Chapter 19: Jim Takes a Trip

Between his growing consulting business and his regular work, Jim was doing a lot of traveling. This trip took him to a major Midwestern college town, which will, for the purpose of this story, remain nameless. He checked in to the local Red Roof (this consulting gig wasn’t as high end as some he’d done) and headed for the bar with a few members of the executive team.

That’s when he saw something that nearly gave him a heart attack. There, sitting at the bar, was Tiffany. There was no doubt about it. He’d looked at her pictures enough times, and her face was instantly recognizable. She was sitting at the bar dressed like a hooker.

The men he was with noticed her first.

“Hey,” said one, “would you get a load of what’s sitting at the bar?”

“Holy shit – look at the hooters on that!”

Jim had turned and there she was.

“Guys, I know that woman. You don’t want to go there. Her husband could take any one of you apart,” Jim said.

“Yeah, right.”

“Trust me. I’m going over to say hello. I’ll catch up with you later.”

Jim walked over to where Tiffany was sitting at the bar and the rest is written elsewhere, so I won’t repeat it here, except to say that Jim was very surprised to find that a bar in a Red Roof actually stocked Plymouth Gin. In fact, this was the only Red Roof he’d ever stayed at that even HAD a bar.

At any rate, after an extremely pleasurable time spent with Tiff and her handsome (and well hung) hubby, during which Jim had done a little mental nudging to help make one of Tiffany’s fantasies come true, Jim ended up in his own room more than ready to go to sleep.

But sleep refused to come. So, Jim sat up, turned on the bedside light, and took a paperback off the nightstand. Jim never went anywhere without a book – usually more than one. This time it was Tom Clancy’s “Red Storm Rising.”

Jim was reading the part in the novel where an American naval vessel, a fast frigate or “fig” boat was escorting a convoy across the Atlantic. The captain of the vessel had gotten his previous command shot out from under him by a very tricky and very aggressive Soviet submarine commander. His new helicopter pilot (anti-submarine warfare involves ships, planes, and helicopters, among other things) was watching him go through the replay of the sonar signals from the battle during which his original ship had been rendered hors du combat. The sub commander had gotten the Captain to focus on something he was expecting and then had attacked from a completely different direction.

Suddenly, Jim jumped right out of bed.

“SHIT! What a fucking idiot I am! That goddamn Friday gave me a perfect head fake and I fucking went for it,” Jim snarled.

In just a few short seconds he’d gone from being very happy after his incredible encounter with Tiff and Pi to being very angry and even humiliated.

“I’m supposed to be smarter than this! GOD DAMNIT! This is the oldest trick in the book. You give someone something they expect to see and use it to mask what you are really doing. It was way too easy to deprogram Suzie. Way too easy. Joe Friday played dumb and I bought it hook line and sinker. Now, the question is who’s the real threat?”

Jim knew that the answer to that would have to wait until he got home, but, then, he would find out where all of his enemies were once and for all. He needed to give Tiffany a much stronger warning about Master PC. He did NOT want her to be hurt. Jim was a VERY loyal friend.

Grabbing his iPhone, he sent her a quick e-mail with a rather cryptic warning on it to be careful. He’d already told her this in person, but it needed reinforcement.

He’d taken his enemies too lightly so far and that had nearly been his undoing. For all he knew, it still could be. This seminar was a one-day thing, so he’d make a quick exit at the end of the day instead of staying over and going back in the morning. He needed to be home where he could use his mental powers to unmask the traitor that had to be somewhere close. Friday wouldn’t have risked sending Susan against him without having another pawn to push up the board.