by Doug Houser
Chapter 15
“King Cobra?” Nellie’s lips curled up and her eyes twinkled a bit.
Peeps grinned. “And, of course, it didn’t take long for that to be abbreviated to KC. He was often referred to as L T K C.”
Smiling, Nellie commented, “That’s quite a story, Peeps. I imagine it’s been embellished considerably over the years.”
“There are various versions, of course, but the one I told you is exactly the way it happened.”
“Oh, yeah? What makes you so sure of that?”
Peeps laughed and said, “That’s right, you don’t know, do you?”
“Know what?”
“I’m Charlie Windsor.”
Nellie laughed and then thought for a couple of seconds and said, “So Lieutenant Huntington kept his word.”
“His word?”
“Yeah, he told you he would make sure you didn’t get killed sneaking up on the NVA with a stiletto.”
Peeps laughed again and said, “Yeah, that’s what he said. After we got about 500 yards away, we turned on the radio and told the patrol to call an arty mission on the entire area back down there. Then, you know what that crazy bastard said? He said let’s go find an LZ and get extracted before something bad happens.”
“Did you ever try the stiletto technique again?”
“When we got back, I told KC I’d had enough. He maintained that except for the snake and the fact that we didn’t identify the NVA unit, the mission had gone exactly as we’d planned. He said we even were pretty sure we (and the snake) had killed at least two NVA soldiers and that we had identified the exact location of the NVA perimeter on its western extremity and called artillery into their main position. He finally talked me into doing it again and over a period of about four months, we conducted that type of mission twelve times, every one successful. The scariest part about officers being crazy is that if you hang around with them long enough, whatever it is that makes them crazy gets to you, too.” Peeps laughed. His eyes had a faraway look for a brief second as if he were back there in that moment of time. “OK, enough of that. Let’s get you signed up and on board.”
Peeps took some forms out of his desk and handed them to Nellie. “You need to fill out these papers today. All of your benefits begin on the ninety-first day of employment, so you’ve got some time to fill out all this other stuff. Here’s what’s you need to know in a nutshell. KC takes care of his people. Everyone is covered under our group health plan. There’s no deductible and there’s a form in there to give to your doctor that allows them to charge co-pays directly to the company. If your doctor won’t do that, pay them and the company will reimburse you. Prescriptions are fully covered. The company pays for dental insurance. No deductible. You’ll have two times your base salary of company paid life insurance.. Whatever you pay for insurance for yourself these first ninety days, the company will reimburse you for those expenses if you stay after the ninety-day period.”
“Wow, it’s all very generous,” Nellie stated.
“Yep. KC takes care of details.”
Peeps handed Nellie a blue folder. “Here, this contains everything concerning the company 401(k) program. Participation is mandatory. You have to contribute the maximum the federal limit allows.”
Nellie raised an eyebrow.
“Don’t worry, KC has it set up so it’s all to your benefit. He’s a detail guy and a big picture strategy guy. You put in your retirement account the maximum amount allowed by law. That amount is added to your salary, then deducted from your paycheck and contributed to your account. Your salary and deduction will be raised every year according to the tax law limits. It’s pretty nice, actually. But be warned. If you attempt to borrow from your account, KC will go berserk. If an emergency arises and you need extra cash, see KC and he will try to arrange something. But, if you want to stay in his good graces, don’t borrow from your retirement account. He knows it’s not exactly legal to disallow anyone from borrowing from it, but he figures since he’s paying for it, he can strongly discourage borrowing. His main concern is that when his people reach retirement age, they will have enough money set aside to live comfortably.”
“These are amazing benefits, Peeps.”
“There probably isn’t another workplace with benefits this good. KC thinks of everything. Did he tell you vacation accrues at 30 days per year?”
Nellie nodded affirmatively.
“KC wants people to take their vacation. He knows how important it is.”
“No problem there,” Nellie replied.
“I think that’s about it,” Peeps said. “I’ll tell you, no one who has satisfactorily completed their ninety days has ever left the company. And believe me, many of them have been recruited by competitors and various government agencies. This place is too good to leave.”
“I like it.” Nellie smiled.
“OK, as soon as we’re done here, we’ll go out to your car and I’ll program it for the garage gate. Any questions?”
“I have a couple that can wait. But there’s one I’d like to ask now.”
“Go ahead.”
“Last night when we came here to see the gym, there were a couple of guys bench pressing a lot of weight. What’s the record here?”
“The standard for personal bests is five reps. Single lifts don’t count. Don’t ask why. It’s simply KC’s rule. While we were in Vietnam, a guy named Pat Casey set the world bench press record at 615 pounds for a single lift. When he heard about that, KC said, “Someday I’m going to do five reps of 615 pounds.” Well, that day came and he did it. That’s the record here. Don’t be surprised if KC gives you a goal of training five guys to break that record. Just because they get discharged from active duty doesn’t mean officers aren’t still crazy.”
Peeps and Nellie grinned.
“Let’s go program your car to get in the underground garage. Then KC wants to see you in his office.”
Chapter 16
KC was on the phone when Nellie entered his office. He motioned for her to come in and sit down.
“OK, bottom line, what do you think the threat level is to a guy like my client with a company that’s in his business?” KC listened intently. “Can you hook us up with some good, dependable local help?” He paused and then said, “Standard rates, bonus upon successful completion.” He nodded, “OK, get me five guys. I’ll send two of ours. One will go ahead, the other will arrive with our man. Any difficulty with weaponry?” He paused for a response then replied, “Good. I’ll talk with you in a couple of days.”
KC hung up the phone and he smiled at Nellie. “Peeps get you squared away?”
“Yes. You really have great benefits here. No wonder no one ever leaves.”
“The benefits are good. But I like to think that people would stay even if the benefits weren’t as good. I think our people like to be challenged and to know that we are the best at what we do. You know, the techs that answer the emergency phone calls drive past all the homes and businesses in their territory every two months. It’s not a requirement of their job, but they all do it so they can assist the emergency crews with directions or warnings about construction, possible mapping errors or road closures. It’s amazing how frequently changing conditions aren’t communicated to all of the first responders. It’s just something extra that we do that no one else does. Our people do it because they don’t want to let the group down. Plus, they all want to graduate to field assignments. Even you, Nellie, you’ll have to put in time on security duty too, when you don’t have training sessions. It won’t require too much of your time, but you need to know how to do it so you can fill in if there’s an emergency.”
Nellie said, “Good deal. It looks interesting and I’ve got some reading I need to catch up on. What do I start on?”
“I’ve got something for you.” KC reached under his desk and pulled out a device that looked
like a big laptop computer screen. “This is a portable, wireless, touch screen notepad. It’s quite a bit bigger than the tablets and iPads you’ve probably seen and it’s more powerful. A company run by one of Peep’s buddies is developing it for the market and this is a prototype model that they gave us to test in our workplace. Get with Peeps to program in the details. He can download all the company personnel along with any demographic information that you think is pertinent to your recordkeeping. You’ll have it available to you in the gym to use for recording the status of everyone’s training. It works just like a computer except that input is done totally by touching the screen. There’s no external keyboard or mouse. Just like a computer, it’s password protected. Don’t ever, ever, leave it unattended while you’re logged in. You know Marines. If someone gets into the files, you’ll have guys benching two thousand pounds and running the mile in three minutes.
“Everything that you input on this will also be transmitted to our main computer via Wi-Fi. Peeps will set it up so that it can only change files on the central computer after verifying your thumbprint and password. You guys can set up the data collection and recording so it’s convenient for you to use. Peeps will be installing a printer in the gym so you can print out progress reports for everyone. He’s also working with the developers of this notepad to produce a big screen that we can install on the wall of the gym so that you can show any page from your notepad on the big screen. That should come in handy as a motivational tool for you to use. So, to answer your question, start on this and also begin to get to know everyone. When employees are working out in the gym, give them helpful pointers on technique, nutrition and training methods. We’ll start formal martial arts training sessions in a couple of weeks, after you get to know everyone and they get to know you. After you get a general feel for where their fitness levels are, you and I will get together and establish goals, standards, benchmarks and suggested rates of improvement. You look to be pretty fit, but I’d suggest you get yourself in top form because you know all about the challenges that will be coming. You’ve got to start strong if you’re going to succeed with this.”
“I plan to lead by example regarding workouts. Mine are going to be legendary around here in short order. Beginning today.”
“OK, I’ll let you get to it then. Once again, welcome aboard”
“Thank you, very much. I’m looking forward to this challenge.”
After Nellie left his office, KC dialed Lieutenant Stone.
“Well, well, well, we haven’t talked since you walked out of my house with that gorgeous blond,” Frank said.
“She works here now,” KC replied.
“Really? Doing what?”
“She’s my Director of Fitness and Martial Arts Training.”
“No shit? Wow. You think she can teach those guys anything?”
“Yeah, I’m counting on it. She taught Marine Martial Arts for three years.”
“She taught men’s classes?”
“Yup.”
“Well, maybe she’s got a chance then.”
“I think she does. Anyway, that’s not why I called. How about I buy you lunch?”
“Best idea I’ve heard today. When and where?”
“How about Sandoval’s at one this afternoon?” KC replied.
“Great place. I’ll see you there.”
Frank was waiting outside the restaurant when KC arrived. They took an outside patio table, ordered their Diet Cokes and began munching on the big bowl of chips and salsa.
Frank asked, “So, what is it that motivates you to open up your wallet on this fine afternoon to buy me lunch? You haven’t done this in quite a while.”
“Well, what I want to talk about is delicate. By delicate, I mean that it’s potentially troublesome for you, not for me. And since I’m hoping to put you in a delicate situation, I figured the least I could do was to buy lunch for my old buddy.”
“Oh, I see. No such thing as a free lunch. That it?”
“I’m a fair-minded man. If I had invited you here to talk about old times, I’d have avoided talking about who pays until the check came and then snuck off to the men’s room.”
They both laughed.
“I wanted to pick your brain a little and I figured the least I could do is buy lunch.” KC was interrupted as their server appeared to take their orders. Once the waitress walked away, KC began, “I assume Lieutenant Wilson has filled you in regarding our part in the Wyatt Murphy collar.”
FlintStone said, “Yeah, he told me the captain made him chew your ass out, but that unofficially, he was grateful for your involvement. My question is, how did you arrange for the newscast?”
“Newscast? All we did was catch a bad guy who was on his way to do more bad things and turn him over to you guys.”
Flint grinned and replied, “KC, the moment I saw Murphy’s picture on Channel 3, I knew you had something to do with it. How long have we known each other? So, c’mon, how’d you do it?”
“Let’s speak hypothetically. Assuming that someone had been able to arrange for that newscast, what do you think of the outcome?”
“Oh, I get it now. You had help from within the department. Of course you had to promise not to reveal your source. OK, speaking hypothetically, if someone had been able to arrange for that broadcast, I’d say they achieved their desired outcome and society is better off for it. Is that what you wanted to hear?”
“Partly. I understand that due process is important and that no one should be going around applying one’s own version of justice, especially if they aren’t prudent. But, as in the case of Murphy, sometimes the justice system needs assistance. The DNA obtained in the ER proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that Murphy was guilty of raping a child. That’s punishable by death under the Manual for Courts-Martial. That he’d been doing it for four years to one girl and had begun doing it to another who is only ten years old makes him a candidate for the needle. Just because the rules of the system require a traumatized fourteen-year-old to hold up under cruel cross-examination shouldn’t give a guy like Murphy a free pass. I really don’t care what state he was living in at the time he was caught or whether or not he was in the military at the times of his offenses.”
“Whoa, you’re preaching to the choir. What is it you want from me besides my blessings for something you only hypothetically did?” Just then the server arrived with two steaming plates of sizzling fajitas.
They finished their meals, both having cleared their plates. They then sat back, and Flint began, “All right, KC, let’s quit dancing around this. What’s up, really?”
“OK, here it is. Being able to help Maggie Warner and her sister was very gratifying for me and the men who participated in surveilling and apprehending Murphy. I want to be able to help others like her. There are lots of people who have been victimized in one way or another and for whatever reason, aren’t able to fight back or receive justice from the system.”
Flint leaned in to be able to hear every word, as KC was speaking quietly now.
KC continued, “When I was at police headquarters I saw a sign on the wall. It said, “Crime hits everyone, everyone should hit back.” I’m ready to hit back and I’m ready to hit back hard.”
Chapter 17
KC and Flint waited patiently and silently while the server refilled their drinks. Then KC continued, “The problem is that most people can’t hit back, at least not effectively or safely. But I can. I have the resources and manpower. That’s what I want to do, hit back hard. But, like in our hypothetical discussion earlier, as you surmised, whoever got that newscast on the air had help. That’s what I’m looking for. Help.”
“From me?”
“Yes. I know that I can’t do this kind of thing, locally, very often, especially if you’re helping me. Sooner or later someone would figure out what was going on and you’d have serious problems. Obviously, neither o
f us wants that to happen. But, you’ve got to have lots of contacts around the country with other law enforcement agencies. Just say, hypothetically, that there was a vicious criminal who was proven guilty by DNA evidence but nevertheless, went free. We see all the time about someone screwing up the evidential chain of possession or evidence disappearing or witnesses being intimidated or jury tampering, you name it. The bottom line is that guilty people are set free on legal technicalities that have nothing to do with guilt or innocence. All I’m asking for is to be alerted to situations like these when you become aware of them. Just tell me who, what and where. That’s it. If I think we can make a bad situation better, we’ll pursue it. If it doesn’t seem like something we can help with, we just won’t get involved.”
Lieutenant Stone sat silently, thinking. Then, he said, “Let me see if I understand. Let’s say I’m talking with someone in the department in Nashville for example and they tell me about a situation like you’re describing. I tell you about it and if it’s something you can help with then, like with the Murphy case, you get involved. Is that it?”
“Yes. That’s it.”
“What about contact with local law enforcement?”
“We won’t have any. You’d be the only one who was speaking with both them and us.”
“How would you have handled Murphy if that had not been a local case?”
KC gave that a little thought, then said, “Pretty much the same, except that after we apprehended him, rendered him unconscious and cuffed him, we would have put a copy of the restraining order in his pocket, dumped him on Maggie’s front yard and phoned in an anonymous tip.”
“What about the rest of it?”
“Since the rest of it is all hypothetical, let’s not go over that part, ok?”
Lieutenant Stone sighed and after a moment said, “OK. Can’t blame me for trying, right?”