understand perfectly," Sneed said as if hooking a large marlin. "Be back here at eleven o'clock tonight. We'll fly out in a government jet and watch the sunrise at 20,000 feet. Oh, and bring a black tie. We'll have lady escorts for the finals."
Wing stood. His head bowed slightly in Sneed's direction. "I will meet you here at eleven this evening." Expressionless, Wing turned and left the Senator's office.
Sneed walked to his desk and grabbed the disposal phone from his drawer. He dialed his daughter and a voice answered, "Hello."
"Jennifer, it's your dad."
"Hi dad. How did the meeting go with Mr. Wing?"
"Can we meet for dinner?"
"Sure. How about Bailey's. They have the kind of beer you like."
"Ok. About seven."
"Sure. You're buying!"
Sneed hung up the phone and dialed the Nevada number for Ralph Locci. When Locci answered he explained the land situation and the problem between him and Ken Sanchez. "I need you to send someone to Phoenix to persuade Sanchez, the BLM guy, to immediately deed the 50,000 acres from the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge property. Can you do that for me?" Without waiting for an answer, Sneed gave him the details about the land.
Locci responded with a few seconds of silence after Sneed finished talking. "What can I expect in return. Seems like I've become your boy Friday lately."
"I can highly recommend the Galaxy for the AARP, PETA and NORAL's annual conventions. I'm on each of their advisory boards."
Satisfied, Locci asked, "Anything else, Senator?"
"Yea, get another Saturday night date for Mr. Wing and another two tickets for the Poker World Series. Can't go to the poker finals without eye-candy."
"Ok." Locci grimaced.
Chapter 13 Go To Electronics
An auxiliary conference room in Mac's office doubled as the Foundation's communications center. It was transformed into a media room equipped with two dedicated T1 fiber optic, broadband internet lines.
Bob Turnbol tested the connections. Then he finished bundling computer wires while humming Lying Eyes, an old Eagles tune. There wasn't much space behind the six, 27-inch LED LCD computer monitors mounted around the six footed long, semi-circular workstation.
"Everything should work," he proclaimed to Mac and Ben walking into the room.
They were impressed by the workstation's size and scope. "Do I need a hundred page manual to operate this?" Ben asked skeptically.
Mac visualized putting Kitiona's face on all six monitors. Then he anxiously said, "Power up this monster!"
Bob pushed the power button. "Leave the computer on all the time. The monitors will go into screensaver then sleep mode after an hour of inactivity."
Bob smiled looking at Ben. "Think of all these monitors as one screen." He demonstrated the options for changing screens. He put the cursor over the taskbar, monitor-shaped, icon and clicked. "You have lots more options, but you should learn these two first. This option puts the same picture on all the screens and this option divides the screen into six parts, one for each monitor."
Ben glanced at his watch and announced, "It's noon, meeting time."
Mac sat in the control chair and opened their Skype account. Bob configured the program to put each person on separate screens.
Skype's home screen indicated all the Foundation members were online. One by one Mac sent video conferencing invites to Jimmy in Las Vegas, Carol in Washington, DC, Kitiona in American Samoa and Juan in Sarasota, Florida. As they came online, the program put their faces on different monitors.
"Good morning," Carol greeted Kitiona. "What's tomorrow like?"
Kitiona beamed. "Just another wonderful day in paradise. How's your new apartment?"
"Our Annapolis apartment's great. We have a view overlooking the Potomac River. Anna and I are keeping the sailors guessing which pub we'll visit next."
"Greetings everyone," Ben said standing behind Mac. The wide-angle webcam showed Ben and Mac, with Bob relaxing on the sofa in the background.
"Sailors aside, ladies, we may have a criminal case," Ben said focusing their attentions.
"If it's a criminal case, it's most likely a corruption case, too," Juan commented.
Mac asked Kitiona, "Has Mark heard anything from his sister?"
"No and I talked with him this morning. He's thinking about postponing his research and going to Las Vegas to look for her."
Jimmy jumped in. "We haven't located Janelle yet. Mark would be smart to sit tight until we discover her whereabouts."
"Mark and Kaia are here with me," Kitiona responded.
Mark spoke up. "Thanks Jimmy. I hope you're going to find Janelle soon."
Jimmy asked, "Ben, what do you think?"
"Give us what you have, Jimmy."
"My buddy, Rick Rizzo, a LVPD detective is sitting behind me. Everyone say hi to Rick."
A chorus of hi's came over the computer speakers in Jimmy's office.
Jimmy continued, "Rizzo and I searched Janelle's apartment. While Rizzo was looking around inside the apartment, I got mugged by the guys we think took Janelle's personal belongs. Then Janelle's friend, Wendy, the one that got Janelle's senator text, winds up in the hospital with a smashed in face. I say this smells of someone trying hard to cover their tracks."
"Any info on the guys who mugged you or Wendy?" Juan asked.
Rizzo voice could be heard coming from behind Jimmy. "Wendy thinks her benefactor, Ralph Locci, is involved. He gave her fifty grand and told her to get out of town."
Carol asked, "Who's this Locci character?"
Jimmy answered. "He's the CEO of the Galaxy Hotel on the strip. And that's not good. You know he's connected some way to the mob."
Kitiona wondered out loud. "Is the American mob into everything?"
Ben gave the group some perspective. "The mob is about making money, without working too hard. They've tapped into legal and illegal money making ways. No surprise they're in Vegas. So, you guys might as well get use to hearing about them in almost every political investigation the Foundation pursues."
"Great," Carol said. "I'm glad the Foundation has its own place now. Maybe they won't blow my apartment up again!"
Chapter 14 Assignments
Ben could feel their focus vaporizing. He needed to keep this all business. "Correct me if I'm wrong Jimmy and Mac. Mark realized his twin sister went missing almost two weeks ago. The last thing we know Janelle did was text 'got a senator tonight' to her friend Wendy. We know Wendy
