work out all the details."

Spence was shaking his head. "You guys really ARE my family!"

The next day, I asked Bob to bring Ricky and Alex to my office, that I had an assignment for them.

I explained who Spence was and what I wanted done. "I want you guys to stick to him like glue, 24 hours a day. I don't think he's in any serious jeopardy, it's his parents and the Mormon Church that bothers me. They want him to return to Idaho, and he doesn't want to go. Kidnapping is a possibility, and it's your job to see that it doesn't happen."

We went over more details, then I asked Bob if I could give the boys some instructions in private.

"OK guys," I said. "Spence is like a son to me and a little brother to Eric. He may be one of the world's richest men, but he's still young and rather naive. He has a boyfriend who'll be here for his graduation, but I don't want either of you tempting him in the meantime. If the subject comes up, tell him that you guys don't play around, and don't!"

"What if he tries to start something? You know how my hormones work," Ricky said with a giggle.

"Say 'No Thank You', and that's an order!" I told him. "He's serious about his boyfriend, who happens to be Eric's cousin, but they're having enough problems already, so don't make it any worse, OK?"

"I suppose he's a real hottie, too," Ricky groaned.

"You could say that," I said, "but keep it in your pants."

"For you, boss, we'll do the impossible," Alex promised.

I told Eric about my discussion with Ricky and Alex. He burst out laughing. "Those guys will have poor Spence so damned horny that he'll jump Dirk's bones the minute he walks in the door!"

"Is that good or bad?" I laughed.

"I think it's about time SOMETHING happened. It's unnatural to put it off this long!"

"Spence'll be happy with what he finds when he gets around to it."

"And how do YOU know?" Eric teased.

"Remember the morning I woke up and he was spooned in front of me and I thought it was you? When I reached over to play with 'you' I grabbed hold of a mighty nice eight incher. Not anywhere as nice as the one that belongs to me," I told him, giving his crotch a pat. My, my, I found stiffness!

"Speaking of that," Eric said, "how about a quickie before dinner, the hot tub after dinner, then let me give you a massage? I know you don't show it, but I can 'feel' the stress you're under."

"What're we waiting for?" I asked.

It was Wednesday before the Senator called. "The General is still in California digging," she said. "I probably shouldn't be telling you this, but it appears that the order to file the objection came from a rather high level, verbally, and nobody wants to talk. The General and his staff are trying to trace it back to its source, but the lack of cooperation that they're up against is going to make it a slow process."

"I'm sure you understand our position," I told her. "We're only interested in having the objection lifted, so we're not going to do anything that might 'rock the boat'."

She promised to keep us informed on progress.

Nothing had been happening on the 'Georgia' matter until Eric was served a subpoena and demand for a deposition all in the same day.

He called his Dad immediately, but Karl was booked solid that day, so agreed to come to our house after work to discuss the situation.

"Looks like they're getting desperate," was his comment after scanning the papers. "The Police say it didn't happen, and THEY can't prove that it happened, so they're going to try to get Eric to incriminate you, Dave.

"That's one of the shitty ways the Law treats you guys. You're not legally married so they can force you to testify against each other."

"But what if there isn't anything to testify about?" Eric asked.

"Then they're spinning their wheels again," Karl said. "Don't forget, though, if they somehow get some substantiating evidence and win their case, the Police could reopen the case against Dave."

"I don't have anything to say that'd help them, that's for sure," Eric grinned.

"That shyster they've got is a tricky son-of-a-bitch," Karl said. "In your deposition, he's going to use every trick he's got. That's why I'll be right there with you."

"Is the DA doing anything about the false charges?" I asked.

"Normally, he'd give them a slap on the wrist and let it go at that. This time, he's sitting back to see what they do next. I'd say it's a good sign.

"In any event, I'm preparing pretrial motions to have the whole thing thrown out for lack of evidence."

"Do you think that argument will fly?" I asked.

"It has to... unless they've found something I don't know about yet. They have to tell me virtually everything they have during pre-trial discovery. It wouldn't surprise me if they tried to depose you, too, Dave. I wasn't going to get depositions from Georgia and Joe Billy because this whole thing is so ridiculous, but maybe I'd better."

"Do whatever you have to, Karl," I told him. "You have a blank check on this whole thing."

"The more I think about it, I think it's time to mount a major offensive. Yes, with them going after Eric, we'd better cover all the bases."

"God I'm sorry you got dragged into this," I told Eric.

"Listen babe," he said seriously, "we're in LIFE together, this is just a part of it. Remember, I took you for better or worse," he chuckled.

"But I hate to see you perjure yourself."

"I wouldn't have to if the laws weren't so fucked up. Relax, it'll be over soon, Dad'll see to that."

"That's another thing. I wish we could tell him the real story."

"I think he has a pretty good idea. If things get really sticky, we'll have to tell him so he can protect us, but we'll wait and see if it comes to that."

"If Georgia's Attorney has come up with anything, I'm sure they'd run straight to the D.A. with it to get themselves off the hook for the charges he's got pending against them," I said.

"That makes sense," he said, "but we're not dealing with rational people."

"I'm going to put Bob to work tomorrow," I said. "We'll have him dig up every speck of dirt he can on both Georgia and Joe Billy. That may help your Dad."

Sure enough, I got an invitation to give a deposition too.

Eric and I discussed our "stories" to make certain there weren't any conflicts. They were quite simple, actually. We had seen Georgia and Joe Billy on the church steps after the ceremony, and hadn't seen them since.

We "assumed" that they had gotten lost between the Church and our house where the reception was being held, and had evidently found their way back to their hotel. Or, they just didn't want to attend the reception and hadn't. It was pure speculation on our part.

Just to make absolutely sure, I talked to Tina and Annie separately about what was going on. They both said they hadn't discussed the matter with anyone and wouldn't.

Eric's deposition was scheduled two days before mine, so Karl coached us together. "Remember, this is going to be on the record, so anything you say can be used to your disadvantage.

"Take your time, be deliberate and think about every answer before you give it. I'll be sitting where you can see me, and if the question is out of line, I'll object, so don't blurt out anything so I'll have a chance to do that.

"One tactic a lot of Attorneys use is to try to get you pissed off so they can try to trip you up. If I see that happening, I'll call for a break, and we'll get you calmed down.

"They're on a fishing expedition, so will ask totally unrelated questions. They're looking for motive, which you definitely have, then anything that can tie you to the supposed act.

"Eric, they're going to try to find out if Dave told you about any plans he had to keep Georgia away. Dave, they know you have the capability of having something like this done by your 'Private Police Force', and will ask a lot of questions about that. Think ahead about your contacts with Bob."

"I don't know nothing," Eric said.

"I didn't do nothing!" I said.

Laughing, Karl said "Just stick to that story and we're home free."

Karl brought Eric home exhausted. "He did a damned fine job," Karl said. "If they got anything useful out of that, they heard something I didn't."

"That was WORK!" Eric said, "and a long goddam two hours!"

Jacques brought us a drink and we rehashed the whole thing.

"They'll probably go over some of the same things with you, Dave, just to see if there's any discrepancies," Karl said. "I suggest you two go over everything Eric can remember before your turn in the hot seat."

We did. In detail, Eric remembering bits and pieces as we talked. The only question he'd answered untruthfully was whether or not he was aware of any plot to abduct Georgia and get her out of the way. The rest were truthful.

That night, it was my turn to relieve HIS stress. A massage and the best blowjob I could give did the trick. He rolled over, closed his eyes, and was asleep before I could pull up the covers.

It was my turn. I pegged my interrogator as a genuine asshole on a power trip the minute I sat down. He seemed to think I was a "Big Shot", and was thoroughly enjoying being in a position to make me squirm, puffing up self-importantly and treating me as condescendingly as possible. If it hadn't been such a serious situation, I would have cracked up laughing.

I soon realized that he had a purpose. He wanted to get me angry, indignant and... sloppy.

"Isn't it unusual for an older man like you to have such a young, virile boyfriend?" was his first question.

"I don't think so," I answered.

"Must be all that money you've got, then."

"I don't think so," I answered.

"Do you tell him everything?"

"We have no secrets."

"Did you tell him about your plan to get Georgia and Joe Billy out of the way?"

"No."

"Why not? Ashamed to tell him what you were doing?"

"There was no plan to discuss."

"I get the impression that you and your ex-wife aren't on the best of terms?"

"True."

"What do you attribute that to?"

"I can't speak for her. I have no bad feelings, in fact I pity her," I told him.

"Just as long as she doesn't disrupt your otherwise perfect life," he commented sarcastically.

I didn't respond.

"Now tell me about the Wedding Rehearsal."

"There was an argument about who would sit in the front pew. The Minister worked out a compromise."

The Attorney wanted me to "Tell him what happened." I only answered specific questions. Then we went through the same thing about the Rehearsal Dinner.

At about this time, Karl requested a break. We went outside to talk.

"You're doing just fine," Karl said. "Don't let your guard down, though, he's a slippery asshole."

We went through the wedding itself, and how the last time I'd seen Georgia and Joe Billy was on the Church steps. From there, the questions seemed random, covering a wide range of subjects with no apparent goal in mind. It was obvious that the Attorney didn't have a clue what he was looking for.

Karl followed me home where Eric and Annie were waiting. "How'd it go, babe?" Eric wanted to know, enveloping me in a bearhug that threatened to crack ribs.

"I told them that I had Aboriginal tribesman with blowguns stationed outside the Church who shot them in the ass with knockout darts and then hauled them away," I told him seriously which got everybody laughing. "I could sure use a drink!"

"I'm starting to get the impression that their own Attorney isn't buying their outlandish story either," Karl added.

"I got that feeling too," I said.

"Your guys have gotten me so much information on things Georgia and Joe Billy have pulled in the past that when I get through with their depositions, it wouldn't surprise me if even that sleazebag Attorney they've got walked out on them. Their accusations are so unreal in the first place, and when the other things they've done come out, they won't have a shred of credibility left," Karl said.

"I've seen some of them," Eric said. "Joe Billy's a petty crook and Georgia has been acting like a nut. Sorry, Annie."

"No problem," she said. "It's true."

The trial was set to begin in a couple of weeks. There had been a flurry in the press when the suit was filed, but little since then. Nevertheless, I wanted the whole thing settled before Annie announced her engagement. If it wasn't, some reference would be made to my problems. I didn't want that. Both Hans and Annie agreed.

It had been several weeks since we'd heard from the Senator. We figured it would be best if we left her alone and didn't become pests.

When she called, she was very circumspect on the phone, just asking us if we could meet with her in Washington.

When we were led into her office, there was another distinguished looking man there. He was the Senior Senator from Connecticut, one of her colleagues on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

We were introduced and the door behind us firmly closed.

"Even though this is very sensitive information we're about to give you, we felt you deserved to know what's going on," she started. "I don't think I need to remind you that this cannot be repeated - to anyone."

We nodded.

"The Senate is kind of like a 'Club'," she explained. "When one of us gets out of line, we try to wash our dirty laundry ourselves, but that only applies to minor infractions.

"What may have happened here may or may not be minor, that's why I asked the Senator here to get involved. Let me tell you what we've learned, so far.

"The Army General that I work with made a trip to California. He confirmed that the 'base' in question had no strategic importance whatsoever. The Base Commander in Sunnyvale who issued the objection would only say that the order to do that came through 'channels', verbally, and would not provide any names.

"The General didn't have the power to demand an answer, that would have to come through 'channels' too, so he worked his way up the chain of command. Either nobody knew anything, or wasn't talking.

"We're up to the Pentagon level, and now we're stymied. The only way I can demand answers is to hold hearings. That's why the Senator has joined me.

"What's the total value of this project?" she asked.

"Between thirty and forty billion dollars," Eric said.

"That's definitely not small potatoes," the other Senator said, speaking for the first time. "I think we should definitely get to the bottom of this."

"I intend to," the Senator said. "It's either a colossal mistake, or there's something going on that we don't know about."

She thought a minute then continued. "Since the Army and the issue of National Security are involved, they'll probably be closed-door hearings, but I'm putting my staff to work on it right now. We may call you or some of your staff to testify, but I doubt it. The issue is what the Army did and why, not anything you've done."

We thanked her for her continued efforts and left.

"This'll be interesting to watch!" I told Eric when we were outside.

A day or two after Karl took Georgia and Joe Billy's depositions, their Attorney approached Karl with an offer. "They want a hundred thousand to drop the whole thing," Karl laughed. "I guess their Attorney finally talked some sense into them."

"Pay it!" I told him. "It'd be worth it just to get this goddam thing behind us."

"Not yet!" Karl said. "They're offering to settle for that. They're still reaching, and I'm willing to bet that they'll actually settle for a helluva lot less. If we threaten to go to trial, they'll run like hell. They haven't got a chance and they know it. Actually, $10,000 for nuisance value would be more reasonable, and I'd demand a full retraction of the charges they filed. Maybe I can sweeten the pot a little by talking the D.A. into dropping the False Charges matter."

"Just make it go away!" I told him. "I don't care what it costs as long as I'm totally cleared."

"I'll see what I can do," Karl said, grinning. "I'll also make sure they give a statement to the press."

"It's a deal," Karl said when he called the next day. "$20,000 and everything we wanted. We're drawing up the papers now."

"A check's on its way over to you right now."

"When everything's signed, I want you to tell me how you pulled it off," Karl said, laughing.

"Remember, I didn't do nothin," I laughed back.

"Sure, Dave," he chuckled. "We'll have this all wrapped up tomorrow."

Eric and I had our own little celebration. While I was pistoning in and out of him, he looked up into my eyes. "I'm sure glad you're not going to jail," he said, "I don't think I could live without this for very long." At first, I thought he was teasing me, but then I saw he was dead serious. I slowed down to make it last for both of us. We kept at it until we were both begging for release.

"I've been talking to George in San Francisco," Eric said. "We've agreed that since the Railroad is now a private company and we have our monthly get-togethers, a quarterly Board Meeting is kind of unnecessary."

"I totally agree," I said. "Why haul all of us up there when he'll be coming down here once a month anyway?"

"An Annual Meeting should take care of everything. But, I'd like to go up there for another reason, you free tomorrow?"

"Sure, what's up?"

"The Presidential rail car is finished and I want you to see it before it goes on display. We can fly to San Jose, that's closer."

The car that we drove up to in the switching yard was a far cry from the one I'd seen before. A rich maroon paint job and gold lettering made a huge difference. It was even on a track that led someplace!

Eric was proud as a peacock. "Wait'll you see the inside," he said.

"Have you seen it before?" I asked.

"I've slipped up here to check out progress a few times," he grinned.

The interior was 1890's opulence, polished Mahogany, lots of red velvet upholstery, crystal chandeliers and gold fittings everywhere. We walked the length, taking in the detailing that was incredible. I couldn't imagine the car looking this good when it was new.

The kitchen was thoroughly modern, compact and efficient. "Got this from Gulfstream's supplier," Eric said, his arm sweeping the kitchen."

There were four sleeping compartments. Not exactly spacious, but definitely comfortable. One with a full size bed, the others with upper and lower berths. Each had a sink and toilet, but one small room that originally had a bathtub in it now had a shower and served all.

The dining room seated eight around a big, heavy Mahogany table with a crystal chandeleir overhead. The most spectacular room was the salon. Comfortable plush chairs and lots of windows.

"Is this stuff real gold?" I asked.

"Yep, solid, from the Lovebird Mine," he grinned. "Don't worry, I paid market price for all of it."

"Why? It's OURS for chrissake."

"No, I pay for everything," he insisted. "I even paid the Railroad Book Value for the car. A whole dollar.

"It's going on display at the main San Francisco Station next week. They're going to get a ton of publicity out of it. After that, I'd like us to take a trip in it. What do you think?"

"As long as we get the compartment with the double bed," I chuckled.

"That's automatically ours, always!"

We stood arm in arm surveying the place. "A bit too ornate for me," Eric said, "but it'll be fun once in a while."

"You did a wonderful job," I said hugging him, "this sure doesn't look the same as the last time I saw it."

"You really like it?"

"We'll have some wonderful times here," I assured him.

I think I, at least, had learned my lesson. Georgia was a time bomb that went off every time she was in my vicinity. The obvious solution was to stay the hell away from her. After this last episode, what little care I had was gone. Sure, I had gotten myself into trouble by overreacting, but that's something she brought out in me. If only I could remember that lesson in the future.

The tension level around home, and at the office too, dropped dramatically. Everybody around me had sensed my stress level, Eric particularly, who had suffered right along with me.

It was time to get on with our lives, mine particularly.

It would be late, but we needed to have our Monthly Meeting, so the troops were gathered.

Bill and Jeff had a pretty hefty pile of Market Research summaries and information on Metalco and Milton's competitors worldwide. Those were mainly for me to look at, but I asked if people from any of the other divisions wanted to look at them, and encouraged them to do so.

Lundborg Rush was facing production problems. Even if the new plant was complete and all new equipment arrived and was installed, and the plant was run around the clock, there was no way they could meet Micron's production requirements. If Micron's sales projections proved accurate, we'd fall 10 to 20% below their needs.

Eric suggested that we get the equipment on order now, and not stop at Phase I of our building program, but to go ahead and finish the whole thing.

Warren agreed, hoping that he'd soon be able to pursue some of the other business that was out there.

There were sour notes, too. Although construction of the Chemicals plant in Houston was right on schedule, the Plastics plant was not. All sorts of snags had developed, and materials were not being delivered on time. This was a problem Neil would have to work closely with Bill and Jeff on so that we wouldn't experience a big supply shortage.

Dean's Development sector was in limbo. There wasn't a damned thing we could do until the Army's objection was lifted. He asked me for the latest news.

"About all I can say is that our problem has reached the highest levels of National government. I DO have a gut feeling that it's all going to work out - - IF we live long enough!"

George Wilson from the Railroad wanted to see Eric and me before he returned to San Francisco, and Hal wanted to see us whenever we had a spare minute.

George wanted to thank Eric for allowing his Presidential Car to be displayed. It was drawing huge crowds, and all the Railroad magazines were doing spreads on it. CLP was getting a huge amount of favorable, free publicity.

"Eventually, some of that publicity will turn into revenue," he told us. "As I promised, we'll pull that car anyplace on the system, anytime."

"We'll be taking you up on that soon," Eric told him. "We're thinking about taking it somewhere after the Exhibition in San Francisco closes. After that, it's all yours for more shows."

"Hi there," Dan said on the phone. "See you finally got the bitch off your back!"

"I think I learned my lesson this time," I said.

"What's that?"

"She's a fucking time bomb that detonates every time she's anywhere around me. I don't ever want to be even in the same State as she is!"

When he stopped laughing, he wanted to know if I was free for Happy Hour that evening.

"Sure, same time, same place?"

"Yeah, and by the way, bring Eric."

"OK."

We were already seated when Dan burst in, all smiles.

"Well, has the bitch ridden off on her broomstick yet?" he asked.

"Far as I know, they left town a day or two ago, leaving a helluva hotel bill," I said. "Doesn't matter, I'd pay just about anything to have them outta here. Enough about HER. What's going on with you?"

Dan looked straight at Eric. "I suppose he told you the story, so where should I start?"

"At the beginning. He wouldn't tell me a damned thing, kind of pissed me off, too," Eric grinned.

"Well, I met this gorgeous man, and fell for him. Hard." He turned to me. "I believe we were having dinners together the last time I talked to you, right?"

I nodded and he continued. "We've made a lot of progress since then."

"So I noticed, at Tina's wedding," I commented.

"Who in the hell is this gorgeous stud? Do I know him?" Eric asked.

"Oh yes," Dan said, grinning and enjoying the game. "He works for you guys."

"Oh shit! Come on, tell me who he is."

"I'm thinking about moving to Houston," Dan hinted.

Eric thought a minute. "Neil?"

Dan just sat there with the biggest shit-eating grin I'd ever seen on him.

"Good for you!" Eric said, slapping him on the shoulder. "Gotta hand it to ya, you've got awesome taste!"

"He's an awesome guy," Dan said.

"Well, give us all the gory details," I demanded.

"He's moved in with me. That happened about two weeks after I last talked with you, Dave, and he plans to stay as long as he's here. After that, he wants me to move to Houston with him."

"Go for it," I told him. "You're going to have our business wherever you are."

"It's reassuring to know that," Dan said. "Metalco, Hydra and you guys count for about 75% of my business."

"It's always going to be yours," I told him.

"Neil still doesn't know that you guys are my two closest friends, but I think it's time to let him know. Can you come over for a barbecue Sunday?"

"We'll be there," Eric said. I nodded.

Neil really was surprised when we showed up. At first, he was a little stiff, then, seeing that we were totally relaxed and informal, loosened up. It was just the four of us.

We sat around the pool and talked. Dan told Neil about our Sunday pool parties, and that as a result of them, half the local gay population had been "married" off.

"How's Spence doing?" Dan asked us.

"Do you know who he really is?" Eric asked.

"Just a sweet young kid that followed you home, isn't he?"

"Well, not exactly," Eric giggled. "He's a little more than meets the eye. For one thing, he's a computer software genius who designed a system that's going to change how we all use computers."

"Is that your opinion, or is that for real?"

"It's 'for real' enough that Micron paid him billions for it. They'll be introducing it to the world in December."

"I'll be damned," Dan said. "Here I thought he was a charity case and you guys were supporting him."

"That's what he wants everybody to think," Eric laughed. "It's public knowledge that he's a major stockholder of Micron, but they've kept the fact that he designed their new software pretty quiet."

"So that's why LR's planning on production shortfalls," Neil said, the pieces starting to fall together.

"Who's 'LR'?" Dan wanted to know.

"Only the biggest software manufacturer in the world," Neil said, "and just happens to belong to Dave and Eric."

"What DON'T you guys own?" Dan asked.

"There's a few things out there," Eric giggled, "but we're working on them."

We didn't expect to hear much from the Senator real soon, but she was courteous enough to keep us up to date on what was going on.

The latest was that the Senate Armed Services Committee had met and voted to hold hearings on our problem. The vote had been unanimous except for the Chairman who had fought tooth and nail to kill the motion.

"I don't understand his attitude toward you," she said. "Have you had run-ins with him before?"

"We've tangled a few times in the past," I told her.

"Any particular reason?"

"He's a Southern Conservative and I'm gay. That doesn't fit well with his way of thinking."

"I didn't know you were gay," she said. "I imagine that does irritate him, but, with my constituency, that's all the more reason why I need to get this mess straightened out."

To be continued.