Enemy In the Room (22 page)

“That’s terrible. A wife and three young
children. You know, you people in real estate
are
too
trusting. Meeting people you don’t know all over everywhere based
on a phone call.”

“He’ll turn up. Probably doing something he
shouldn’t. But I hope he’s all right. Anyway, when is Rob likely to
be up?”

An hour later, over a late morning brunch of
waffles and bacon, David, Elizabeth and Rob talked about his
internet games. Parents and son recited their previous positions on
the subject. In the end they reached a compromise that after a week
Rob could resume playing the games one hour a night during the
week, and four hours total on weekends. They further agreed that
with an A average in all subjects, the restrictions would be off;
but if his grades did not improve to at least B’s, the games would
be cut out all together.

David asked, “Is that OK with you, Rob?”

“Well, I guess it’s better than no games at
all.”

“Our plan makes the result totally up to
you.”

Rob looked down. “Yeah. I know.”

Sounding positive, his father asked, “OK,
then, is that our agreement?”

Rob glanced up. “Sure. I guess.”

“Good. Now, can I help you with any of your
homework?”

“No. I don’t have much.”

“Well, let me know.”

Knox’s meeting with Kamali and Mustafin
would be at his lake home. He had arranged for his current love
interest to visit her mother in Cincinnati for the weekend. Knox
had asked his two chief lieutenants to drive out to discuss special
projects that could only involve the three of them.

Wearing shorts, knit shirts, and boat shoes,
they sat in wooden chairs on the dock adjoining Knox’s boathouse,
sipping coffee.

“I read in the paper,” Knox said, putting
down his mug, “that a fairly well-known commercial real estate
agent has been missing for several days.”

Mustafin nodded, a trace of a smile on his
lips. “Yes, I heard the same thing. A pity.”

They were silent. The breeze coming across
the lake rippled the water.

“Before we begin, Mr. Knox,” Kamali said,
“let me tell you that I heard from Cleve Danforth yesterday. He
reached a definitive agreement to buy a controlling interest in
Ezon Communications. Of course the public agreement doesn’t mention
how we’re quietly covering the trading losses rung up by their CFO.
The price we’re paying is a steal for the technology they
control.”

Knox nodded and sipped his coffee. “Good.
Good. Our RTI capabilities used at their best. Now, what about our
Bible-thumping President Harper?”

Kamali looked over at Mustafin, who nodded.
“Mr. Knox, thanks in part to the timely acquisition in Russia on
Thursday, we think we have a foolproof plan to get rid of her.”

Knox cradled his cup in his lap. “How long
will it take?”

“Two, at most three months.”

Knox leaned back and took a sip. “Good. Let
me hear it.”

The next morning David was in his office
early.
There’s so much going on—so much we’ve got to get done. I
need more experienced people, not one less
. He planned to meet
with his key personnel, even if the process ran into Tuesday, to be
sure that every requirement was on track.

At about ten, as he was finishing his
meeting with Cheryl Miller, Kristen stopped by his office door.
“Hi. I’m going to the health club for lunch. Want to join me?”

“Uh…yeah. Sure.” He smiled. “What time?”

“I’ll come by about eleven forty-five.
OK?”

One of their employee perks was a fitness
center and health bar that took up half of the fourth floor. On the
rare days that he had time, Sawyer enjoyed a run to break up the
day. The jogging clothes in his locker allowed for spur of the
moment decisions, like today’s.

After running three miles on a treadmill
next to Kristen, he took a shower and joined her in the health bar,
decorated with light blue walls and nutrition posters, where she
was standing in a short line for a shake. The tables and stools
were crowded, and the place was noisy.

He joined her, his tie in hand, and smiled,
“Thanks. I needed that.”

She turned as the person in front of her
ordered a shake. “Yes. Much better. Glad you could come. But you
men have it so easy.” She ran her fingers through her hair, which
was still damp. “I’ll blow it dry after our shakes.”

“Yep. No question. Listen, tell me what you
want and go grab that spot.” He nodded to an empty table that was
slightly apart from the rest.

“OK. A Caribbean, please. And I’ll get some
water for us.”

A couple of minutes later they were seated
together, Kristen to his right. David took a long drink of ice
water. Putting down the glass, he asked, “Has there been any word
on Bill Porter?”

Kristen shook her head. “Not when I last
checked online.”

“I sure hope he turns up.”

“Me, too.”

They spoke for a few minutes about David’s
trip to Moscow and her projects, and then David leaned forward over
his shake and said, “I hadn’t planned this, but I’d like to talk
with you about something.”

“Yes.” She took a sip through her straw and
looked at him.

“Well, this is not particularly easy. But,
well, you know our daughter Callie of course, and that she’s been
in school in California.”

“Yes, sure.”

“Well, look. You obviously have values and
morals. I mean, never mind about what happened several years ago
with that Congresswoman’s husband. You’re just sort of different
from a lot of people.”

She put her shake down and smiled. “Is that
a compliment?”

“Yes, very much. Anyway, I need help, and
maybe you’re the right person. It—it turns out that Callie has been
living with a guy who I think is a jerk-Alex. He has no job and no
future, and I refused to continue to support her so that they can
live together. He even secretly recorded a session of them in bed
and put it on the internet! When I found out about him, about a
month ago, I told her to choose between him and our family. She
chose him, so I cut off her money. What else could I do? Now
they’ve made an actual adult movie. Callie must have agreed.
Apparently to make money.” He could see the surprised reaction on
her face. “It’s terrible. Our daughter! And, Kristen, this awful
stuff is being hosted by a USNet share site!”

While he spoke he slightly rocked. Kristen
sighed. “I’m so sorry.”

“You’re the only one who knows, besides
Elizabeth, and I haven’t told her about the videos. Callie thinks
no one will know it’s her, but someone who used to work here has
already sent me the links!”

“You talked with her about all of this, from
Alex to money to the movie?”

He nodded and took a deep breath. “Yes, when
I was out there, and since then on the phone.”

“What does she say?”

“That I’ve cut her off and they have to live
somehow. Apparently these movies pay well.”

“Ugh. Bad choices. David, how can I
help?”

“I…I don’t know, Kristen. But I thought
that, well, you’re a woman. And you’ve been through some tough
times. Yet you always seem to be OK. Like you know you’ll get
through it, somehow. Some sort of confidence, even peace.” He
looked up. “I was wondering if you could help Elizabeth and me
figure out what to do. How to get her to stop—all of it. Go back to
being a fine arts student, without Alex or these movies. I’m out of
suggestions. And I
really
need help.”

“Of course, David, I’ll do whatever I can. I
don’t know a lot about pornography, or why someone would do it, but
I’ll try to find out. And then what? Maybe I should call her? Do
you think she would remember me?”

Again he paused. “Kristen, at this point I’m
at my wit’s end. Elizabeth just wants to talk with her, like
everything is OK. That’s fine, I guess, but Callie may soon be
pregnant or dying of AIDS. She’s mad at me, and I alternate between
being mad at her and wanting to kidnap her. So
anything
you
can think of will be most appreciated. Here’s her number. It’s a
cell phone. Usually it takes a while to get her.”

“OK, let me think. And pray. And check with
a few people, and then I’ll see.”

He nodded. “Thank you, Kristen. I don’t know
who else to turn to.”

“I’ll try to help. And what about XXXtra
Cinema? Isn’t it absurd that our own company is doing this to young
women—and men?”

“Yes. I tried once to ask Knox about it, but
he says that there’s too much profit to stop. And ‘no victims.’

Kristen shook her head. “Oh—right. No
victims.”

“Yes, I know. Well, at this point I’m just
focused on one victim: Callie. Maybe I can address the larger issue
when I know that she’s all right.”

“Don’t bet on any change.”

“I know. I know. Well, thank you. I hope you
don’t mind me telling you about all of this.” He took her empty cup
and started to rise.

She pushed back and stood up. “No. I’ll do
all I can. In fact, since I’m going to Singapore again on Thursday,
maybe I can call and stay over in L.A.—going or coming—and see her.
Sort of ‘girl talk’ about all this with her.”

He smiled. “That would be great. I’ll give
you her address. Now I guess we better get back to the salt mines.
Phyllis Jordan called, and Knox wants to see me about something at
three.”

She started to head back to the locker room
but turned. “That reminds me,” Kristen said. “Phyllis called last
week while you were away to ask about any progress on Capital
Tower. She said that Knox and Burke were doing capital budgeting
and wanted to know if we would be buying it.”

He frowned. “I briefed them right before I
left on the Porter situation. Odd that they’d call again. Hey,
maybe if Porter stays missing we
will
buy Capital
Tower.”

“David, don’t be gross. He has a wife and
kids.”

“And how many girlfriends?”

“Come on. He’s missing, and none of us is
perfect.”

“You’re right. I’m sorry. And on perfection,
I guess maybe I’m learning.”

Monday 14:30

To: Blue Nine

From: Street War 2100

Subj: New Unlimited Status

Blue Nine:

Your teammates have missed you the last few
days. And the world has missed your help in resisting the Aggressor
Force.

If you’re unhappy with the game for any
reason, please let us know. If you’ve just been away, or busy, we
want to welcome you back with a special offer. Because you’ve been
such a valued participant, we’re upgrading you to Unlimited status,
meaning that you can play any time, day or night, 24/7, for the
same monthly fee you’ve been paying for only 50 hours.

We hope that your new Unlimited status means
that you’ll be enjoying Street War 2100 even more. Your team
welcomes you back. Log on soon. We need you!

Commander Blue One

That night Todd Phelps was leaving a sports
bar where he and his Fantasy Football friends spent occasional
Monday nights in the off-season watching other sports, in this case
Monday Night Baseball. His car was in a lot on the unlit side of
the building, parked between two vans.

As he stood by the car door, fumbling in his
pocket from the effects of the last three hours, the van door
behind him suddenly opened and four strong hands grabbed him.
Before he could yell, he was on his knees on the cargo floor, and
the door was shut. He struggled, but the two men held him tight,
one hand around his mouth. He looked up and saw a third man sitting
on a chair behind the driver’s seat, facing him, his face dimly
visible from the glow of some electronic equipment set up next to
him.

The seated man said, “Mr. Phelps, please
don’t struggle. We’re not going to hurt you. May I call you Todd?
My name is Taylor Martin.” He smiled.

Todd stopped pushing against the hands.

“Good. Now, we want to give you some news,
and an opportunity. But we have to be able to talk. If you calm
down, we won’t harm you, and you’ll be on your way home in ten
minutes. Do you understand?”

Todd slowly nodded.

“Good. Then Stan is going to take his hand
away from your mouth, and we’ll talk. But if you try to yell or get
free before we’re done, then we
will
hurt you. Feel the
point of that knife in your back? It would be a great shame to cut
you, but we will. Do you understand?”

Todd nodded again. Martin nodded, and Stan
slowly withdrew his hand. But the others stayed in place.

Martin smiled again. “Now, here’s the first
thing we want to talk about.” He turned slightly to his left and
pushed a button on an MP3 player. Immediately Todd’s conversation
with Mr. Blevin on the Isle of Man was playing through small
speakers. Todd’s eyes widened.

When the conversation ended, Martin looked
at him and his smile became a grin. “And we’ve got lots of
conversations between you and your good friend Mike Campbell. We’ll
be glad to play them for you. Plus copies of some bank deposits.
Pretty interesting stuff, wouldn’t you say?”

Todd just looked at him. Finally he asked,
“How?”

“Oh, that doesn’t matter. But I suspect a
lot of folks would be interested in these, huh? Maybe David Sawyer.
Your wife. Even the district attorney. You know, he’s been on a
crusade lately trying to find illegal business practices, wantin’
to get re-elected. He’d have a field day with all of this, wouldn’t
he? I bet he’d ask for at least ten years without parole. Long time
not to see your boys.”

Todd stared ahead, trying to understand what
was happening.

After a pause, Martin said, “Now, I also
said we want to talk with you about an opportunity to think about,
along with what we just told you. There’s a group that gathers
intelligence on companies and on some people, and they need smart,
quick people like you to help. It’s all done with computers.
Probably a little bit of it’s not technically within the confines
of the legal rules and regulations, but no one gets hurt. It just
helps the business make money. In fact, it helps so much that the
folks involved can make an extra half million or more a year by
being a part of the process. From what the leadership has seen of
you, they think you may be good for this work.”