Enemy In the Room

by Parker Hudson

  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.”

  “You mean another job?”

  “Well, sort of. You’d stay where you are at USNet, and no one would ever know about what we’ve just been showing you. And several hours a week you’d do this other thing.”

  “Several hours a week can make half a million a year?”

  “Yes, in addition to your USNet salary. By the way, I think you’d have to stop taking Mike Campbell’s bribes—someone else might find out about them, which would be bad for you. And they might not have an alternative to prosecution, like we do.”

  “So you’re offering to ‘forget’ about the situation with Mike—I can keep that money—and you’ll give me a way to earn a lot more?”

  Martin nodded. “Yep. That’s it. That’s your choice. If you’d prefer, we can send all this stuff out in the morning to the people we mentioned.”

  “Who’s behind the intelligence work?”

  Martin shook his head. “You’ll learn more later. No need to know everything at once. Just some smart folks who know how to make a lot of money.”

  “I see. I guess I don’t have a choice.”

  “Sure you do. In fact, why don’t you sleep on it, and call us tomorrow with your answer. Here’s a phone that will only call one number once, so be somewhere that you can talk. If we don’t hear from you tomorrow, we’ll let this information out on Wednesday. Understood?”

  Todd nodded. “Yes.”

  Martin extended his hand, and Todd’s right arm was released. “Well, it’s been a real pleasure meetin’ you. Sorry for the way we started, but I guess you can see that we couldn’t just call you on the phone about this.”

  They shook hands, and Stan opened the side door.

  Todd got out slowly, his knees sore from the floor. He unlocked his car’s door, got in, and drove off.

  Taylor Martin took out a phone and pressed a button. The voice at the other end answered with a slight accent. “Yes?”

  “I think your boy will be all right. He’s going to let you know tomorrow.”

  “Good. I hope that the others are as cooperative.”

  16

  TUESDAY, MAY 10TH

  The elevator door was about to close when Kristen saw Todd approaching, so she held the door, and they began the ride up to the thirty-third floor.

  “Thanks,” he said, shifting his briefcase.

  “Hey, wasn’t that a new version of your old ride I saw you in yesterday afternoon?”

  He smiled. “Yeah. I guess so. Really nice.”

  “I bet. Looks great.”

  “Thanks.” The door opened. They walked through the reception area and down the hall to their offices. Kristen booted her laptop into the network, quickly checked her email and voicemails, and then headed to get a cup of coffee. Ten minutes later, her cup half finished as she emailed final instructions to their brokers in the Far East, her phone rang.

  “Hello, Kristen, it’s Claudia Coleman. How are you this morning?”

  “Uh, fine. But, actually, pretty busy. I’m getting ready for a trip to Singapore and Japan in two days. How can I help you?”

  “I won’t be long.” She repeated the story she’d heard about XXXtra Cinema’s major expansion around Los Angeles. “And since it’s primarily a real estate matter, I thought that you might be able to help me.”

  “How?”

  “By either confirming or denying it, for starters.”

  “Well, our boss spent some time out there about a month ago, and I believe our goal is to expand those facilities, but I’m not directly involved myself, so I couldn’t say.”

  “How do you feel about it?”

  “About what?”

  “As a woman, and one with traditional values, as you have portrayed to me. What do you think about your employer, USNet, taking over a large portion of the adult movie business?”

  Kristen turned from her desk and looked out the window. She took a deep breath and leaned back slightly in her chai
r, trying to pull her thoughts away from the Far East.

  “Ms. Coleman, we could talk about that for a long time. But it would have to be totally off the record. I don’t make policies here. I love my work, which is basically evaluating and executing real estate transactions. But I don’t usually decide which markets, or which product types. You’ll have to ask the people who make those decisions.”

  “But you support President Harper’s initiative, which is trying to rein in the adult entertainment industry, and you’re in the real estate department of a large company that is expanding in this same industry. Doesn’t that seem a little strange?”

  “Do you believe that pornography is good?” Kristen asked.

  “What?”

  “I asked whether you think pornography is a good thing. Should we as a nation encourage it?”

  “Well, I would never indulge in it myself, of course, but it’s a free country, so I guess if we start censoring stuff, where does it stop? Next thing they’ll be censoring the Journal.”

  “I didn’t say censor. I just asked whether our nation as a general rule should support and encourage pornography, so that it’s literally available on every TV and computer, and at every newsstand and movie theater in the land? Or should it be put back in the sleaze bag that it used to travel in?”

  “What I think isn’t important. I’d like your opinion, since it’s USNet that’s expanding in this area.”

  “What about the women—and men—who work in porn? Should it be legal for eighteen year olds to act in these movies? Do you think anything else goes along with that kind of job? As a woman, are women’s rights in general advanced by holding up an absurd proposition to men—and to boys—that sex is just free entertainment? Just a commodity. No consequences. And that women instantly consent to every imaginable sex act with occasional men, with beaming smiles on our faces?”

  There was a pause. “I guess I can’t say that I’m pleased about those aspects of it.”