Jimmy sat at the end of the bar in the private, mercenaries-only club The Bunker. Below him, on the open main dance floor, several employees were quickly pushing brooms in preparation for opening in half an hour. There were already a couple of people standing near the entrance. I guess they decided the late afternoon classes wouldn't miss 'em, Jimmy thought. So far, business at the Operator's Club and The Bunker seemed to be picking up.
Jeffrey Stevens, the owner, saw a good business opportunity in Denver, and he seized it. The Operator's Club was a public bar that was decorated in paramilitary themes. There were anonymous pictures of men in combat gear along the walls, interspersed with a few pictures from the Gulf War back in the early '90's. A few non-functioning machine guns and some heavier military ordnance were sprinkled sparingly around the higher stretches of the two-story dance-floor wall, below camouflage netting and the obligatory disco ball. The Operator's Club was an instant hit with some college-age crowds, and the dance floor was always packed on the weekends with young adults wearing the latest in fashionable urban camouflage. Jimmy was especially amused by the occasional women in camo bikini tops worn under olive drab Ranger vests.
In the back of the Operator's Club, behind a set of security doors, was The Bunker. Admission to The Bunker was a lot harder: only people who were in the biz -- mercenaries -- could get permanent passes. Escorted guests and clients were allowed in as long as they agreed to sign a non-disclosure agreement. Like Stevens said in his flyer: "We will not pursue legal means to correct any information leaks, so make sure your guests understand what non-disclosure means, okay?"
The Bunker was a nice business arrangement for people in the biz who wanted to hold meetings at a neutral location (where the employees and other clients wouldn't pay attention to the less-legal aspects of such meetings). There were several private meeting rooms on the ground floor for people conducting business. Upstairs were a bar that looked over the dance floor and a labyrinthine dining room. The dining room had plenty of seating, and it was neatly arranged so that the booths were not visible to one another, allowing private meetings over dinner.
A slightly short, solid man with silver hair sat down at the stool next to Jimmy.
"Hey, Jimmy, how goes the war?"
"Not bad, Old Man," Jimmy replied. He knew Colonel Jeffrey Stevens (retired) hated the nickname he'd picked up upon becoming a Colonel in the Rangers.
"Son, I should have busted your ass when I caught you embezzling that firm last year."
"Sure, Colonel, and you would've if I didn't show you how dirty that bastard running the place was. He deserved to have that company fail. A lot more people than the investors would've been holding empty checkbooks if I didn't take that business out."
"Maybe so. You could have found a better way to take the business out than stealing money that was already dirty."
"Hey, it did the job. The investors thought someone was skimming, and it looked like the CEO was in on it. The place closed up shop in a hurry."
"Yeah. So, how 'bout that op your team pulled last night. I hear they got the statue back to its rightful owners."
"Here's the article now -- turn up the tube."
The television showed the afternoon news anchor for CNN. Over her shoulder, superimposed on the studio background, was a golden Buddha statue.
"...private investigator Ellen Berquist, a Denver local. The Thai ambassador was very pleased that private American citizens would help the international community stop art theft and illegal smuggling. The Golden Buddha, which weighs over two hundred pounds, was on display at the press conference held in Denver, Colorado this morning."
The scene shifted to a press conference in a Denver-area hotel as the ambassador spoke.
"Ms. Berquist is a shining example of international cooperation in this new millenium. No longer should only governments work with one another. The people of the world should help their neighbors, as well. The recovery of this Golden Buddha will greatly please the monastery where it was stolen last month."
The anchor spoke again, "Ms. Berquist refused to provide details on how she stopped the art smugglers, although she did not deny that other people were involved in the recovery."
"To recap our top story, the FBI confirmed today that its Domestic Terrorism unit stopped an illegal arms smuggling ring using the Amtrak rail system. Special agents for the FBI detained and arrested several people on board the train after a firefight broke out aboard the Southwest Chief bound for Chicago. Unnamed sources close to the Denver office of the Domestic Terrorism unit said that their agents had been aboard the train since it left Los Angeles trying to find proof that smugglers were using the rail system. After the agents attempted to detain the head of the arms smuggling ring, a fight broke out in the confined hallways of the train. Two smugglers and two Amtrak employees were confirmed dead. A search is on for an additional employee who was not aboard the train when it stopped in Garden City, Kansas. The FBI would not confirm that she is a suspect. Names of any of the suspects and victims were withheld. Agents involved in the operation also were not identified due to security concerns."
Stevens turned to Jimmy. "FBI agents, huh?"
"Ellen has an ID and she tries to play agent from time to time when she needs that edge."
"Some people I know tell me that the local FBI office has taken a hell of a beating lately from Washington. First that little op in Longmont, now this happens. Someone in DC leaned hard on them to throw this story together. There's been a lot of things going on around the Front Range that's making it look like the Feds are losing control of the country. It's bad enough that there's still a few lunatics in the hills trying to bring down the government, but when these things happen in the civilized parts, it makes people inside the Beltway real nervous."
"Those morons don't give a shit about what happens in the boonies. They're too busy trying to screw everyone over to make sure they get to sit on the choice committees so they can line their pockets with lobbyist dollars."
"Maybe so, Jimmy, but they still watch the news, and they still run the military. If things get too dicey, they might get nervous and decide that we need some martial law until things settle down."
"They're gonna be real uptight tomorrow night. I think the team is going to take out a crank deal. I hope they know what they're doing -- it might get real messy."
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Last Updated 27 Dec 1999
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