“It’s Chris,” one said in a half-dead tone of voice. “What should we do?”“Try to get her on a cot,” said Jenny Clark, the girl they recognized as having sold her body organs to live.“You will like hell!” Brad announced. “Jenny, call security and have them order an ambulance out here right away.” Then he looked around at the condition of the other four girls and added, “Make it ambulances for five! Now!”As the woman was weaving on her feet, Kim grabbed her and sat her down, then called security herself. She was told that ambulances would be on their way.“Okay, ladies,” Brad demanded, “what’s been going on here?”“It’s all my fault, Mr. Kramer,” Jenny said. As she spoke, she slipped off her chair and ended up on her back at his feet. But she just ignored it and continued, “I made the girls do it—”She was interrupted by the vehement objections of the three who were still conscious. And then one of them toppled over.Moments later the first EMTs arrived. Each of the pair started exam
“No we’re not at all. We’re barely holding to our budget,” Campbell insisted. “Why ... Just look at our raw materials cost! It’s out of sight! I can’t tell you how many ways we’ve had to cut back to cover that added cost.”“Oh!” Brad said scathingly, “so we’re over on our raw materials budget. How’s the revenue side look? Are we making budget there?”“Well, that’s worrisome, too,” Campbell said. “Our order backlog is looking good, but our sales aren’t keeping pace...”“What’s that mean?” Kim asked.“Well, we only book a sale when the order ships. How can we be sure we’ll even be paid when it does?”Brad was utterly furious. “I happen to know that at least two-thirds of those orders are either prepaid or have an irrevocable letter of credit with them. Now please tell me where the risk is on those?”Before Campbell could address that question, Harrison asked, “Why was my order for new tooling canceled?”“For two reasons, sir,” Campbell replied. “First, as I told you, we don’t have the m
Bill Miller grinned and turned to Harrison. “George, have I told you lately how brilliant you are? But on the other hand, when you insisted on hiring that female mechanical engineer, I knew there would be trouble, and just look... ! She’s turning the whole damned company upside down.”George just grinned. With the others still present, he called Bill Christian into his office and told him of his promotion. Then he explained why Campbell was no longer with the company.“It’s just as well, I guess, George,” Bill finally said. “Because if he hadn’t been gone, I would have been. That guy was living in the Middle Ages ... or somewhere.”“How about the girls?” Kim asked.“Have any ideas?” Harrison replied.“Yes, I do,” Kim began. “First of all, there’s all that overtime. I think we should pay them double-time for all the hours they worked — we can reconstruct them pretty well from the security logs. I think Jane Chalmers can hold down the fort here for the next two weeks ... working 8 to 5,
George grinned and concluded, “By the way, Miss Clark, I really only like to harass tanned bodies, so...”“A nice tropic tan?” she asked with her eyes bright.“Sounds good to me.”“Mmm...” Jenny replied as she drifted off to sleep.The wedding went off without a hitch. As Kimberly paced up the aisle on Dan Douglas’s arm, Brad thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world. Not only was her beauty so vibrant that morning, but there was a look of utter joy on her face that he had never seen before.There were a couple of surprises at the reception, though. First, while the receiving line was forming, Kelly presented gifts to Kim and Brad. They were unwrapped; both were identical rosewood boxes. Opening the lids, they found the Smith & Wesson automatics that Kelly had had made for them, along with something else. Kim took hers out and examined it. It was a laminated identification card with her photo and signature on it. The card stated that she was a special U.S. marshal working
“We have a United flight, nonstop to Maui,” Lisa replied. “Oh, yeah ... I guess I’m saving a little money, too...”“And what’s that supposed to mean?” Kim inquired.“Oh...” Lisa replied vaguely. “There seems to be a bit of an ownership issue...”“And what’s that mean?”“Well, PHA Properties may still own it...”“Or... ?”“Or Bill Clifford does.”“And... ?”“Oh, it really doesn’t make any difference,” Lisa replied brightly. “Neither of them will let me pay ... And, oh yeah...”“‘Oh yeah, what?”“You’re getting pretty much the same treatment Kathy and Ken Carlson received when they came out on their honeymoon.”“Pretty much?”“Yeah. The Trang sisters lived in their room full time while they were out here. You’ll have to make do with only me.” But again Lisa brightened and continued, “But they did get a brand-new bed for you, and there won’t be anyone in any of the rooms on either side, above or below.”Kim and Brad just shook their heads.The United flight out of LAX was on time, both d
“Some of you may have heard the story of how Ken Carlson saved my life in Vietnam. I was an instant away from being skewered on the end of a bayonet when the guy was literally blown away by three bullets from Ken Carlson’s automatic. Ken commanded Alpha Company, 1st Ranger Battalion, U.S. Army. So while Ken was saving my ass, what was his company doing? They were rolling over a North Vietnamese regiment that had been rolling up my unit. At that moment, they were under the command of 1st Lt. Brad Kramer, the company executive officer. The unit was better known as Carlson’s Rangers, the most decorated outfit in the army. Brad personally holds the Distinguished Service Cross, the second highest award for valor, and the Silver Star, the third highest. In other words, he’s an honest-to-God hero who helped save my life.“Then there’s his wife, Dr. Kimberly Ann Kane. The “doctor” represents her Ph.D. in ... mechanical engineering! Can you believe it? A woman as beautiful as she is with an en
Quickly he escalated up in his repertoire with Kim following perfectly. Soon he found himself using every step he knew, but Kim just followed. Then his eyes widened as he realized that when they had opened out and were apart, Kim was doing things with her feet he had never seen before. She’s utterly spectacular! he thought.Glancing around for the first time Brad realized that no one else was dancing. The couples on the floor had formed a semicircle around them with its open side toward the bandstand. Jerry Smith and his band were responding to Kim’s dancing as well. One after another, the band sections broke out in their own improvisations.Kim found she loved it! Moreover, although it hadn’t shown previously, the gown she was wearing was slit up both sides to her hip. Dancing the way she was put her perfect legs on display. Incredibly, she found she could move without even having to think about what she was doing. She had broken out in a beautiful smile and was cheering the band memb
“I love you, Kimberly Kramer,” he whispered.“So that’s the answer...” she replied with a loving smile.“What answer?”“Why you’ve been referring to me as Kimberly Kramer for so many months. You were just wearing me down, weren’t you?”Instead of answering, Brad kissed her again. It was even better than the one before. Then he moved his lips from hers to her eyes and then to her ears. He nibbled, then moved to her neck.In no time Kim was writhing on the bed with passion. “Fuck me, my darling!” she whispered. “For God’s sake, please fuck your bride!”“Nope,” he replied with Jimmy Stewart taciturnity.Kim’s eyes widened in utter amazement at his response.“But I will make love to my wife, if she asks nicely...”Kim’s eyes widened. “Love me, husband!” she whispered. “Please make me your wife!”“Okay,” he replied, “now get up on your knees with your back to me.”“What for?”“Because I’ve been reading: It says it’s much less painful for a virgin the first time to take her from the rear.”