Chapter 498

Even with a small party in Section 12 Ed and Bill had me back at the gym by 1630. I was able to sit in on the last meeting with the administrators and clerks until after the New Year. Parties were also going on at the gym and Morton Field; a lot of people were off Christmas Eve day. Just skeleton crews would be at both places until January.

There was unexpected good news; Jake’s crews completed the last concrete pour today and moved all the heavy equipment away from the area to a lot near Camp Smith.

One crew was coming back after New Year’s Day to do final grade work and remove the tarps off the last four concrete slabs. That was the last work Jake’s crews were going to do until the end of February when road construction started back up.

It would be a month from today before the newest part of the new tarmac could be used by heavy planes. Painters were coming - if the weather stayed good - to put stripes and o’s to mark parking spots and guide lines so no planes went off the edge. We were already using the first five hundred feet that had enough time to cure properly; it needed thirty days to do that.

The other news was that Jenny had a meeting with Howard, Howard and Fine; the changes were in the works in case the worst happened to all of us or any one of us - meaning me.

In bad news we were being sued for hiring discrimination. Jason, Jenny and I had to give depositions at the end of January. The attorneys for the individual were the same attorneys who were here when the labor union organizer showed up and demanded access to our employee list, including personal information.

All of us thought this was just another angle for the unions to get the information under the information gathering rules for lawsuits. No attorney was going to pursue a case simply because, ‘I put in an application and didn’t get hired; I want to sue.’ There was some other motive.

A check of all the college sites and embassies confirmed that everything was quiet. Many college students had returned home for the holidays. Many of those that stayed had part time jobs and were in high demand at the malls over the holidays.

Others worked as hostesses for the many corporate and business parties. There were always some that carried the hostess thing into the oldest profession for the big bucks being thrown around at the corporate parties.

Robert’s group was still monitoring phones and internet that the terrorist were using and anywhere else he could think of.

Marcy, Vicky, Jenny and I were on the mats working on hand to hand combat skills with knives. We had just finished with the pogo sticks. We were in the protective suits we used when Mayor Blum and his group came in and were led to us by Ching Lee.

We went at the fight for five more minutes before we were both on the mats gasping for breath.

“Follow us over to the locker and we can talk while we change out of this gear,” I said.

While we were changing I asked if there had been any more new developments in the investigation.

“There was another packet of pictures and a letter dropped off at a mail box in Essex this afternoon. It was an isolated box with no cameras in the area. It contained more threats and worse pictures; the kids were beheaded,” Mayor Blum replied.

Elsie, his wife, was clearly upset as I would have been at the revelations.

I split the assembled group in half - there was too many to fit in the elevator - and down to the basement we went.

Vicky had taken over more rooms in the basement. In one there was all the new SWAT gear for all of us plus spare equipment for the special OPS teams. In another was all the different body armor and vests she used for the VIP protection business that was growing so well.

Vicky had amassed a good selection.

I started with Else first, “This is light body armor; it is what the girls and I wear daily. It’s like wearing a sweatshirt and lasts two months with normal washings. It provides reasonable protection from most small to medium caliber rounds. It provides the best protection when used with class C body armor that is over there,” I said.

Vicky described the other kinds of armor and let Else and the daughter try on several different styles. Their daughter was 15 and was just a fit for the medium sizes.

I concentrated on Mayor Blum and his son Raymond. Raymond - like his father - was tall and stocky like a football player. They tried on several different ones before they decided on the ones they wanted. We had just finished up and were walking towards the elevator when Cindy stepped out.

“BJ, Vicky, Ambassador Foley of South Korea is on VCATS wanting to speak with both of you,” Cindy said.

“Cindy, please take this group to the refreshment center for drinks and as soon as Vicky and I finish, we will take them to Morton to look at armored Suburbans,” I said.

“Good morning Ambassador Foley; I believe it is Christmas Eve day in your part of the world. Have you got all your Christmas shopping done?” I asked.

“BJ, Vicky, good evening, all done here; you have another day to finish yours, when you are not looking over your shoulder. I see you have managed to piss off the bad guys,” he replied.