Ripoff by St. James Morgan

Author:St. James, Morgan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Marina Publishing Group
Published: 2014-08-15T16:00:00+00:00

~24~

By the time we rejoined the party, Bruce was making a speech. As he strutted back and forth on the makeshift stage, he reminded me of a peacock spreading its tail feathers. “Folks, we both want to thank all of you for taking time from your busy schedules to come to our party and listen to our little spiel.”

He gave a practiced smile while waving his hand in the direction of the elegant bar and sumptuous buffet. “Now it’s time to eat, drink and be merry. The Columbia Valley is considered the Rolls Royce of grape growing in this region, and it’s nothing but the best for our guests. I invite you to enjoy the best white and red wines Washington has to offer. Let’s celebrate—the night is young.”

Bruce placed his arm around Julia’s shoulder, but quickly drew back. At least he didn’t grimace. The plastic smile remained pasted on his face. “Let’s give a big hand to this incredible woman for leading what she likes to call ‘The Cause.’ We look forward to doing lots of new business with all of you.”

Most people wouldn’t have noticed the slight twist of his mouth when he complimented Julia, but I did.

She took the mic off as a loud round of applause erupted. I have to give her credit. With one slick motion, she elbowed Bruce out of the way as though he didn’t count. It was almost poetic. I had to wonder if the guests were really buying this BS, or were they simply playing the game.

Matt lounged at the back of the room taking everything in. Looking at him, again, I hated the feeling he had been playing me. Not only that, but he’d spent quite a bit of time in the tented yard chatting with three of the contracting officers, all from supply depots. They kept smiling and slapping each other on the back. It didn’t escape me that several of the suspect orders I’d flagged were from their facilities.

When I looked again, he had moved out of sight and the contracting officers had drifted back into the house. I tried to spot Matt, but didn’t see him anywhere. He appeared to be far more familiar with this house than one should be from a visit or two with the caterers. It was obvious he knew his way around and I couldn’t stop wondering what he was up to.

On the surface it looked like the party had accomplished what it was intended to. Julia headed into the final stretch of her righteous speech about the guests joining The Cause, and wrapped up by saying they were entering a future of an unprecedented volume of business with FACR. At this point, I was pretty well convinced The Cause was her name for making lots of crooked money for one Julia Harris, Bruce, Matt and whoever else might be involved.

If nothing else, Julia had energized everyone. I picked up snatches of conversation between manufacturers and procurement people, all yakking about our wonderful rehab program and how they were happy to be part of it.

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