***** Vol.4 Chap.36 Washington DC *****
When JB came to, she was lying in a soft hotel bed, still dressed in the same business suit. Lots of honks and beeps came through the outside window.
Slowly she stood up and scanned the room. The words ‘Ritanz Hotel, Washington, DC’ written on the information folder on the night stand left no question where she was. On one hand, she was happy to be back in the United States, but she was annoyed that she was drugged again for the return. She had no idea how long she was knocked out.
She turned the TV on and noticed the time was late morning. Feeling a bit hungry, she rang for room service.
All her belongings had been brought to the room. After taking a long, hot shower and changing out of her nice suit, she felt slightly better. When breakfast arrived, she gave the steward a big tip on the bill and asked for another pot of coffee.
The phone rang.
“Hello?”
“JB, this is Johan. Did you sleep well?”
She feigned being annoyed. “I am mad. Why did you drug me again?”
“We sincerely apologized for that. But we must keep the location of our compound secret for your protection.”
“For my protection?” she exclaimed waving her arms madly in the air!
“How about some coffee down at the cafe? I like to go over a few things with you.”
“Sure. Give me ten minutes.” She replied sourly.
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“No problem. Take all the time you want.”
As she descended the stairs to the cafe, she saw Johan sitting by himself at a table near the window. She went over there and sat down. The cafe was crowded with workshop attendees though she knew none of them.
“Sit down, JB. Have you had breakfast yet?”
“Yes, I ordered room service.”
“Super, just charge everything to the room. We will settle the bill at the end of the Workshop.”
“Are you staying here?”
“Not really. You are the honored guest so you get to stay here. I am just someone accompanying you, so I get to stay at a cheap motel called Scot Inn down the street.”
“So, what’s up?” she said, still annoyed.
“I have a copy of the program. Looks like you are on tomorrow. You will be giving your talk at the plenary session at 10 in the morning.”
He handed the program to her.
Johan continued. “I scanned through the program of the Workshop. Nothing else is really of interest to me for these three days. But some session you may want to attend.”
A couple of well-dressed gentlemen sitting at the next table behind Johan left.
Johan leaned over and whispered quietly to her.
“Our spies working inside the GL informed us that they are here at the Workshop.”
“GL?”
“I have a feeling that they may want to talk to you about your programs and your inventions.”
“Well, our inventions are to save for the whole world from them. Isn’t it?”
“Our spies informed us that they were unable to produce a mass quantity of the red pills because of the …Ahem.”
A group of people walked past. Then the waiter came.
“Refill for your coffee?”
“No thank you. We are fine.” Johan said.
Then he continued in the same hushed tone. “The GL had supply chain problems like we do. We solved our difficulties because of your ingenuity. They are seeking you to help them solve their bottlenecks.”
“I will never help them.”
“I know you won’t. I just want to forewarn you that they may be seeking you out.”
Johan took a sip of the coffee. She thought he was going to say something else, but he kept silence.
After a slight pause, he looked up at her and said soberly, “If the GL ever found out that you knew where the compound is, they will torture you till you give them the exact location. That is why we had to keep that secret away from you. Again, we apologized. We will make it up to you somehow.”
“Ok.” JB answered, still pouting and somewhat hesitant.
“Well, enjoy your day and I will be your biggest cheerleader tomorrow at the plenary session.”
“You better be there.”
“I will.”
As he turned to leave, he pulled out a thick envelop and gave to her.
“Sorry for the inconvenience. We know you will need some cash to go shopping.”