The Day John Fitzgerald Kennedy Past. Welby Thomas Cox, Jr.

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СКАЧАТЬ this young man, maybe 21, clean shaven with a military crew cut. His slacks and shirt were neatly pressed and he wore a thin black tie and matching belt which he secured on the right hip area. He looked like a Fuller Brush salesman, or an insurance premium collector.

      "I seenyour sign in the window for an investigator to do undercover work." He said politely.

      "Yes, please take this application, fill it out and return it to the office." she said handing him the application.

      "I enjoy going to political meetings, and I am especially effective talking to the students at the University." he smiled.

      She noticed that his teeth where clean but they were small and spaced.

      "What would you say to them?"

      "Oh I would begin by asking them where they are from and maybe what high school they went to back home...maybe I would ask them about the family...small talk just to make them comfortable." he said.

      "And then." She gestured with hands to the throat, "You move in for the real dope?"

      He laughed. "Something like that, try to get them to express any preference for either side of the political spectrum."

      "You have to be careful to get their opinion and not that of their friends or their parents.”

      "I have a lot to learn but I do know that this process is very sensitive and strange in a way because I have seen so many people that will deliberately tell you a lie...and you have to try to watch the eyes.” he smiled again.

      "That is very perspective of you."

      "Well I think it helps that I have been in the Marines, I have traveled all over the world, you know Japan; I lived in Russia and married a Russian woman." He said.

      "Do you speak the language?"

      "I am getting better at it, but I want our baby to speak English...my wife too...We are Americans first and foremost,” he said.

      “I have papers for an alias, and I have a valid passport, I also know how to type for filing my reports, and I do not smoke in the office."

      "Boy or girl?" She asked.

      The question caught him off-guard and he stammered "Well, she, she is a girl." He responded proudly.

      "The job pays well for a starting position."

      "That is why I am here, I work around the corner at the coffee roaster, make nothing and it is a really dirty job."

      "It takes a lot of money to raise a baby." she said, "And all that dust is unhealthy."

      "You are very nice to speak to me."

      "Well you look and sound like the type person Mr. Banister is looking for...and honey I'll put in a good word for you." she smiled in her best southern belle look with all the charm of a fully matured woman behind it, not a come on, but definitely not a put off. It gave him urges in a place that was rarely fulfilled these days with the wife still recovering.

      "Thank you Ma’am, I'll bring the application back tomorrow."

      The young man left as silently as he had arrived. Rita liked that, she was partial to men who were quiet and unassuming...loud, boastful men where turn offs and she always ignored them.

      David Ferre' came from the men's room, drying his hands and tossing it into the trash, "Who was that sweet voice." He asked glancing at the door.

      "Now, Now Mr. Ferre' you know what the boss says about the employees..."

      Ferre' cut her off. "Yes, but he should practice what he preaches." he smiled.

      Rita blushed and it was obvious with the blood rushing to her very white complexion.

      "He wants to be an undercover agent." She said "I'd like to get him under the covers."

      "Have you ever been with a woman, David...? I mean Mr. Ferre'?"

      "What kind of question is that from such a sweet young Catholic girl...it will be the Saturday morning confessional for you...and might I ask have you been with a woman?"

      "I asked first." She laughed.

      "Well for now we have asked the question, and it may be best to let it lie."

      "You are a very smart man, Mr. Ferre'."

      Ferre' went into Mr. Banister's office which had floor to ceiling windows and looked out to the street which was busy at this hour of the morning but the sweet voice had flown the coop. Ferre' shrugged his shoulders and thought, "Just what the doctor ordered."

      Ferre' would not have been surprised to know that the boy's mother had trained his voice to hum and sing before he could actually speak and since she was a faithful Baptist, they were at the church whenever the doors opened, knowing as well as nourishing the soul there was always a meal or snacks to be had. So the boy was comfortable around the choir and he enjoyed the sound of the organ music and knew most of the hymns by the start of first grade.

      At the time they were living in Covington, Louisiana...and it was here that the boy was asked to sing with the choir for a special Christmas presentation and was asked to sing a solo selection.

      Chapter XII

      THE BLACK DOG

      P.T. Chou was an Americanized Asian, educated at New York University with a Masters in Economics. Thirty-three years of age, unmarried and living in a Hong Kong high rise. The apartment was lavishly decorated in a high-tech motif with pen and ink drawings, signed by Asian artist. An ebony baby-grand piano sat near the windows to his balcony which opened on the bay. When he opened the doors in the evening while playing Chopin, the sheer drapes danced along the edge of the shiny black instrument, casting a spell over the candle-lit room.

      Chou was of special interest to the Oversight Conference Partners who reviewed potential clients for the large firm of Bright, Goldman & Associates. The firm's quarterly financial report highlighted a definitive loss of billing and revenue. The goals for the year were not going to be met, and this meant an infusion of loans from the partners to meet the large monthly 'nut' to cover the expenses for one of the world’s largest law firms.

      Bright, Goldman & Associates would survive. They had experienced down-turns in business in the past. But this cycle was longer and deeper. Money was short and you would think, with crime on the rise, the litigation department would be busy.

      One of the major issues facing the firm was that it was top heavy with 'old school' partners who rarely practiced law, and their clients had gone into semi-retirement as well. Moreover the firm had never been known for representing violent criminals...only the white collar brand. These lawyers spent more time at the club stroking the ball, then in front of a federal judge, stroking his mind. They had grown accustomed to automatic billings to these well-heeled corporate clients and therefore ill-equipped for the changes in the economy and the loss of a major tobacco company client.

      Barney Bright, the firm’s founder and surviving partner could recall the days of storied relations with blue blood families and corporate leaders more interested in financial portfolios. Bright was fully aware that the client's legal require­ments were СКАЧАТЬ