K Street, Chapter 6

Jeff finds himself in Washington DC on business trying to close a big deal for his company where he meets up with Nancy again, the FBI agent he had fallen in love with in Atlanta nearly two years ago. Jeff is separated from his wife because of Nancy’s letter. Jeff continues to attract women without trying, some of them with deadly intentions. Jeff and Nancy soon find themselves in the center of intrigue with Israelis and Iranians feeling threatened by the impending deal, determined to kill the deal at any cost―even at the cost of Jeff’s life! The surprising twists will make the reader gasp, the love scenes will make the reader sigh.

Chapter 6 of K Street... Jeff's off to a strip club!

Friday, 8:09 PM: Takoma Park

Jeff goes to a party at Nancy and Shawn's place in Takoma Park. Jeff learns about Shawn's company and their role in this arms deal. Then Jeff gets talked into going along with the Arabs to a strip club!

 

 

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Thanks for taking time, and enjoy!
- Chris Lamela

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Author contact: Chris Lamela, chris@chrislamela.com, 707-566-8790 PST

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               K Street, Chapter 6

Friday, 8:09 PM: Takoma Park

     Jeff glanced at the clock on the mantle surprised to see it was already seven thirty. Nancy stood, stretched reaching her arm to him. He stood, turned to her.

     “You will see me tonight with Shawn, will you be okay with that?”

     He paused looking into her wonderful golden eyes nodding slowly.

     “I know what I said today on the phone, and goddam it Jeff, I mean it. But I really want to give this a chance with him, I need…well I need…I need you to be okay with it.”

     “Babe, there’s almost nothing I can do right now about anything. Technically I am still married, but I don’t even really know how married I am,” thinking about his wife’s words today. His thoughtful look made Nancy want to pull him into her right at that very moment, but she waited. “I mean, I don’t have much choice, do I?”

     She leaned forward kissing him gently on the lips. “Thank you.”

     A minute later they were in the blue Mustang driving amid the old brownstones of Georgetown heading toward Connecticut Avenue.

     “So let me ask you,” Jeff turned to Nancy, she glanced at him with her hands on the wheel, “you knew I was in town, that I was staying at the Hilton. You came to find me last night, didn’t you?”

     “We knew you always stay at that Hilton when you are in town, we knew you came in yesterday, so yeah, I knew where to find you.”

     “How did you know that I went to that singles mixer?”

     She laughed, “You didn’t notice me, but I was standing in the lobby when you came in. I was just getting ready to come up when you came out of the elevator going to the singles thing. I followed you, saw you talking to that pretty lady.”

     Shaking his head grinning, “Don’t worry, there was nothing special about her. We definitely did not connect. I don’t even think about her, really.” He turned to her, “And you knew that I was going to be in the meeting this morning, right?”

     “Look, I was really surprised when your name came up in all this. Man, was I surprised.” She drove quietly in thought, Jeff watching her. “I can’t tell you the mix of emotions when I saw your name. I thought it might be some kind of mistake, or maybe somebody else with the same name, but then I remembered the background work we did on you in Atlanta and I knew it was you.”

     He patted her on the right knee smiling, “Well, I don’t know what’s going to happen here, but I’ve got to tell you that not a day has gone by when I haven’t thought about you since Atlanta.” He glanced out the windows at the emerging city lights around them, turning back to her. “I guess like you said, though, you want me to work with you even though I am not sure how exactly. I guess like last time we will manage to do this somehow.”

     She smiled keeping her eyes on the road.

     They drove a little farther when Jeff’s concerned brow caught her attention, “Is everything alright?”

     “So Shawn. I’m a little confused about his role in this whole ODS thing. If they are such bad guys, isn’t he one of them?”

     “Best I know he doesn’t work for the organization. He is a consultant of sorts. His role is very passive, harmless really, best I can tell. He has a very extensive network of contacts in the U.S. and internationally. I believe he is paid to bring those contacts into the relationship then he bows out. He has no involvement with the deals.”

     “He seemed to take quite a leadership role in that meeting today, but there was something about payments. That doesn’t sound very passive.”

     “Yeah, I was a little surprised by that, but not sure what that all meant. It could just be his trying to facilitate the relationship.”

     Jeff listened to this having doubts about her explanation based on what he observed in the meeting, deciding to make a point to keep his eyes and ears open wide for the next few days. His whole purpose of being here for the next week was to bring home the payment for the equipment Versatec was selling. Six million dollars! The manufacturing process was well underway, he was concerned about some big-ticket cost commitments coming up in the next sixty days, so he was anxious to make sure this all went smoothly. Bringing home a six-million dollar check would definitely make this trip worth it. It was one thing to have the purchase order, it’s something else to make sure they are getting paid. He decided right then to leave all his questions about Shawn alone for now so he could focus on the business at hand.

     “The point is that you love him―sort of anyway…”

     “Yes, Jeff, I love him. Maybe not in the magical way that I feel about you, but I love him. I trust him. I think. I will make sure that I keep my eye on the ball here and not let my fawning over picket fences get in the way of figuring this thing all out, okay?”

     “Look, I’m not trying to cast any disparaging anythings at him, okay? I just want to know the truth about what’s going on, not feel like I’m being kept in the dark like I felt in Atlanta. That’s not too much to ask is it?”

     “No. I promise that I will be as open as I can.” She glanced at him seeing an uncertain face. “Look, we’re here!”

     They pulled up in front of a good-sized house, two stories finished in a white clapboard exterior. The home was older, Jeff guess it had been built before the big housing boom of the early fifties, maybe late forties. The front lawn was small, nicely trimmed with bushes along the neighbor’s side away from the driveway, trimmed with colorful flowers.

     “Nice,” Jeff commented, “though certainly not your Georgetown house.”

     “Nobody knows about Georgetown, so please be careful.” He nodded. “This was built in the early forties during the war so some of it is a bit sparse in design. But it’s a solid house. We’re just renting it now, but we have a purchase option in two years.”

     “How big?”

     “Three bedrooms, two-and-a-half bath, a little under two thousand square feet. The interior is really dated, you’ll see. We have all sorts of ideas what to do with it when we buy it. Yes,” she gave a coy smile, “I told you that I hope this one is for keeps!”

     Jeff was absolutely thoroughly confused, but just didn’t have the energy to comment.

     He followed her in. They could hear lots of voices, soft piano music, they approached the front door. She opened the door, Jeff tagging behind.

     Nancy walked in, instantly surrounded by men shaking her hand. She turned pointing to Jeff making introductions all around, he recognized Amid and Hazim who were both dressed as they were earlier, two others from the meeting that morning. He wished he’d paid more attention to their names. She gently pushed through them pulling on Jeff’s sleeve, up to a small portable bar set up in the living room.

     She ordered two Sam Adams which were served in glasses, they gave a little clink of glasses. He took a sip looking around the living room which had to be maybe thirty feet on a side, large for the size of the house. He could only guess that there was no family room, that the kitchen must be small to accommodate such a large room here. There was a baby grand piano in the other corner with a woman playing Summer Time singing softly. Her singing was nearly drowned out by the hum of voices in the room that echoed from the fourteen-foot ceiling, but Jeff could hear her voice that was almost too sweet for the song which he remembered coming from Janis Joplin with her raspy throat when he was a teenager.

     Shawn stepped up to Jeff giving him a warm handshake, asked if he’d had a chance at the hors d'oeuvres, signaling him to step over to a long serving table next to the bar. Jeff picked up a small plate selecting three different pieces, Shawn motioned to follow him into the next room.

     Jeff soon stood next to Shawn in the formal dining room that was a little quieter. “So how is your trip going so far? Did Nancy get you okay at your hotel?”

     “It’s been pretty easy so far, just learning more about your organization.”

     “I don’t work for the ODS, I thought you knew that.” Jeff shook his head, he held one of the small pieces of food to his mouth. “I am a consultant to the company.”

     “What do you consult?” Jeff’s mouth half-full of food.

     “I have been in the arms business all my life, since I left the Air Force twenty years ago. I worked for a couple companies like Versatec, one bigger, one smaller, soon I found that the relationships I was making was capital that I could use to grow my own business.”

     “You are just one guy in your company?”

     “No, there are eight of us, incorporated, a Delaware LLC.”

     Jeff laughed, “Delaware, why not DC?”

     “The cover in Delaware is superior to any other state, that’s why all the financial services companies and a whole bunch of others that don’t want people knowing too much about their business incorporate there.” Jeff chewed, nodding thoughtfully. “So we are kind of, how do we say it, the makers of relationships, facilitators really. Like this deal with Versatec. We will get ten percent.”

     “Not from Versatec,” Jeff frowned.

     Shawn laughed, “No from the buyers. We are the middleman in the transaction, it comes off the top before you ever see your money.”

     “So the comment you made about form of payment today?”

     “It’s pretty straightforward. There will be three payments for this transaction. The first will be to Versatec, I think for six million dollars, that right?” Jeff nodded. “The second will be to my company.”

     “That’s Armatec, right?”

     “Yes, our payment is for ten percent of the total transaction value which will make it eight hundred thousand.”

     “Ten percent of six million is not eight hundred thousand unless my math is broken.”

     Shawn gave a chuckle, “No, the third payment is for two million to ODS.”

     “So the transaction value is the payment to my company for the hardware plus the two million to ODS. Then eight hundred thousand to…” Jeff paused trying to remember the name of Shawn’s company.

     “Armatec, yes.”

     “ODS’ role in this is setting up all the export licenses? That’s a pretty steep price for something that’s kind of clerical, don’t you think?”

     “Trust me, it is hardly just clerical. There is a lot of maneuvering that goes on in these deals, a lot of needing to know the right people. ODS achieved getting the export licenses. It was all finished just this afternoon.” Shawn took a sip of his drink. “Then we turn around and do the same for the General Avatonics aircraft. That should be done by the end of next week.”

     “Wow, so this whole deal must be pretty lucrative.”

     “Yeah, hard work pulling it all together, but yeah, lots of money for everybody,” he smiled satisfied taking another drink from his glass.

     “And you are guaranteeing that this sale to Saudi Arabia is completely legal? I mean I’m not going to have men in trench coats wearing badges knocking at my door am I?”

     “No, that’s the beauty of how ODS is organized. You are guaranteed this is legal because its advisory board members are the people who do the approving!”

     Just then Nancy appeared at the door, “Shawn, you’re ignoring your guests. They have a request for entertainment tonight.”

     “Of course,” turning to Jeff, “excuse me, but we must attend to the customers, right?” Shawn walked back into the living room with all the company. Jeff looked through the door seeing even more people had arrived.

     “So are you two getting along?” Nancy asked offering Jeff a refreshed glass of beer, taking his old glass setting it on the table behind him.

     “Yeah, I guess. I learned a little more about the three-layer cake in this deal. Shawn’s company is getting quite a hefty fee for arranging all this.”

     “I know all the details.” She leaned forward lowering her voice, “We’ll talk about all this on Sunday.” She smiled, he could see into her gorgeous golden eyes with the little black flecks. “And thank you for taking time to get to know him. He’s a really nice guy, smart, too.”

     Jeff couldn’t help but feel like something wasn’t right, but didn’t have enough information to judge just then. Besides, all he wanted was his check so he could get the hell back to Seattle. He heard his name being called from the other room, they turned to walk together back into the party.

     “Jeff, come over here!” Shawn was waving at him. He stood next to Amid, Hazim and three other men. Jeff walked up to the group. Shawn introduced him around to the three men. “These guys want to go out tonight, they’d like you to come along.” Nancy walked up to the group just in time to hear this.

     “Where do they want to go?”

     Shawn spoke to the two Arab men in Arabic, Jeff was surprised to hear what sounded like fluency coming from Shawn. They conversed back and forth, he turned to the rest of the group. “They want to go to a club called Archie’s”

     “That’s a strip club on K Street,” Jeff frowned.

     Shawn spoke to the men again, they nodded. “Yes, that’s right. Seems we have, what do they call those Mormon’s who drink and smoke?”

     “Jack Mormons,” one of the other three men spoke up.

     “Yes, Jack Mormons,” Shawn repeated, “Well, we have Jack Muslims. Seems they never get to drink and party at home so when they are in the U.S. they want to take a break from certain, shall we say, somewhat restrictive tenants of home.”

     “And you want me to go along?”

     Shawn spoke to the men again in Arabic, they nodded smiling at Jeff.

     Jeff put up his hands, “No, no, no, I don’t do strip clubs. I had a bad experience once in one. I am vowed never to go again.”

     Shawn leaned forward to Jeff whispering, “Ah, come on, this is the schmoozing part of the business. We are their hosts, it is expected.” Shawn’s voice was consoling with an underlying tone of demanding, “It would be a dishonor to them to ignore this wish.”

     “I don’t know if I really―”

     Nancy pulled Jeff by the arm looking at the others, “Excuse us for a second,” pulling him back into the dining room.

     She turned to face him in a lowered voice, “Look I know you didn’t exactly have the best time of your life at Magic Town, and I am sure you are vowed never to step foot into another strip joint for the rest of your life―”

     “You got that right, never!”

     “But this whole thing is a lot more complicated than you know. We need these guys’ trust, getting them to feel comfortable by us willing to go out and play with them.”

     “So are you coming to Archie’s too?”

     She laughed, “Yeah, that would be quite a scene huh?”

     “Maybe you could dance again,” he said smiling remembering her performance at Magic Town coming out in her blonde wig when she pulled off her bikini bottom having all the men yell, “She’s not a blonde!”

     “I would do that if that’s what it takes,” she tried to keep a tight face, but couldn’t, her expression burst into a smile, “who knows, maybe I should get there before you guys to see if they’ll let me take a swing on the pole!” They both laughed, “But this is harmless, go have a couple drinks, stuff a few dollars into a bikini, let these guys enjoy themselves. Come on, what do you say?”

     Standing with a reluctant mope he realized that too much was stacked against him. “Okay,” leaning toward her speaking softly, “only if I get to see those non-blonde pubes again.”

     She pushed at him playfully, “Remember, I’m trying to do right with Shawn.” He stuck his lip out in an exaggerated pout. “Okay, private show for you only in your hotel room, one night together, but that’s it!”

     “When?”

     “God, I can’t believe I’m doing this! Sunday night, maybe, but we really should wait until Tuesday night after the deal is all done. Maybe Sunday night, okay?”

     “Not tomorrow night?”

     “Damn I wish,” she sighed, “but no. There is another event that he’s dragging me to. Let’s just stick with Sunday night, okay?”

     “God I wish I could kiss you right now.”

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K STREET!

http://chrislamela.blogspot.com/2012/08/k-street-chapter-7.html

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K Street, Chapter 5

Jeff finds himself in Washington DC on business trying to close a big deal for his company where he meets up with Nancy again, the FBI agent he had fallen in love with in Atlanta nearly two years ago. Jeff is separated from his wife because of Nancy’s letter. Jeff continues to attract women without trying, some of them with deadly intentions. Jeff and Nancy soon find themselves in the center of intrigue with Israelis and Iranians feeling threatened by the impending deal, determined to kill the deal at any cost―even at the cost of Jeff’s life! The surprising twists will make the reader gasp, the love scenes will make the reader sigh.

Chapter 5 of K Street... Nancy takes Jeff to her house in Georgetown!

Friday, 4:54 PM: Georgetown

Nancy called Jeff saying she loves him! She offers to take him to the party tonight, then tells him there's no special sparkle with Shawn. Then she takes him to her house in Georgetown!

If you enjoy this, please take time to LIKE this on Facebook!

Thanks for taking time, and enjoy!
- Chris Lamela

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Author contact: Chris Lamela, chris@chrislamela.com, 707-566-8790 PST

---------------------------------------------------------------------

               K Street, Chapter 5

Friday, 4:54 PM: Georgetown

     It was Nancy saying I love you! Jeff had to do a double-take to figure out what he had just heard.

     “You love me?”

     “Yes, I love you, I love you!” She gasped, “Mister Jeff, I love you! It was all I could do not to tear your clothes off you in that singles thing at your hotel last night and do you right there on the floor in front of everyone there to show them how it’s done! If I had done that maybe I would be laying with you right now!”

     “Whoa, whoa, what brought all this on?” He could hear her catching her breath. “Nancy, I already knew this. Last night, at the door, remember?” She listened. “I knew that wasn’t the end. I don’t know how, I just knew.”

     “Good. Me too.”

     “So now that makes two of us, are we back in sync?”

     “Yes we are. Here’s some news. I told Shawn that I would offer to pick you up to drive you to the party tonight, a kind of courtesy, he said that was a good idea. That will give us a chance to talk so I can fill you in on what’s going on. You game?”

     “Yeah, that would be nice. That would be very nice.”

     “Great, I will pick you up in twenty minutes.”

     “Twenty minutes?” he looked at the clock, it was almost four thirty. “Isn’t this party at eight?”

     “Yes, three hours just might give me enough time to fill you in. So be ready there, mister, I will be there in twenty minutes.”

     Jeff flopped back onto the bed feeling exhausted by the train of phone calls, the explosion of I Love You echoing across the wires. He looked up seeing the image of the kissing faces again. He smiled noticing a third image of a face next to the kissing faces that appeared to be looking at the other two. His eyes squinched looking at the three images, the pair of faces lip-to-lip, the third a few inches away on the ceiling looking at the other two with an expression of mild concern, with the eyes like in a cartoon, slanted lines above them. He was afraid to blink his eyes for fear that the images would disappear as they had before. But they persisted, as though he was staring at some cryptic photograph or painting, like the ones you see in museums where you are supposed to stand back with fingers to chin extracting some deep meaning the photographer or artist tried to instill into their work.

     There were the rapid four knocks that Jeff heard so many times in Atlanta. He stood up stepping to the door holding his breath opening the door.

     “Can I come in?” Nancy asked timidly at the door looking around Jeff into the room.

     “I don’t know, there aren’t any naked little sluts in here for you to terrorize like you did in Atlanta,” he laughed, she walked through the opened door.

     She laughed, “Too bad, I really did enjoy that scene,” she reached out pulling him to her, their lips met in a long passionate kiss.

     He pushed her away gently, “Look we’re both just a little confused right now. I think maybe we should take it slow.” She poked out her bottom lip in a soft pout looking down, he bent his neck to look up into her eyes, he continued, “It’s been a really confusing day for me. It started out confusing and trust me, this afternoon hasn’t gotten any better.” She gave him a curious look, he ignored it, pulling her to sit on the bed, closing the door.

     He kneeled before her down holding her hands, “Are you in love with him?” She gave him a hesitant look, but he insisted, “I need to know, this is important to me.”

     There was a long pause. She said reflectively, “Do you remember your words in Atlanta. What was it, the zest? No it was…oh, yeah, that special sparkle. No special sparkle here. Honestly, I’m not sure at all. I told you then that I am not so sure what love even means.”

     He thought about the various conversations they had in Atlanta, especially that Monday morning before the big shoot-out in the bar and the frightening encounter with Perkins in that warehouse, with his little slut.

     “No special sparkle, not even sure,” he repeated her words.

     “Yeah, not really sure, and definitely no special sparkle.”

     Jeff felt hope rushing through his veins like hot oil had been poured into his heart. He was afraid to look down at his arms for fear he would see his arms bulging with red-hot lines, the heat coursing through his body.

     “I don’t know, this is all so complicated,” he said softly thinking if he should tell about his wife’s call today, but he was certain that would make it even more complicated. Sitting next to her on the bed he knew that either of them could toss the other back and that there would be no way they would be in any condition for a party at eight up in Takoma Park. He decided that one of them needed to be brave so he stood up turning to Nancy, “We should go, it sounds like you have a lot to tell me.”

     She stood up, they embraced again in a deep kiss, stood hugging each other until she finally pulled back. He could see tears streaming down her cheeks. He had not heard her crying, was surprised, mascara running down her cheeks. He had never even seen her wear mascara.

     “I thought I was done crying over you,” she sniffed wiping her nose on the back of her hand, “but I guess I still have a few tears left.”

     He reached around behind him, grabbed a box of tissues, she took two wiping her face and nose, “Thank you, I’m such a baby.”

     “Yes, but right now you’re my baby.”

     “That’s not helping me here,” she gave him a playful frown. She took the tissues stepping up to the bedroom mirror carefully wiping her eyes and cheeks.

     “Come on,” she said, “make sure to wear a nice coat, these people are pretty snotty.”

     He reached into the closet pulling out his favorite sport coat, the same brown and tan tweed coat that was identical to the congressman’s cologne-stinky coat in Atlanta.

     In a few minutes they were in Shonna’s car heading to Georgetown, a few minutes later they were driving into the garage opening at the street in front of a very big old brownstone house. She pulled in, the garage door closing behind them.

     “Come on, I want you to see the great house that Shonna gave to me.” He smiled remembering the story Nancy had told him about the old woman, Shonna, who Nancy took a room with and ended up inheriting this huge house. Nancy got out waiting for him at the front of the car, leading him by his left elbow upstairs, soon standing inside her house.

     Jeff was immediately drawn back into some past era with the ornate decorating and antiques in the large living room. “How big is the house?”

     “Seven bedrooms, this room, formal dining room, library, what they called a rumpus room which is like a family room, four bathrooms. It’s about forty-two hundred square feet.”

     “Wow,” he said, he sidled around the room. “This decorating…”

     “The entire house is exactly as she left it except for the master bedroom which kind of creeped me out, so I had it completely redone in modern.” She signaled to him, “Come on, let’s do a quick tour, then we have work to do.”

     Jeff frowned at the word work remembering what that word meant in Atlanta: danger.

     He followed behind her, she walked around the house pointing out various architectural nuances saying the house was originally built in the eighteen-nineties, was one of the first houses in all of Washington DC to have the modern invention of indoor plumbing. The house had the musty smell of an old grandmother’s house, though he never had a grandmother with a house as old or as nice as this. There was lots of period wallpaper, ornate antique lamps, she pointed to a couple of old gas lamps hanging on the walls saying they still worked.

     They went up the long arched staircase with its massive dark-finish oak banister, finally coming to the master bedroom. It was like walking into a modern house with its very stylish designs, all new bathroom that was small but efficiently laid out, tastefully decorated, very feminine.

     She saw Jeff staring at the large California King bed lost in thought.

     “I think we should go back downstairs,” she smiled pulling at his elbow, “time for a beer, I think.” He shook his head out of deep thought, turning to follow her.

     “So Shawn has never been here?”

     “He doesn’t even know this exists.”

     “So he has never slept in your bed?”

     “Oooh, listen to you! Jealous?” He shrugged. “Nobody has ever slept in that bed with me.” She smiled, him feeling a hint that maybe he might be the first.

     When they got to the kitchen she went to the refrigerator pulling out two Sam Adams, “It’s not Budweiser, but it’s beer.”

     “I don’t even like Budweiser, but that’s all they seemed to serve in Atlanta.”

     She popped the tops, putting the opener back into the drawer. “Well if you like different kinds of beers, DC is the place. It’s not Portland or anything like that with a microbrewery on every corner, but there’s some really good local ales if you like those.”

     He nodded taking a long draft from the bottle. “So can I ask you a question?”

     “Sure,” she replied taking a drink from her long-neck bottle.

     “In Atlanta, you used to always say ‘Yep’ to everything. I haven’t heard you say it once since I’ve been here.”

     She laughed taking another sip of her beer, “Yeah, that was kind of my trademark, wasn’t it?”

     He watched her inquisitively waiting for her answer.

     “Hearing ‘Yep’ come from Perkins when we were in that warehouse in Atlanta, having my ‘Yep’ thrown at me while he was holding a gun on us, I thought about it a lot after that.”

     “That was the last word you said to me when I saw you last in Seattle when you flew me back.”

     “Yeah, well that may be, come to think of it that may be the last time I ever said that word, my flippy little ‘Yep’, but Perkins definitely took the ‘Yep’ right out of me!”

     “Hey listen, Perkins almost took the heartbeat right out of me, so that makes perfect sense!” they clinked their bottles together with a laugh.

     “So what’s going on?”

     “Wait,” she turned back to the refrigerator grabbing two more Sam Adams and the opener back out of the drawer. “Come on, let’s go sit down.”

     They walked into the living room again. Jeff noticed the towering windows looking out into the street where he could see a car driving by, a couple walking by across the street. He looked around nervously trying to figure out how to set his beer bottle down when she reached into a drawer, frisbeed a coaster to him which he caught one-handed setting it down with his two bottles on it.

     “Good job!” she laughed, taking a long thoughtful sip. “You probably already have figured out some things.”

     “I think I left my Sherlock hat and pipe back in Atlanta. Honestly, I have put almost no brain power into this at all, so give me the full dump.”

     Nancy smiled coyly, saying softly, “First I just want to say that I am so happy to be working with you again. I know that I was pretty off the wall on the phone, you know me well enough to know that I am pretty confused about us―you and me―but I trust you. I think I trust me enough to know how to stay focused on the job at hand.”

    Jeff remembered all the craziness in Atlanta surrounded by people pointing guns, the constant racket of triggers being pulled back, guns pointed at him, at her, yet through that all they had managed to fall in love, enjoying that wonderful night in Norcross together.

     He sat back in his chair expectantly.

     “So let’s just get started with what we know, then we can try to figure out where to go from there.” She took a sip setting her bottle down. “I met Shawn about a year ago when I was assigned to investigate this Organization of Defense Strategy. It seems there have been some whispers about illegal arms shipments. That’s all I knew. We came across an arms shipment from Mission Technologies, paid them a little visit. They showed us export permits. Everything seemed on the up-and-up best we could tell. But it didn’t add up because they were lethal weapons that were banned for shipment to the country we found them in.”

     “What country?”

     “We captured them in Iraq during Desert Storm when we did some covert forays into the south and north of the country. Seems these missile launchers had been positioned for defense, but they couldn’t get the missiles, at least that we could find.” She took a long drink from her beer, set down the empty, he did the same. She popped open the next, tossing him the opener which he missed with one hand, bobbling it around managing to keep it from dropping.

     “Good job again!” They laughed. “So anyway, we put the squeeze on them figuring out that we had a loose thread. Got them to vouch for my bio which you heard.”

     He laughed, “Yes, that was quite impressive work to get nearly twenty years of experience, with what, six patents in eighteen months? Yes, very impressive!”

     She laughed, “Yeah, well, it got me the credentials to sit at that table today and a whole bunch of other tables.”

     “So what has this to do with me?”

     “Your company makes advanced components for unmanned aircraft, for UAV’s, unmanned aerial vehicles, the new drones. You make everything but the plane itself, right?” He nodded. “You make the guidance, avionics, all the video equipment, controls, antennas, and while you customize it for the two planes made by General Avatonics, it could be used on other planes.”

     “But we only ever ship our equipment to General Avatonics.”

     “Yes, but you ship spare parts and even whole systems as spares, right?”

     “Yeah,” he answered thoughtfully, “but it would take a lot of engineering to adapt our equipment to another UAV aircraft.”

     “Okay, let’s set that aside for now. The point is that we have found American military gear in places it doesn’t belong, including your company’s gear.” Jeff listened with a sudden concerned frown. “We traced that equipment back through a tortuous process of trying to find out how those missile launchers landed in Iraq, how your company’s gear ended up in Syria and we eventually uncovered―”

     “Wait don’t tell me, Organization for Defense Strategies. ODS. So you think that this so-called good organization with congressman and senators on its advisory board is actually doing arms dealing?”

     “There’s more to it. Those congressman and senators are not from some back-woods district sitting on schools committees in the House or in the Senate, these are the chairmen of the armed services committees, defense appropriations, defense oversight, just about every committee to do with anything related to defense. These guys are the ones who approve budgets, amend laws to permit sales of military gear, sit in secret sessions that permit all sorts of behind-the-scenes deals under the cover of the National Security Act.”

     “So they can bend the rules.”

     “More than that, they make the rules and then they bend them. They bend those rules so much that some of those rules look like a twisted-up piece of licorice. Plus there is no public record of any of it. None. All done in secret.”

     “Hey, look, I just found my Sherlock hat after all!” Jeff playfully reached into his pocket pretending to pull out an invisible hat that he pretended to put on, carefully adjusting it, “and my Meerschaum pipe, too!” his right hand holding a make-believe pipe. “So let me guess, the purchases by let’s say, two respectable-looking Arab gentlemen who are actually fronts for a friendly or not-so-friendly government who make their purchases directly from our buddies at ODS who lobby their advisory members who then do a little rule bending so ODS can arrange the export permits, shipping, and of course payment. And because the congressmen and senators are advisory board members they are paid for their services which are actually nothing more than bribes to turn the other eye while all the dirty business is done by ODS.”

     She gave a big smile, “Looks like my Sherlock is back!”

     “So is that the long-and-short of it? That doesn’t seem that hard to crack, why don’t you guys just go in and bust open the whole thing?”

     “When you have eighteen members of your congress involved in something like this you don’t just waltz in, start throwing names around. Careers will be ruined, this would have a really nasty impact on the administration. The President has been mostly briefed on this, he has specifically banned any such action. Our good mister Clinton says hands off without his explicit approval.”

     As she spoke he heard her little lisp again that he noticed in that stinky little coffee shop in Atlanta. Not a lisp really, just the slightest touch of her tongue to her teeth as she spoke. It gave her voice a unique character, made her voice sound just a little more charming. Of course, he knew, there is very little she could possibly do to charm him more than he is.

     “So what are you going to do?” he asked.

     “We are going to a nice little party tonight, Sunday you are invited to a team meeting. There you’ll find out more then we can figure out how you fit into all this.”

     “Oh, no, no, no. I don’t want to go through this again. You guys are going to expect some miracle like I did in Atlanta, I just don’t have the energy for it.”

     “Jeff, we had no expectations in Atlanta, it just happened that you were there and you were so in the groove.”

     “But I was completely wrong! I didn’t get the shooter right, nothing!”

     “You are the one who came up with your Sherlock plan to get the bad guys all in that bar together. Okay, maybe we didn’t mean for them all to murder each other. But you were also the one who saved our lives when you came up with your dog that didn’t bark in the night! It’s because of you that we figured out that the shooter wasn’t a pro, that he was reluctant. Knowing that is what saved our lives in that warehouse. You know it!”

     Jeff took a long thoughtful drink setting his bottle down with just an inch of beer left on the bottom. “I just don’t know. You know I’ll do it for you, but I won’t like it.”

     “You’ll come tonight then, keep your intuitive eyes and ears open, then you’ll come to the team meeting Sunday afternoon. So are you in?”

     He picked up his bottle finishing the last small swallow plunking it down with a determined smile.

     “Okay, yes. I’m in.”

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K STREET!

http://chrislamela.blogspot.com/2012/08/k-street-chapter-6.html

 

 

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K Street, Chapter 4

Jeff finds himself in Washington DC on business trying to close a big deal for his company where he meets up with Nancy again, the FBI agent he had fallen in love with in Atlanta nearly two years ago. Jeff is separated from his wife because of Nancy’s letter. Jeff continues to attract women without trying, some of them with deadly intentions. Jeff and Nancy soon find themselves in the center of intrigue with Israelis and Iranians feeling threatened by the impending deal, determined to kill the deal at any cost―even at the cost of Jeff’s life! The surprising twists will make the reader gasp, the love scenes will make the reader sigh.

Chapter 4 of K Street... Jeff says I love you to two different women!

Friday, 1:52 PM: Kissing Faces
 

Jeff flops down for a nap when Nancy calls saying they need to talk, then his wife calls angry at his being where he can have sex with "his little Georgetown slut." But then with ringing phones and confusion he finds himself saying I love you to two different women!

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Thanks for taking time, and enjoy!
- Chris Lamela

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Author contact: Chris Lamela, chris@chrislamela.com, 707-566-8790 PST

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               K Street, Chapter 4

Friday, 1:52 PM: Kissing Faces

     Those words―at Nancy’s and my place of course―were a baseball bat to Jeff’s forehead pounding his brain against the back of his skull!

     Jeff glanced at Nancy’s tightened brow instantly seeing that she had wanted to tell him all this last night, to prepare him for today―in an second a thousand questions streamed through his mind like someone pulling a string that ran into one ear out the other with tiny little words printed like one of those charm bracelets filled with letters, his brain getting only a microsecond for each word, each word on the heels of the last, each word overlapping so that no word made sense with only the impression of some disastrous message being scrolled through his consciousness―the string spooling through his brain.

     He could hear his voice making words but could not feel his lips moving, “Yes that would be nice. You have my contact info, why don’t you email me directions. I’ll be there.” Without looking at Nancy again he turned going through the door.

     Fifteen minutes later Jeff lay on his back on the bed in the Hilton.

     He was utterly dumbstruck.

     He closed his eyes.

     Images spun through his head as he lay. The drapes were open. He could hear the traffic noise of Connecticut Avenue seven stories below, it had an oddly comforting feeling, a kind of white noise but with a more soothing tenor. He slowly drifted off.

     The phone rang in a soft warble. He didn’t move to pick it up. After four rings it stopped. He glanced at the clock, it wasn’t even two o’clock.

     He closed his eyes again falling away back into a restless nap, sleeping but not, aware of his surroundings as he was being sucked away, his hearing was all that remained of him in the room, his body drawn away to some gray distance.

     The phone rang again. Again he didn’t move.

     His eyes looked at the ceiling, a pattern emerged of two kissing faces in the texturing. He had often seen all sorts of shapes in wall texturing, dogs, little people, a cat’s face, a face from Mount Rushmore, knew that they often only appeared at a certain time when the light was just right with the just the right shadows molded around the randomly splashed drywall texture. He smiled at this image above him. He closed his eyes, when he opened them again the faces had disappeared. He tried to focus his eyes to make the shapes of the kissing faces come again to his vision. They remained obscured among the patterning in the ceiling with the shadows cast from the light in the window.

     The phone rang a third time, this time he rolled over to pick it up. Without him saying a word he heard Nancy’s voice, “We need to talk.”

     Without a word he hung the phone up.

     Fifteen seconds later the phone rang again. He picked it up without a word, her voice was there again, “Look, I wanted to tell you about all this last night, but…well…we were just…” there was a long silence. He could hear her breathing into the phone. “I’m not even sure what I would say to you even if I was there right now.”

     “I really don’t want to talk to you right now,” Jeff hanging the phone up again.

     He lay there for what felt like an hour when the phone rang again. He glanced at the clock seeing it was only ten minutes. He rolled over again to pick it up.

     “Look, I said I don’t want to talk―”

     “Jeff, is that you?” He sat bolt upright.

     It was his wife’s voice!

     He straightened himself, “Yeah, this is me. Donna?”

     “Yeah, it’s me, are you okay?”

     “Sorry, yeah, I was just taking a quick nap.”

     “Okay, you sounded―who did you think I was, who don’t you want to talk to?”

     Think quick, think quick. “The front desk keeps calling me about something, they have been kind of pesky.” Oh, boy, yeah, that sure was quick thinking! You ass!

     “What could the front desk be calling you about?”

     “Oh, nothing, so why are you calling?” It was all he could do to turn his head into this call, the desperation he was feeling since that meeting with Nancy, those words from Shawn about them had his head spinning around like the little girl in the Exorcist.

     “Mom told me you called last night, she said it sounded like you wanted to talk to me.”

     “No,” he paused trying to remember that conversation, “I think I just asked her to tell you that I called. I talked to the kids, just wanted to say hi if you were there, but you were out.”

     “Yeah…” her voice trailed off.

     “So how’s your day going?”

     “Fine, I guess. So where are you?”

     “Washington DC.”

     “Washington DC…” Jeff could hear her wheels turning. “Georgetown is in Washington DC, isn’t it?”

     He knew where this was going. He knew that he had to just stand in front of the bus and take it. “Yes.”

     “Great, I knew it, I knew the minute you got a chance that you would go running back to her!”

     “Donna, I’m here because the company sent me here, I have meetings here, then I go back next week.”

     “So you get the weekend with your little slut? Oh, poor man, the company sent you to have sex with your little Georgetown slut? Well, ain’t that convenient!”

     “Look, this is going nowhere. You left me, remember?”

     “I left you because you had an affair with your little slut in Georgetown!”

     “Look, I’ve got to go, this is going nowhere, nothing I say is going to make any difference here. I’ve got to go, I’ll call the kids later.”

     “DON’T BOTHER!” her phone slammed down.

     Jeff flopped back on the bed. Oh, god. I am going crazy!

     He lay for another twenty minutes, the phone rang again. It was all he could do to reach for the phone knowing it was his wife calling to scream at him again. This time he answered, “Yes.”

     He heard a soft voice, “Hi, it’s Nancy.” He sat up swirling his feet onto the floor.

     “Nancy, I’m sorry for the way I―”

     “No, I deserved it. It’s just that last night was so emotional. I thought I was prepared…but I wasn’t…I knew I would see you again, but I wasn’t prepared for seeing you…again. It was…I was just…you know…overwhelmed. I should have been more mature to pull back, tell you about my involvement with ODS.” There was a long pause. “I guess I should have told you about Shawn.”

     Jeff felt his courage returning. “Yeah, those two little items would have been good to know before this morning, wouldn’t it?”

     “Yeah, I know. You know me enough to know that when I am determined to make things happen that I just kind of keep driving to it.” His mind swirled with all the events in Atlanta, he didn’t respond. “It’s kind of funny, really,” she gave a light chuckle, “that our paths have crossed again, don’t you think?” He listened. “And we’re on the same side again. That’s good, right?” He had no idea exactly what she was talking about, not a clue what her involvement was in all this.

     Or even what all this was!

     “Look, I don’t know what that’s all about. But Shawn…” his voice failed him.

     “Yeah Shawn. That’s why when you didn’t want to let me into your room last night it was okay, if you had I would have wanted you.” He remembered sitting at the door last night, his hand against the door hoping her hand was near his. “The problem is mister Jeff, my feelings for you haven’t changed.” He heard her catching her breath, could almost hear the tears beginning to course down her cheek, she held her breath.

     “A lot has happened since Atlanta, Nancy, for both us. I have this evil vindictive about-to-be ex-wife. You have Shawn.” He sighed, “Really, I am happy for you.” He could feel his heart telling his mouth to shut up, she sat silent. “No, really, I am. You deserve this. Remember me? I’m the man that kept telling you that there are lots of me’s out there, that you just had to go out and find us.”

     “He’s not you.” He could hear her sniff, “He’s not even close.” She sniffed again, he could hear snuffling of the phone, she wiped a tear from her cheek. “But he’s all I have. He’s a good man, he’s very good to me.” She sighed again, “I just hope that he’ll understand when I come out from under-cover.”

     Jeff felt a rise of hope zoom from his toes to his mouth, “Under cover? He doesn’t know who you are?”

     “Yes, silly, what did you think?”

     “So you are lovers…” he paused but she didn’t answer. “You’re pretending to be a couple?”

     “No, he honestly thinks that I am his girlfriend.” Jeff felt an upwelling of warm rushing through him, she continued, “We are a couple, renting the house up in Takoma Park, we have neighbors with kids and all in the neighborhood.”

     “Wow, picket fences,” he said softly.

     “I guess just a wedding ring away, huh?”

     “Are you really that serious?”

     “Well, there is this little matter of under-cover, you know, him not knowing that I live in Georgetown, that my name is White not Wyse. Oh, and that little matter of working for the FBI. Yeah, so maybe I’m getting ahead of myself.” She paused. “And then there’s you.”

     “Okay, maybe you can fill me in on all this tonight.”

     “No, we won’t be able to. There’ll be too many people, no way to get off to the side.”

     “Well, then I’ll see you there tonight, we’ll just have to find time so you can fill me in.”

     There was a long silence on the phone.

     She sighed, “You remember our three words don’t you?”

     He smiled to himself, yes the three words from Atlanta, I Love You, “Yes, I sure do. And I do love you.”

     “That’s all I needed. So, okay then, see you tonight, right?”

     “Yes, I will be there.”

     Another long pause, she sighed, “Okay then…see you tonight…at eight.”

     He hung up flopping on the bed with bright circles in his vision. He looked up at the ceiling, could instantly see the kissing faces in the texturing. This had to be some kind of presage of things to come, a sign telling him something good was coming.

     The phone rang again, his heart leapt, he took his eyes from the image above him reaching quickly he picked up the phone without a second of thought blurting out, “I love you!”

     There was a pause on the phone. Donna’s voice came on, “You still love me?”

     Jeff felt a panic, oh my god, I just told the wife who left me and just screamed at me that I love her!

     Quick, recover!

     “I have always loved you, love you still, I will always love you.”

     “Oh Jeff,” her voice sounded overwhelmed. “Oh, Jeff, I called to apologize for yelling at you then you go do this! I hate you!” he heard her burst into tears.

     “Donna, are you all right?”

     “I hate you!” she sobbed, “and I love you, too!” She sniffed. “I just wanted to tell you how sorry I was for yelling at you, now I want to tell you how sorry I am for everything.” He could hear her doing something that was causing her to shuffle the phone. “Sorry, I needed a tissue.” He heard her wiping her nose, blowing softly into it.

     “Are you doing better there?”

     “Yes. Now it’s my turn. I love you Jeff. I want you home so we can talk this through. I know you are out there, in DC, near Georgetown, I’m sorry for what I said earlier. I trust you. I have been thinking that I have been pretty rash about this whole thing, that I never let you explain anything. I just saw the letter and just freaked.”

     “Look, I’ll be home next Friday night, maybe we can have lunch on Saturday, no kids. What do you think?”

     “I’d like that.”

     “Okay then, thanks for calling me back, it really means a lot to me, and I meant what I said.”

     “Thank you, that means a lot to me. Okay, then, I’ll let you get back to your day.”

     “And you.”

     “Jeff!” he was surprised by the quickness in her voice, realized she was afraid he was about to hang up, “Jeff, I love you,” there was a long sigh, she softly hung up.

     He rolled back onto the bed, his heart throbbing. In the last five minutes he discovered that Nancy still felt the same, she remembered their three words, that there were a couple other minor barriers―that were actually pretty major as relationship barriers go―to her and Shawn’s relationship…now his wife may want him back!

     It had seemed so simple just twenty four hours ago. He was getting divorced, there was a chance that he might find Nancy again, that they would run into each other’s arms, that there could be a story-book ending somehow. Now he finds his wife may want to reconsider leaving him, Nancy is in―but not in―a relationship with this Shawn guy.

     So much for simplicity.

     Jeff looked up to the ceiling again but could not pick out the kissing faces. He was peering harder searching for the images above him when the phone rang. Uncertain what voice he would hear next, he picked it up timidly.

     It was Nancy’s voice flying from the receiver.

     “Jeff I love you!”

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NOW READ THE NEXT CHAPTER IN

K STREET!

http://chrislamela.blogspot.com/2012/08/k-street-chapter-5.html

Also, if you enjoyed this, please give me a LIKE on Facebook to help spread the word! And thank you!