Chapter 37

After the looks of surprise, “Hello Boss, we never expected to see you here,” Jerry Collins said.

I remembered Jerry from the hiring – training sessions; he spent a lot of time picking himself up off the mats in the early stages. I refilled my mug as did others.

“I have to make surprise visits now, you never know where or when I will turn up,” I said.

“Meeting still going on?” I added.

“Yeah, everything is running a little late, food is not going to be ready until 1215” Jerry said.

“Things have changed a lot since I was here last. Which meeting room are they in? I will go sit in,” I said.

“Meeting room 2, it’s the big one, “ Jerry said.

I knocked on the door and went in with several Secret Service agents.

“Mayor Dorsey – good to see you again! Captain Peters, Captain Hamilton, Chief Johnston - good to see all of you again,” I said.

“How did you get away from Washington?” Mayor Dorsey asked.

“You know I have learned as a politician never to miss free meals, sometimes I have to sneak away to do it,” I answered.

“Besides, I wanted to have a generic conversation with you about how the changes with government rules were affecting Rochester,” I said.

“I also wanted to find out from Chief Johnston how cooperation with federal law enforcement agencies could be improved. I have plenty of questions for all of you after we eat if you have time,” I said.

“Vicky, how are you doing after the flight?” I asked.

“We got into some turbulence on the way, that was a little rough,” Vicky answered.

“We had a great morning session and finished everything, we were going to leave after lunch,” Ching Lee said.

“I talked with Marcy and Jenny - they should be finished up and back tonight. They say they have negotiated a good contract,” I said.

“We have a meeting with all the parties tomorrow for the final planning session on the first three of the companies Marcy was looking at, so I hope they get back before it gets too late. Things are moving fast and the stock holder’s meetings for those three are in thirty days,” Vicky said.

“Kelly, how are you doing? I haven’t been able to talk with you very much lately.”

“Doing good overall. Things are a little tense at home - the wife’s parents have moved in with us - their health is failing. She wanted them close by to watch over them. Just a matter of getting used to the minor issues,” Kelly said.

“Is she still working for us or has she quit to stay home?” I said.

“Working right now to give time to sort things out; then we will evaluate if she needs to be home with them all the time,” Kelly answered.

“Don’t forget about the family leave policy; you can request that, she can qualify to take one day at a time as needed,” I said.

“OK, I hadn’t thought about that,” Kelly replied.

“You both can use it, that would give you one hundred and twenty days that one of you could be there during the day if needed, more than what you would need if one of you worked split shifts,” I said.

“BJ, are you expecting a guest?” came over the intercom.

I walked to the lobby, “Hello Abdul Wakil, it’s good to see you again,” I said in Arabic.

“Lunch is not ready yet, but soon. After we finish eating, I have some questions I need to ask you if you can stay around,” I said.

“Yes, I can stay,” Abdul said.

“Lunch is ready to be served in about five minutes,” the caterer announced.

“That was perfect timing,” I said.

It was elegant self-serve as all these kinds of meals were. I was in line behind Vicky and Ching Lee, Troy was behind me. There was a line on both sides of the food table.

The line at the food was nearly through and the tables were nearly filled when the duty man asked if we were expecting more visitors. A Secret Service agent was with the duty man and another went out to check out the visitors.

The Secret Service agent came to me and said, “Governor Stallworth, Lt. Governor Snodgrass and six staff are here, plus half a dozen state police for bodyguards,” Agent Tull said.

I stood and counted the empty seats, there were enough for the governor and his staff but not for the state police.

“The governor and his staff can come in and get food and sit in here. The state police will have to wait until people leave, then eat,” I said knowing that Stallworth would be pissed. But it is what it is.

Thirty minutes later Ching Lee, Vicky, Troy, Connie and agents Todd, Carter, Tull, Abdul and I were finished.

I asked Abdul, Connie, Troy and agents Carter and Tull to follow me to the smaller meeting room. I stopped by the governor, shook his hand and told him I had a short meeting and then I would be back.

“Abdul, have you contacted your family in Iran since the war ended? By now most of the phone systems have been repaired over there,” I said.

I had the answers to all the questions I was going to ask. Between Robert’s group, the CIA and the NSA, the surveillance of the Rochester group was being closely watched and all communications monitored and recorded.

With all the arrests of the radical members by the task force and other federal agencies, the group had become model citizens. By the agency and Robert’s groups, all indications were good.

“Yes, we have talked several times,” he said.

“Did you lose any family members?” I asked.

“One brother and several cousins, Father, Mother and the rest of the family lived in a village away from all the military installations. Why do you ask?” he said.

“I have a special project I would like you to help me with. Repairs to several airports are nearly complete and limited international service will soon be restored. I have access to other flights as you well know,” I said.

“The international hotels are soon reopening; some are already open. The public transportation systems have been operating since the end of the war,” I said.

“I would like you and your family members to take a trip to Iran to see how the reconstruction is going. I also want to be sure that all the aid, food supplies and transportation services are reaching all the people and not a selected few,” I said.

“I want you to take plenty of pictures to document what you see, then when you come back I would want a report from you,” I said.

“At my level lots of things get sugar coated so all the right people look good. I want a true and accurate report by someone that is not worried about their job or salary,” I said.

“You don’t have to let me know right now, think about it for a day or two. Just tell Kelly and he can get your answer to me. If you decide to go, it will only take a couple weeks to get everything in order,” I said.

We talked a few more minutes about general things before Abdul left, I needed to talk to the other people and time was moving on.