Chapter One
Petula Tyne nibbled her third Snickers bar as she gazed out her second floor window. The parking lot below bustled with two Nashville television crews awaiting the arrival of Sully Loneoak.
Petula's need for her third Snickers of the morning was the stress of Sully's arrival. She noticed through the vertical blinds that the T.V. crew was becoming more organized as a black Cadillac limo glided into the parking lot.
The chauffeur eased to a stop in front of the Loneoak Office Complex deftly below Petula's second floor window.Reporters with their camera crew surrounded the idling limo.
Petula studied the television crews jostling for better views through the limo's heavily tinted windows. Sully had been an elusive recluse for the past seven months avoiding any public appearances.
Mr. Sullivan Loneoak Sr. moved from South Florida to Atlanta twenty-two years ago where he founded the Loneoak Corporation, which became famous for developing commercial properties throughout the southeastern United States. Seven months ago in the early morning, Sully and his father were traveling in their car, having left the corporate office, when the car skidded off the interstate. Sully lost his eyesight from the accident and his father lost his life.
Now, this was the press's first opportunity to see and perhaps conduct an interview with the mysterious Sully.
Petula was reminded that she and Sully had seen each other dozens of times on the Vanderbilt University campus where she had enrolled as a first-year Nursing student. Sully was a junior at Vandy breezing his way toward his MBA. Everyone on campus knew the Seminole Native American by his mega watt bright smile, six foot solid frame, jet black hair, charcoal dark eyes that twinkled, and the constant group of fraternity brothers and friends accompanying him.
As a freshman and throughout her four years at Vandy, Petula spent as little time as possible roaming the campus. She avoided friends because of the horrific summer before her senior year in high school. That summer changed Petula's life for the past ten years. Whereas Sully thrived and enjoyed everyone’s company, Petula enjoyed the security of the classroom or the hospital wards. She had no friendsat Vandy, only acquaintances which she kept at a distance.
After graduation with honors from Vandy's Nursing School,Petula leased the final office space for her newly formed business, Blind Success, from Sully's late father.Five years ago, the Loneoak Office Complex opened in the prestigious area of Nashville known as Green Hills. Her lease finished filling the four-story office complex.
Mr. Loneoak Sr. smiled as he told her, "The final tenant in our buildings always receives the model office.”Future tenants were shown the model office to give them a peek at what was possible in the Loneoak Corporation. Her office had a fireplace, beautiful leather furniture, a desk with a glass top, a walk in closet, and a full private bath.
Petula's father, Jim Tyne,a veteran FBI agent, accompanied his daughter when she first met Mr. Loneoak to inspect the final available space. She was her father’s pride and joy ever since he became a widower three months after Petula’s birth. His wife and Petula’s mother fell victim to a brain aneurism. Jim excelled in the FBI and after that horrible summer, he and Petula practiced and became experts winning numerous firearm competitions.Occasionally, he would be required to leave for days or weeks at a time for work and he could not discuss the reason for his sudden departures with his daughter. One night as they were practicing at the local firearm facility, "Petula, you and Sully are like freight trains moving side by side on parallel tracks that will never intersect."
Sully and eleven other clients had come to Blind Successto learn new skills to aid them in furthering their careers. These adults had lost their eyesight immediately from car accidents, glycol, diabetes, cataracts,macular degeneration,retinitis pigmatosa, and various other calamities.These sudden changes from normal eyesight to blindness at a critical time in their various vocations was the targeted group Petula wanted to help.Petula's dream of offering customized, one on one programs were new and she found a flood of individuals signing up for the five days of courses.
Petula waited patently as Panther guided Sully into her office. She stood behind the curved glass topped desk,extended her hand, and Sully grasped it with a weak handshake.Panther posted himself at the office window, glanced down at the idling limo, made a few motions with the fingers of his right hand,and the limo glided away with the press crew running behind it. Sully remained standing until Petula took her seat behind her desk. When he sat down, he crossed his legs, and picked at a piece of lent on his dark blue suit slacks. Petula glanced through the glass top to see if Sully was wearing socks. No socks. Some things never change.
Petula pretended to study Sully's file on her desktop. What does she to say to this man who was not the Sully she recalled from Vandy? She waited for him to say something, but he remained silent. She glanced toward the office window where Panther stood guard over Sully. She said, "Mr. Panther, I see from the bulge under your left armpit that you are carrying a weapon." He nodded his head, unbuttoned his jacket, and revealed an enormous holstered firearm. In all of her firearm training and competitions, Petula had never seen a handheld weapon this large.She made a mental note to ask her father about Panther's weapon. Panther and her father did have a professional relationship with Panther doing some contract work for the FBI.
Panther re-buttoned his suit jacket and Petula refocused her attention on Sully. The thin line between his lips had become even straighter with a deep stress line on his face."Sully, thank you for coming two hours later than your fellow clients. We learned the press could create a problem for you and Blind Success.We received your tuition last week and could you and Mr. Panther follow me downstairs to your class?”
Sully nodded, stood up, and Panther quickly moved next to him allowing Sully to place his hand on the bodyguard's shoulder. Petula gazed at the two handsome Seminoles with their tanned complexions, deep set eyes, and the generations of proud Native Americans. His mother died six months after he was born from pancreatic cancer.Petula was born in Nashville and still lived in the only home she had known with her father.
They rode down in the elevator in silence to the ground floor where Petula gave them a brief tour. On either side of the hallway were conference rooms, a complete kitchen to serve lunch, a dining room, a computer lab, and five private offices for the instructors.
She unlocked the room where a conference table was surrounded by eleven clients were seated at a conference table with the instructor at the head of it. Petula introduced Sully to each of the men and women clients while Panther quietly moved to a nearby corner. The instructor exchanged a curious glance with Petula as she nodded and exited the conference room.
Returning to her office, Petula touched her desktop computer activating the camera monitoring the classroom. Their discussion focusedon mobility. Most of the clients used white, red-tipped canes and a debate ensued concerning tapping verses sweeping with the cane.The discussion expanded to the subject of how long their canes should be considering their differing heights and surroundings. Ten of the clients had canes with a ball on the tip that rolled easily as they used the sweeping method. One of the clients had a guide dog sleeping soundly underneath the conference table. Everyone but Sully had questions concerning the advantages and disadvantages of the guide dog and if he recommended a certain guide dog school or breed of dog. He explained that when the dog is wearing his harness, he knows he is working. Once the harness is removed, then the yellow lab reverts back to his normal canine ways as a loving companion for him and his family.
Petula was alarmed to see that the silent Sully had removed his shoe and was gently rubbing the yellow lab's back. He was breaking the cardinal rule of touching a service animal without the master's consent. She texted the instructor concerning the infraction and the instructor replied immediately with "Sully asked permission to do so."
For the next hour, Petula witnessed Sully's affection for the yellow lab. Obviously there was emotion hidden deeply inside the sullen man. What had changed him from being an extrovert with the mega watt smile on Vandy's campus to this depressed soul where he could only connect with a guide dog asleep underneath the conference table? Petula was also troubled with her own emotions. Why did it make any difference to her? She had first seen Sully with his group of fraternity brothers and friends ten years ago on campus and they formerly met only a few moments ago so why was she so curious about the changes in Sully Loneoak? Why did Sully need Panther as a bodyguard?
Petula's curiosity with Panther's enormous firearm was another issue.She and her father had spent hours each week practicing at the gun range and participating in successful firearm competitions. The summer before her senior year of high school prompted her to become the best of the best with her semi automatic Taurus that she carried everywhere in her purse. She glanced up at the fireplace mantel in her office and smiled at the first place gold cup for last year's state championship in the women's division.
At noon, the classes dismissed and everyone entered the dining hall for lunch. Sully and Panther remained in the conference room using their cell phones and laptop computers. At one o’clock, the classes resumed with Sully remaining his silent and offering nothing to the group’s discussions. At five o’clock, the classes promptly dismissed. A van from the nearby Hampton Inn was waiting for the clients except for Sully and Panther.
By five thirty, Petula was facing five instructors in her office. They had one question for Petula, "Why is Sully here?" and “What are we expected to do with him?"
1
Chapter Two
Brussels, Belgium is four thousand three hundred and seventy miles from Nashville Tennessee. The European Union also known as the E.U. is headquartered in Brussels and thirteen of the voting members were asking the same questions "Why and what are we doing here at this ridiculous hour?” They had been summoned to an emergency meeting at three a.m. The thirteen E.U. members were angry, irritated, tired, and not accustomed to being ordered to attend this ludicrous meeting in their private conference room reserved only for them and no other voting members.
For the past two decades, these thirteen members of the twenty-nine voting E.U. membership had learned to control the outcome of every agenda brought before the European Union. In this private conference room, these thirteen disagreed often but when they emerged, they voted together, which effectively controlled the E.U.'s decisions and mandates.
They waited impatiently until their conference door opened and two armed guards preceded a tall man with blonde hair and the most unusual emerald blue eyes. He strolled leisurely to the podium and made eye contact with each of the thirteen staring at him with confusion and contempt.
He smiled before stating, "Ladies and gentlemen, I apologize for the short notice and the early morning hour for this vitally important meeting. I assure you it is important for you personally and for the group I represent.For over the past twenty years, you have effectively destroyed the integrity of the E.U. That trend stops tonight. Your past records of voting have been influenced by the kick backs and bribes deposited into your offshore bank accounts. You have imposed absurd regulations, which have penalized the very countries you represent. Infrastructure improvements that could have benefitted so many E.U. members, are still struggling against the red tape you have voted to remain in place until your bank accounts are credited with bribes. I assure you that those days are now over. In the future, you will vote precisely as you are instructed by those I represent."
He ignored the surpassed anger from the thirteen-member audience. “I would like to give you some facts that you may have forgotten during your obsession with greed. The present E.U. is a walking disaster doomed to failure and death. England and a host of other countries are leaving or preparing to exit the E.U., because they see no advantage to the E.U. and they are correct. The E.U. for them is a one-way street without any benefits for the citizens whom you have ignored for too long. The new E.U. that starts tonight will grow, mature, and eventually control most of the free world."
As the blonde stranger spoke, a wall mounted plasma screen illuminated behind him. The screen showed the present E.U. countries and the representation gradually change. A low murmur of discontent could be heard among the thirteen members of his audience. He continued, "May I please have your undivided attention because I will not ask again. The new European Union will expand over the next three years to include besides European countries, Russia, the Baltic, and the Scandinavian countries.In this expansion, NATO will militarily join with Russia giving us a military presence. The Euro will become the world's currency replacing the U.S. dollar, and China will remain independent, although it will adopt the Euro as their currency.Asia will eventually join the E.U., while Africa and India will be given time for their middle class to improve economically before they join us." The plasma screen changed as the speaker elaborated some more.
A large obese man in the front row stood and protested, "Sir, you are obviously insane. Many have tried and failed at world domination. I am leaving this meeting and I advise my colleagues to follow me." One of the guards stepped in front of the overweight member, grabbed his right thumb, rotated it counter clock wise,and then backwards.The snapping sound of the bone preceded his shrill cry of agony.
The blonde speaker said, "Sir, put your hand inside your left armpit and sit down and be quiet. This is your final warning." He returned his gaze to the other members. "Before I continue, please remember that last year one hundred and three Chinese executives disappeared. We have plentyof room for more if you wish. Now, back to the future of the E.U. Over the next five years, the United States will collapse economically because of their dependence on the Euro and the military dominance of the combination of NATO, the E.U. members, Russia, and China. They will leave the U.S. without any military options or retaliation. Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and other allies will quickly realize that they must join useconomically and militarily instead of America. The new E.U. will not tolerate terrorism within her borders or members.All terrorists will be returned to their respective home countries. Israel will be surrounded and left defenseless without the United States’support against their enemies. I understand this is difficult to swallow at the present time, but I do offer a strong incentive for you to consider it."
He nodded at the two guards that handed out individual packets of materials to each member. He explained, "Each of the packets is for your eyes only. Inside, you will find years of surveillance that our people have done in uncovering your offshore bank accounts, your mistresses, your sexual preferences, and anything else you prefer to remain private. If you do not cooperate in your voting as we direct you, then the contents of your individual packets will be made public immediately, and your families will be second. Inside your packets, you will find a list of your immediate family members, their ages, and photos. Please remember the one hundred and three missing Chinese, and your family will join them. Please return the packets to my associates where we will keep them safe. I trust you will allow us to keep them safe."