Lena's Legions

By Chuck Breuer

LENAS LEGIONS is a tongue in cheek political thriller that suggests one determined woman is ultimately responsible for many of the woes experienced by male politicos over the past decade. Lena, disaffected by both abuse as a child and a conniving husband (whom she divorces), becomes independently wealthy as the result of an inheritance from her grandmother. Uninterested in the social landscape she becomes a professor at a small girls college and recruits a cadre of young women who share her militant feminist zeal. At Lenas direction the women form a network of moles who play havoc with all the chauvinists in Washington DC. If Lena doesnt like you, you better get out of town!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 9, 2001
• ISBN: 9781462831333

Chuck Breuer

‘Chuck’ Breuer is Dr. Charles E. Breuer Jr. a Psychologist retired from private practice. Breuer served a total of eight years in both active and reserve duty in the U.S. Coast Guard and obtained his Ph.D. from USC in the interim. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, he was granted a reserve appointment as a commissioned officer in the United States Air Force. He has thus seen military life as both an enlisted man and an officer. Breuer’s knowledge of military procedure was augmented by employment at Fort Jackson (US Army). He also worked as a Veteran’s Counselor for the State Employment Service and as a Civilian Personnel Specialist at Shaw Air Force. In those positions he interviewed many service personnel who were being (or had been) discharged. Some of the content of his book the Horse Soldiers of Vietnam is based on those interviews.

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LENA’S

LEGIONS

Chuck Breuer

Copyright © 2001 by Chuck Breuer.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

This book was printed in the United States of America.

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris Corporation

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

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Contents

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

EPILOGUE

CHAPTER ONE

Highway US 17 Several months earlier:

William, I’ve got some really good news for you! Jonathan was speaking energetically into the mike of his cellular phone.

Is that you Jonathan? I thought you were going to be in DC for the week?

That’s just where I’ve been. I’m passing through Wilmington now on my way back home. I intended to keep this to myself until I could tell you face to face and enjoy your expression, but I just couldn’t wait!

Couldn’t wait for what?

To tell you about my conference with the President!

The President? I thought you were going to see Preston about that bill concerning interest rates. You know I support you on it down the line. The banks are simply ripping off the consumers with this eighteen percent crap! Hell, the thirty-year bond is below six percent. There’s no justification for eighteen or better at the ATMs. I say let’s …

No William, I didn’t call about that at all. You know Restorinni is being shifted to head the Energy Commission, and that will leave the Secretary of State position up for grabs? Well, I mentioned your name, and the President bought it! He wants to see you about the timing as soon as you can get there! Speaking of grabs, how’s that grab you?

William, with great excitement asks, Secre … are you kidding John … if you are I’ll have your balls on a plate!

No mountain oysters for you this time William, it’s the real thing. I wasn’t on his appointment book, but Preston was and he invited me to go to the Oval Office with him. The Energy Commission move was on their agenda and the President asked me my thoughts about a replacement … and you’re IT!

"Damn, you are serious aren’t you?

Totally!

What kind of timeline would fit do you think? I’ll have to reduce my staff here, and all but close my practice to take on the State Department full time.

Like I said, he wants to see you ASAP. Call Driscoll right away to set up a convenient meet. You know him, the Chief of Staff, right?

Shared the podium with him at several conferences. We seemed to hit it off fairly well.

Maybe better than you think! He has already endorsed your nomination and will sit in with you on your visit with the Pres. You’ve got to go through the Advise and Consent hearings with the Senate but with both a Democrat and a Republican from our state on your side, the hearings should be a snap. Just one favor though.

Ahaa, the catch, right?

Right. And it is this; just don’t tell Margaret I put your hat in the ring. I know how much she hates Washington. If she finds out I was involved SHE will have my balls on a plate.

William with a smile in his voice said, You got it Jonathan … nary a word to Margaret!

Jonathan snapped shut his cellular and peered over the backrest at the dashboard to check Joseph’s speed. The speedometer read sixty as usual and Joseph was rock steady at the wheel. In spite of his near seventy years of age, he drove the limo with the same skill he had used when Jonathan first employed him as a chauffeur twenty-five years before.

Jonathan spoke to the driver saying, Joseph, I thought I could make it home, but I’m hungry. Why don’t we stop at Wo’s … I get a kick out of finger bowls.

Yes Sir, Mister Johnny, but I’ll just have my sandwich if you don’t mind. They puts this chemical in them Chinese foods that’s bad on my stomach. You seem to like it rail good, but it don’t serve me well at all!

Jonathan chuckled and accepted Joseph’s declination. He had frequently invited Joseph to eat with him on the road, but knew that the elderly man still felt some of the old Jim Crow animosities at being seen in a restaurant with a white man. North of Baltimore, he also knew, Joseph far more often accepted the invitation. The South was still the South though, in spite of the social changes that had so permeated the fabric of life in the Carolinas since the fifties. Now, at the millennium, separate still did not mean equal and people still threatened to bomb a State House that flew the Stars and Bars at its masthead. Others threatened the lives of those who would throw the bomb. It seemed that the faster things changed, sadly, the more they stayed the same!

Jonathan sat back for the remaining distance to the outskirts of Myrtle Beach, perused the New York Times, and portions of the Wall Street Journal. The shares of Ball-Mart he had purchased at twenty for Carl Steiger, in lieu of a bonus, had not just doubled, they had more than tripled! Still he urged Carl to hold. There was still more upside to come in spite of the Russian collapse and the turmoil in Asia. The economic problems in the rest of the world had as yet not affected his portfolio, or his business as an Investment Banker for small southern firms seeking to go public. On both counts, he was as financially secure as a multimillionaire could be, provided he avoided being stepped on by the Dells, Gates or Trumps of the world. Still, he slept well at night and did so with the knowledge that his word was his bond. He owed not one penny of his personal fortune to trickery or dishonesty and enjoyed his work, which made him a particularly contented man. Helping William achieve his goals, as an up-and-comer in Washington-with no strings attached-was typical of Jonathan’s way of doing business.

At Wo Tan’s near the Isle of Palms Joseph said, We’re here Mister Johnny. You awake?

Jonathan had just put down the paper and closed his eyes minutes before to gear up for his evening meal. The trick of even a three minute respite from the world cleared his mind and set his body right to move on throughout the day, and half the night if necessary. It was a yoga kind of thing he had taught himself years before. And, it worked!

Yes, Joseph. I’m awake. You’re sure you won’t come in with me?

No Sir. Got me a good meal right here. Mister Preston’s cook, Serena, fixed me up just right. I’ll eat betten’r you with all them chemicals and such. You just go right on along.

Jonathan had long ago refused to have Joseph get out and open his door and opened it himself to leave the limo. He had numerous employees, many of whom could be considered servants, but he never treated any of them as anything less than friends. They all knew that and appreciated the distinction.

Inside, Jonathan was greeted by a small, wizened oriental who immediately welcomed him as a frequent customer, and a man of some importance. The limo and fairly frequent blurbs in the local newspapers paved the way for extra special service when Jonathan Riley was out on the town. This was so anywhere along the South Atlantic coast. Inland and north of Washington, Jonathan was less well known, and intended to keep it that way. His only contacts in New York were with other discreet financiers equally accustomed to conducting business behind closed doors.

Good evening Mr. Riley You are alone this evening I take it?

Yes Mister Wo. Ethel is at home getting ready for the Spoleto thing. Loves every minute of it, and forever complains she has no spare time.

Time to spare is a two edged weapon is it not?

Don’t go Budditic on me Wo. I know you too well!

True, you know me well. Since you are alone, however, I will be happy to share your table, or have Mai Ling serve as your hostess … as you prefer.

Be happy to have you both, but perhaps I should not share a table for two with just Mai Ling. You know how tongues wag!

Of course. I will join you then if you do not object to several questions I have been waiting to put to you.

Surely. Lead the way.

The restaurant was quite large and easily seated 150 or more people in the main dining area; but a few smaller spaces were closed off with glass partitions. These more intimate spaces had windows facing out toward the open sea. Wo lead his guest to such a more private place and seated him so he could both review the larger dining spaces through the glass, or turn to his left and enjoy the ocean view.

This will be fine Mister Wo. Let me order first, then we can talk.

Here comes Mai Ling now. She will serve us both.

Mai Ling, you remember Mr. Riley so?

How are you Mister Riley? You have not visited us in several weeks. Still back and forth to Washington?

Yes. Still fighting the good fight, but the Windmills get bigger and stronger every year.

Mai Ling, who had once likened trying to get a good law passed in Congress to Don Quixote’s impossible task while Jonathan and Ethel were dining there, fully understood the reference. She smiled winningly, and chatted briefly with both men regarding their wishes for their shared meal.

You know my preferences for Cantonese Mai Ling, and I’ll have the Lo Mien rather than rice. Okay?

Certainly. The usual for you Mister Wo?

If you please Mai Ling, and a bit of rice wine for us both. I will toast our friend’s success, for he has surely had some good news on this trip. Is that not so my friend?

What makes you think so Mister Wo?

The demeanor of a happy man is easily discerned. Your happiness is written on your face and finds expression in the very way your feet hit the carpet. Whatever it is, it pleases you!

Jonathan shook his head if in disbelief, but was again impressed with the man’s ability to read the manner of a person as if an open book. I can tell you, you are quite right Mr. Wo. I have had a very satisfying trip and even met with the President this morning; but I cannot yet discuss the nature of our meeting.

It is enough to know you are pleased with the result. I expect the nature of that meeting will become known in the fullness of time. Is that not so?

Precisely. Now, you said before you had hoped to ask me a question or two. How can I help you?

You are a man well accustomed to dealing with matters of money and I wish your advice on an offer to buy my place of business here. Wo waved his hand vaguely as if referring to all and sundry about them.

A specific dollar amount has been mentioned?

Yes. A combine from the north has offered one point two million dollars for all, including my name and goodwill.

That might be a reasonable offer depending on your basis.

Basis? What is this? This basis?

Well, it refers to the total amount of money you have invested in the business since you first bought it. For example, what did you pay for the land and buildings when you first came to this area? I know you said you were raised in Canada, and came here quite a few years back.

That is correct. Almost twenty years to date, and I paid one hundred and seventy thousand dollars as a loan from the bank. Since then, I have made many improvements.

Could you estimate the dollar amount of the costs of those improvements?

How can one make dollars of a gardenia or a topiary? The grass is now green where there was yellow sand. There are hand painted tiles where before there was rough-hewn board. I cannot say. This is why I sought your advice.

This time, it was Jonathan’s turn to read the other man. You seem rather reluctant, almost sad to even discuss this offer. Do you really wish to sell, at any price?

A hint of surprise registered in the old man’s eyes. You too see more than one might guess, but yes I hesitate to sell. A million dollars is much money, but I …

I see. Well, just for the sake of discussion let us say that the improvements can be valued and the basis becomes two hundred thousand. selling at one point two just barely puts you even in light of twenty years of inflation. One point two is about your break-even value, and one point seven would be a reasonable return on your investment. If I were you, I would either refuse the offer, or put the place on the open market for a more competitive price. The people who made the offer just walked in unannounced and suggested this deal?

That is correct. And I sensed … I think …

Go on.

I felt that they were evil men. I thought they were like the old tongs, that they would destroy my business if I refused.

Jonathan was only momentarily surprised. The threat of the torch was less often used than had been true in the forties and fifties, but such tactics were still in use in parts of the country. Notably, New York, Los Angeles and, oddly, Atlantic City had recently exposed several very similar operations. The Atlantic City real-estate mess might yet result in a murder or two to say nothing of arson!

I’m truly sorry Mister Wo. Do you have any information at all on this group? How do you contact them?

I have nothing but a bit of paper with an emblem at the top. There are no names, and no address. Not even a number for a telephone.

Now, that tears it. No legitimate offer would be made blind like that! This has got to be some sort of strong-arm bunch out for a quick dollar. Tell you …

At that point, Mai Ling entered with a warm bottle of rice wine and two small bowls as opposed to glasses. She poured drinks for each man and left with a promise of more to come.

You really should go to the police with this Wo. The people who operate like that can be dangerous.

Wo was lifting his bowl and made a movement as if in toast