Chapter 46: Consumed in Flames

March 8, 1993, Chicago, Illinois

“Good morning, lovely wives!” I said when I walked into the house on Monday morning.

“Daddy!” Birgit squealed.

She pouted when I went to hug and kiss my wives before scooping her into my arms.

“Hi Pumpkin!”

“I missed you!” she said.

“I missed you too, Pumpkin. Daddy needs to eat breakfast and then go to work.”

I put her down and sat down at the table with my wives.

“So that was it?” Jessica asked.

“I think it had to be,” I said. “She was holding back with Tom Quinn because of me, and that was just wrong.”

“How is Tracey?” Kara asked.

“She had a long time to prepare for this. Years, actually. I think she’s OK. She really just needed someone to talk to and be with her. Marty’s memorial service is tonight.”

“You didn’t want to stay?” Jessica asked.

“Tracey didn’t ask me to stay. I was never that close to Marty, really. She’ll have friends from her work and his work, plus a few people from their old scene. But that’s enough about that. How were things here?”

“We had the Rap Session without you,” Kara said. “It was a continuation of the previous discussion. Then Abbie watched the tape of the race.”

“Davey Allison won, Rusty Wallace was second, and Alan Kulwicki was third. Bill Elliott had engine trouble and finished 33rd.”

“It’s been a hell of a bad year for Bill so far. The race was at Richmond, right?”

“Yes. You didn’t see the previous race from North Carolina. Wallace won that one, with Dale Earnhardt second, and Alan fourth. Bill was 11th.”

“As I said,” I sighed. “Bill can’t be in the top 20 in points. Where’s Alan?”

“Sixth, and only 75 points behind. Dale Jarrett is the leader by one point over Earnhardt.”

“You’re heading to Atlanta on Wednesday morning, right?”

“That’s the plan! I’ll be back on Monday.”

“And my mom will be here tomorrow,” Kara said. “She’s looking forward to watching the kids!”

“What about Paul?” I asked.

“He has something going on in Cincinnati so he won’t be able to make it this trip.”

I finished my breakfast, and then Elyse and I headed to the office.

“Did you see Eduardo over the weekend?” I asked.

“Yes. I decided to have him take me and the boys to lunch on Sunday. They liked him.”

“Good! Do you have a plan yet?”

“No, but I did tell him my rule about our bed. He’s OK with that. I think he would have felt a bit weird sleeping in that bed with me in your house. It’s not like it was back in the apartment.”

“No, it’s not.”

“I’ll probably spend the night with him on Friday,” Elyse smiled. “We’ll take it from there.”

“Sounds good,” I said.

“Did you see they arrested a Palestinian guy for the bombing in New York?”

“Yes. But they haven’t said anything more, have they?”

“No. And no change down in Texas. The longer it goes, the more I think you’re right about what’s going to happen.”

“Did anything interesting happen on Friday?”

“No. Just another boring day at NIKA!”

“Boring is often good! Did the computer store call about my new Mac?”

“No. Should they have?”

“Friday was the earliest day they could have had it. It’s not critical, obviously.”

Monday turned out to be just as Elyse had described it, another ‘boring’ day at NIKA. And that was good.

March 9, 1993, Chicago, Illinois

Tuesday was NOT a boring day. I met Eduardo for lunch at noon, having last seen him nearly ten years before. We shook hands, grinned at each other, then hugged. We were seated right away in the basement of Maxim’s.

“It’s really good to see you!” I said.

“I’m happy to see you as well! I saw your boys on Sunday afternoon. They’re wonderful!”

“Elyse said they liked you. I’m happy because that will make things easier in the long run. What are they going to call you?”

“Eduardo. I think that makes the most sense. ‘Tío’ doesn’t sound right in my ears, even though I understand Nicholas calls you that.”

“That’s fine with me. Whatever makes you comfortable!”

He smiled, “I think you’re the one in complete control here. Elyse won’t do anything without your approval.”

“She told you about wanting to buy a house in the suburbs before the boys start High School?”

“Yes. I’m surprised you are allowing her to take your boys from the house.”

“I want her to be happy. And it’s not like she’s taking them to Australia!”

He laughed, “No, I suppose not.”

“Elyse and I always knew things would change. I think she’ll be in good hands. And I trust you with my boys.”

He smiled, “Thank you. How is your business?”

“Very good. Did you get a chance to meet the rest of my family?”

“Not yet. I believe this coming Saturday is a men’s gathering?”

“Yes, we’d like you to start coming to those, as well as breakfast with the men on alternate Saturdays.”

“I’d love to!”

“I’m glad to hear that!”

We ordered our lunches and had a good conversation, catching up on the past nine years.

March 10, 1993, Chicago, Illinois

“Steve, there’s a Stan Jakes from the Tribune on the phone for you,” Lucas said.

He put the call through at my request.

“Good morning, Mr. Jakes, what can I do for you?”

“I figured I’d give you a tip. Lisa Glass was arrested at her condo at 6:30am this morning. They also arrested an attorney from Hart-Lincoln and two men who work in the Cook County Recorder’s office.”

“What charges?”

“RICO. Mail fraud. Wire fraud. Tax evasion. Probably a few other things they’ll tack on. It was the FBI who made the arrest. I hear Lisa Glass will be charged with conspiracy to commit murder by the State’s Attorney’s office later this morning.”

“Damn! Thank you, Mr. Jakes.”

“You’re welcome. And thank you for the tip on the raid.”

“You’re welcome. Was there any mention of Alec Glass?”

“No. I called his office for a comment but you can imagine what the answer was. You wouldn’t have anything to say, would you?”

“I signed a confidentiality agreement with the FBI. I don’t think I should.”

“Understood. Will you talk to me off the record?”

“About?”

“The computer and technical aspects of the case. I promise neither your name nor your company’s name will appear in print. This is purely a technology angle.”

“I could do that,” I said.

“Let’s have lunch today. Are you free?”

“I am.”

“Venice Café? 11:30am?”

“I’ll see you there.”

A few minutes after I hung up, Abbie called.

“Jason called me and said not to come to Georgia. I guess they’re predicting this insane storm that is supposed to cause crazy amounts of snow and wind. Like possibly over a foot in Dawsonville.”

“No way!” I protested. “It doesn’t snow like that there!”

“Apparently it does about once a century. There are blizzard warnings across northern Georgia, as well as Tennessee, the Carolinas, and north. He says NASCAR is likely going to cancel the race because they’re predicting 5 to 10 inches of snow in Atlanta!”

“Damn! Call Barney at the travel agency and see what he can do for you. Do you know when the race would be?”

“Next weekend is open on the schedule, but if they get that kind of snow, who knows? I think I’ll just cancel.”

“Let me know what you decide.”

“I will. Thanks!”

That meant Nancy was going to be visiting for no actual reason, not that she’d complain about seeing the kids. She was already on her way and would arrive at the house at any moment, and might already be there. I worked for another hour before walking through the light snow that was falling to the Venice Café. I saw Stan Jakes waiting for me. We went to the counter and placed our orders, and when we had our food, we found seats in the back corner of the restaurant. I chuckled at hearing The Godfather theme playing in the background.

“Something amusing?” Stan asked.

“The theme to The Godfather. I just find it amusing.”

“So what can you tell me?”

“What do you want to know?”

“I suppose we’ll start with how the computer network works, how your software works, and how you do the kind of, I guess you’d call it forensics if it was fingerprints, so use that word.”

I spent the next hour explaining as much as I could about general concepts, about how our software worked, about how Novell worked, and how we conducted our search for relevant information.

“I think I need a drink,” Stan laughed when we finished. “My head is about to explode!”

“I think you’re going to be writing a lot more about this kind of thing in the future.”

“That’s why I wanted to talk to you. This is all what we call ‘deep background’. Nothing you said will be used directly in any article about Lisa Glass, John Lentz, or Hart-Lincoln. But now I have the knowledge to ask the right questions of people whom I would be able to quote. Would you be willing to have more of these conversations? They would all be on ‘deep background’ unless I tell you in advance I want a quote.”

I thought about what Jeri had said about cultivating the Press, and this seemed like the perfect way to do it. And it had all started with the single tip about the raid.

“Yes, of course. I’d be happy to.”

“Thanks. I’d like to ask something completely off the record. It will never go further than me for any reason. I won’t write it down.”

“What’s that?”

“What’s your actual relationship with that beautiful blonde I saw you with?” he grinned.

“The ‘friend of the family’?” I smirked.

He laughed, “I need friends like that, but my wife would be arrested by CPD for murder shortly after I brought her home!”

“She’s mother to two of my children, and I consider her my wife, just as I do Doctor Jessica. Actually, the three of us consider ourselves married to each other.”

He nodded, “You are a lucky, lucky man.”

“Thanks, Mr. Jakes!”

“I think we can dispense with the ‘Mr.’ at this point, despite me being about twice your age!”

“Thanks, Stan! And you can call me Steve.”

“You’re welcome.”

We shook hands and I headed back to the office, where I was immediately confronted by Jeri.

“Did you hear?”

“About Lisa Glass? Yes, I did. I heard about it while I was out at lunch. Do you know anything other than the fact she was arrested?”

Jeri shook her head, “No, I don’t. I thought maybe you did.”

“I haven’t talked to Alec, and I suspect he’s trying to get her bail paid right now.”

“Federal racketeering charges. Mail fraud. Wire fraud. Tax evasion. It’ll be millions, and she has the ability to flee the country. They’ll take her passport and maybe even give her a monitoring device of some kind.”

“You’ve seen this before?” I asked.

“About eight years ago,” Jeri said. “A stock trader was busted for insider trading. He was deemed a flight risk because he had enough assets to disappear, and the means to do so. He was basically under house arrest with a Marshal guarding him at all times. And he had to pay the government for that!”

“I can imagine. If I hear anything, I’ll let you know, but you know I’m pretty much avoiding everyone in your social circles except for Samantha’s parents and Alec. But like I said, I suspect he’s very busy right now.”

She went back to her desk and I went to Elyse’s office and shut the door.

“I assume you heard?”

“Yes. When did you know?”

“I got a call earlier. She’s going to be charged with conspiracy to commit murder by CPD.”

“Jesus!” Elyse breathed. “I’m sorry I doubted you.”

“It’s OK. My past gave you reason to.”

And so did Theo’s visit. I wondered how all of this was going to play out. Would Lisa rat out any Outfit people? Who would she try to implicate in an attempt to save herself? I had no idea, but I was VERY glad I’d had the falling out with her the previous summer. Without that, I could have ended up neck-deep in trouble without even realizing it.

“See you for the drive home?”

“You bet!” I grinned. “Oh, before I forget, some massive storm is going to hit the South so Abbie isn’t going to Georgia.”

“I suppose Nancy will just enjoy some vacation time with the kids, then.”

“I’m sure she will!”

I headed back to my office, and a little over an hour later Jeri was at my door.

“Lisa was just charged with conspiracy to commit murder, solicitation of first degree murder, and first degree murder!”

“Where did you hear that?” I asked.

“WBBM. I’ve been listening all day to see if there was more news. I can’t believe she killed him!”

“It sounds like she allegedly had him killed. Either way, she’s not making bail now, no matter how much money Alec has. Even if she makes it on the federal charges, I don’t see her making bail on 1st degree murder, and she might be denied it completely. After Operation Greylord and the fixing of murder trials, it has to be tough.”

“This whole thing is crazy! Why would she kill him?”

“I have no idea,” I said.

Actually, I did. He was feeding information to the Feds. And someone found out. And that someone had either been Lisa or talked to Lisa. And THAT had led to someone helping John over the chest-high railing. The only good thing that had come out of all of this was that I hadn’t caused him to kill himself. I did wonder if I was going to hear from Theo, and how this would all play out. But that was a problem for another day.

I’d thought about getting in touch with him, but had decided against it. It was too risky, because I had no idea who was being watched or what the police and FBI were investigating. My best approach was, as it usually was, to simply ‘lie low’ and wait to hear from my ‘friends’.

“Well, if you hear anything, let me know,” Jeri said.

“I will. On another topic, is everything set for the proposal at the Foundation Board meeting?”

“Yes. Alec will vote with us, as will four of the women. We have six votes minimum. It’s a lock.”

“And your mom?” I asked with an arched eyebrow.

“She might go along with it to give me a ‘win’ as a reward for supporting her. You and Alec just keep doing what you’re doing.”

“Voices in the wilderness.”

“For now. There’s likely to be another opening soon. I hope to get a like-minded person. Samantha would be good, but given that she’s living with you, my mother will never go for it.”

“No kidding. Perhaps a doctor?” I suggested.

“Got someone in mind?”

“No, but I’m sure Al Barton can suggest someone who fits your criteria and doesn’t work for UofC.”

“That would be good. Let me know what he says.”

“I will.”

She left my office and I got back to work.

At home that evening, after dinner, karate, and work, Samantha finally had time to talk to me about what had happened with Lisa. She was both surprised and not surprised.

“She was always scheming for something,” Samantha said. “I guess she got in too deep. I talked to my dad and he said that the FBI was investigating ‘mob ties’, which according to Dad, is par for the course in Chicago.”

“It is,” I agreed. “But it’s really been hard for the FBI to tie anything to The Outfit. They’ve tried. They busted those Aldermen, and in the past, a bunch of judges and lawyers, but mostly the mobsters have skated clear. They did bust that Marcello guy on racketeering charges.”

“That was the federal charge against Lisa, right?”

“One of them. Tax evasion, as well as mail and wire fraud. Not to mention the charges around John’s death.”

“I just don’t get it. Scheming, sure. But killing him? I just don’t see it.”