Chapter 8: A Coded Message

August 19, 1996, Chicago, Illinois

“How was your first day of school?”

“I liked it!” Ashley declared happily. “I got to walk to school with Birgit and Stephie and our friends!”

“Good!”

“William is in my class!”

“Did you know anyone else?”

“Yes. Allison.”

Allison was Tiffany’s little sister.

“How was everyone else’s first day back?”

There was a chorus of ‘fine’ or ‘good’ or ‘OK’ from all the kids at the dinner table. I looked around the table, marveling at the fact that Jesse was starting fifth grade. It was hard to believe I had a ten-year-old son, not to mention at least one kid in every grade down to kindergarten. They were all very good kids and I was very proud of them. And in twelve years, they’d all be either in college or off on their own. That was a sobering thought, and one I both looked forward to and feared.

When we finished dinner, we spent time with the kids, and when they finally went to bed, Kara, Jessica, Maria Cristina, and I relaxed together in the ‘Indian’ room, and then, eventually headed up to bed. With my wives’ blessing, I joined Maria Cristina.

“How was your first day at UofC?” I asked, enjoying the feel of Maria Cristina’s firm, young body on mine.

“It was just orientation, but it was good to be there,” she sighed, flexing her hips slightly. “How can you talk coherently when you’re in me this way?”

I flexed my hips, applying slight pressure to her clit and burrowing just a bit deeper.

“A young woman once told me this was the best time to talk, because a man couldn’t lie when in such a position.”

Maria Cristina laughed softly, and squeezed her muscles tightly around me.

“So, what should I ask you?”

“Anything you want to know!”

“Between you, your wives, and your kids, you’ve all told me so much!”

“The more you talk to my kids, the more worried I become,” I chuckled.

“They love you very much, but they can be quite disrespectful!”

“I let them speak their minds,” I replied. “That’s part of learning to be an adult.”

“And this?” she smirked flexing her hips and dragging her rock-hard nipples across my chest.

“You don’t have to be an adult to have sex,” I chuckled. “Once you hit puberty, the equipment works.”

“How old were you? That’s something nobody volunteered and I didn’t ask.”

“Fourteen.”

“Really? Wow! That’s young!”

“We each make our own decision in that regard.”

She lifted her hips until I was mostly out of her, then slowly engulfed my shaft again.

“And your kids?”

“Will make their own decisions. It has to be that way. It’s the most personal thing you can do!”

“If I’d known just how good it felt, I think I might have done it sooner!”

“A common refrain from many girls I’ve known!”

“Your first time, was it hers too?”

“No. She was nine years older than me. She taught me quite a bit!”

“Wow! So like you’ve taught me?”

“Yes.”

“And you’re happy with my learning?”

“I think it will require LOTS of practice,” I smirked.

“Good!” she sighed.

August 21, 1996, Chicago, Illinois

“I need to have an attorney review this,” I replied.

“Come on, Steve,” Agent Stone sighed. “You’ve read so many documents like this over the last few years. We can’t have this leak!”

“No kidding!” I replied. “But I need someone to look it over. Melanie Spencer would be my first choice. If not her, then Sam Kassan, her law partner. If there are two more ‘by-the-book’, honest lawyers in this city, I don’t know who they are.”

“What do you know that you aren’t telling us?” Agent O’Toole asked.

“Nothing. But I guarantee you something will happen on Monday. I have no idea what it is, and I do NOT want to get caught out by having to make a choice between blowing the operation or doing something you could twist later to charge me. I’d beat it, mind you, but the bad PR could wreck my company. If you do this MY way, you’ll have a chance to roll up the entire operation and find all of his money. Well, minus my cut which goes to charity.”

“You know that’s not going to happen.”

“As I said, we’ll see.”

“Don’t get cute with us,” Agent Stone growled.

“I figure you’re playing cute with me if you don’t want me to have a lawyer review this agreement.”

“You know damned well how many crooked lawyers and judges there are in this city!”

“And Melanie Spencer and her law partner are NOT part of that crowd and you know it.”

“Call her,” he replied tersely.

I called Melanie’s office and was pleased to find her in her office. She agreed to come to the Federal Building and arrived about fifteen minutes later. We met privately so I could fill her in and we could discuss the documents.

“I swear, you find the most interesting ways to get into trouble,” she said, shaking her head.

“I certainly didn’t want to be involved in this! So, what do you think?”

“They have to make two modifications. They need to remove the word ‘directly’ from the section which describes the actions for which you have immunity from prosecution. Saying ‘directly related to attempts to escape custody’ is far too narrow. Removing ‘directly’ doesn’t hurt them, but leaving it in puts you at risk of their understanding of ‘directly’.”

“I wondered about that. But can’t they argue something is ‘unrelated’?”

“Sure, but that’s a big mountain to climb; big enough that I’d be comfortable.”

“And the other one?”

“The bit about agreeing to surrender any financial gain. That’s far too broad. Right now, with the words ‘financial gain’ they could, in theory, insist you disgorge any profits from NIKA which they decided were related to you helping them. They need to make it ‘personal financial gain’ and exclude any profits NIKA or Patent Partners might make in the normal course of business, unless they are directly related to this. I do have to ask, what are they worried about?”

I chuckled, “I told the conspirators that I wanted ten million donated to charities of my choice. The FBI and Treasury want that money.”

Melanie laughed, “That’s so you. Nothing for yourself, and all the money going to charities you support.”

“I’m not any more of a pauper than you are, Counselor!”

“And if I know you, you have some way to ensure the government can’t find the money.”

“No comment.”

“OK. Let me quickly draft some changes and we’ll see what they say.”

She took her black IBM ThinkPad 760 and quickly drafted her proposed changes. The HP printer in the conference room had a parallel cable which I connected to her laptop, and after selecting the correct printer driver in WordPerfect, Melanie printed the document with her proposed changes. Once we had the document, I disconnected the cable, she shut down her laptop, and after she cautioned me to say nothing, we went to Agent Stone’s office.

“I’ll have to run this by the US Attorney and State’s Attorney,” Agent Stone said once he’d read over the proposed changes. “They won’t like it.”

“You don’t get a free shot at Steve, NIKA, or the LLC because of his relationship with Spurgeon Capital and Samantha Spurgeon.”

“And if she’s involved?”

“Then you go after HER, not Steve, NIKA, or Patent Partners. He has NO knowledge of any involvement by her, and his business relationship with her is perfectly legal.”

“We’re not ruling anyone out.”

“As is your prerogative. But, if you don’t agree to the changes exactly as I’ve drafted them, I’ll instruct Steve not to sign and not to cooperate. This isn’t a negotiation, Agent Stone.”

“Fine,” he growled.

Melanie and I left, and I walked with her towards her office until we came to a Caribou Coffee shop where I bought us each a cup of coffee.

“They’ll agree,” I said. “They have to. If I drop out, Spurgeon’s guys will find someone else and then the FBI will have nothing.”

“You have no idea what they’re planning?”

“Specifics? No. I’m not withholding any information from the FBI, if that’s what concerns you.”

“Obviously, because they would void the immunity agreement. Don’t try to get too cute with your plan with regard to the charities. You’ll have to tell the FBI anything you know.”

“I realize.”

“Just be smart, Steve. It’s not worth going to jail because you thought you were smarter than you are.”

“I was smart enough to seize the ‘Opportunity’!” I smirked.

“Can you believe that was nearly twenty years ago?”

“July of 1977,” I replied. “That was a crazy Summer!”

“And I met Pete about six months later.”

“I’m just glad the drama is in the past.”

“Right!” Melanie laughed. “Because there is zero drama in your life!”

“Not in my closest relationships. Things are VERY calm at Chez Adams!”

“So the circus has left town?”

I chuckled, “Nah, it’s just in intermission until Jesse and Birgit become teenagers!”

“God help us all!” Melanie laughed.

We finished our coffees and exchanged a quick hug, then each headed back to our own offices. When I arrived, Kimmy let me know that Eve wanted to see me, so I went to Eve’s office.

“What can I do for you?” I asked.

“I can think of a number of things!” she laughed. “But today it’s about the building behind us. The owners are willing to sell, and the lease for the company on the first floor is for another two years with a joint option for five more. The asking price is reasonable, per Alec Glass. The bank is willing to lend us the money to make the purchase, or Alec could help us set up some kind of investment vehicle.”

“I don’t want to have to manage an REIT or pay Alec to manage one for us. Let’s just look at a straight-up transaction. I need you to write it up so we can present it to the Board. I assume you’ve spoken to Elyse about it?”

“Yes. The lease income would cover most of the debt service, and the non-monetary costs of other solutions would be too high. You don’t want to split the office.”

“No. That would only be an absolute last resort. And even in an extreme situation, we buy a new building, move, and rent this space to someone else. I’d hate to leave this location given how perfect it is for staff in the city and in the burbs, but splitting the office is not something I want to do.”

“And the software engineers in Colorado?”

“As well as that has worked, there is a disconnect between them and the Chicago-based staff. It showed me that it COULD work, but it’s far from ideal.”

“OK. I’ll put together a proposal for the Board. Shall I work through Kimmy?”

“Yes. She’ll schedule the meeting when you’re ready. I’ll want to see a summary and the financials before the meeting.”

“Of course. Are we still on for shooting Saturday?”

“Yes,” I said with a grin.

“Bullets and blanks?” she smirked.

“It’s that good?”

Eve laughed, “I know you aren’t fishing for compliments because you don’t need that kind of affirmation. But as I said before, you know exactly how to conduct yourself in this kind of relationship. No drama, no neediness, just great sex. And you don’t have to sneak around on your wives.”

“I thought that risk would add to the thrill for you.”

“Not really. Don’t you think my friend’s dad was the one who took the real risk and got the real thrill? Having a sixteen-year-old virgin strip naked in front of him when his wife was home, in the house?”

I chuckled, “I can see that. And you got off on the idea that you could steal another woman’s husband?”

“Steal? No. Borrow. And trust me, it’s fucking that gives me a thrill, not the circumstances! Though I do have to say watching you handle ‘Don Anthony’ made me horny as hell!”

“No kidding!”

“McKenzie is cool with us using her apartment. She offered to stay.”

I chuckled, “Your first threesome?”

“If I were interested AT ALL in girls, maybe. But I’m not, so why share? But it’s up to you.”

I shook my head, “No. That doesn’t fit into the balance I’ve achieved.”

Eve smirked, “I suppose given the hot women you sleep with every night, a threesome is no big deal!”

“Tell McKenzie I appreciate the offer.”

“I will.”

August 24, 1996, Naperville, Illinois

“We’re shooting about even now,” Eve said as she calculated our scores. “I beat you by one point, which is really to your credit because I shoot every weekend and you shoot maybe once every six weeks.”

“Thanks.”

We packed up our eye and ear protection, then left the range. Eve put her .357 into a locker, and we left the store. Once we were at my car, I reloaded my 9mm with proper ammunition, then we got into my car to head to McKenzie’s apartment.

“Anything new on Monday?” she asked.

“No. They’re compartmentalizing things, which, if you think about it, makes sense.”

“Do you need me to do anything?”

“I’d love to have a second or a bodyguard, but there’s no way they’re going to allow that. And I’m sure I’ll be searched when I get on the plane and under close control during the entire trip. My bet is they insist I leave my mobile phone in Chicago, but I can’t do that without raising suspicion.”

“Well, you’re safe from the Feds with the signed immunity agreement.”

“Yes, but I’m pretty sure they’re going to try to hang all of this on Samantha. But I’ll worry about that afterwards.”

“You’re putting a lot of faith in her choosing you over her dad.”

“She’s done that twice already. Why would she change horses mid-stream? Well, unless she’s been playing me for more than four years. And I just can’t see that given everything that’s happened.”

“You wouldn’t be the first guy seduced by a cute, sexy, young blonde.”

“It doesn’t feel like that,” I replied. “And honestly, why involve me? She knows I won’t break the law for her. I wouldn’t have when we were lovers, so why now? She has nothing over me and no leverage. Honestly, if she wants her dad out of prison, she should buy off Governor Edgar with a job offer once he resigns after issuing a pardon or commutation. She could pay him millions per year for a job he showed up for one day a year and it would be a rounding error on her balance sheets.”

“People do strange things for their blood.”

“That’s the same thing the FBI said, and all things being equal, I would agree. But that doesn’t fit Samantha, and I honestly don’t think she could pull off that kind of long con on me, Stephanie, and Brian. Think about the depth of deception involved there. And Brian positively hates Noel. Heck, if he knew the extent of my dalliances with teenage girls, he’d hate ME. Can you imagine his reaction if he found out Samantha broke her dad out of jail? He’s a military officer, for Pete’s sake!”

“So was that dude who spied for the Russians.”

“John Walker? No, he was a Warrant Officer, which isn’t a commissioned rank.”

“Sorry, I meant he was in the military, not that he was a commissioned officer.”

“But in this case, we’re dealing with theoretical crimes by Samantha. Is she going to throw away her marriage as well? And what? She’s going to go visit her dad, wherever he is, and not suffer at the hands of the Feds? No way. She’s completely innocent. In fact, I’d say she’s completely unaware. The one I’m worried about is Lisa Glass. Fundamentally, if she’s dumb enough to get involved, she deserves what she gets, and I’ll have no qualms about anything that happens to her. We still don’t know where she was that day, and I’m not going to ask Alec about it. Maybe she really did have cell phone trouble. But I’m not sure. In the end, I’m actually fare more concerned for her dad. He’s been the innocent party in all of this since she was fifteen.”

“And you think she has something for Noel because he won the auction for her cherry?”

“Maybe she sees dollar signs, but who knows? Alec keeps her on a relatively short leash, but she has everything she could possibly need and most things she wants. She can’t go anywhere, either. After all, what country is going to take her as a felon convicted of murder in the first degree? It’s one thing for Noel to buy off the Emir in the UAE because he banged a bunch of teenage girls. It’s a whole other thing to have a murder conviction on your record.”

“Then why participate?”

“Because I have no idea what ELSE Lisa has been involved in. I know about Hart-Lincoln. I know she slept with Noel Spurgeon. I don’t know about anything else.”

We arrived at McKenzie’s apartment complex and were quickly inside. McKenzie made a half-hearted attempt to join us, but left when Eve said ‘Goodbye, McKenzie!’. The door had barely closed when Eve and I had our clothes off and I was doing my best to pound her through the mattress of McKenzie’s bed, while Eve did her best to buck me off. Twenty-five minutes later, sweaty and out of breath, we lay close together, not cuddling.

“Back to the conversation,” Eve said between labored breaths, “What would Lisa’s gain be, if she was involved?”

“That’s what I can’t put my finger on,” I replied. “Remember, she could be an accomplice, a victim, or a dupe. If you think about it, she might be a perfect patsy. They pin it on her somehow, and she takes the Fall.”

“But you’ll know differently.”

“But from their perspective, I won’t lift a finger to save Lisa. In fact, why would I? They pin it on her and I walk away with the ten million for charity. I turn them in, and I have to tell the Feds about the money. In fact, if you think about it, they point me to Lisa for exactly that reason. I tell the Feds she and Noel are in cahoots because they’ve had an ongoing affair, and that Matheson was just a messenger that Noel trusted.”

“This has more possible twists and turns than an Agatha Christie novel!”

“So let’s say they pull this off and he does get out of the country. There will be a trail from someone at Big Muddy or some LEO. You have to expect they crack when the State and Feds throw the book at them. They point to someone who points to someone, and so on. That means there has to be a cutout somewhere to break the trail.”