"Let's take a ride," said Mary, who'd been waiting outside J Paul's Bar. "There are too many ears around here. How was your day?" she asks with a hint of a grin.

"Fine" he replied "how was your shopping trip?"

"Sally told you then" said Mary, sensing a tension in his voice. "Look Kevin, I'm a modern girl and I have needs but Sally's crazy about you and she made that quite clear. I'd like to think that we can all be friends?"

What could he say? Mary had as much charm as she had cheek.

"So," she continued, "now that we're friends, how about telling me what you're really after."

"Where are we heading?" replied Kevin as the mustang crossed the river.

"Reston Virginia. Don't panic, I'll have you back before midnight. Now, you were just about to tell me what this is all about."

"I'll do you a deal ." said Kevin, "You tell me why you're obsessed with Adams and then I'll tell you what I have in mind."

"Adams is a grade one *******" replied Mary. "About two years ago I started to do a piece on his rise to prominence. His background is in merchant banking. I had an idea that the rapid rise to his present position was through sweet dealing with the top shelf. That may or may not be true but either way it wasn't much of a story and consiquently never got past first base. But while I was digging I met a young Brazilian called Roberto who told me a story that concerned his family back in Brazil. They had taken a man that they knew as Johnson to a remote valley near Manaus where he collected several rare orchids. He told them that part of the deal was, they had to poison the remaining orchids. One year later another collector in Miami boasted the same orchid. Johnson was furious at the betrayal that he had five members of the family shot in their home. Roberto said that a cousin in Manaus recognised a photograph of Adams in an American newspaper and swore he was the man they knew as Johnson. His cousin took his story to the police who told him that according to emigration, Adams had never set foot in Brazil. Roberto's cousin went missing soon after and hasn't been heard from since. I know its him." said Mary passionately. "Orchids are his poison. They say an alcoholic can go to AA but there's no hope when the orchid gets you."

"I presume Adams likes orchids" said Kevin, as they pulled into a MacDonald's car park.

"He has over half an acre of them in a glass house on his property" replied Mary, "and he doesn't show them off because that's not in his style. You fancy a burger Kevin?"

"No thanks."

"Me neither. I brought you here to give you a glimpse of Adams. I've been following him for months and he's the most boring son of a *****. He pulls in here every Tuesday and Friday without fail. According to my watch he'll be here in five minutes."

"What about his sex life?"

"There's the good wife Eleanor at their property near Reston, but his serious sex life is in Baltimore; a young ambitious staffer called Hillary... That's him now in the silver Maybach, and the black Taurus behind him is the security."

" ****..!" said Kevin, "the Merc must be worth half a million, and he's going to let a Big Mac stink it out."

"Only on Tuesday's and Friday's, on Thursday's it smells exclusively of Hillary. He's smart. I've tried but can't get a shot through that dammed tinted glass. What really gets to me is that there wouldn't be an executive decision made that he didn't approve of. He has the ear of all the key players and plays them like a well tuned fiddle. OK enough from me, what's your interest in Adams?" There was a long silence while Kevin gathered his thoughts.

"My agenda," he said, "has nothing to do with IBM. I'm part of a network that's committed to changing your government's policy on land mines. We believe that Adams is the one man who can arrange the numbers necessary and ‘we' have the means to influence him."

Mary shook her head. "As noble as your intentions are Kevin, I don't believe you have a snowball in hell chance of ever getting close to him. We're talking the under secretary of state here, you just can't walk up to this guy in the street".

"We' don't intend to walk up to him. And with all due respect Mary, if the battering ram doesn't work maybe its time to look under the mat for the key." Mary's head was working overtime and Kevin wasn't giving out details without commitment. "Think about this Mary. If our intentions are the same, and you trust me, what do you have to lose by helping me?"

"If you can get at him," she asked, "then why do you need me?"

"Because" said Kevin, "you have valuable knowledge on what makes him tick."

Mary looked hard into Kevin's eyes" So what do I have to do to join the club?" she asked with a smile.

Next Chapter >

Keyword: Eleanor

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Comments (4)

Posted by JJtyler 2008-07-20 22:08:14 Enjoyed this chapter I thought the flow was real nice, and it moved along quickly. I'll be looking forward to reading more when I get a chance. Good luck and keep writing. One thing: top couple of paragraphs: What do you say, instead of 'what do say'. Unless that is a different syntax that I don't know. + Report this comment
Posted by Something Indecent 2008-07-22 15:22:43 .... Wow that was a lot different than the first chapter! I do like where this is going though. It makes me wonder what they're going to do to Adams. Hopefully something bad. Looking forward to the next chapter. + Report this comment
Posted by philneale1952 2008-07-23 11:34:52 .... Picks up pace quite fast in this installment, and you take great care with your scene setting. That's always the hallmark of a good story. Phil + Report this comment
Posted by r.e.potter 2008-08-02 06:01:13 .... hmmm, seems our friend is quite the playa. Still curious if Eleanor is a victim of abuse or a child molestor from your first chapter. Well written at easy to read and follow. + Report this comment

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