Chapter 28

A Change in Management and We are Finally Are on Our Way

I received a memo on Monday morning advising me of a Tuesday morning meeting with treaty negotiation team leaders. The meeting was scheduled for auditorium C. It must be a large group if it had to be held in an auditorium. I rechecked the list of attendees to make sure that I was the only one from our office required to attend. It must be the responsibility of the meeting attendees to pass the information covered along as needed, since I didn’t see any additional memos about it.

I showed up at the auditorium Tuesday morning, only to find it is the size of the conference room in our office suite. There were twelve people in the meeting, and they all knew each other. I kept getting, “Now, who asked you to be part of this effort?”

I would tell them it was the President, but the response was, “Oh, so that is you.” I was getting the feeling that I was being included because I was ‘special’.

I kept my mouth shut and took notes during the presentation. Most of the questions asked made this sound as if it were spring break and a rich Uncle Sam was paying for it. Disappointed by what I was hearing, I tried to think of a way to get our group dismissed and everyone back to their old jobs as easily as possible. I hated to break the news to everyone, especially Dr. Frisch. I just hoped that he wouldn’t personally hold it against me.

This treaty support mission was doomed, in my opinion. I headed back to the office after the meeting, so that I could tell the others and write out my resignation. One of the Secretary of State’s core of assistants stopped me, asking why I looked so glum. I said I didn’t think I would fit in and was heading to the office to write my letter of resignation. I had just gotten back to the office when Molly informed me that I had a call I needed to take.

I walked back to my desk and answered the phone; the caller was a rather irate President wanting to know why I was resigning. I told the President I attended a meeting for the treaty team leaders, and all the questions asked were more about partying in the UK and the hot spots in London and not the mission. The President asked me to hold off resigning for twenty-four hours, and he would then accept my resignation if I felt the same way. He wished me a good morning and ended the call. I stayed at my desk at noon, and asked Molly to grab me a luncheon special at the Cantina on her way back to the office. I pulled a legal pad out and started a list of things that we needed to do before we could move back to Chicago. I hoped my job was still available back at the university. Karen and her grandmother were going to be so disappointed when I broke the news to them. Both of them would cry their eyes out when I told them that we would be moving back to Chicago in disgrace.

Molly came back from lunch reporting that there was some sort of shakeup. Several employees had been let go from middle management-level positions in multiple departments of the State Department. It must be an across-the-board economic move to appease a congressional committee or senator, I thought. I decided not to tell anyone about resigning and moving back to Chicago. Karen and her grandmother liked this new house; I would be going by myself.

Karen showed me the paper while I was eating breakfast the next morning. The headline read ‘Shakeup in Treaty Negotiation Logistical Support Group’. The sub-headline, ‘Relatively Unknown Newcomer Named Support Group Team Leader’, Karen further read, paraphrasing what she read. The article stated a recent upstart with a proven get it done attitude was the top choice. His appointment would be announced at noon.

I commented to Karen, “Who they appoint into that position has to be absolutely insane and a masochist to put up with the horrors of that job.”

I further stated, “I wouldn’t walk away if they asked me; I would run shrieking.”

It was close to time for me to head into the office, probably for the last time. I kissed Karen goodbye, gave Grandma Jorgenson a hug, and wished them both a wonderful day.

I just got to the office and put my messenger bag under my desk, when Molly said, “You’d better get up here, James,” with some fear in her voice.

“Now what?” I thought.

There were two men in suits that could have been NFL defensive linemen standing there. These two were huge! I think their necks were bigger than my waist. They were a mountain range in themselves. ‘Hard to believe Washington, DC, had its own mountains’, I thought.

“You need to come with us, Dr. Mercer,” one of the mountains spoke.

“OK,” I responded. “I just need to tell Molly what to have ready for me when I get back.”

“Our orders are to bring you back now, kicking and screaming if necessary, Sir,” the other mountain added.

“OK, let’s go then,” I responded. “I don’t want to make you guys look bad when I kicked your asses in front of Molly.”

Not even a smile; tough crowd.

They escorted me to a black SUV, this is Washington, DC, after all. I entered the SUV and one of them climbed in the back seat beside me. The SUV started, and we went in a westerly direction. I won’t lie, I was petrified. I kept wondering who I had made a political enemy of. There was no need to think about that one; I had angered quite a few in the short time I had been in Washington. People who make people in power angry sometimes disappear in Washington, and I was sure that I was joining that list. There was no way I could fight these two.

The SUV had been traveling north on 18^th Street and, had traveled around Lafayette Park and then went in a southerly direction after a few turns, heading for Pennsylvania Avenue. I had a sneaking suspicion that I would end up at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

“So tell me, Guys, how well do you like the fruit punch energy drink they serve at camp?”

The mountain beside me blinked and looked directly at me.

“What do you know about fruit punch?” he asked.

“I spent a couple of weeks at summer camp. I got to drink all the fruit punch I wanted and played in the sand pit. I pissed off a camp counselor, and I beat him up when he tried to make an example out of the college boy, meaning me,” I answered.

“Are you the ‘Doc’?” the mountain beside me asked.

“You betcha,” I answered.

“I think I can still take you both on at the same time and not work up a sweat.”

That brought smiles to both of the mountains’ faces.

“We heard about the Russia vacation, and you pulled that one out of your ass,” the mountain beside me said.

“I can’t agree more,” I responded.

“Mike will be toast if I ever meet up with him,” I added.

“A traitor,” the mountain in front spoke.

I saw that we were indeed pulling into the White House, and there were news crews in the Rose Garden and on the nearby lawn. This was a big news conference; I wondered what news event was being reported. I looked at my watch; it was probably for the person they were announcing to take over for the canned Director. I felt sorry for that person. The SUV stopped when we pulled up to the entrance to the West Wing, and we all got out.

I was asked to accompany an aide to the prep area. The prep area? The prep area sounded like the ‘room’ where they prepared the bodies for viewing at a funeral home. I didn’t want to be difficult and did as requested. I would have found a way to sneak out and hide if I had known then what I knew now. I would head for Seattle when the coast cleared, it worked once before.

What they were going to do dawned on me when I got into the prep room. I made a beeline for the door and opened it. Both mountains stood there, blocking the door. I was trapped like a rat! The makeup artist was laughing at my antics.

“I have never seen anyone trying to get out of a Presidential appointment before. They all seem to try to run toward it, not away from it,” he laughed.

“You want it? I have connections and get you appointed instead of me,” I said.

“Sit in the chair so that I can do my job. Oh, you have fantastic skin. Have you had a facial lately?” he asked.

I was finished with my makeup and given off to my new friends an hour later, the ‘Twin Mountains’ as they became referred to. They brought me to an office near the Oval Office. Karen waited patiently for me, taking my hand and holding it. I remarked to Karen, “I never said that I would take it; I’m being drafted.”

“I swear I will divorce you and then emasculate you if you turn this down and embarrass me, James Mercer. No other women will want you then,” she angrily said, “And don’t think you are going to sneak out of here like you did on our wedding day. The Secret Service has orders to shoot to kill, and that order was from me.”

The door was open when Karen mentioned our wedding day. One of the mountains looked at me as if I was insane.

I looked at my watch; it was 11:45 AM. One of the mountains spoke, “Come on, Doc, it’s time.”

I began slowly walking the Green Mile to my doom.

Karen held on to my hand the whole time the President was making the announcement and introduction. She was digging her thumbnail into the web of my hand so deeply that she actually drew blood.

The President asked me to say a few words after announcing me as the new Director of Logistics and Protocol. I mumbled through a few sentences stating that I would do my best at the job given to me. Then the floor was open for questions. I hoped I didn’t embarrass myself too much when I said no comment when asked about previous people in the position. I gave them both my college educational background and where I had taught when asked about my background.

Someone had done their homework and asked about my involvement with the FBI. I simply stated that I had worked with the FBI strictly in a consulting role a few years back. I hoped that it was enough of a smokescreen to keep them off the Ginny B case. The same reporter asked about my involvement with the software company out of Seattle. I simply said the company had licensed an algorithm that I had created to speed up their software calculations.

Some Yahoo reporter asked where I had met the gold-digger standing beside me. The perfect storm Karen surfaced, and it was all I could do to keep her under control. The Secret Service quickly hustled the reporter out of the immediate area. Chief of Staff Baker came forward and thanked everyone for attending, ending the press conference. The President and the rest of us exited the Rose Garden and went into the West Wing.

Karen wanted to know who the reporter was that called her a gold-digger. She was having homicidal thoughts about him, and I didn’t blame her. The President invited Karen and me to join him for lunch, as he claimed that he hated to eat alone. The First Lady was back in California, handling ranch business for the President. We had sat down to a quick lunch of salad and soup when the President apologized for forcing me into accepting the position. He claimed that he had no one else he could get to do it. I finally gave in and said that I would comply as long as he was actively looking for a replacement.

He said ‘within thirty days’ when I asked when my team needed to be in the UK. He said that he gave the State Department a direct order to assist in moving my household to the United Kingdom. Karen asked about our dogs, as they were also part of our security team. He said that he would make a phone call on our behalf. I wondered whom he would call to make that happen, maybe the Queen herself. I could imagine that conversation—too funny for words.

The President had to get back to work, and he left me in the capable hands of the ‘Twin Mountains’. The two took me back to the State Department and escorted me to my office. Karen wanted to see the office and came along. I opened the door and went in, followed by Karen. Someone thought perhaps they were funny; the men bowed before me, and Andi and Molly curtsied. I thought to myself, ‘Real funny people; the press would run with it if they learns of this’. Karen said hello to Molly as she made a beeline to Andi’s desk. Those two were thick as thieves anytime they got together. There was hell to pay, and I was the payer. I wondered what trouble they were cooking up now.

I decided to spend the rest of the day at home, using the phone there to return my calls. The office was in too much of an uproar for me to get any work done. The phones kept ringing, and poor Molly was overwhelmed. Randy and Scotty joined Molly in screening calls. The press learned that there would be no interviews, and the calls ended. I asked everyone to forgive me about the uproar when Karen and I left for the house. The Two Mountains were in the black SUV with us; one drove while the other rode shotgun. There was a crowd on the sidewalk directly in front of our house when we turned on to our street. The local cops were bringing in portable barriers to keep the curious out. I heard Beast and the two Dobermans running loose in the backyard. We made it through the throngs of people who were on the sidewalk, many of whom were the press.

I went to investigate why the dogs were barking so loudly after we had passed the reporters and onlookers. Intruders were attempting to enter the backyard from Auction Alley and the neighbor’s yard. I walked outside to ask a police officer why there was so much attention to my family. I walked back inside the house with the intention of coming around through the yard and speaking with the lone police officer who was standing watch outside my driveway gate. I managed to get out the back door and around the house. Beast followed me around the side of the house up to the gate.

I tried to get the officer’s attention and motioned for him to come over. I wanted to know why all these people were in front of my house. The cop was busy trying to keep the curious away from the house and my gate. It couldn’t be about my appointment at noon; the news had just reported it. I went back into the house and decided to call my contacts, with my mentor, Frank, first. I wanted to know if he had any knowledge about why the crowd of people were in front of my house. I waited for the phone to stop ringing, then quickly called him.

Frank was able to clear up a few things; someone other than the press did some digging into my background. It had to have been a loyal and trusted supporter of the now disgraced Senator ‘JEB’ Stuart. The Senator’s supporter had been waiting for the perfect opportunity to attack, and my nomination to the Presidential post had been it. They had discovered the Ginny B affair and twisted it to suit their needs. James Mercer, a recent Presidential appointee, was now labeled as a murderer and a servant of Satan. I asked if I should just resign so that it would take the heat off the President. No such luck; I was stuck.

It took a week, but the story finally made it to the bottom of page three. We had some hangers-on calling the office, but Molly was good at screening them. There was a religious group picketing in front of the house. They could picket as long as they stayed on the sidewalk and didn’t come on to our property. Some tried to sneak over the wall one night, but Beast and the two Dobermans changed their minds for them. The cops no longer bothered to keep any officers on site. They would patrol by every so often. We got along as long as everyone played by the rules. The protesters got caught in the rain without protection a couple of times. I handed out garbage bags they could use as ponchos. They were polite and said thank you when I did that. A young mother was out there protesting with the church group and brought her two young children with her one afternoon. Grandma Jorgenson felt bad for the children and baked some chocolate chip cookies and took them out for the kids. They eventually gave up and went away.

It was getting close to the time for our move to the UK. We were not selling our home; we had a choice to either rent it as furnished, or to close it up and have it watched. We chose to do the latter. Our friend Alice from the State Department volunteered to watch our home for us. Alice was the one we trusted the most of all people we have met in Washington. That was one thing checked off our get ready to move list. Olive, Randy, Jean, and Scotty had to work out a solution to get out of their leases. A couple of phone calls from me to some interested parties made that easier. We even helped find tenants for the empty apartments.

The third floor of our house was empty, so we allowed the other two couples to store their things up there while we were all in the UK. I extended the same offer of storing her things at our house to Andi. She said that her condominium had come furnished, and all she was bringing with her would be her personal possessions. She would purchase anything else she might need in the UK.

I arranged to store our VWs with Robert of our work family. He was the only one who chose to stay behind. I would miss him as he was a fearless driver, and I could see him handling London traffic as I understood it to be insane at times. I was concerned about my beloved motorcycle. I hadn’t had the chance to ride since we moved to DC, and I hoped to find some country roads to ride on in the UK. I was informed that bringing it along would be no problem. I saw to it that the shipper knew to handle it with TLC. The last thing on my list of concerns was our three dogs. We had become very dependent on them for our home’s security. I hoped the State Department had worked out some sort of pass for the pups.

The move itself proved to be much more difficult than I felt it should have been. We were taking our office with us, everything from office furniture down to thumbtacks. The move was coordinated with the Office of Business Services. The packing, shipping, and unpacking of our personal household items was through the Office of Overseas Personnel Housing. My motorcycle move was coordinated through the US Air Force, as they would be the ones handling the actual flying our household and office items to the UK. Transporting the dogs was a coordinated effort between the US Air Force, the Department of Agriculture, and the British Foreign Office. The US Air Force did the flying, and the Department of Agriculture was responsible for seeing the dogs treated humanely on the flight over. The British Foreign Office was involved as protection from some overzealous British Inspector making sure that all laws of the realm were followed.

The only concern now left on my list was our living arrangements while in the UK. I hoped that it wasn’t in an Army tent set up in a field somewhere near London. Karen had the romantic idea that we would live in a stone cottage with a thatched roof in a rural British village, and I would commute into London every day. I swear that she watched too much PBS programming to suit me.

Karen and I had come up with a plan that would work well for us. I had called the hotel we had always stayed with when we came to Washington and the restaurant where Grandma Jorgenson gave her first cooking lessons. We would be staying at the hotel the week before we went to the UK. They reserved a whole floor for us. We all would be on the same floor to maintain security, which helped mold us into a larger family. We were already that for the most part; Molly and her boyfriend, Dr. Frisch and his spouse, and Andi were still on the outside and looking in at times. I wanted us all to be on the inside looking out. I hoped that this exercise achieved that goal. Even the dogs would be included; that would give them more opportunities for playtime and ear scratches. We just had to keep Beast out of the kitchen so that the health department didn’t shut the restaurant down.

The day of the move finally came, and we all were involved in supervising the moving of our personal items. Three extended passenger vans arrived in front of our home at 8 AM. Each one discharged 12 government-employed moving technicians (movers). The vans were parked down the street, and we had notified the neighbors that the moving process would take place today and be finished by evening. I imagined that our moving was much to the relief of some of my neighbors’ things since hadn’t been dull since we moved in.

A large panel truck parked in front of our home, the back opened, and specialty-shipping containers were unloaded and placed on the sidewalk outside our house. Our personal items went into the cardboard shipping boxes, then put in metal containers. Each box and every shipping container was inventoried and the contents documented. A copy went inside the metal container, and another copy was kept by the supervising mover. Each container had an identifying number placed on top of the inventory page. The container door was locked and sealed with a metal band when the container was full. The container was then placed inside the truck. The truck would drive off when it was full, and was replaced by another truck with shipping containers. I made a point of packing a container with the bag containing our Russian goodies myself. I stayed close, watching the container get locked and sealed. I made a note of which container the bag was in for myself.

The crew had the moving process completed just before noon; I guess that it wouldn’t take long for the job with a crew of 36 specialists. They left in their vans at the same time as our possessions did. The only things left in the front entrance were our personal luggage for the stay at the hotel and our trip to the UK.

Next on the schedule was for an Air Force crew to come to the house and crate my motorcycle for the trip. A step van pulled up in front of the house in the proper USAF blue that identified it as an official USAF vehicle At noon. A crew of four got out and asked about the motorcycle so they could crate it. I led them back to the carriage house where I kept it out of the weather. One of the logistics crew members seeing the bike became excited and started telling the rest of the crew everything about the bike. I had to laugh; the young crew member was a real motorcycle nut. He politely asked me where I got such a fine-looking classic bike. I told him near Minot AFB, North Dakota. The kid said that he knew where he was volunteering for his next duty station. The rest of the crew rolled their eyes. I allowed the young enthusiast to walk the motorcycle to the step van. You would have thought that I had given him permission to date my daughter.

It took the crew about an hour to crate the bike, place it in the step van, and drive off. Scotty and Jean volunteered to go get Chinese takeout while we waited for the last thing to be completed. Robert showed up at the head of a caravan of an extended passenger van, a regular van, and two roll-away auto carriers while Jean and Scotty were gone. The two VW Beetles would join our VW Camper bus at Robert’s place. I knew that I would have no concerns with Robert taking care of them. I gave the keys for the VW Bugs to Robert, and he drove each of the cars to the back of the roll-away auto carriers. The driver drove off to Robert’s facility after each was loaded. We loaded our luggage into the van after they left. Beast and his two troublemaking companions were getting a last-minute romp in the backyard.

We all went out to the back patio to wait for Scotty and Jean. They finally showed up, and we set up buffet style so that we all could choose what we wanted to eat. We had plenty, so we shared with Robert and his driver who would take our luggage to the hotel. Beast had to be a nuisance, of course, pestering the driver, begging for both scraps of food and ear rubs, until Karen made him behave. The leftovers we packaged up for Robert and the driver to take with them. No sense wasting food, I thought.

We gave the house a one-last look to make sure that everything was as we wanted it to be. I set the alarms, locked up the house, and we climbed into the van for the trip to the hotel. The dogs jumped in first; they loved car rides. The rest of us climbed in, and I noticed Karen and Grandma were both misty-eyed. I was told that they already missed our home when I asked what was wrong. I wasn’t about to admit it, but I did as well.

We arrived at the hotel after a short drive in midday Washington, DC, traffic. We all worked together to empty the van; the bellhop was there to put our bags on the cart. Karen led the way up to the check-in desk, greeted with smiles and messages of missing us. I made Beast and the two Dobermans sit and stay while we registered. Beast and the terrible two behaved and listened for once. I told Karen that she was in charge as I was taking the troublemakers across the street to the park as a reward for behaving. Karen said that she would be over to join us later. Beast and his bunch were running around, marking the trees, and maybe a couple of sunbathers, though none came over to complain. I was enjoying being out in the sun; most of my days were being cooped up in an office and only able to look at the outdoors from a window. I sat down on a bench and kept watch over my wayward mutts in hopes that they didn’t cause too much trouble.

Karen and Grandma soon joined me on the bench, enjoying the sun as much as I was. Washington would soon be hot and muggy, and everyone would want to be inside enjoying the air conditioning. I’m not sure how the conversation got started while we were on that bench, but we started talking about nostalgia. Grandma told about how she first met me and how she felt sorry for the backward, yet lovable, tenet. Karen then had to tell her impression of meeting me at the airport that first time. I also came across as a complete clown when I stuttered to say hi. She thought I was adorable and fell completely in love with me when I gathered up her suitcases that day. I had assisted Grandma Jorgenson and herself into my little VW beetle. I told them that I expected another Sadie, but a Viking Princess overwhelmed me instead. Grandma snorted at the mention of Sadie, trying to suppress a laugh. She told Karen about the first impression Sadie had left, and the odor took two weeks to abate. Karen said that she had heard from another of their relatives that Sadie, done with men, was now living in an exclusive lesbian commune somewhere close to Portland.

The dogs were soon rundown and panting, tired and ready for a nap. We were walking back toward the hotel when the dogs made a beeline for the decorative fountain to grab a quick drink before we crossed the street back to the hotel. We went up to our rooms, but not before the mutts got their share of petting and ear scratches from the staff. It seemed like I had just lain down when Karen was shaking me awake, telling me that it was time for supper. We went down, but the dogs stayed in the room; they were still tired from their romp in the park. Looking at the clock, I realized that I had slept for two hours and could probably sleep another two hours.

I went back up to the room after eating, to feed and water the boys. Karen, Jean, and Olive volunteered to take the dogs over to the park for an early evening romp. I crashed once again, hoping to get a few more hours of sleep in while they did that. I don’t know how long I was out, but I woke up and sat up when Karen and the other two came in the room laughing. I received a wet, cold greeting from Beast and the other two mutts. Karen told me that she would never say anything bad about the dogs again. This got my attention. The three women were sitting on the bench when they were approached by four DC Lotharios who wouldn’t take no for an answer. In fact, one of them had grabbed her arm in an attempt to get her to stand. That was when she yelled for Beast and he came running. She didn’t even need to give a command as he and the other dogs quickly moved the men back from the women on the bench. The idiot who grabbed her wrist tried to impress her while trying to get her to stand by saying he worked for the State Department and had a lot of pull. The idiot said that he worked for Undersecretary Smith after Beast’s intervention. That would narrow it down some when I went visiting tomorrow. The man will wish that he never met my wife when I was done. Did I ever say how much I hated this city?

Karen and I got up early the next morning, and we took a taxi to the State Department Building. I was met there by the ‘Twin Mountains’ from the White House, who I had met earlier that month. We greeted each other as I had asked if I could have use of their services that morning after explaining the situation, and they agreed to help. It never hurts to show up with additional muscle in this city. I showed the guard my ID and got a visitor’s pass issued for Karen, then we walked to Undersecretary Smith’s office.

Our little group we made an impression on his office staff, especially the borrowed Twin Mountains, when entered the Undersecretary’s Office area. I walked over to the receptionist’s desk and asked to speak to the Undersecretary; I gave her my name and my new title. She got on the phone and announced me to the Undersecretary. It wasn’t long before the bureaucratic weasel had made his way out to greet me. I told him about my wife’s assault in the park the night before by at least one male, who identified himself as his employee, assaulted her when she refused his advances, when he asked what he could do for me. I was there to find the culprits and see to it that they faced arrest. The weasel denied that any employee of his department could behave that way, and that he wouldn’t tolerate that behavior from any of his employees.