Naked Ambition. Dan Roberts

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ as he raced down the first hill, the first of several hills he would encounter on this particular route. However, upon entering the longer, flatter part of his chosen circuit of the day, he settled into a regular cycling rhythm, pacing himself for the long haul. As his feet moved in a rapid, repetitive manner, he began to pick up on the tempo—the rhythmic beat—that could be so mesmerizing. Over and over, his feet went round and round. The constant, recurring sound of the chain as it moved through the sprockets were, like musical notes, pleasing to his ears. Eventually, Nick noted that the cycle of pedaling matched the beat of his own heart. Once that synchronization happened, he smiled with delight.

      For Nick, biking was as much therapy for the mind as it was exercise for the body. It was, in fact, one of the activities that he relied on to help him when faced with some difficulty or problem, particularly one that needed to be thought through. As strange as it seemed, repetitive activity like biking, swimming or jogging had the potential of unblocking what he called the ‘mental junk’ that, at times, impeded his ability to problem-solve. A bike ride of this kind could actually bring clarity to his sometimes foggy or confused mind. In fact, it was not unusual for him to come back from a long ride on his bike to find that he had an answer to a question or a solution to a problem.

      And so it was on this morning, approximately one hour after he had taken his bike from the garage and after many miles of riding, that a hungry Nick Blick was back in the house, standing at the kitchen sink eating a slice of cold pizza. As he did so he knew what his next move was going to be regarding Herb Clarkson and the boy, Jack.

      NEW YORK’S CHATEAUX 54 is a small but elegant boutique hotel located on the Upper West Side, near Central Park. It was there that Chen Xong Wu, still experiencing some jet lag from yesterday’s cross-Atlantic flight, was finishing his breakfast—a croissant, homemade strawberry jam and coffee that had been delivered by room service. After folding and smoothing his linen napkin, a habit from his youth, he lifted a silver carafe from the tray and poured himself a second cup of the Chateaux’s special blend. After taking a sip of the steaming brew, Chen opened the newspaper that had come on his breakfast tray. He read the headlines; a war here, an uprising there, and, of course, the local police activity from the night before.

      One article of interest to him was the update on changes within the Chinese Communist party. He read it with extreme concentration, noting the way it was reported as well as the names mentioned. In China, the nuisances of such an article were extremely significant. In fact, names not referenced were as essential to the story as those that were. It was important for him to keep abreast of the developments of the party since his way of life was dependent on some of the men in leadership—both those presently in authority and those aspiring to be placed in such an honorable and powerful position. Chen often compared the behaviors exhibited within the party to the game of chess with each member, like a chess piece, ready to move ahead, many times at the cost of another member’s position; sometimes their life.

      Noting the time, Chen scanned through the rest of the section. Then it was onto the financial pages, which were of interest to him not only because he had investments in the stock market but also because of his investments in the people who controlled some of the banks, brokerage houses and financial institutions around the world. Fortunately, everything seemed to be on the upswing today, which pleased Chen very much.

      Not being one interested in sports, at least, not the kind of sports that most Americans were so hyped about, Chen mostly passed by this section, stopping only to see what the Yankees had done the night before. That was important because he needed to have at least one sports-oriented subject in mind as he spoke with a small group of American businessmen later in the day. Chen didn’t want to be completely out of touch when it came to the topic that would inevitably come up. In fact, he found it to be impressive to some Americans when he was the one to broach the subject, like, “I see that your Yankees won last night.” It made him seem more approachable, even trusting, with some, which allowed him to go to a deeper level of interaction with them. Trust was one of the qualities that Chen tried his best to demonstrate and, eventually, elicit in others.

      Chen was just about to review the Lifestyle section when the telephone rang. He placed the paper down onto the serving cart, reached out to the nearby phone and answered it.

      “Hello.”

      There was a brief pause and then a male voice spoke. The only thing the man said, in Chinese, was, “Call me.” With that said, the phone went dead. Chen knew who it was. And he knew what the man wanted.

      After hanging up, Chen reached for his cell phone, one that had a sophisticated encryption function. Not wanting to leave anything culpable on the phone, in case it was lost, stolen or, worse, confiscated, Chen had memorized all the necessary telephone numbers so as not to rely on the phone’s directory. Just after pressing the last number on the dial, Chen heard one ring and then a voice. It was the same voice that had called him moments earlier.

      Knowing the reason for the call, Chen was quick to speak. In Chinese, he said, “I’m in the process of taking care of the problem that we discussed last time. It’ll be done by tomorrow night. After that there should be no further delay. The package should be delivered on schedule.” He then added, “Anything new on your end?”

      The reply from the voice on the other end was, “Nothing at this time. I just wanted to make sure you made it to your hotel and that things are on track.”

      In less than a minute the phone conversation came to an end.

      After putting down the cell phone, Chen reached for his coffee cup, took a sip of the now cooler contents and sighed as he looked at his watch. The time was 9:12. The day was still early. Although he had planned an afternoon filled with lots of hand shaking and smiles, he was not looking forward to the hours in between. For him, there wasn’t much more to do until lunchtime. My god, he thought, how dull is my life at times. How utterly dull.

      “I UNDERSTAND.” THAT WAS THE RESPONSE from Herb Clarkson when George Baker called him to tell him that Zach had been asked by his boss to fill in for a café manager that had a sudden family emergency. “It’s at one of their locations in Philly. He’ll be starting over there on Wednesday but has to get some additional training this week here at the store in Reading. So he just can’t continue with the coaching right now.”

      “I’m really sorry to see Zach go, George,” was Clarkson’s follow up. “He was a valuable asset to the camp.”

      It was then that Mr. Baker said, “The good news is that one of Zach’s volleyball buddies is willing to fill in for him.”

      “Oh,” said Clarkson, “that’s great. We can definitely use him.”

      “His name is Nick. I think you’ll find him very helpful. He’s a really good kid and a very talented volleyball player. I’ll bring him by this afternoon so he can get started right away.”

      It was no surprise that Clarkson enthusiastically thrust out his hand when Baker introduced Nick to the coach on Monday afternoon just before the camp class was to start.

      “Good to meet you, Nick,” Clarkson said in welcome.

      As Nick shook Clarkson’s hand he responded with, “Same here.”

      Baker had already given Clarkson some background information. “Nick is a high school junior this year. He lives with his mother down near Ephrata. His mom is away for the next week. She’s getting some treatments for a reoccurring cancer and asked if Nick could stay with us for a short while.” This was partially true. Barb Blick had intermittently received treatments for a rare form of cancer at a medical center near Pittsburgh. However, she was now in remission and hadn’t СКАЧАТЬ