Adam's Covers

Adam’s Covers

Published by Willie Qwit at Smashwords

Copyright 2010 Willie Qwit

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 - Bambi

Chapter 2 – Interview

Chapter 3 – Meet Thaddeus Drake

Chapter 4 - Bonus Interview

Chapter 5 – New Jobs

Chapter 6 – The Crew

Chapter 7 – Chicago Bound

Chapter 8 – White Guys Matter

Chapter 9 – The Iranian Hostage Crisis

Chapter 10 – Drake News Network

Chapter 11 – Drake’s Philosophy

Chapter 12 - The Lithuanian Connection

Chapter 13 – Women Don’t Matter

Chapter 14 – Blacks Don’t Matter

Chapter 15 - Adam’s First Cover

Chapter 16 – The O’Reilly Visit

Chapter 17 – The O’Reilly Problem

Chapter 18 – Zombies

Chapter 19 – Accidents Happen

Chapter 20 – Drake’s Deadly Plan

Chapter 21 – Thaddeus Drake Must Die

Chapter 22 – DNN Goes Live

Chapter 23 – O’Reilly Returns

Chapter 24 – Sign on the Dotted Line

Chapter 25 – Escape Plan

Chapter 26 – O’Reilly Gets Tats

Chapter 27 – Goodbye Thaddeus

Chapter 28 – Transfer of Power

Chapter 29 – Loose Ends

# # #

Chapter 1 - Bambi

I was busy scanning the want ads when the phone rang.

Hello?

I heard a woman giggle. Oh, like hi! Is Adam Olson totally there?

This is Adam Olson.

"Ohmygawd, that’s great! I mean, it’s great that you answered the phone. Not like you’re a great guy. Oopsie! That didn’t sound right, did it? Like I’m totally sure you’re a great guy, too! Anyway, I’m glad you answered the phone, because now I don’t have to call you back. Not like I’m lazy. Well, not all that lazy. Not about my nails, anyway, because I take like totally good care of them! Honest! I mean, every time I dial a number I’m so afraid I’m going to break a nail. Golly, that reminds me of the time I almost broke a nail when I called the abortion clinic to cancel my appointment!

"See, I keep my nails really long, so I always have trouble dialing numbers. But they’re so pretty! My fingernails, I mean. Not the numbers, because they look stupid. I soak them for 15 minutes every night in bath oil, then put on a moisturizer, and cover them with cotton gloves at bedtime. My fingernails, I mean, not the numbers. Well, except for when I spend the night with T-Bear.

"Anyway! For sure I was totally freaked out about being pregnant. I mean, who wouldn’t be, right? Teddy Bear would have been so mad! But then I got my period, so the daddy wasn’t Thaddy. Because there wasn’t a daddy. And why I’ll never know, the way we go at it like a couple of little bunny rabbits!

I called Teddy right away to tell him the totally good news. Then I called the clinic, because I figured it would be cool if somebody else got a shot at my slot. I mean, a chance to book my appointment time. Anyway, I almost broke a nail on that pesky little ‘9’. And I was being really careful, too, because if I dialed the wrong number I might have ended up talking to some stranger about my abortion appointment. And like how totally embarrassing would that be?

Yeah, I see what you mean. Can I ask who this is?

Ohmygawd! I didn’t introduce myself, did I? How unprofessional! I’m Bambi Brooks, and I’m Teddy Bear’s, um, I mean, I’m totally Thaddeus Drake’s executive personal assistant. But just call me Bambi, okay? And that’s Bambi with an ‘I’, because I’m totally an ‘I’ girl. I mean, I try to take care of myself, so I drink a lot of juice and stuff. But that’s not all I do. Hmmm, come to think of it, maybe it is. Not like drinking juice all the time, I mean, but like totally taking care of myself. Gee, I never thought about it that way. Wow! We just met, and already you have me thinking these totally deep thoughts. Isn’t that amazing?

Uh, sure, I guess so.

Well anyway, this is a totally important business call. Thaddeus said I should let somebody else do me. I mean, do it, and he like totally meant call you, not do me, because only Teddy Bear, um, I mean, only Thaddeus does me. Well, not like he does what you might think I mean he does, because I don’t. Do it with him, I mean. So I don’t. Or won’t. Talk about him doing me. Anyway, your interview with T-Bear is all set up.

I have a job interview with Thaddeus Drake?

Oh, like you totally do! I know you’re going to love Teddy Bear. I mean, Thaddeus. You know. Mr. Drake. But somebody else will call you with all those pesky little interview details. So like, bye!

The line went dead.

Jenny asked, Who was that?

I shook my head and laughed. Some freak that said her name was Bambi Brooks. According to her, I have an interview with Thaddeus Drake.

You don’t mean THE Thaddeus Drake, do you?

An old Army buddy had called me a couple of weeks earlier. He’d signed on as a security guard with Drake Worldwide after he’d gotten out of the service, and then he’d recommended me for a job when he’d heard they were looking for a guy with my kind of background. I’d told him thanks for thinking of me, but I never expected anything to come of it. And I certainly never expected to land an interview with Thaddeus Drake himself, who by all accounts was one of the most wealthy and influential conservatives in the country.

Well, according to Bambi, yeah.

I told her what Bambi had said. The phone rang again so I grabbed it.

Hello?

Curt Stephenson here, calling for Adam Olson.

The voice was deep, powerful, and authoritative.

This is Adam Olson.

Good. Adam, you don’t know me. I’m the Director of Security for Drake Worldwide. I understand Bambi Brooks called you a short time ago. Is that correct?

Yes Mr. Stephenson, she did. I raised my eyebrows at Jenny.

Call me Curt. And here’s something you’ll find interesting, Adam. Believe it or not, you and I have something in common. I was in the Marine Corps before I took this job. Retired as a full bird colonel after twenty years.

That explained his arrogant attitude. I’d been an enlisted man in the Army, and through the years I’d had more than my fill of uppity, pompous officers. He paused like he expected me to say something, so I did.

Who gives a shit, asshole?

Actually what I said was, That’s very impressive, sir, but the other response was tempting.

Stephenson chuckled. Calling another man ‘sir’ is a tough habit to break after being in the Army for seven years, isn’t it?

I assumed he knew about my time in the Army from my resume.

Yes, sir. I mean, yes it is, Curt.

And you’ve got a girlfriend by the name of Jenny Brighton. She was in the Army with you, isn’t that right?

Yes, she was.

I hadn’t said anything about having a girlfriend on my resume. Therefore, I certainly hadn’t mentioned Jenny’s name, or the fact that she’d been in the Army with me. I felt a mildly creepy feeling come over me.

So tell me, Adam, what did you and Jenny do for Uncle Sam?

Uh, sir, I mean Curt, I’m not at liberty to talk about anything I did while I was a member of the United States Armed Forces. I believe Jenny would tell you the same thing.

I heard him chuckle. That was a trick question. I know you and Jenny recently separated from military service. The Army tried to get you to re-up, but you both declined and received your honorable discharges. I also know you and Jenny had Top Secret security clearances in the Army’s Military Intelligence Corps, and that you both performed highly sensitive and classified real-time transcription work for a number of years.

He paused again. I was speechless. He knew things about us nobody outside the Intelligence Corps was supposed to know.

"Adam, your name was referred to me by one of our security personnel that knew you in the Army. I’m not really trying to get you to talk about what you or Jenny did while you were in the military. Quite frankly, I don’t need to. We’ve already completed full background checks on the two of you, and you both passed with flying colors. Otherwise we wouldn’t be having this conversation.

You’re probably wondering how I know those things about you and Jenny. Well, let’s just say I have friends in high places, not only because of my own personal and professional contacts, but also because I work for one of the most wealthy and powerful men in the country. And so will you, if you ace that interview with Mr. Drake.

He wasn’t kidding about being well connected if he knew all that about Jenny and me. I regained my composure and signaled for Jenny to sit down next to me. I tipped the telephone handset so she could listen in.

I’m responsible for the logistics related to your interview with Mr. Drake, and I’m following up on Bambi’s call for two reasons. I need to ask you about a couple of things, and then I want to answer any questions you might have about the interview process. You mind if I get my questions out of the way first?

Sure.

Okay, first question. How fast do you type?

100 words per minute.

That’s on a typewriter?

Yes, on a selectric typewriter.

How fast do you type on that other thing you use?

I’d been an expert typist before I’d enlisted, and I’d learned to be a stenographer while I was in the Army. Since none of that was classified, I answered Stephenson’s questions.

I average 275 on a stenotype.

Very impressive. And how long does it take you to work up an English transcript from that gibberish that comes out of the stenotype?

I transcribe machine shorthand into English at around 100 words per minute. The time it takes me to transcribe and proof read is directly proportional to the number of words spoken. My accuracy rate is over 99% for both a typewriter and a stenotype, and I proof read extremely quickly.

What about Jenny?

If I was the one that had a job interview at Drake Worldwide, then I had no idea why he wanted to know about Jenny’s typing skills, or why he’d done a background check on her. But I wasn’t about to jinx my job prospects by giving Stephenson a hard time.

Jenny averages 120 words per minute on a selectric, and 260 words per minute on a stenotype. Her accuracy on both is about the same as mine.

Good. Those are very impressive numbers from what I’ve been told. Alright, those are all the questions I have for you. I know you must have a thousand questions if you talked to Bambi. She’s a sweet kid, but kind of long on looks and short on brains, if you follow my drift. How about if I start at the top and step you through the entire interview process? Then we can circle back to any questions you might have.

That would be great, Curt.

Stephenson said they wanted to fly us to Chicago the next day, on Thursday afternoon. He said they’d put us up for the weekend at one of the best hotels in town, and on top of all that, give us a thousand dollars in expense money. I had an interview at 9:30 on Friday morning with Thaddeus Drake, President and CEO of Drake Worldwide.

Stephenson told me Drake owned several businesses, including two national magazines, network affiliate TV stations in Chicago, Cincinnati, and Detroit, and the largest daily newspapers in Chicago and Indianapolis. On top of all that, Drake was getting ready to launch Drake News Network, or DNN, which was going to be the world’s first 24 hour cable news channel. He ran his media empire out of the 42 story Thaddeus Drake Building, which was located in the heart of downtown Chicago.

Adam, one last thing. Mr. Drake told me to emphasize that he wants Jenny to come with you to Chicago. Can I tell Mr. Drake you’ll both be on that plane Thursday afternoon?

I glanced at Jenny, who nodded as she gave me a quizzical look.

Curt, we’ll both be there.

Excellent. I’ll arrange to have a travel agency drop off your plane tickets later this afternoon. We’ll have a limo pick you up on Friday morning at oh-nine hundred hours outside your hotel. Bambi will meet you in the lobby of our building. You should be done with the interview process around twelve hundred hours, and then you and Jenny can do whatever you want for the rest of the weekend before you fly home on Sunday afternoon. Good luck on that interview.

He hung up before I could say anything else. I leaned back in my chair and looked at Jenny.

Well, how about that?

Adam, I can’t believe you have a job interview with Thaddeus Drake! They must really want you for that job if they’re going to fly us both up there and give us the royal treatment.

Yeah, but why? I mean, there must be plenty of people that can type fast in the Chicago area.

It must be your military background and top security clearance. I bet they want somebody to work on their confidential projects. New business ventures, acquisitions, things like that.

It was the only thing that made any sense. I was 27 and Jenny was 26. Neither one of us had any sort of pertinent private sector business experience, or friends in high places. We’d both been poorly paid enlisted personnel in the Army for the past several years. We’d gone to college, her for one year and me for two years, before we’d enlisted. We’d met in the Army, where we’d both been part of a small but elite unit that did real time transcription work on highly classified, time sensitive projects. Our work had been used to bring down a couple of high profile spies, as well as some people that had simply vanished and were never heard from again. It had also been used to blackmail and intimidate political foes, and destroy the lives of well intentioned private citizens that had gotten caught in the cross hairs of the U.S. Army.

We’d produced accurate transcripts that were ready shortly after the call, transmission, or conversation had ended. Our product had gotten a lot of attention from the Army’s big dogs. I’d usually worked with at least one high ranking officer listening in and looking over my shoulder as I typed. Invariably they’d grabbed the transcript out of my hands the second the I’d finished typing it, and then they’d run off to find their commanding officers so they could impress them with the latest news.

I said, Stephenson obviously did his homework. I’m a little freaked out by how much he knows about us.

Adam, he was a Marine lifer, and now he works for a man that’s probably on a first name basis with everybody in Washington, D.C. I’ll bet he was able to get that information with a couple of phone calls.

What Jenny said made good sense. We kicked it around for a while. Both Jenny and I were unemployed at the time, and although we had enough money put aside to keep us going for a few months, we were both actively seeking court reporter jobs with the county, the state, or the feds. What the hell, we decided, we had nothing to lose, and so we agreed I should go for the interview.

Chapter 2 - Interview

Jenny and I flew up Chicago on Thursday, January 3, 1980. It truly was a no-lose situation, because we’d have a free weekend in Chicago even if I bombed on the interview. I didn’t quite know what to expect out of the interview process, so I decided to be truthful and hear what Thaddeus Drake had to say. If it worked out, then great.

We woke up early Friday morning and I got ready. I found myself with a mild case of the jitters as the interview time drew closer.

I said, Man, I haven’t been this nervous for a long time.

Adam, if you can work with a bunch of generals breathing down your neck then you can handle an interview with a millionaire like Thaddeus Drake.

I grinned. You’ve got a good point there.

I finished adjusting my tie and turned around. So what do you think?

Jenny gave me an appraising look. You look good, Adam. Very professional. I like that suit on you.

Thanks. It’s the only one I own.

Jenny was getting over strep throat, and was down to her last antibiotic pill. The pill fell onto the floor when she popped open the medicine bottle.

She said, Oh crap, I dropped my pill.

Where did it go?

I don’t know. Don’t worry about it, Adam. That was the last one. I feel fine.

I got down on my hands and knees and started looking around.

Jenny, you’re supposed to take all your meds. You know that.

I lifted the bed skirt and found the pill.

Here you go. A little carpet fuzz won’t hurt you. Now take it.

Sir, yes sir! She mock saluted me and took the pill. There, last one gone. Now give me a kiss for good luck and get downstairs. You don’t want to be late.

I gave her a kiss and headed down to the lobby of the hotel. I was on the sidewalk out front at 8:55. A Rolls Royce pulled up to the curb at 9:00 sharp. The driver got out and approached me.

Mr. Olson?

Yes, I’m Adam Olson.

Very good, sir.

He opened the back door of the Rolls for me, so I climbed in. If Drake was trying to impress me, he was doing a good job of it. The driver got behind the wheel and glanced at me in the rear view mirror.

My name is Cedric. Please sit back and relax, sir. We should arrive at Drake Worldwide headquarters in approximately ten minutes.

A short time later we pulled up in front of a glass and steel skyscraper in the heart of downtown Chicago. A large sign over the main entrance announced it was the Thaddeus Drake Building. I went for the door handle, but Cedric was way ahead of me. He opened the door and stepped to the side.

Ms. Brooks will meet you in the lobby. I hope you have a very productive interview, Mr. Olson.

Okay, thanks a lot, Cedric.

He hopped behind the wheel and steered the Rolls back into traffic. I went into the building through the revolving doors and walked over to the security desk. I saw a blonde bent over the desk, talking to the security guy sitting there. Her skirt was incredibly short, and the way she was leaning over didn’t leave much to the imagination.

One thing I’d picked up in the military was the ability to display a neutral expression on my face. I was inscrutable if I wanted to be. An absolute cipher. I put that practiced look on my face as I approached the desk, then cleared my throat.

Hello, my name is Adam Olson. I have a 9:30 appointment with Mr. Drake.

The blonde stood up and whirled around. Oh…my…gawd! Like I’m totally Bambi Brooks! Oh, this is exciting! It’s so great to meet you in person, Adam!

Bambi was slender, stood around five foot four, and had long, straight, blonde hair. She had on dark blue eye shadow, heavy mascara, and pink lipstick. Her long nails were painted to match her lips. She was actually very cute, but in a California valley girl bimboish sort of way. She looked to be in her mid twenties.

The top three buttons of her tight, ivory colored blouse were undone. I was surprised that the remaining buttons were able to hold in her massive breasts. Bambi gave me a hug, right in the middle of the lobby. I nearly choked from the overpowering smell of her sweet perfume. She let go of me, stepped back, and gave me a huge smile.

I said, Well Ms. … I mean Bambi, it’s great to meet you, too.

She laughed, put a hand on her hip, cocked her head to the side, and wiggled her finger at me.

You almost called me Ms. Brooks! I totally remember I told you to call me Bambi. I mean, like everybody does! Call me Bambi, I mean. Not like everybody does me. Although I know plenty of horny guys that would like to get some of this!

She turned to the security guy and shook her chest at him. She grinned and the guy laughed.

I said, Okay then, Bambi it is.

Like totally awesome! Okay, so we better get you up to meet Teddy. Well, not like you need to get it up. Ohmygawd, did I really say that? It wouldn’t be a bad thing, you getting it up I mean, because you’re like totally cute and all. Anyway, I don’t want to be rude, because I want to make a totally good first impression. So I’ll say, um, oh I know! Let’s go upstairs, okay? That sounds bunches better. Except let’s use the elevator instead of the stairs, okay? Jeepers, all those stairs! Can you imagine? I’d get all sweaty and stinky and stuff. Of course, some guys like that sort of thing. Why, I used to know this one guy that…

The security guy rescued me.

Mr. Olson, if I can get you to sign in here, I’ll issue you a visitor’s pass so Bambi can escort you to Mr. Drake’s office.

Sure, thanks.

He gave me a badge to clip on my lapel after I signed in. The guy pointed at two machines that looked like large, free standing door frames. Sir, I need you to step through one of the metal detectors. Be sure to take any metal objects out of your pockets and place them in one of the trays. Don’t stop or touch the sides as you go through, please.

Bambi said, Wow, aren’t our security people the most bestest? Every day when I come to work I feel so totally safe!

I glanced around the lobby as I followed Bambi over to the metal detectors. There was a steady stream of people coming into the building at that hour. I counted seven security guards, all male, spread around the area. They had on freshly starched uniform shirts, smartly pressed matching pants, and spit polished shoes. They were all carrying sidearms. Four of them were standing by the metal detectors. They wanded anybody that set off a machine, and they searched a lot of the purses, briefcases, and bags that came through. Two guards walked around behind the security checkpoint, looking at everything and everybody. I figured they were all ex-military. They had the look and bearing that military discipline gives a person. I was impressed.

Bambi took my arm, pressed her huge breasts against me, and giggled.

Like, they’re so totally careful around here! You better do what they say or they might frisk you. My underwire bra set off their gadget thingies on my first day. Three different security guys frisked me. They were like totally thorough, too. It was fun! I wasn’t embarrassed at all! Of course, I had to go shopping that night and buy totally new bras.

I said, Of course.

I’d worked under extraordinarily tight security measures when I was in the Army, so I knew the drill. All I had with me was a writing portfolio, a pen, my wallet, and a hotel room key. I didn’t set off the machine, so I picked up my things on the other side of the metal detector. Bambi led me to a single elevator that was set aside from the bank of elevators everyone else was using. She inserted a key into a wall mounted panel and the elevator door opened. We got in, the door closed, and the elevator took off like it a rocket. I let my knees flex a bit to compensate. Bambi turned to face me, raised her eyebrows, and pointed a finger in the air. She looked like a bimbo schoolmarm.

Okay Adam, here’s some totally important stuff for you to know. This is a private elevator. It only stops on the floors where Teddy Bear, um, I mean Thaddeus, has his offices and stuff. Not like he has offices on every floor, although I guess he could, since he like totally owns the whole building. He has his executive offices on the top three floors. Well, they’re really only on 40, and then he lives on top of that. I mean, the other two floors. Where he lives. Above them. The offices are for his totally big people. Not like they’re big and fat, because they’re his really important executives.

He lives in this building?

Oh, like he totally does! Drake Worldwide is on the 25th and 39th floors. Well, and the ones in-between, too. I don’t mean like one floor in-between, because there’s bunches. I mean, like 25 and 39 are totally way apart numbers, so there’s what? Like maybe five other floors between them? Something like that. Anyway. We’re a totally huge company. Teddy Bear, I mean Thaddeus, has his executive offices on 40. And he lives on 41 and 42. I mean, like he has this totally awesome penthouse on the top two floors. I go up there all the time! Well, only when his wife’s gone. She is such a bitch! But it’s totally for business stuff. Not like personal stuff. I mean, not like he does me or anything. Not while his wife’s around, anyway. Oh, and I bet she’d love to watch. Let me tell you, she’d learn some totally new tricks watching me!

I see.

You do? Wow, you are such a totally smart guy, Adam! I just know you’re going to love Teddy Bear. I mean, Thaddeus. You know. Mr. Drake.

I felt the deceleration as the elevator slowed. We came to a stop and the doors opened silently.

Bambi giggled. Wasn’t that fun? Like I totally love this elevator! My tummy does little cartwheels every time I ride it. But it feels different when I ride T-Bear. Oh, never mind! Come with me, Teddy Bear’s office is this way.

I followed Bambi down a long hallway to a spacious and richly decorated reception area. There was another twenty-something woman sitting behind a large desk, and a security guard sitting off to the side behind a smaller desk. There were a couple of expensive looking leather couches set against the walls, and several large potted plants were scattered around the room.

The security guard stood up and gave me a hard look, no doubt assessing me as a potential security threat. That made sense to me. Thaddeus Drake was filthy rich, outspoken with his conservative views, and therefore was highly controversial. I was sure Drake had plenty of enemies. I glanced at the security dude and gave him a nod before I looked at the receptionist.

The nameplate on her desk said ‘Toni Trellman’. The only other things on the desk were a telephone, an empty in box, and a copy of Cosmopolitan. The woman looked a lot like Bambi, including the blonde hair, extreme makeup, tight blouse, and oversized breasts.

Bambi walked up to the desk and stomped her foot. The women eyed each other the way two pit bulls trade looks before their handlers let them go at it.

Toni, like go tell Teddy Bear that Adam Olson is totally here.

For sure that’s like totally obvious, don’t you think?

Ohmygawd of course I think! Like I think you better tell T-Bear right now!

Toni giggled. Like why don’t you try to keep your pants on, Bambi? I know that’s totally not easy for you. I’ll tell Thaddeus his 9:30 is here.

Whatever! As if!

When Toni stood up I saw that her skirt was even shorter than Bambi’s. She sauntered over to a massive wooden door, knocked, poked her head in, and said something. Bambi turned and whispered to me.

She is such a slut! I don’t understand why Teddy Bear keeps her around.

Toni turned and sashayed back to her desk. She had the stripper walk down pat. I seriously doubted Drake kept her around for her exemplary secretarial skills.

Toni looked past Bambi at me. Mr. Drake will be out in a jiff. Or maybe two jiffs. How long is a jiff, anyway? Well, like definitely no more than three jiffs. So it’s totally cool if you want to sit down and make yourself all comfy cozy while you wait.

She gave me a slutty smile as she pointed toward a couch on the far wall. Her smile morphed into a frown when she looked at Bambi, who glared right back. Toni sat down and continued to give Bambi the evil eye. Bambi crossed her arms and tapped her right foot.

Like we will so totally wait right here, Toni!

Toni stood up again, put both hands on her hips, and nodded at the couch.

Like listen, Bambi, I totally think you better park your pudgy butt on that…

Just then the door behind Toni opened. She turned and smoothed her skirt. Bambi plastered a big smile on her face. The security guy popped to his feet