When we got back to the compound things were back to normal, but Inez and I missed having Brenda with us. Crom was still in Vegas and orders were already coming in from companies Sophia had for us. There was a sheet metal shop in Austin she was going to check out. She said that they could provide the fans and shrouds for three or more shops making the generators. They also had an assembly plant nearby to mate the components and ship them. She had also found a place to make all the hardware to set up the units. I had tried to set things up this way, but too many people put me off that were quite willing to talk to an attractive redhead. It also helped that we were now out in the open and they were aware of the potential of the product.
I was due in Washington next Monday. The ad agency and the legal teams were doing all the preparations for that. I would meet with the advertising folks on Friday to get ready for my part. CNN had been approached to cover the hearings for later report. They would be on CSPAN live, but no one actually watches that. My legal team had fought against closed hearings and had won, which was a surprise to many of us.
In the meantime I tried to put it all out of my mind and spent my time enjoying the company of my family. There were longs walks, playground time, pool time, and miniature golf. We bicycled around the compound and rowed on the pond. Jessica loved the rowboat and wanted to spend her whole day in it. I was becoming very close with Jess and also with Norma.
Friday I left the family at home and flew down to Shreveport. Grier sent along a young tech that had been working closely with Crom. Sam Bell was a bright nerd with pocket protector and everything. When we got to the agency, we were shown back into the room Inez and I had been in just a few months ago. Don Gregory was there with a thin young man and a short chunky woman with mousy brown hair.
"Alex, good to see you again. This is Fred Siefert and Diane Felton. They have been working on this presentation for you and will join you in Washington. I think you'll like what they have done for you." He turned to the young man, "Fred, please give the presentation just as you have it planned. Alex, please wait till they are done to comment."
The two folks went through the presentation, and I was quite impressed. There was some similarity to our commercials, but they also included the larger scale generators we expected to sell to the power companies. They indicated the size of the global market and what it could do for the economy. When the 15-minute show was completed, I turned to Sam.
"Does anything jump out at you, Sam?"
"They have been pretty accurate, Sir. My comment would be that they have given the global market a much more optimistic view than Crom has. He expects Malaysia to start producing cheap copies within the year. We will never see much of the Asian market due to that, and the same thing will happen with Russia. What we will get is most of the European and South American market as well as Australia. Unless we can get some international aide organizations to buy them, we'll end up giving away units to many of the African countries. The way this Congress is acting we don't expect much help from them with the patent infringements. You might want to mention how much we expect to lose from this just to warn them. I know that Microsoft says that they lose a couple of billion a year to software piracy in Asia."
"Good point, Sam. See if you can get some of that in there folks. I want to see more figures on just how much Middle Eastern oil we'll keep from buying just from the household units, and then how much when the power companies come on line with the commercial size generators. Don't mention coal though, or we'll have West Virginia jumping all over us. I also want some figures on how much recycling there will be from the old style generators. Also, the IRS has been giving rebates to people for years for buying green technology and supporting things like the ethanol farce. People are buying our units because they are actually saving money, so subsidies and rebates are not needed. We'll save the government a lot of money just with this. Plus we can sell them units for military installations and schools as well, saving them even more money. Electricity is a very large part of the budget for any military base."
The woman spoke up. "That sounds good, Mr. Andrews, we'll get it changed before Monday. Do you want us to meet you in D.C., or travel together?"
"I'll have the helicopter here to pick you up and bring you to the estate Sunday evening. You can give us the revised presentation then and stay the night with us. We will travel by Lear early Monday. Were you able to get me the appointment I requested Donald?"
"Yes, I did, Alex. Representative Gohmert will see you at eleven, and you are scheduled to appear before the subcommittee on energy and power at two."
"Okay. Come on Sam, let's head back."
Sam and I went back up to the roof and soon we were on our way back home. While we were in the air I arranged with the pilot to pick up Fred and Diane Sunday afternoon.
The helicopter let us off in the yard. Sam lived in one of the apartments on the estate. The complex was intended for estate workers, but factory employees were allowed to live there when apartments were available. A couple of the groundskeepers had gotten married and bought a house, leaving a vacancy that Sam took.
I got an unusual call on Saturday from Crom. He said that he needed a couple of favors. He wanted to buy property near mine to build a house. He was thinking of the lakeshore. He also wanted a house in town that he could rent while the new house was being built. It seemed that as soon as their replacements were ready, Janice and Julie would be joining him here in Texas. He wanted me to take care of most of the arrangements. As long as it was something Inez and I would live in, he would be fine with it. The property needed to be at least 5 acres with lakefront access. He would worry about the architect and builder after he got back. I told him that I would do what I could, but that I would be gone for an unknown amount of time Monday, so Inez would probably take care of it. He said that was fine, her taste was better than mine anyway. I had to laughingly agree. It seemed that my partner and friend was getting some well-deserved joy.
Fred and Diane arrived just before dinner Sunday. They showed the proper amount of awe at our home, and were very please with Marcela's culinary skills. I had invited Sam to dine with us so that we could get to the presentation right after dessert. Inez, Norma, and Steve all sat in on it as well and were suitably impressed. Steve had a couple of minor corrections, but otherwise I thought they had done well.
The parting with Inez and Jessica was bittersweet Monday morning. I might have to stay overnight if the hearing continued, and it would be the first time we had been apart since the wedding.
Once in Washington D.C., I let everyone else get set in the hotel while I went to my appointment with my representative. I had no previous interaction with Louie Gohmert, but my people told me that he was a reasonable guy who had done a decent job. That was pretty high praise from some of the staff, about as good as a State Rep is likely to get.
A plump but well dressed matron led me into the Representative's office. Louie stood to shake my hand. I was struck by how much older he looked than in his pictures. "Mr. Andrews, it is nice to finally meet you. What can I do for you today?"
"Well, Mr. Gohmert, you can start by telling me just what your associates have in mind for me. Nothing I have done has broken any laws. I am just a small businessman hoping to become a large businessman."
"Oh. You are much more than that Mr. Andrews. You have taken the poorest section of my district and turned it into one of the top revenue bases. The problem you have is that you have stepped on some very powerful toes in the process, and they have called in favors to try to scare you, or get you to pay them to leave you alone. I'm not sure which of those outcomes they want most. I tried to get my colleagues to stop this, but for some reason their contributors were adamant that you be brought here. I can't see any advantage to it myself. I have kept an eye on you since you first bought the plants in Johnson Creek, and I expect you to knock them on their heels today. The only good thing about this is it gives me an excuse to talk to you, and please call me Louie, it's what I'm used to answering to."
"Thank you, Louie, I'm Alex. That's pretty much what I thought as well. I think these power companies have got themselves stuck on "chicken little" and can't see that I am going to end up increasing their profit margin, not destroying it. By the time I am done, they will be able to eliminate the least efficient power plants and increase their supply to the commercial customers which generate the most profits. They won't have to worry about "brown outs" anymore either. I guess I should have explained it all to them, but I expected them to be smarter than this."
"I hate to say this, Alex, but expectations and battle plans rarely survive the first contact. If you have problems with this and there is anything I can do, just say so."
"Thanks again, Louie. The same goes for you." I caught a slight grimace in his face. "Do you need some campaign help?"
"What? Oh no, not at all. I'm doing fine that way. What I was thinking of was that I have a couple of low-income area schools in Houston with some old buildings. I was thinking that they would have more money to spend on books and teachers if they didn't have to pay so much to heat and cool the classrooms. I was wondering if you would be willing to donate a couple of your wind turbines to help them out?"
I didn't have to think about this at all. "Of course I can. That is one of the uses I planned for these things." I pulled one of Donald's cards from my wallet, "Have your secretary call this man to set it up. I'll let him know to expect it, I hope you won't mind if I use it as publicity. I'll get some people involved with providing them to other schools strapped for cash. I'm glad you brought it up. I've been so busy I'd forgotten one of the reasons I got into this mess was to help people." I also realized something else; I needed a PA. I'd have to get Inez to work acquiring me one. No way I was going to do that without her input.
Louie stood and held out his hand, "I have no problem with publicity, as long as you stay with the facts I'm all good with it. I hope to see you again, Alex. My door is always open to you."
I shook his hand and left. I would have to contribute to his election fund; we needed to keep the few sensible people we had in congress. I would never pay out campaign contributions as extortion, but there was nothing wrong with helping a good man or woman succeed.
I met with my people and we had a short lunch while I filled them in on the meeting. Diane called Donald to give him a heads up on the schools and what I expected him to do. The legal staff was waiting for us at the Capital.
The committee room was small by congressional standards, but still seemed quite large to me. There was a CSPAN camera in the corner, but apparently CNN had decided to abstain. No surprise really. Chairman Whitfield started things off by asking me if I had any questions. I'll just get to the point, I thought.
"Yes Mr. Chairman, I do have a question. Why am I here? I am just a small businessman who is tapping into a minor part of a larger business's profit stream. There is nothing remarkable about this, it happens every day in American. Why have you gotten involved?"
"It is hardly an everyday occurrence for one of the major industries in America to be threatened with financial ruin Mr. Andrews. If America's power grid is destroyed all business and commerce will crumble afterward. That is why you are here Mr. Andrews."
"Oh boy, all doom and gloom, aren't you Mr. Chairman? I don't know where your people got their numbers, but they are purest hokey. I have had my folks here prepare a presentation for you, but I think we can do without it. No loss, I'll just use it in commercials. The power grid you are so worried about is at the point of implosion right now. There are rolling blackouts in California and other parts of the country on a daily basis, acid rain is still falling in the northeast from the power plants, and environmental restrictions are keeping many of the power companies from expanding. If something isn't done soon, it will all collapse. I am that something. A&C Genitech holds the promise of the future. We can reduce the grid load of all the power companies without harming the environment and without causing the customers to do with less. Right now the major power companies get less than a third of their sales from residential customers. Our wind turbine units will take only a third of that from them. There will be more power available for the higher profit commercial customers. This will hardly dent the income of the power companies, and when our large commercial generators start to come on line, the power companies will be able to generate more electricity with less cost. Their profits will be more than ever. A&C Genitech is no threat Mr. Chairman, we are the cure."
Since the hearing had not been closed as they had hoped we were able to seed the audience with tree huggers and they all stood and applauded when I finished. The Chairman was pounding his gavel trying to restore calm, but I think he knew that the hearing was effectively over. It was a little more dramatic than I had expected, but I still had to wonder why this had played out. I got my answer as soon as the Chairman called a recess to have the gallery emptied. I was out in the hallway and Sam and Diane were pounding my back in congratulations. One of my security guys handed me a phone.
"You need to take this, Sir. It's Steve Grant."
Damn! Now what? "Hello, Steve. What is it?"
"We finally know what the plan was, Alex. They wanted to get you out of town along with much of your security. They tried to kidnap Jessica and to kidnap or kill Crom. Before you get too upset, Crom is fine and Jessica only has a broken arm. I hate to tell you though, that Norma is dead and Janice has been wounded."
I let my hand drop and stood there stunned. My emotions were running the gamut from grief to anger. I couldn't speak right now and abruptly sat down on a bench in the hall.
Diane was beside me and grabbed the phone and took over the conversation.
What is it, Alex?" Sam asked me, "What's happened?"
He looked over at Diane, and she waved her hand at him while she listened to Steve.
Anger won for the moment, "Tell him to make sure who was behind it, Diane. I need targets to take out."
Diane nodded and I got up and headed back into the committee room with Fred and my security right behind. I walked right up to the table where the Chairman was talking to his aide.
"Mr. Whitfield, this farce is at an end. Your "friends" have duped you into helping them get me out of town so that they could attack my family. My mother-in-law is dead and my daughter and a friend have been injured while this distraction was underway. I'm letting you know in advance what I intend to do about it. I was going to help the power companies and had no intention of getting into commercial generation at all. Now, I am going to buy out every company that had anything to do with this and fire or indict all of the executives. You had better tell your "friends" that they have stepped into a pile of kimchee up to their scrawny necks. If you want anything else from me, talk to my lawyers. I'm going home to try to comfort my wife and daughter. Goodbye."
I stormed out of there and as I got to the hallway, one of my security folks pointed to a back door. The limo was waiting for us and we quickly headed to the airport. Diane had quit talking to Steve and everyone was silent until we got into the plane.
Diane was the first to break the silence. "Are you all right, Alex? Is there anything we can do?"
"Thank you, Diane. I can't think of anything. I don't know what I'm going to say to Inez. Did they catch the guys?"
"Yes, they did. Steve says that both teams were caught. He also said that the team in Johnson Creek had a stinger in the trunk of their car. He is sending a limo to meet us instead of the helicopter in case there are more of them. I got the whole story from him; do you want to hear it?"
"Yeah, this is as good a time as any."
"Let me tell you about Vegas first. They were trying to kill Mr. Cromberg. Someone saw the gun in time to knock him out of the way and save him. One of the security men was killed when he stepped in front of Miss Atwaller. She was injured when one of the bullets hit her after going through him. The two shooters were killed and an accomplice captured. The Las Vegas police have him in custody. Miss Atwaller's wound was in her leg and should heal completely.
"In Johnson Creek they were trying to kidnap your daughter. Mrs. Blumfeld had taken Jessica shopping in town for things to wear when she starts preschool next month and your wife stayed home. Security was spread loosely trying to stay out of Mrs. Blumfeld's way. She and your daughter got out of the limo in front of a store when suddenly a car roared up onto the sidewalk and ran between the limo and the store. The driver slammed on the brakes, apparently trying to stop before hitting his targets. Mrs. Blumfeld saw the car and threw your daughter into the doorway of the store. That is how her arm got broken. The car was unable to stop before hitting Mrs. Blumfeld and she broke her neck when she hit the sidewalk. I think they expected her to try to run away, but she stood there long enough to throw your daughter to safety, and then didn't have time to save herself. When the passenger opened his door to try to get to your daughter, he was shot several times. The driver tried to drive on through, but security had him blocked and he surrendered when he saw the number of guns pointing at him. He will be tried for murder. The ambulance was there very quickly, but there was nothing they could do for Mrs. Blumfeld."
"Thank you Diane. That was well done." I said this calmly and coolly, when what I wanted to do was to break something. Two innocent people dead, and Jessica and Janice hurt. It was all so unnecessary. And it was all because some greedy people couldn't control themselves.
I looked back over at Diane, "Are you happy with your job, Diane?"
"Yes, Sir. I am pretty content with it even though I've only been working at the agency for a couple of years. This was the first ad I answered after my husband dumped me for a younger and slimmer version. I found that I have some talent at it. Why do you ask, Sir?"
"Because I like how you have handled yourself in this crisis and I would like to offer you a new job. As long as my wife agrees, I would like you to be my Personal Assistant. I find that I don't have time to do everything myself and I need help."
"That sounds interesting. What would be my duties, and what would it pay?"
"You would take care of my schedule and appointments as well as dealing with all the people who need some of my time. The number of them has gotten bigger every day. You would live in the apartment that Crom just vacated, and your pay would be double what you are making now. I'll clear it with Donald if you accept. Again, remember, Inez has to agree. You also might want to note that being close to me could be dangerous."
"I'll think about it, Sir. I know it may take a bit before you can talk to your wife about it, as I'm sure she is grieving pretty heavy for her mother. Thank you for the offer in any case, and the way Mr. Grant was berating himself over this, I don't think he is going to get caught short again."
All this had taken more time than it seemed to. Diane had spoken slowly and clearly to make sure I understood it all, which was one of the things that impressed me about her. It was not much later that we were landing in Marshall. When we got off the plane there were two limos waiting for us. Steve was there and tried to steer me away from the others. I took Diane's arm and brought her into the front limo with me.
"I'm thinking of hiring her as my PA, Steve. She rides with me and hears what I hear. Now how did your guys drop the ball like this?"
"I am so sorry, Alex. There was no warning at all. If they had gone to any other store on the street the car wouldn't have had time to get to them before we stopped it. The car was souped up and armored. It went from driving casually along the street to speeding up onto the sidewalk in the blink of an eye. There was a spotter who saw the opportunity and initiated the attack. We caught him with a roadblock when he tried to get out of town. I don't know of any way to stop this kind of thing, Alex. Even if you never left the estate, you would have to think of barricades and antiaircraft batteries to be completely safe. Both cars we caught had stingers in the trunk. I think Jessica was a target of opportunity just in case they missed you when they tried for the helicopter. Or this may have been planned as a way to get you to come back quickly when they could expect you. That actually makes more sense, because the attack happened at about the same time as the assassination attempt on Crom. Norma probably saved your life as well as Jessica's by reacting so quickly."
"Do you have any idea who sent them?"
"Not yet, they didn't have any ID and the cars were clean, but the Sheriff is working with us and we have fingerprints and DNA going through the national databases. We'll know who they are soon, and then we can find out who they are working for."
"I know it wasn't your fault, Steve. I just want to blame someone. Norma was a very sweet lady, and I don't know what I am going to say to Inez."
"She was pretty broke up the last time I saw her, Alex. I wish she had ranted and raved at me instead of just crying like she did. I explained what happened to her myself while Phyllis was putting the cast on Jessica's arm. I don't know what else I could have done."
"Well, I know what I can do. As soon as we determine who they are I can break these people. Get with our in-house turncoat because the people who hired him are first. They will be a warning to all the others. Diane, you come on into the house with me to see if you can help get things organized. Where is Inez now Steve?"
"Camille and Phyllis were with her when I left. Phyllis said that she would sedate her if she thought it necessary. They should still be at the house. The county Coroner has Norma's body because the case is being treated as a murder. The possible kidnapping angle has the Feds sniffing around as well. They want to talk to you, but I don't know what you could possibly add." We were pulling through the gate to the estate now, "I'll leave you here, I have some more work to do. I guess Diane will be staying here for now, we'll send Fred back to Shreveport in a limo. Tell Inez again how sorry I am that this had to happen."
Diane and I got out of the limo in the basement and took the elevator to the main floor. Camille met us there and led us into the den where Inez and Phyllis were. Inez saw me and ran over to grab me and cry on my shoulder.
I looked over at Phyllis, "Where is Jessica and how is she?"
"She is sleeping in her room. She will be fine, Mrs. Higgins is watching over her right now. I'm going to check on her before I leave. I have also given Camille instructions in case of need, Sir."
"Thank you, Doctor. I think my wife and I need some time alone right now please. Camille, please make sure Diane here knows everything that is going on." I had already decided that Diane would stay here in one capacity or another. You don't lose competent people when you find them.
I sat down in an armchair and pulled Inez into my lap. When she finally fell asleep in my arms, the shoulder of my jacket was soaked. I stood up with her and headed out to find some help. Diane and Camille were in the family room. I whispered to Camille, "Would you help me get her to bed please? I can carry her easy enough, but I'll need help with the doors."
The next few days were hell. The coroner released Norma's body and the funeral was scheduled for Friday. Steve hired what seemed to be a battalion of new men and made sure that the funeral was not disturbed. He had also started procedures to close down the company that had suborned our worker. Crom came back for the funeral with Julie and Janice. Janice was in a wheel chair. Diane had found a house for him to rent with Inez's approval. I had worried needlessly about Inez and Diane; they got along well together and quickly became friends. Diane also suggested that Camille be moved into the position of Inez's PA. My wife was becoming more involved in community issues and needed an assistant.
On Monday I met with the FBI. I brought along Steve and a lawyer. I had no intention of ever talking with the FBI without legal aid.
"Please be seated Mr. Andrews. I am agent Forbes, and this is agent Johnson. We only have a few questions for you."
"Okay, but I don't know what help I could be, I was in D.C. when this occurred."
"We know that. We have found out a few things about the perpetrators though. We were also able to track the payments made to them to a fake account at a bank you do business with Mr. Andrews." I looked over at Steve, who shook his head at me. "We are aware that the girl is not your real daughter and with the advent of a child of your own we thought that you might not like for it to have to share with someone else's child." Steve grabbed my arm before I could yell at this idiot. "We are also aware that in the event your partner dies, all shares would go to you and his uncle. Add this to the shady dealings by which you acquired your original fortune, and I'm sure that you can see why we would be suspicious."
I couldn't hold back any more, but I controlled my anger and spoke slowly, picking my words with care. "My tax dollars are paying for this kind of baloney? I have the paperwork in to adopt Jessica. I love her and I loved her Grandmother very much. I would do nothing to hurt either of them." I took a deep breath to further control myself, "If Crom were to be killed, my companies would be worth a lot less. He is the genius behind everything we do and without him I would quickly fail. Your ideas are ludicrous and I have nothing further to say to you. Anything else you have for me you can give to this man over here, he is my lawyer." I stood up and headed toward the door.
Steve had a question for the agents, "Have you shared this intelligence with anyone else?"
"Well, no. We don't feel the need to keep others informed of our investigations."
"I'm sure the Sheriff would be glad to know that. What a load of horse crap."
Steve and I left the office, leaving the lawyer to deal with those idiots.