Chapter 1: For Once, It's Not About Me!

September 4, 1994, Chicago, Illinois

“Please tell me your plan includes six cherries!” Elyse smirked.

“Would that take Littleton off the board? Or would it just enrage him and make him a sworn enemy?” I asked.

“He’s ALREADY an enemy!”

“Is he? Or is he just a ‘hired gun’?”

“A good question. What do you think Jamie is going to propose?”

“Well, you heard the first thing - no more hiring people with whom I’ve had an intimate relationship. Well, ‘intimate’ by society’s standards, not my standards. And you and I have discussed the issue there.”

“Jodie and Claire.”

“Exactly. What’s your take on that?”

“You heard what I said at the Board meeting. And what Beth and Joyce said. And you know what Charlie, Kimmy, Penny, and the rest of the girls would say.”

“I do,” I replied. “And you know what Jamie, Dave, Karl, and my dad will say. Something just dawned on me. We never knew who Kaitlin’s lawyer was.”

“You think it was Littleton?” she asked.

I shook my head, “I think Jamie would have told me if that were the case. In fact, I think he probably would have been obligated to do so.”

“You don’t think there’s any relation between the two incidents, do you?”

“I don’t see how. Kaitlin was gone before Mikela started at NIKA. I don’t think there’s any way Mikela would even know about that. Who would have mentioned it to her? And who knew the real reason she left?”

“Could anyone find out about it?”

“Sure. If Mikela were to sue us, or make a complaint to some government agency, they could ask for all the personnel records and talk to all past and current employees. And even though I don’t think he’s involved in this current situation, Littleton knows I had a relationship with Charlie. Anyone who investigates will uncover that information. I’m sure they’d find out about Penny as well. Your situation is a bit different, obviously. But once they knew about those other two, all it would take is one wrong word to bring the whole thing down.”

“Who would ever betray you?”

“On purpose? None of the girls, that’s for sure. Accidentally? It would be all too easy. And don’t forget, Zeke had a really serious problem with the fact Tasha slept with me before she started dating him.”

“I never understood that!” Elyse protested. “It’s none of anyone’s business who our past lovers are!”

“Be that as it may, Terry had to talk Zeke off the ledge. Who knows what was said by whom or to whom. Even if The Club closes ranks, that doesn’t protect me.”

“Shit!” Elyse sighed. “All because two little girls wanted you to fuck them! I just don’t see how that’s YOUR problem!”

“It’s not. But society, and the government it elected, thinks it IS my problem. The basic theory is that men are predators and women are helpless.”

Elyse shook her head, “You have ALWAYS been the prey! Always!”

“There is the issue with Becky and how I went after her...”

Elyse shook her head again, “That was all part of Jennifer’s pursuit of you and her confusion about her sexuality. Not to mention the fact that Becky turned into one of the most serious predators of all.”

“But you see, society says it’s impossible for me to be the prey and therefore I’m a sexual harasser and abuser. It’s like the situation with Penny. She knew exactly what she wanted and pursued it relentlessly until she got it. The law says I raped her and nothing she says can override that law.”

“That’s so fucking stupid I don’t even know where to begin. But we are talking the same idiots who pass laws that make it illegal to breastfeed in public with an exposed breast!”

“Yes, we are, and until such time as we can overthrow the government or convince the majority that they are mistaken, we’re stuck in this environment. You want something even dumber? Girls can have abortions, without their parents’ consent, at younger ages than they’re permitted to legally engage in sex! So much for ‘bodily autonomy’.”

“It sounds like you’re resigned to not being able to hire Jodie and Claire.”

“I have no clue what I’m going to do when the time comes. Fortunately, Jodie is only a Sophomore, so I have more time. And honestly, the only place I was ever with her was in Iron Mountain, at her parents’ farm. She won’t tell and as such, nobody could possibly know beyond you and my wives. Claire is a more serious concern because quite a few people know. But that’s not my biggest concern.”

“What is?”

“That Jamie is going to want to impose serious restrictions on what Karl calls ‘fraternization’. I’m concerned the Board will back him up on it.”

“They do realize that if they try to come between you and Penny, she’ll kill them all, right? And I’m not being facetious.”

“Karl is well aware,” I grinned. “My concern is really that he’s going to insist that NIKA staff not come to Guys’ and Girls’ Nights.”

“That’s total bullshit!”

“I know it and you know it. But Jamie’s job is to protect the company. And he sees the personal relationships as a threat. And, as I think about it, there’s an even worse possible scenario.”

“What?” Elyse asked, apprehensively.

“That he convinces the Board to hire a full-time HR person who reports directly to the Board.”

“No fucking way! We are not taking one of those idiots into NIKA any more than we’d take most of the MBAs your sister worked with at Arthur Andersen! Talk about ruining the company!”

I nodded, “I agree. The whole ‘bottom-line only’ theory being pushed on MBAs during their education is destructive and has to stop or we’re going to wreck our economy. And the institutionalized ‘political correctness’ being taught to HR professionals is going to destroy society. I hate to say it, but it’s going to get worse.”

“How do we fight that?”

I chuckled, “The first thing we do is kill all the lawyers!”

“I thought you said that was about setting up an absolute monarchy?”

“Oh, it is. Tsar Stephen I, at your service!”

Elyse laughed hard, “And your first decree is to actually implement droit du seigneur?”

“I prefer jus primae noctis, personally!”

“Right of the first night?”

“Yep!” I chuckled. “But in all seriousness, do we really want to give up our control to idiots like that?”

“Never! We fight them tooth and nail. We have to be very careful who we hire as well.”

“I know. That’s why I’m more than a little concerned about relenting on my veto under pressure from Dave. In hindsight, I set the wrong precedent.”

“She’s been fine so far, right?”

“Yes, but a couple of weeks isn’t enough to judge. I think we need to figure out a way to screen candidates for their values.”

“I’m not sure that’s strictly legal.”

“I’m not going to judge based on sex, race, religion, ethnicity, or any of the other criteria that the government forbids us from using. And by the way, I agree with the philosophy behind the law, just not the laws themselves. And don’t even get me started on the implementation. What I will judge applicants by is things like that question I asked Maddie about participation awards, or what books they’ve read, or whether they’ve traveled outside the US, and so on.”

“To draw a psychological profile,” Elyse said, nodding. “Kind of like your statement about people having to ‘fit in’ to be hired.”

“Yes. We’ve been a bit less stringent on that and I think we need to return to the old ways. The problem is, it will certainly conflict with Jamie’s vision of how we should do things. He’s already told us not to invite any new employees to the Rap Sessions. And I know he’d prefer I told Cèlia and Kajri to stay away, not to mention Terry and Penny.”

“It sounds like you want to actually interview instead of just veto.”

I shook my head, “Only for managers and above. Below that, I’ll identify a pool of people who should do the ‘fit’ interviews and accept their advice. Michelle and Kimmy would be two of my first choices. Jamie, of course, will have a conniption fit about that.”

Elyse smiled, but it was her ‘evil’ smile, “Let ME handle that. I’m in charge of HR. And I know what you want.”

“I’m actually concerned Jamie will want me to take myself out of the hiring process.”

“Fuck that noise!” Elyse spat. “You own 75% of the company.”

“Yeah, and I’ve slept with a good chunk of the female staff. Jamie’s job is to protect NIKA. In this case, from me, I guess.”

“I think you should let Terry tell Penny about Mikela. That might solve the problem.”

“And then Penny can share a cell with Lisa Glass? No thanks.”

“So back to ‘Little Tony’ and Brandon Littleton ... what?”

“The timing is a bit tricky. I don’t want to move precipitously, but I also don’t want to delay too long. I really can’t do much until we know if Mikela is going to sign the release or not. We won’t know that until Thursday morning at the earliest, or perhaps as late as Tuesday afternoon of next week. And remember, I leave for Europe on Saturday and I’ll be gone for nearly three weeks doing the videoconferencing setup for SPSS and the legal software install for Moore, Martin & Walker.”

“Do you think Jamie might tell you not to go?”

“Maybe, but this trip has been planned for months, and no matter what happens, nothing will need my physical presence here in the short term.”

“So, what’s your plan?”

“I don’t know yet. I’ve been thinking about it for a good month, but Jamie had me convinced to basically let sleeping dogs lie with regard to Littleton, which is why I haven’t done anything. It might be wise to let that go, at least for now. If Mikela signs, I can take my time dealing with Littleton.”

“But not ‘Little Tony’?”

“No. He needs to be dealt with, once and for all, and soon. But it has to be done in a way that keeps me out of jail and doesn’t cause me problems with Joyce or her grandmother. I don’t want to hurt Joyce, so simply allowing Anthony to find out about Connie and me probably isn’t a good plan because I do think there’s a good chance he’ll kill her. Not to mention I will probably have to deal with this Scuderi dude who appears to be in the muscle side of the business. I also can’t just rat him out to the Feds because they’ll trace it all back to Joyce’s grandfather, and that would put everything she has at risk, despite it all being legitimate.

“You’ve admitted more in those few sentences than you have in the last ten years!”

“I’m not saying anything you haven’t already inferred, and you notice these are all Cincinnati guys. If they weren’t, this would be a VERY different problem, if you get my drift.”

“I do. Holy shit! If Connie’s husband is caught by the Feds and they trace it back, NIKA could be at risk!”

“Possibly, though they’d have one hell of a time proving I knew where the money came from. At that point, I’d just have my dad buy out Joyce’s shares and let the Feds go after that money. Joyce is squeaky clean, so once the dust settled, she might be a lot less wealthy, but she’s not going to jail.”

“I have to ask you something about the household finances.”

“The annuity from Don Joseph?”

“Yes. Does that put you at risk?”

“Not really, it’s from his estate, and at worst, they could seize the annuity, but I don’t own it. It’s owned by a trust. They’d have a heck of a time coming after any of my assets, though with this ‘asset forfeiture’ bullshit, you never know. Anyway, what I’m saying is that whatever solution I devise, it has to protect Joyce and NIKA, which means no running to the Feds.

“One option is to actually go after Littleton first, and one avenue of approach is to clue him in as to exactly who he’s working for. Tying him to Scuderi COULD be a way to exert pressure on him to drop his association with Anthony. If it ever got out that Littleton was working with the Mob, he’d be in deep trouble. I suspect his partner Zimmer, and the lawyer who handled the paperwork for Carla, Levinson, wouldn’t be thrilled by that information.”

“Blackmail?”

“Not at all. Information. Say certain dossiers show up at Littleton’s office, though fleshed out further. And including information about the corporate espionage.”

“What if Littleton ignores it?”

“I didn’t say I’d send it ONLY to him. Zimmer would get copies. And Levinson. And the other attorney who works for them whose name escapes me at the moment.”

“But this Scuderi guy is in the muscle side of the business.”

I nodded, “Elyse, you’re read-in so far at this point, it doesn’t matter. You know I have my own Luca Brasi.”

“That’s awfully dangerous. And it could get you in serious legal trouble.”

“Not really. Let’s call him Luca for now. I turned him from Cincy to Chicago. The right word to the right people and things would be explained to Scuderi.”

“Like they were to John Lentz?”

“That was Lisa Glass all the way,” I said. “If there WERE Outfit ties, I don’t know about them and neither do the cops.”

“Come on, Mr. Adams, you’re talking to your most intimate confidante, who reads your journals and manages your finances, both business and personal. Speaking of which, I laughed out loud at the entry in your journal from Japan on that topic.”

“The one where I reported Sakurako saying her grandmother was really in charge?”

“Yes! And admitting it was true here, too! I wondered when you were going to figure that out!”

“Has there ever been any REAL doubt?”

“Not in MY mind,” Elyse laughed. “But seriously, you know there were Outfit ties to John Lentz and the City of Chicago permitting guys who were busted.”

“It’s all in how you define ‘know’. I know the Aldermen are all corrupt, but I don’t have specific knowledge of the corruption in most cases.”

“Most cases?” Elyse asked with an arched eyebrow.

“Don’t ask, please. Some things I need to keep quiet.”

“It has to be Larry Bloom. Jesus! Everyone thinks he’s squeaky clean!”

“Which is a nice deal if you can swing it,” I said. “But forget that. I think I’m going to have Katya Sergeyevna flesh out the dossiers on everyone at Brandon Littleton & Associates, as well as on Peter Scuderi and his ties with BLS, Carla, and anything else.”

“Speaking of that, did you ever find out who was behind the request to buy the BLS software?”

I shook my head, “No. It was some law firm in Indiana which was representing an anonymous client.”

“Maybe there’s something there.”

“You mean like Anthony or Littleton? That would be a real stretch.”

“I have to ask you a very difficult question.”

“Go on.”