AWLL 2 - Book 8 - NIKA

September 4, 1994, Chicago, Illinois

"Please tell me your plan includes six cherries!" Elyse smirked.

"Would that take Littleton off the board? Or would it just enrage him and make him a sworn enemy?" I asked.

"He's ALREADY an enemy!"

"Is he? Or is he just a 'hired gun'?"

"A good question. What do you think Jamie is going to propose?"

"Well, you heard the first thing -- no more hiring people with whom I've had an intimate relationship. Well, 'intimate' by society's standards, not my standards. And you and I have discussed the issue there."

"Jodie and Claire."

"Exactly. What's your take on that?"

"You heard what I said at the Board meeting. And what Beth and Joyce said. And you know what Charlie, Kimmy, Penny, and the rest of the girls would say."

"I do," I replied. "And you know what Jamie, Dave, Karl, and my dad will say. Something just dawned on me. We never knew who Kaitlin's lawyer was."

"You think it was Littleton?" she asked.

I shook my head, "I think Jamie would have told me if that were the case. In fact, I think he probably would have been obligated to do so."

"You don't think there's any relation between the two incidents, do you?"

"I don't see how. Kaitlin was gone before Mikela started at NIKA. I don't think there's any way Mikela would even know about that. Who would have mentioned it to her? And who knew the real reason she left?"

"Could anyone find out about it?"

"Sure. If Mikela were to sue us or make a complaint to some government agency, they could ask for all the personnel records and talk to all past and current employees. And even though I don't think he's involved in this current situation, Littleton knows I had a relationship with Charlie. Anyone who investigates will uncover that information. I'm sure they'd find out about Penny as well. Your situation is a bit different, obviously. But once they knew about those other two, all it would take is one wrong word to bring the whole thing down."

"Who would ever betray you?"

"On purpose? None of the girls, that's for sure. Accidentally? It would be all too easy. And don't forget, Zeke had a really serious problem with the fact that Tasha slept with me before she started dating him."

"I never understood that!" Elyse protested. "It's none of anyone's business who our past lovers are!"

"Be that as it may, Terry had to talk Zeke off the ledge. Who knows what was said by whom or to whom? Even if The Club closes ranks, that doesn't protect me."

"Shit!" Elyse sighed. "All because two little girls wanted you to fuck them! I just don't see how that's YOUR problem!"

"It's not. But society, and the government it elected, thinks it IS my problem. The basic theory is that men are predators and women are helpless."

Elyse shook her head, "You have ALWAYS been the prey! Always!"

"There is the issue with Becky and how I went after her..."

Elyse shook her head again, "That was all part of Jennifer's pursuit of you and her confusion about her sexuality. Not to mention the fact that Becky turned into one of the most serious predators of all."

"But you see, society says it's impossible for me to be the prey, and therefore I'm a sexual harasser and abuser. It's like the situation with Penny. She knew exactly what she wanted and pursued it relentlessly until she got it. The law says I raped her and nothing she says can override that law."

"That's so fucking stupid I don't even know where to begin. But we are talking the same idiots who pass laws that make it illegal to breastfeed in public with an exposed breast!"

"Yes, we are, and until such time as we can overthrow the government or convince the majority that they are mistaken, we're stuck in this environment. You want something even dumber? Girls can have abortions, without their parents' consent, at younger ages than they're permitted to legally engage in sex! So much for 'bodily autonomy'."

"It sounds as if you're resigned to not being able to hire Jodie and Claire."

"I have no clue what I'm going to do when the time comes. Fortunately, Jodie is only a Sophomore, so I have more time. And honestly, the only place I was ever with her was in Iron Mountain, at her parents' farm. She won't tell, and as such, nobody could possibly know beyond you and my wives. Claire is a more serious concern because quite a few people know. But that's not my biggest concern."

"What is?"

"That Jamie is going to want to impose serious restrictions on what Karl calls 'fraternization'. I'm concerned the Board will back him up on it."

"They do realize that if they try to come between you and Penny, she'll kill them all, right? And I'm not being facetious."

"Karl is well aware," I grinned. "My concern is really that he's going to insist that NIKA staff not come to Guys' and Girls' Nights."

"That's total bullshit!"

"I know it, and you know it. But Jamie's job is to protect the company. And he sees the personal relationships as a threat. And, as I think about it, there's an even worse possible scenario."

"What?" Elyse asked apprehensively.

"That he convinces the Board to hire a full-time HR person who reports directly to the Board."

"No fucking way! We are not taking one of those idiots into NIKA any more than we'd take most of the MBAs your sister worked with at Arthur Andersen! Talk about ruining the company!"

I nodded, "I agree. The whole 'bottom-line only' theory being pushed on MBAs during their education is destructive and has to stop, or we're going to wreck our economy. And the institutionalized 'political correctness' being taught to HR professionals is going to destroy society. I hate to say it, but it's going to get worse."

"How do we fight that?"

I chuckled, "The first thing we do is kill all the lawyers!"

"I thought you said that was about setting up an absolute monarchy?"

"Oh, it is. Tsar Stephen I, at your service!"

Elyse laughed hard, "And your first decree is to actually implement droit du seigneur?"

"I prefer jus primae noctis, personally!"

"Right of the first night?"

"Yep!" I chuckled. "But in all seriousness, do we really want to give up our control to idiots like that?"

"Never!" Elyse exclaimed. "We fight them tooth and nail. We have to be very careful who we hire as well."

"I know. That's why I'm more than a little concerned about relenting on my veto under pressure from Dave. In hindsight, I set the wrong precedent."

"She's been fine so far, right?"

"Yes, but a couple of weeks isn't enough to judge. I think we need to figure out a way to screen candidates for their values."

"I'm not sure that's strictly legal."

"I'm not going to judge based on sex, race, religion, ethnicity, or any of the other criteria that the government forbids us from using. And by the way, I agree with the philosophy behind the law, just not the laws themselves. And don't even get me started on the implementation. What I will judge applicants by is things like that question I asked Maddie about participation awards, or what books they've read, or whether they've traveled outside the US, and so on."

"To draw a psychological profile," Elyse said, nodding. "Kind of like your statement about people having to 'fit in' to be hired."

"Yes. We've been a bit less stringent on that, and I think we need to return to the old ways. The problem is, doing so will certainly conflict with Jamie's vision of how we should do things. He's already told us not to invite any new employees to the Rap Sessions. And I know he'd prefer I told Cèlia and Kajri to stay away, not to mention Terry and Penny."

"It sounds like you want to actually interview instead of just veto."

I shook my head, "Only for managers and above. Below that, I'll identify a pool of people who should do the 'fit' interviews and accept their advice. Michelle and Kimmy would be two of my first choices. Jamie, of course, will have a conniption fit about that."

Elyse smiled, but it was her 'evil' smile, "Let ME handle that. I'm in charge of HR. And I know what you want."

"I'm actually concerned Jamie will want me to take myself out of the hiring process."

"Fuck that noise!" Elyse spat. "You own 75% of the company."

"Yeah, and I've slept with a good chunk of the female staff. Jamie's job is to protect NIKA. In this case, from me, I guess."

"I think you should let Terry tell Penny about Mikela. That might solve the problem."

"And then Penny can share a cell with Lisa Glass? No thanks."

"So back to 'Little Tony' and Brandon Littleton...what?"

"The timing is a bit tricky. I don't want to move precipitously, but I also don't want to delay too long. I really can't do much until we know if Mikela is going to sign the release or not. We won't know that until Thursday morning at the earliest, or perhaps as late as Tuesday afternoon of next week. And remember, I leave for Europe on Saturday and I'll be gone for nearly three weeks doing the videoconferencing setup for SPSS and the legal software install for Moore, Martin & Walker."

"Do you think Jamie might tell you not to go?"

"Maybe, but this trip has been planned for months, and no matter what happens, nothing will need my physical presence here in the short term."

"So, what's your plan?"

"I don't know yet. I've been thinking about it for a good month, but Jamie had me convinced to basically let sleeping dogs lie with regard to Littleton, which is why I haven't done anything. It might be wise to let that go, at least for now. If Mikela signs, I can take my time dealing with Littleton."

"But not 'Little Tony'?"

"No. He needs to be dealt with, once and for all, and soon. But it has to be done in a way that keeps me out of jail and doesn't cause me problems with Joyce or her grandmother. I don't want to hurt Joyce, so simply allowing Anthony to find out about Connie and me probably isn't a good plan because I do think there's a good chance he'll kill her. Not to mention, I will probably have to deal with this Scuderi dude, who appears to be in the muscle side of the business. I also can't just rat Anthony out to the Feds because they'll trace it all back to Joyce's grandfather, and that would put everything she has at risk, despite it all being legit.

"You've admitted more in those few sentences than you have in the last ten years!"

"I'm not saying anything you haven't already inferred, and you notice these are all Cincinnati guys. If they weren't, this would be a VERY different problem, if you get my drift."

"I do. Holy shit! If Connie's husband is caught by the Feds and they trace it back, NIKA could be at risk!"

"Possibly, though they'd have one hell of a time proving I knew where the money came from. At that point, I'd just have my dad buy out Joyce's shares and let the Feds go after that money. Joyce is squeaky clean, so once the dust settled, she might be a lot less wealthy, but she's not going to jail."

"I have to ask you something about the household finances."

"The annuity from Don Joseph?"

"Yes. Does that put you at risk?"

"Not really, because it's from his estate, and at worst, they could seize the annuity, but I don't own it. It's owned by a trust. They'd have a heck of a time coming after any of my assets, though with this 'asset forfeiture' bullshit, you never know. Anyway, what I'm saying is that whatever solution I devise, it has to protect Joyce and NIKA, which means no running to the Feds.

"One option is to actually go after Littleton first, and one avenue of approach is to clue him in as to exactly who he's working for. Tying him to Scuderi COULD be a way to exert pressure on him to drop his association with Anthony. If it ever got out that Littleton was working with the Mob, he'd be in deep trouble. I suspect his partner Zimmer, and the lawyer who handled the paperwork for Carla, Levinson, wouldn't be thrilled by that information."

"Blackmail?"

"Not at all. Information. Say certain dossiers show up at Littleton's office, though fleshed out further. And including information about the corporate espionage."

"What if Littleton ignores it?"

"I didn't say I'd send it ONLY to him. Zimmer would get copies. And Levinson. And the other attorney who works for them, whose name escapes me at the moment."

"But this Scuderi guy is in the muscle side of the business."

I nodded, "Elyse, you're read-in so far at this point, it doesn't matter. You know I have my own Luca Brasi."

"That's awfully dangerous. And it could get you in serious legal trouble."

"Not really. Let's call him Luca for now. I turned him from Cincy to Chicago. The right word to the right people and things would be explained to Scuderi."

"Like they were to John Lentz?"

"That was Lisa Glass all the way," I said. "If there WERE Outfit ties, I don't know about them and neither do the cops."

"Come on, Mr. Adams, you're talking to your most intimate confidante, who reads your journals and manages your finances, both business and personal. Speaking of which, I laughed out loud at the entry in your journal from Japan on that topic."

"The one where I reported Sakurako saying her grandmother was really in charge?"

"Yes! And admitting it was true here, too! I wondered when you were going to figure that out!"

"Has there ever been any REAL doubt?"

"Not in MY mind," Elyse laughed. "But seriously, you know there were Outfit ties to John Lentz and the City of Chicago permitting guys who were busted."

"It's all in how you define 'know'. I know the Aldermen are all corrupt, but I don't have specific knowledge of the corruption in most cases."

"Most cases?" Elyse asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Don't ask, please. Some things I need to keep quiet."

"It has to be Larry Bloom. Jesus! Everyone thinks he's squeaky clean!"

"Which is a nice deal if you can swing it," I said. "But forget that. I think I'm going to have Katya Sergeyevna flesh out the dossiers on everyone at Brandon Littleton and Associates, as well as on Peter Scuderi and his ties with BLS, Carla, and anything else."

"Speaking of that, did you ever find out who was behind the request to buy the BLS software?"

I shook my head, "No. It was some law firm in Indiana that was representing an anonymous client."

"Maybe there's something there."

"You mean like Anthony or Littleton? That would be a real stretch."

"I have to ask you a very difficult question."

"Go on."

"What if it's related to the software piracy? What if that's why Volstead and Braun covered it all up?"

"You mean Braun's kid is somehow tied to Anthony?"

"Or Scuderi. Or Littleton."

"I suppose it's possible. What made you think of that?"

"I was just going over in my mind all the things that have happened since you and 'Little Tony' had your run-in."

I nodded, "Good point. I'm going to call Katya Sergeyevna on Tuesday morning and have her dig a bit into that, too. I can't imagine Volstead and Braun are mafia attorneys, but you never know."

"And your friend Ben van Hoek?"

"God help him if they are. But we're just speculating wildly now. Hopefully, Mikela signs the release and gives me some breathing room to have Katya Sergeyevna do her investigation."

"And if not?"

"Then it gets WAY more complicated. We should go spend some time with our guests."

"Wait! Something just dawned on me. Does Jamie know about you and Jackie?"

"I never told him," I said. "I have no idea if Jackie told him, but I suspect not."

"That revelation might just send him over the edge. He was already pretty upset earlier."

"Oh, I know," I sighed. "Well, there's nothing to do about that right now. Let's go see our friends."

"Don't you have to be at the dōjō this morning?"

I shook my head, "No. I'm taking Mitsuko and her little sister to dinner tonight. Miyu is competing in the tournament, and it's sort of become a tradition for me to take them to dinner."

We left my study and went to spend time with Jamie, Jackie, Eric, and Patricia. Jamie was a bit cool towards me, but I could tell he was also distracted, and I was sure he was running all sorts of scenarios through his legal mind to determine the best course of action. But I had my own ideas for that as well.

The Fergusons stayed for lunch, and when they left, Jesse, Matthew, Kara, and I went to the great room to watch the NASCAR race from Darlington. Jessica joined us, but she curled up with her medical journals. Elyse was in the backyard with Michelle and the rest of the kids.

"I hate to see that idiot Bodine on the pole, but on the plus side, that useless prick Loy Allen is starting 42nd," I said.

"Still carrying that grudge?" Kara smirked.

"Now and forever! I swear, I wish Payne Stewart had managed to buy Alan's team."

"Where is Earnhardt starting, Dad?" Jesse asked.

"27th!" I said with glee. "Bill starts 9th!"

"Ugh," Jesse groaned. "What happened?"

"I don't know," I said. "It's how fast they drive one lap in qualifying, and maybe they got the setup wrong. But they both run well at Darlington, so let's see what happens."

"You're OK with Earnhardt doing well?" Kara teased.

"So long as he's behind Bill, I'm cool with it!"

"Bill hasn't won in a long time!" Jesse proclaimed. "Earnhardt won at Talladega!"

"I know. Bill has had some second places this year!"

"First loser!" Jesse laughed.

"Look, Little Duck, I could send you to play with your sisters!"

"Bill is the best driver ever in the history of the world!" Jesse said soberly. "And Penguins rule!"

Everyone laughed.

"Not!" he added after a beat to even more laughter.

"One of these days..." I chuckled.

As it turned out, Bill did finish in front of Earnhardt, winning his first race in nearly two years. Earnhardt finished second, about four seconds behind Bill, which allowed him to extend his lead over Rusty Wallace in the points standings. Bill had moved up to eighth overall, but he was nearly 700 points behind with only eight races to go. Even winning them all wasn't likely to give him a shot at the championship because he'd need to beat Earnhardt by an average of 90 points or so per race, and that simply wasn't going to happen.

"Who's the first loser today, Jesse?" I grinned.

"Earnhardt will be Champion! Again!"

"And how many Stanley Cups have the 'Quackers' won?"

"OK, children," Kara said in teasing reprimand.

"I need to get dressed to go out to dinner," I said.

With no objections, I went upstairs, took a quick shower, and put on 'business casual' clothes. After kissing everyone goodbye, I headed for DePaul, where I'd pick up Mitsuko and Miyu at the hotel. Mitsuko had a new roommate from Hawaiߴi who didn't go home for the three-day weekend, necessitating the hotel stay. The girls were waiting by the entrance to the hotel and hopped into the car for the drive to TGI Friday's in Lombard.

"How is the competition going?" I asked.

Miyu answered from the back seat, "Good. I finished third for kata, and I've won all my sparring matches so far."

"Excellent!" I said. "How is school going? You're a Sophomore now?"

"Yes."

"So that makes you fifteen? And your birthday is in December?"

"Yes, on the 1st. I heard you went to Japan. Did you like it?"

"Very much," I said. "I learned a lot."

"Mitsu said you were promoted to 5th Dan. Is that true?"

"It is."

"So I must call you 'Master' now?" she said with a soft giggle.

"Miyu!" Mitsuko said sharply.

"I'm just teasing!" Miyu snapped back.

"Ladies," I said. "Let's not fight, please. Dinner will be much nicer if you don't."

"I have one mom; I don't need two!"

"I'm not taking sides, Miyu," I said. "I'm asking you both to be nice and allow the three of us to have a pleasant dinner."

I had thought the two of them got along really well, and I wondered if there had been some kind of incident of which I wasn't aware. They'd had heated words about me being married, but otherwise, they had seemed to like being with each other. Of course, it could just be Miyu being fifteen and chafing under ANY adult supervision. I certainly knew what that was like, and I also knew that her parents were conservative Japanese. Mitsuko had commented once about sneaking dates by going out with a group of kids, and I wondered if that's what was bothering her little sister. If so, then I totally sympathized. But I had to be careful not to take sides.

Nothing more was said by either of the girls until after we were seated at the restaurant and we had placed our orders. Mitsuko excused herself to use the restroom, leaving Miyu at the table with me.

"Why does she have to boss me around?" Miyu grumped.

"She's just watching out for you," I said. "I haven't seen her be mean."

"She's like my mom! They never let me do ANYTHING!"

I couldn't help but laugh, which caused Miyu to give me what I'd come to think of as the 'teenager death glare', though Jesse seemed to have perfected it at age eight.

"Right. Because you aren't competing in a tournament in Chicago, staying in a hotel, and going out to dinner with me. Sorry. I must be having some really vivid dreams!"

She glared even harder, something I wouldn't have thought was possible.

"That's not what I meant! I meant fun stuff!"

"Like competing in a karate tournament in Chicago and having dinner with me?"

"Adults!" she huffed.

"I'm sorry, I'm not seeing the issue," I said.

"I can't go on a date!"

"You aren't even sixteen yet," I said, and wondered if it was a SPECIFIC date. "May I ask, did something happen today?"

She frowned and nodded, "A boy from Wisconsin asked me to have dinner with him. Mitsuko said 'no' because she's mean!"

And we got right to the heart of the matter. The REAL problem was she liked this boy, and her sister was preventing her from going out with him!

"Or because your parents trust her to follow their rules," I said gently.

"She should mind her own business!"

"She is," I said. "I'd bet anything you care to wager that she's following the rules your mom gave her for you. If she didn't, you wouldn't be here competing."

"I can't wait until I'm in college and can do whatever I want!" she groused.

I chuckled, "You're going to be VERY disappointed when you discover that adults just can't do whatever they want."

She crossed her arms and glared at me again. Minus the Japanese features, she reminded me very much of Melanie Spencer when she was sixteen. Melanie had the advantage of having 'unreconstructed hippies' for parents, which had helped. Miyu had conservative, somewhat traditional Japanese parents. There was a major conflict brewing, and it wasn't going to be pretty.

"Miyu, may I ask you some questions?"

"I guess," she said, scowling.

"Do you speak any Japanese?"

"Why? Everyone here speaks English or Spanish. Or I guess Polish in Chicago. Nobody speaks Japanese except my parents and my sister."

"I was just curious. And do you like doing traditional Japanese things?"

She shook her head, "No! They're SO dumb and boring! Who wants to wear a stupid kimono? And spend two hours making a dumb cup of tea? Lame!"

The thought of putting her and Sakurako together crossed my mind, especially if I could send Miyu to Oguni! But I immediately realized she wouldn't last a day there, and the fallout could be very ugly.

"So what do you want to do?" I asked.

"Be like my friends! Wear shorts and T-shirts. Go to dances. Hang out at the mall. You know, be NORMAL!"

"Have you talked to your parents about this?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah, right, like THAT would work! All I'd hear was how good a daughter my sister is. How dutiful she is. How proper she is. How utterly perfect she is! Ugh! She sucks up to them!"

"Or has she found a way to be happy and not cause strife in the family?" I asked gently.

"By not DOING anything! I swear! She's probably never even KISSED a boy!"

That answered my question of whether or not Miyu knew about Mitsuko and me, and the answer was a resounding 'no'. And that was a very good thing.

"I think that's between Mitsuko and whatever boy she likes," I said. "But you might want to talk to her about it."

"Why? She'll just tell me to do what my mom says!"

"Maybe; but I think you might be pleasantly surprised. Here she comes."

Mitsuko sat back down at the table just as our salads arrived. I decided if I had a chance, I'd say something to Mitsuko privately. I also needed to remind her I was going to be in Europe.

"Mitsuko, I know you plan to come to the dōjō, but I wanted to remind you I'll be in Europe for almost three weeks starting on Saturday afternoon. I'll be at the dōjō on Saturday morning, but then probably not again until the 1st of October."

"That long?"

"A week in London, a week in the Netherlands, and a week in Munich. I have a lot of work to do."

"Oh. Could we have lunch before you leave?"

"You're seeing him?!" Miyu gasped. "He's married!"

"We're having lunch," Mitsuko said evenly. "Just like we're having dinner now. You know I go to the dōjō and practice with him, too."

"Do you call him 'Master'?" Miyu said nastily.

"Enough," I said. "Miyu, please behave. You're not acting like a fifteen-year-old. You're acting like a toddler."

"I knew you weren't REALLY nice."

"Miyu!" Mitsuko snapped. "Enough, or I'll tell our parents you misbehaved!"

"I'll tell them YOU are 'misbehaving' with a married man!" Miyu countered.

I felt I needed to intervene. Again.

"She's angry because you wouldn't let her go to dinner with the boy from Wisconsin," I said to Mitsuko.

Mitsuko sighed, "Did she tell you anything about this boy?"

"No. I assumed he was her age."

Mitsuko shook her head, "No, he's not. He's nineteen and attends UW-Milwaukee. Miyu is only fifteen."

"So?" Miyu growled. "I like him!"

All I could do at this point was keep my mouth shut. I didn't feel the age gap was too large, but society certainly did, at least at their ages. In three years, nobody would worry about a four-year age gap, but with Miyu only being fifteen, the world could come down on this young man like a ton of bricks, at least in Illinois.

"He's too old for you," Mitsuko said. "And he could get in trouble with the law."

"For taking me to dinner? I'm SOOO sure!"

"Can we drop this argument, please?" I suggested. "Let's eat our salads and our dinner, and you two can debate this when you get back to the hotel."

Miyu glared at me but began eating. I did feel bad for her, as she was struggling mightily with the restrictions imposed by conservative parents, but I also knew the freedom she did have depended on Mitsuko giving a good report. The thing was, I knew from Mitsuko that she'd skirted the rules her parents had created, just as Ailea had.

I, on the other hand, had been outright defiant of the rules my mom tried to impose. I wouldn't recommend the confrontational approach to most people. Mitsuko's and Ailea's strategies were much better. And, truth be told, Miyu wasn't nearly as bad off as Lena, though if Miyu's parents thought she was out of control, they might impose that level of control.

Our main courses arrived and we continued eating, mostly in silence. The food was good, but the tension around the table was so high that I wasn't really enjoying my meal. I tried to think of an easy way to defuse the situation, but I couldn't think of one. At best, I thought, I could talk to Mitsuko on Tuesday at lunch and encourage her to talk to her little sister about how to skirt the rules.

We finished our meal and ordered dessert, but again, it was mostly quiet. I did ask Miyu about her sparring competitions and how she felt she'd do on the final day of the tournament, but otherwise, there wasn't any conversation. We finished our dessert, I paid for the meal, left the tip on the table as was my usual practice, and we headed back into the city. When we reached the hotel, Miyu hopped out of the car, but Mitsuko stayed seated.

"I'm sorry," she said. "Miyu is struggling with my parents' rules."

"I know. We can talk about it on Tuesday if you want, but the longer you stay now, the more suspicious she's going to get."

Mitsuko nodded and smiled, "See you Tuesday at the loft?"

"If that's what you want, yes. I'll order lunch."

She got out of the car, shut the door, and waved as I drove off. I headed home, and after parking the car in the driveway, walked into the house.

"How was dinner, Tiger?" Jessica asked.

"The food was fine, but Mitsuko and her sister are having a major conflict. I did my best to stay out of it and play referee, but I wasn't very effective."

"A conflict? Over you?"

I laughed hard, "No! Believe it or not, for once, it's NOT about me!"