apartment, the dead doctor’s briefcase was sitting on your kitchen floor. Plus, you fled while being questioned and locked me in your apartment. So, no, I guess you’re not a suspect.”
Randy’s facial expression went from warm and friendly, to incredulous, to relieved- after he picked up on her sarcasm. “Okay, you got me. But I suspect you know something you’re not telling me. You know by now that I didn’t kill the guy. So what’s going on?”
Chapter Twelve
Senator Byron McGinty violently pushed himself away from his desk. His large, black leather office chair breathed a sigh of relief as the Senator struggled against gravity to maneuver his oversize body into a standing position.
“I want this irritation to go away- now!” he growled through clenched teeth at his two office guests.
Senator McGinty was a force to be reckoned with in Washington. Despite his massive girth, it was rumored that he turned down the opportunity to be his party’s nominee for president- twice. He did relish power however, and he wielded plenty of it right where he was, having influence over several major Congressional committees, including being the chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations. What was irritating the Senator at the moment was a certain Randy Fairchild. He had recently been making inquiries about one of his Federal Call Handlers. He had persuaded a Call Center Receptionist to make inquiries about one of his Federal Call Handlers. He also had contact with one of his Call Center project team leaders before his recent death. The Federal Call Center was the Senator’s pet project, and he was not about to allow any interference with its success. “This project is top secret, top priority, and is yielding huge benefits. I have an important floor vote coming up this week that will determine the entire future of this project. We will not be compromised by one small, inconsequential office romance.”
The senator seems to be over-reacting to a minor irritation, Security Chief Perez thought to himself. He wasn’t sure what all was going on at the Federal Call Center, but it was his job to protect the building, or at least the first two floors. Up to this point, his duties had only included securing the perimeter of the building and grounds, and patrolling the first two floors’ hallways. His biggest challenges had been an occasional group of protesting nut cases on the front lawn, or one of the local vagrants wasting their time trying to get a handout. The actual operational aspects of the call center were a mystery to him.
Years earlier, he had questioned some of what was being brought in and out of the building, but he was firmly put in his place, relative to what his duties were. As long as shipments were accompanied with the proper paperwork, he was not to question what was going in or out of there. The Federal Call Center was a joint project between the Senate Committee on Appropriations, the President’s Office of Management and Budget, and a previously unknown private company, Ameriplaxi LLC. Its primary focus was to reconnect the people with their government, and at the same time hold down the cost. The majority of shipments to the call center came from Ameriplaxi, and they ran the show. After the initial set up, there was very little freight coming in or waste going out. It was nothing like his previous office security work, where literally tons of paper were arriving and leaving constantly. He had written off this anomaly as one attributable to the new “paperless society”.
Something Chief Perez did know about was the tons and tons of computer equipment that were installed in the building. He had heard that the top seven upper floors were nothing but rooms of computers and the environmental equipment to keep them functioning. The two lower floors were mostly administrative offices, reception areas, conference rooms and support and storage rooms for his security people. The third floor and
Randy’s facial expression went from warm and friendly, to incredulous, to relieved- after he picked up on her sarcasm. “Okay, you got me. But I suspect you know something you’re not telling me. You know by now that I didn’t kill the guy. So what’s going on?”
Chapter Twelve
Senator Byron McGinty violently pushed himself away from his desk. His large, black leather office chair breathed a sigh of relief as the Senator struggled against gravity to maneuver his oversize body into a standing position.
“I want this irritation to go away- now!” he growled through clenched teeth at his two office guests.
Senator McGinty was a force to be reckoned with in Washington. Despite his massive girth, it was rumored that he turned down the opportunity to be his party’s nominee for president- twice. He did relish power however, and he wielded plenty of it right where he was, having influence over several major Congressional committees, including being the chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations. What was irritating the Senator at the moment was a certain Randy Fairchild. He had recently been making inquiries about one of his Federal Call Handlers. He had persuaded a Call Center Receptionist to make inquiries about one of his Federal Call Handlers. He also had contact with one of his Call Center project team leaders before his recent death. The Federal Call Center was the Senator’s pet project, and he was not about to allow any interference with its success. “This project is top secret, top priority, and is yielding huge benefits. I have an important floor vote coming up this week that will determine the entire future of this project. We will not be compromised by one small, inconsequential office romance.”
The senator seems to be over-reacting to a minor irritation, Security Chief Perez thought to himself. He wasn’t sure what all was going on at the Federal Call Center, but it was his job to protect the building, or at least the first two floors. Up to this point, his duties had only included securing the perimeter of the building and grounds, and patrolling the first two floors’ hallways. His biggest challenges had been an occasional group of protesting nut cases on the front lawn, or one of the local vagrants wasting their time trying to get a handout. The actual operational aspects of the call center were a mystery to him.
Years earlier, he had questioned some of what was being brought in and out of the building, but he was firmly put in his place, relative to what his duties were. As long as shipments were accompanied with the proper paperwork, he was not to question what was going in or out of there. The Federal Call Center was a joint project between the Senate Committee on Appropriations, the President’s Office of Management and Budget, and a previously unknown private company, Ameriplaxi LLC. Its primary focus was to reconnect the people with their government, and at the same time hold down the cost. The majority of shipments to the call center came from Ameriplaxi, and they ran the show. After the initial set up, there was very little freight coming in or waste going out. It was nothing like his previous office security work, where literally tons of paper were arriving and leaving constantly. He had written off this anomaly as one attributable to the new “paperless society”.
Something Chief Perez did know about was the tons and tons of computer equipment that were installed in the building. He had heard that the top seven upper floors were nothing but rooms of computers and the environmental equipment to keep them functioning. The two lower floors were mostly administrative offices, reception areas, conference rooms and support and storage rooms for his security people. The third floor and
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