saw the shoulder holster with the big revolver. My little gun seemed like a toy. Once Sean had his money he was ready to leave. I caught him by his sleeve and said, “Sean, please don’t allow Marilyn to gamble anymore. She doesn’t have any money and I won’t cover any of her losses anymore.”
He pulled his arm free, seemed to ignore me, and went to her car and got back in.
Marilyn said, “I have to go. Thanks, baby.” I was getting tired of her calling me “baby.” I wasn’t her baby anymore.
I watched them leave and had a desire to follow them. They were leaving with my five thousand dollars. I could only hope that Marilyn was going to honor her promise. I was really becoming disappointed in her. I would dump Marilyn completely if she wasn’t the mother of my children. I would have to watch over her and keep her safe for only that reason.
When I got back home, Julie was smug. “You gave her five thousand dollars and she doesn’t have to pay you back. Hmm, I bet she was really grateful.”
I smiled at my new wife. “I know where you are going, and stop. She is the mother of my children and I have to watch over her. There is nothing else going on, and don’t make a big deal about it. We have plenty of money and can help people when we need to.”
Julie smiled back at me. “You’re a good man, Brandon. I don’t care what my ex thinks about you.” She giggled and punched me in the shoulder.
I rubbed my arm and screamed “ouch,” like she had really hurt me. We both laughed. It was so much fun playing with Julie.
Julie had now lost enough weight to get back into her modeling routine. Many of her old photographers were interested in photographing her and getting her name and picture out for commercials. As I was soon to find out, Julie was very photogenic and would soon be in high demand. Being pregnant wasn’t a big deal just yet. She could hide her little belly easily with loose-fitting clothes.
I had quit my part-time job and was just working at the defense contractor plant. I was proofing and critiquing documents that engineers had written in response to a new space vehicle that was being designed for NASA. It was a plane similar to the shuttle that could carry up to twelve people into space and bring them back safely. The engineers appeared at times to be illiterate. I was having to rewrite nearly everything that they wrote. That was giving me a real insight into the space vehicle. I really enjoyed the rewriting and sometimes carried the work home with me.
That came to a screeching halt when I got into classified issues. They could not leave our building.
My entire team was working on the documents, and then something really troubling happened. I caught Henry Phillips bringing into the building classified documents that he had taken home with him the night before to work on. If I turned him in, he would be fired and possibly be arrested. I didn’t know what I was going to do. I knew what the law said, but if I just kept my mouth shut, no one would know; Henry would be fine and everything would be okay. If I turned him in, my entire group would fall under suspicion. I thought long and hard about what to do.
The first thing that I did was sit down with Henry and go over what he had done, what the rules were, and what the consequences were. He knew more about it than I did; he had just done it anyway. There was no excuse for what he had done, and I was concerned that he might do it again.
That night I went home and talked to Julie about it. Her thoughts were, “Turn him in!”
I couldn’t help it; I just couldn’t do that. It would ruin Henry, and he would not be able to get a job at any other government contractor. He would lose his Engineer’s License, and he might even go to jail.
After a night of long thoughts and troubling dreams, I decided to hush it up and not turn him in. He was very thankful and promised to not do it again. The problem was, I didn’t believe him. If he got caught again, he could turn me in, and I would be guilty of a cover-up. I had really stuck my neck out and was probably going to get my head chopped off.
The next week was very troubling for me. I didn’t trust Henry, and I watched him like a hawk. But he was good to his word. I began watching all my team. If Henry would do this, why not the rest of them? I was in a dilemma.
Then he did a very stupid thing. He told one of our team members, Gloria, what he had done. Gloria was an older lady with lots of experience. She was very popular with the men. Many of the guys referred to her as “Mama Gloria.” She was a mother figure. But Gloria was a blabbermouth. I was certain that she would turn us all in.
On Thursday, I took Gloria out for a drink at a hotel club. I explained the seriousness of the situation to her and she told me that she was thinking about going to security and turning Henry in. I knew that my secret was going to get out, and there was nothing that I could do about it. My only real option was to quit my job.
I went home that night very depressed, and told Julie what had happened. She said, “I told you to do what is right and you didn’t; you dug your own grave. What are you going to do now?” Julie was really put out with me.
I didn’t do anything, but Gloria did. The next morning she went to security. The first that I knew about it was when four U.S. marshals came to the door of my office and escorted me to security. Henry was already there; he was in handcuffs and had two marshals watching him. I knew that my goose was cooked. Gloria was sitting in a corner of the room crying. I wasn’t sure why. I wasn’t too worried until I was read my Miranda rights; then I got scared. I was wise enough to not say anything without a lawyer. Henry was spilling his guts; he was looking for a plea bargain.
I was taken to a small room and left alone. I got out my phone and called Julie. “Get me an attorney, a good one; I am probably going to jail.” I had no idea that there was a camera and microphone recording everything that I said and did. The Marshals watched and listened to everything.
It was three that afternoon when my attorney arrived and was ushered into the room. He told me not to talk to anyone but him. My attorney’s name was Ken Klauz. He seemed to really know his stuff.
He inquired about a room where we could talk in private, and we were moved to another room. I told the attorney the entire story, trying not to leave anything out. He kept looking at me like I was stupid, and I guess that I was. He left the room for about an hour and I called Julie again. I started to cry just as soon as she answered the phone. Our phone call was brief, and she said that she would bail me out if I went to jail. When we hung up, I sat there stunned for a long time. I went over everything in my head.
I was taken into another room. There was a U.S. Assistant Attorney General, or AG, sitting with four stacks of papers in front of him. His name was Jim Curry. He introduced everyone and told us that everything was being recorded. It appeared that Henry had rolled over and tried to make me the bad guy. My attorney was furious. He demanded the handcuffs be removed from my wrists, and a marshal removed them.
There were at least fifteen people sitting in the room, including the marshals. At first, it seemed like everyone tried to talk at once. Then the AG took control and led the meeting. He went over what the situation was, and I realized that Henry was doing anything and everything to stay out of jail. Even to the point of lying about what I knew and did. I was smart and let my attorney do my talking for me. The AG, or Mr. Curry, started the actual discussion by asking me or my attorney what did I know and when did I know it. My attorney danced around the question, never quite giving an answer. Of course nearly everyone in the room knew the answer.
Several times I had to bite my tongue. My attorney would hesitate when I knew there was a good clear, clean answer.
Henry was brought into the room and he now had an attorney, it seemed that my version and his version were very much different.
I whispered in my attorney’s ear, “Bring Gloria in and ask her what Henry told her!”
It seemed that Gloria had been let go and had gone home for the day. Two of the marshals left to go
get her.
An hour later she was back in the room and she recited what Henry had told her. Her version was fairly close to my version, and I thought that I was in the clear. So much for thinking: at the end of the night, Henry was charged with taking the documents home with him, and we were both charged with obstruction of justice. My attorney told me that he was certain that the charges against me would be dropped if I would agree to help in the prosecution of Henry. Things had gotten so out of hand that I couldn’t believe it. If Henry had just kept his mouth shut, none of this would have happened.
My bond was set at twenty-five thousand dollars, and Julie was there to pay it right away. Henry wasn’t so lucky; he had a fifty-thousand-dollar bond and his wife refused to pay it. I was so angry at Henry that I wasn’t about to help him either.
Sure enough, the AG came to my attorney and said that if I would turn states evidence, my charges would be dropped. I told Ken that I would like to think about it overnight. Again, he looked at me like I was stupid. Maybe I was, I didn’t know. What I did know was that I wasn’t sure that I wanted Henry prosecuted. Even though he had tried to pin charges on me, I felt sorry for him. Perhaps I was stupid.
I went home that night and hugged and hugged Julie. I was