Chapter 42: Something I’m Missing

February 19, 1995, Chicago, Illinois

“Why does the dumb plane have to be late?” Jesse complained for the third time in forty minutes.

“They ran into headwinds. They should be landing any time now. But then they have to go through passport control.”

“Mom One got me a new passport for Russia!”

“Yes, because the old one expired.”

“I wish we didn’t have to wait five months! I want to see my soldier friends!”

“And Larisa?”

Jesse grinned, “Yes! But Marta is here today! «Hon är jätte sött!»” (“She’s very pretty!”)

“Very good!” I chuckled. “You’re practicing with Aunt Sofia and Alexa?”

“Yes, but just a few things, and nobody we know here speaks Russian.”

“Andrei and his parents do, and Svetlana.”

“But I only see them at church and they live far away. Sofia and Alexa visit a lot.”

“True. And you can talk to me, too. Have you thought about going to Sweden for a year?”

“I talked to Mom Two about it and it would mess up school and hockey. Mom One agreed.”

“Well, you know I’ll say ‘yes’ if you want to go.”

The arrival board changed to show Pia’s flight as ‘Landed’ and I pointed that out to Jesse.

“Now the government takes forever,” he sighed.

I chuckled. There was no doubt Jesse was my son. He had his own set of complaints about ‘government’ which usually had to do with something he didn’t like at school. Fortunately, and much to Jesse’s delight, Pia and Marta sailed through passport control and customs and thirty minutes later, Jesse was hugging Marta and I was hugging Pia.

“Let’s get out of here and get to the house,” Pia sighed. “I can use a sauna after that flight.”

“I bet,” I said.

I wheeled the luggage cart out to the car and after putting their bags in the trunk of the BMW, we got Marta and Jesse settled in the back seat and then Pia and I got into the front seats.

“Did you come up with anything special you wanted to do this week?”

“Not really. Marta wants to spend as much time as she can with Jesse and your kids, and I want to spend time with you and your wives.”

“Well, tomorrow is President’s Day, so there’s no school and NIKA is closed except for our telephone support, so I’ll be home. The rest of the week is normal, with school and work.”

“I have some shopping I want to do, and your youngest are home for Marta to play with. You have a new nanny, right?”

“Yes. Amanda. And I told you about our houseguest.”

“The handsome British doctor?” Pia laughed. “Too bad I’m taken!”

I chuckled, “He’s going to be VERY disappointed. He has the same kind of freedoms I do.”

“Of course he does!” Pia laughed.

“«Mama, får jag sova hos Jesse?»” Marta asked. (“Mom, may I sleep at Jesse’s?”)

“What do you think, Steve?” Pia asked.

“I think that’s up to you, Jesse, and Jesse’s moms.”

“Mom One said it was fine,” Jesse said.

“No kissing in bed, OK?” Pia said to Jesse.

He laughed, “That’s what Mom One said!”

“«Marta, det är OK. Men ni två får inte kyssa i sängen.»” (“It’s fine, Marta, but no kissing in bed.”)

“OK, Mama.”

“Just wait,” I said quietly.

“Five years? Six?” Pia laughed. “Will they be like us?”

“Only time will tell,” I grinned.

We arrived home, quickly introduced Jon, and then Pia, Marta, Jesse, and I went to the sauna. Twenty-five minutes later, after quick showers, we went up to the kitchen so Pia and Marta could have something to eat.

“I hear you’re a doctor,” Pia said to Jon, who came to have some tea while they ate.

“And I hear you work for Volvo.”

“That’s true. You’re doing a year here in the States?”

“If I don’t strangle some bloody-minded administrators first!”

Pia laughed, “It is very different here in many ways, though Sofia doesn’t complain.”

“She’s the half-Greek, half-Swedish girl, right?” Jon asked. “She’s interested in making money!”

“And in being a good doctor,” I countered. “Her point was that if she could do both, why not?”

“She had other reasons for coming here, and you know it!” Pia laughed.

“Dad has LOTS of girlfriends,” Jesse interjected.

“Did anyone ASK you?” I laughed.

“I’m just telling the truth, Dad! You say always tell the truth!”

“«En dag... »” I grinned. (“One day...”)

“«Han är ju din son!»” Pia laughed (“He IS your son!”)

“Marta, what did they say?” Jesse asked.

Marta got a silly smile on her face, “Your dad said ‘one day’ and Mom said ‘he IS your son’.”

“Great,” I chuckled. “Another recruit for Jesse’s plot to kill the king and take over.”

Jon laughed, “I believe Mr. Jesse’s actual target is a couple of years younger than he is. We all know who runs the house!”

“Aunt Elyse!” Jesse smirked.

“Don’t you have something to do?” I asked, trying to sound annoyed.

“Yes! Annoy Dad!” Jesse declared.

“Is he like this ALL the time?” Pia asked.

“Yes!” Jon and I said simultaneously.

We finished eating then went to hang out with the rest of the family in the sunroom.

February 22, 1995, Chicago, Illinois

“Happy birthday, Jesse!” I said when I saw him on Wednesday morning.

“Thanks, Dad! My party is on Saturday.”

“With your friends, yes. But the family party is tonight.”

“With Pia and Marta and Doctor Jon?”

“Yes, of course. Doctor Jon is part of the family while he’s here, and Pia is a very close family friend.”

“Doctor Jon likes Amanda!” Jesse smirked. “Will she be here tonight?”

“Yes, she will. Isn’t it time to go to school?”

“I came to get my brothers and sister to walk to school.”

“Have a good day and see you tonight!”

He hugged me, then Marta, then left to find his siblings. A few minutes later, Elyse, Michelle, Jessica, and I headed out to the car. We dropped Jessica at Cook County Hospital, then drove the short distance to the NIKA offices.

“Good morning, Steve!” Kimmy said brightly when I walked into my office.

“Good morning. Earl Grey this morning, please.”

“I’ll bring it in to you in a few minutes. Dante Puccini called a few minutes ago.”

“Did he say what he wanted?”

“No, but he sounded pissed.”

I nodded, “Then I’m sure I know what it’s about. I have no interest in talking to him. If he calls back, ask specifically what he wants and say you’ll give me the message. That’s all. Don’t promise I’ll call back.”

“This is about firing his brother and sister?”

“I’m sure it is. And replacing their former lead electrical engineer with Jennifer.”

Kimmy nodded, “Melissa seems to have adopted your management style.”

“She has. Do me a favor, please. See if you can get her on the phone.”

“Will do!”

Five minutes later she brought me my tea and two minutes after that, she transferred Melissa to me.

“Dante called for me earlier,” I said. “I’m guessing I know what he wants.”

“I was served with a trio of lawsuits yesterday afternoon. I was going to call you.”

“Dario, Daniela, and the engineer?”

“Yes. Wrongful discharge for the engineer and breach of contract for the other two.”

“Those are nuisance suits,” I said. “You paid both Dario and Daniela, right?”

“Yes, the full amount remaining on the contracts, all accrued vacation and sick time, AND vacation and sick time they would have accrued through the end of the contract.”

“Then you’re golden. According to Jamie, no court will enforce ‘specific performance’, and you paid the value of the contract, so they have nothing. You actually didn’t terminate them, did you?”

“No, they are officially on paid leave, which was what the HR consultant suggested.”

“Cool. And the engineer quit, right?”

“Yes, verbally. He wouldn’t sign anything. Now he claims we fired him without cause.”

“That won’t go anywhere, either. Illinois is an ‘at will’ state. You don’t NEED a cause.”

“This still sucks because I have to waste time and money fighting it.”

“I assume you’ve talked to your attorney. What did she say?”

“Pretty much what you did. Are you free for lunch today? I just need to get away.”

“Sure. What kind of food do you want?”

“Anything is fine.”

“Takumi,” I said. “You can have Japanese or Thai there. Are you cool with floor cushions or do you want chairs?”

Melissa laughed, “We’ll do it your way. You can have me for lunch on the floor!”

“I think we might get arrested if we did that,” I chuckled. “See you at Takumi at 11:30am.”

“See you then.”

I got up and went out to Kimmy’s desk.

“I’m having lunch with Melissa at Takumi at 11:30. Would you put it on the calendar, please?”

Kimmy’s fingers danced over the keys on her keyboard, then she looked up, “Done!”

“Thanks. Could you get Jamie on the phone for me?”

“Will do!”

I went back to sit down next to Penny.

“Get arrested for what?” she smirked.

“Having Melissa for lunch on the floor at Takumi!”

“You know she wants you, right? I’ve seen the way she looks at you when she’s here.”

“There are rules, Penny. You know that.”

“You and your dopey rules,” she groused, but good naturedly.

“The LAST thing you need right now is trouble with Terry. Things are going really well judging by what you both have said to me. And I am limiting myself to my wives and Michelle. You and I have both calmed down a lot, and that’s a good thing.”

She leaned even closer, “That doesn’t mean I don’t have fantasies.”

“Me, too!” I smiled conspiratorially, “Me too.”

The phone buzzed and Kimmy put Jamie through to me. I explained what Melissa had told me and asked his advice.

“I think what you told her is likely correct. She’s talked to Billie Lawson, right?”

“Yes.”

“Billie is a good attorney. I’ve worked with her on other things besides the NIKA and M&M deals. I strongly advise you not to talk to Dante under any circumstances. Nothing good can come from that.”

“No kidding,” I chuckled. “I told Kimmy if he calls she should ask what he wants and to take a message, but not promise I’ll call him back. I’m sure he’s livid, but he sold out, so tough shit.”

“Exactly. I’m sure Billie told Melissa this, but she shouldn’t talk to any of them, either, and should tell her staff not to talk to any of them, especially in light of the lawsuit.”

“I’m seeing Melissa for lunch,” I said. “I’ll remind her of that.”

“OK. If you need anything, call me. I can’t imagine even Dante would try to move against you given the circumstances.”

“Just out of curiosity, and thinking as far out in left field as you can, what could he or his siblings do?”

“The only thing I could imagine would be tortious interference with contract, but I would very likely have that dismissed the same day simply by showing that Melissa had actually fulfilled the contracts. And given your business relationship with M&M, you having input on her decisions should pass any test the court could construct to determine ‘interference’. I’m sure you haven’t said a word about any of them to anyone.”

“Not a peep, Jamie. I don’t really know Dario or Daniela, and nobody has asked about them. Nobody here dealt with them regularly. We dealt with Dante and a couple of engineers, and now Mark, Jennifer, and one other engineer.”

“OK. As I said, just ignore Dante. He’s out of the country, right?”

“In Tahiti with his nineteen-year-old girlfriend.”

“Personally, if I was in Tahiti with a young woman, I’d have my mind on something other than my brother, sister, and a company I no longer owned!”

“Me, too, Jamie,” I chuckled. “See you on Saturday?”

“See you then! We’re bringing Eric to Jesse’s party.”

We said ‘goodbye’ and hung up.

“Does Joyce know any hitmen?” Penny asked.

I chuckled, “YOU ask her that question. Not every Italian is in the Mafia!”

“Dante is such a pig. Now he’s being an asshole.”

“You’re wrong there, Penny. Dante was ALWAYS an asshole. But we made a lot of money doing business with him. And we still have those contracts. It’s just a lot easier now that I’m dealing with Melissa. And now that I have that out of the way, I’m going to get in three solid hours of coding on the backend system. And then another four when I get back from lunch!”

Of course, as happened so many times, that was wishful thinking, and less than an hour later I was interrupted.

“Steve,” Kimmy said, “Lucas says the FBI agents are downstairs.”

“So much for coding,” I sighed.

I walked out of my office, switched shoes, and went down to reception. I invited Agents O’Toole and Stone into the ‘Tretiak’ room.

“I haven’t remembered anything,” I said when we sat down.

“Perhaps this will help jog your memory,” Agent Stone said. “Brandon Littleton was found shot to death last night.”

A surge of adrenaline hit my body, and I felt as if I was going to pass out. My heart skipped a couple of beats, my head was spinning, and my knees were weak, and if I hadn’t been sitting, I would have fallen over.

“Are you OK?” Agent O’Toole asked quickly.

I nodded my head slowly and took several deep breaths, managing to avoid a full syncopal event, but only just barely.

“Sorry,” I said. “I have a minor medical problem, but the attack wasn’t too severe.”

I didn’t want to say that an adrenaline rush had caused it, as that might make them suspicious.

“Do you need medical attention?”

“No. I’ve had quite a few attacks such as this in the past. If I don’t pass out right away, I recover quickly. The doctors at Mayo are stumped. What happened?”

The two agents exchanged a look which told me they were suspicious about my reaction.

“He was apparently working late in his office at the university where he was teaching. A janitor found the body just before midnight when he went to clean the office.”

“Murder? Suicide?” I asked carefully.

“One to the chest, one to the forehead. I’d say a professional hit, wouldn’t you, Pat?”

“I’d say so,” Agent O’Toole agreed. “And I’d say Mr. Adams’ reaction and the fact that he’s carrying that pistol under his arm says he’s worried about the same thing.”

They were absolutely correct, but I had no idea what I could do or say. I didn’t want to tie anything back to Cincinnati because of Joyce, and ultimately, her grandfather’s investment in NIKA. I also didn’t want to say ANYTHING that might implicate Peter Scuderi, though I wondered if he was behind the murder. Could Anthony have ordered it? I could actually see Connie giving that order, but not ‘Little Tony’. Or had Littleton been even deeper and I hadn’t known it?

“I honestly don’t have anything to tell you,” I said. “Didn’t you tell me there was some kind of link between John Lentz, Lisa Glass, and Brandon Littleton?”

“Yes,” Agent Stone said, “but we haven’t been able to figure out what that link was. If you’re telling the truth, we’re more or less out of leads.”

A possible way out dawned on me.

“What if I could talk to Lisa and see if I could get her to cooperate, or at least tell me about the link?”

“Why would she do that?”

“You know I visited her with her dad. She and I cleared the air between us. You do remember what she wanted from me, right?”

“A roll in the hay so she could control you,” Agent O’Toole said. “But I don’t see why she’d talk to you now.”

“Because I’m a nice guy,” I smiled. “And she’ll appreciate me going to see her.”

“Come on, there has to be more to it than that.”

“Except for her attempts to control me with sex, I actually got along OK with Lisa. And right about now, I’m one of the few friends she has left in the world.”

“Friend?”

I nodded, “We aren’t close by any means, but I’d say she’s paying the appropriate price for her actions. The state metes out punishment. I believe most people can be rehabilitated. What kind of person would I be to abandon her when she needs help?”

“That doesn’t make a lot of sense,” Agent Stone said.

“Nonetheless, it’s how I view things. As I said, Lisa apologized for the things she did to me. I accept that. That means they are in the past.”

Agent Stone shook his head, “I don’t get it, but if that works for you and gets us our information, I won’t complain.”

“Would you let us wire you?” Agent O’Toole asked.

“I’d be very concerned about someone using whatever information she provides to bring additional charges against her. If I get her to talk, can we get an immunity grant for her?”

“Why would you care?”

“For the reasons I mentioned before, but just as importantly, Alec Glass and I do business together. I’ve invested in some REITs and we’re also on the Board of the Lundgren Foundation together. He’s a friend. I wouldn’t want to do anything to mess that up.”

“Let us talk to the US Attorney and the AIC,” Agent Stone said.

“You know you’ll have to talk to her attorney,” I said.

“That’s part of the problem, as I’m sure you can imagine, given the document we had you sign.”

I nodded, “I can, but I’m not going to do anything that would make things worse for Lisa. She’s already serving a forty-year sentence, but at least she’ll get out.”

“Let me propose a middle way,” Agent O’Toole said. “You go talk with Lisa and find out if she WILL talk to us, and then we’ll see what we can do about the immunity grant. We’ll be able to sell it better if we have an idea of what she COULD tell us.”

“Let me call Alec and set it up. He’s going to be suspicious.”

“Why do you need to call him?”

“I’m not on her visitor’s list.”

“Let me see if we can fix that,” Agent Stone said. “It’s a State facility, but I think we can get cooperation from the State’s Attorney.”

“Let me know,” I said.

“Thanks,” Agent O’Toole said. “And if you DO remember anything, call us, day or night.”

“I will,” I said.

We shook hands and I walked them out. I wondered what, if anything, I should say to Elyse. I had no doubt that she would hear about the murder, and that would certainly cause her to freak out. It was better it happened here, at the office, than at home. I stopped in her office and shut the door.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Elyse said.

“Littleton was murdered,” I said.

“What?!” she gasped.

“In his office at the university where he was teaching.”

“Jesus Christ, Steve!”

“I know. But think about it. There is no way Anthony would order a hit. He’s too much of a pussy. Connie? She would, but she left Anthony and is living with her parents. I think Littleton was dirtier than even we realized. Think about it. I bet he had deeper ties and that’s how Connie and Anthony found him. Normally, I would have been the go-between for them, but given they were trying to mess with me, it makes sense they went around me. They had other contacts. You know that because I told you about co-opting one of them. I’m sure they found another one, or maybe he was the one who helped them find Littleton in the first place.”