Beverly, Charlotte, the weekend of June, 13
As Beverly came down the concourse from her gate, she saw Jeff standing there with two cups of coffee in his hands. It was eight in the morning. She had left D.C. at six. She was tired and slightly confused by how Jeff managed to get through security and wait for her on the concourse. When she asked him how he had managed that, he flashed his State Department credentials. She laughed.
He took her directly to his apartment and let her put her things away and sit for a moment. He told her about dinner that night. She looked like that was the last thing she wanted to do. Finally, he asked her what she would like to do the rest of the day. She responded, “I would love to go to lunch somewhere quiet, then, maybe go sit in a park and just relax. Perhaps we could talk over lunch or somewhere else quiet. I am very tired from traveling. I just got into D.C. last night at ten. I was up and on another airplane this morning to come see you. I am pooped. I heard about the attempt on your life and your heroics in response. Perhaps you can tell me how you plan to handle any additional attempts?”
Jeff nodded his understanding. He made a few calls and got an invitation to the Charlotte City Club. He was not a member but Jack Dunham was. It was the perfect place for lunch. It was quiet, it was on the top two floors of the 121 Trade Building so the views were unparalleled, and the food and service were extraordinary. He and Bev sat in silence for a few minutes and then began to talk. When the main course was served, he asked Beverly what her bad news was. She held up her hand and said, “Let me get my food down first.”
Jeff knew when to push and when to lay off. He told her about his trip and whom he had met and what he had done. She told him about her trip and how miserable she was with the State employees she had tried to help in Hong Kong.
Finally, as the dishes were cleared away and coffee was served, Beverly looked at Jeff and said, “I got a call from my Director just before I left Hong Kong to head home. He told me that the Deputy Secretary, who acts as the Chief of Staff for the Secretary, had refused his recommendation that I become the Director when he retires early next year. The Deputy said that I was not old enough or had enough experience to hold that high a position. He wants another senior agent, a male, to become Director. The one he has requested is nowhere near as qualified as I am. He is two years younger than me. If he becomes Director, I will retire out before he does. So, my hot career at State has run into a brick wall.”
Jeff was truly shocked. He reached across the table and grabbed Beverly’s hand. All he could think of to say was, “Perhaps someone should have a discussion with the Secretary?”
She laughed derisively. “No one goes to the Secretary with problems like this. Besides, I will be deemed to be disloyal if I do something like that. And disloyalty is the worst sin you can have in a bureaucracy.”
“Have you thought about what might be your next move?”
“I have thought of resigning, but then fifteen years go down the drain. I could stick it out for another five and retire at twenty. I could become a bureaucrat and stay for thirty. The only problem with staying for five or fifteen is the traveling. I am sick of it. As a senior agent, that’s all we do. Besides, the minute the word is out that I am being passed over, all the other divisions at State will look at me as powerless. Today, I am someone to be reckoned with. Tomorrow, when the news leaks out, as it will, I will be the object of pity and some jokes. No, my career at State is ruined.”
They left the City Club and headed for Freedom Park. Once there, they wandered over by the lake to look at the swans and ducks. They sat on a bench. Jeff looked over at Beverly and said, “Why don’t you come join me putting together history programs at PBS? I can guarantee the same salary you would have gotten at State.”
“That’s very nice of you, but a little premature. I have to figure out what I want for myself before I commit to something else. Right now I am trying to figure out how to handle the Department of State.”
“Yes, but, you see, that is your problem. You have been with the Department of State for fifteen years, your entire working life. You only know about fighting on the inside. I am willing to bet that your mind is in high gear trying to figure out a way to change what is happening to you there. You are trying to discover a method or way you can end-run the Deputy without actually appearing to end-run him. Am I right?”
“I guess. Yes. That is what I am thinking.”
“You need to think outside of what you know. There is an entire world out there of things you can do that State has trained you, at great expense, by the way, to do. Instead of worrying about every avenue you might have at State, why don’t you look for other avenues to do what you do without the bullshit? Why don’t you try to find a use for your skills that doesn’t require travel?”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know. I am not an expert in what you do. I am an expert in hand-to-hand combat and battlefield strategy. And, I don’t want to find a use for that set of skills. I think I am becoming somewhat of an expert on how people view history. It will require a great deal more study, but I think it might be the field for me. If I can stay alive long enough.”
Beverly looked directly at Jeff. “Yes. Let’s talk about that. How do you plan to keep everyone safe if they come after you again? I mean, you are good at defending yourself, but you are not a superman. If they apply the correct resources, they can get you. I know, that is my area of expertise.”
“Then maybe you should help me figure out what I can do. I don’t think they are ever going to be able to mount a full-scale attack like the one in Ephesus. It is just too hard to pull off in North Carolina or anywhere in the States. So I have to be prepared for what happened yesterday; one guy, the lone assassin, who thinks he is in the service of his God and is willing to die to get me.”
“Show me your arm. I heard the cut was catastrophic.”
Jeff pulled his coat off and rolled up his sleeve to reveal the bandage underneath. “It was not really catastrophic. It was not even debilitating.”
He peeled back the bandage and showed Beverly the scar and the stiches. She grimaced and said, “It looks pretty bad to me.”
“If the kid had brought the knife up with the blade turned up and cut my arm from underneath, he would have severed the tendons and nerves so I would not have been able to hold on to his wrist. It was his mistake and it cost him his life.”
“What was he reaching for with the other hand?”
“The police think it was a pressure detonator attached to the back side of his backpack. But I hit his head against the aluminum door corner before he could reach it. They told me that if he had reached it, that entire terminal would have gone up.”
Beverly looked down at the ground for a moment, then back up at Jeff. “So, the challenge is how to protect you from that kind of assault. This is what I do for a living although I am usually trying to protect an entire building. Still, the principals should be the same. Why don’t you let me work on it and see what I can come up with?”
“I would pay you handsomely if you could figure out a good defense for me.”
“Jeff, you don’t have to pay me. I am your girlfriend.”
“No shit? Are you really my girlfriend? I keep waiting for you to tell me that I don’t fit into your life.”
“You don’t. But you are still my boyfriend.”
“In that case, why don’t we go back to my apartment and get ready for dinner at my ex-wife’s house. I want you to meet my kids.”
“I don’t know if I can handle that this trip.”
“You have to. It is imperative. And while we are there, let’s talk to her new husband, Bob. He is an eminent attorney in North Carolina and he might have some suggestions for where we can find a use for your skills.”
She nodded and they both stood up.
Later that afternoon, as they were preparing to leave for the Williams’, Beverly looked at Jeff and asked, “You really think there would be a market for my skills in the outside world?”
“You are an expert at protecting facilities all over the world without hampering their functionality. You can also do it without insulting the host country. I think there are multinationals all over the place that would kill for your services, no pun intended.”
As the BMW pulled into the Williams’ driveway, both Jeff and Beverly saw the two children sitting on the front steps waiting for them. Casey was the first one on his feet and he started running toward the car until he realized that he probably should wait for his dad and his dad’s new girlfriend to get out of the car before he jumped them. Janet had no such brakes. She caught Beverly before she was entirely out of the car and jumped up at her. Beverly was quick. She grabbed Janet before they both fell and turned to straighten up her body. She laughed and said, “I am going to guess that you are Janet. You don’t look like a Casey.”
Janet laughed and kissed Beverly on the cheek. She then stopped and touched Beverly’s hair. “It’s beautiful and so dark. Is it real?”
Beverly laughed, “Yes, Janet it is all mine, the hair and the color.”
She put Janet down and put out her hand to Casey. “Casey, I presume. You are more handsome than your father.”
Casey turned a shade of red and smiled. “I am stronger than he was at my age and I can beat up more boys than him.”
“I don’t know about that, Casey. I have seen him in action and he is pretty impressive.”
“Well, you would say that. You’re his girlfriend.”
They made their way into the house and Beverly met both Sandy and Bob. She liked them both. The dinner was fun, if not a little chaotic. During dessert, Bob leaned over and whispered to Beverly, “It’s always this way. I am not used to having kids and I am having a little trouble adjusting to the constant turmoil.”
The kids asked Beverly all sorts of questions including questions about her job and her ability to use firearms. They were very impressed that she was an agent. They equated her to a female James Bond. Eventually they tired of the conversation and left the table to go play video games. The adults stayed at the table for another forty-five minutes discussing careers and lifestyles.
While Beverly was helping Sandy with the dishes, Jeff cornered Bob and asked him if he thought there would be a sufficient amount of business for someone with Beverly’s skills. Bob said he had probably ten international clients he could talk to for her. Jeff told him to hold off until Beverly said that was what she wanted.
When they left and headed back to the apartment, Beverly looked at Jeff and asked, “Why would you divorce someone as pretty, sexy, and smart as Sandy?”
Jeff responded, “We never should have been together. We met in college. There was an enormous amount of lust involved. I was older, she was trying to get away from her parents, and I was her ticket to adulthood. I had the strange notion that I would marry her and then I could stop trying anything. I would just sell real estate, play with my kids and watch TV. You have already heard this about me. When Sandy woke up and found herself married to me, she went crazy. The last five years of our marriage were a disaster. Divorce was the only solution for us. It still is. I love her. But, I love her like a sister. I like Bob and I like her and Bob. I like their entire family dynamic. It is the perfect place for my children to grow up.”
“What if you and I decide to marry? How will your relationship with them change?”
“I don’t know that it will. They are not just my ex-wife and her new husband. They are also my family down here. That is the one thing you would have to get used to. I will always have them around. My kids will also always be a part of my life.”
“I wouldn’t expect anything less.”