Mr. Ogden was enjoying a glass of scotch and reading the evening paper in a quiet corner of his club when he heard someone come sit beside him. He ignored the man for a while, but the pungent cigar smell coming over from his neighbour finally forced him to lower his newspaper.
"Well. Well. Well. If it isn't little Terry Myers." mocked Ogden.
Terence Myers shifted in his chair and grimaced at the sound of his childhood name.
"Nobody calls me Terry anymore. You know that ….." He could not finish his sentence as he was interrupted by the older man.: What do you want Myers?"
"What makes you think I want anything?" asked the younger man.
Mr. Ogden had a humourless laugh: "You always want something Terry. Why would it be any different today?"
A bit embarrassed at being so easy to read, Terence Myers nevertheless tried to pretend this was a normal conversation.
"No, No. I just wanted to give you these." Myers reached into his coat pocket and pulled out two tickets which he put on table in front of Mr. Ogden. The older man looked at the tickets but did not pick them up.
"What are these?" he asked.
Myers, thinking he was fooling the older man, answered with one of his calculating smile: "They are tickets for the maiden voyage of Canada Steamship Line's latest grand new ship: the Huronic. These are impossible to get Ogden. You are lucky to get these." Myers paused to put a more sombre look on his face. "I know your daughter went through a horrible experience a while back. A nice cruise with her father would certainly help, would it not?"
At the mention of his daughter Mr. Ogden's face immediately froze. "Leave my daughter out of this conversation Myers. You were not around then to help. What makes you think I want anything to do with you now?"
Terence Myers, always working an agenda, rarely speaks honestly, but this time he did: "Ogden. I am sorry. I was out of the country when it happened; on a mission."
Julia's father looked at the younger man: "I thought you no longer did any field work."
Myers shrugged his shoulders: "Well sometimes, my special skills are needed."
He looked at the older man straight in the eyes: "But be assured Ogden, had I known, I would have put a stop to it. Even had you not used your extensive influence in the past to help us, I would have saved her anyway. She also has been of use to me." He paused for a second: "But having said all of this, I cannot lie to you Ogden. I do have an ulterior motive."
Mr. Ogden had a genuine laugh: "You always do Terry, even when you were a little boy you always had an angle. I remember your father worrying about it. I guess he would be happy to see that at least you put your "special skill" at the service of your country."
Julia's father shifted in his chair before continuing: "Now Terry, why do you need my daughter on that ship?"
Terence Myers leaned in and lowered his voice. "Well Sir. As you know everybody who is anybody obtained tickets for the Huronic's maiden voyage. It's the grandest ship to ever steam the Great Lakes. She will be carrying many prominent members of Parliament and….." he lowered his voice even more: " ….there are indications that an assassin may be on the ship. We believe he has been hired by the Americans to destabilise our government. As you know, we are in intense discussions to create two new provinces in the west. Many of the negotiators will be on the ship. It would be catastrophic, should any of them be killed as it might jeopardize the talks. If they were to fail, it would benefit our neighbours to the south. They would be ready to grab some of the best agricultural land on the planet. There's even talk there is oil over there. With Mr. Ford's new invention, oil could become an important natural resource."
Ogden looked down at the younger man: "And what do my daughter and I have to do with this?"
"Well Sir. On top of the official security officers who will be on the ship, I am also arranging for an additional undercover police presence. I sincerely hope nothing happens, but should it… the police could certainly use the skills of the best pathologist in the country. Your daughter's skills are second to none, and her presence will not raise any suspicions, as nobody would question a father taking his daughter on a cruise after the ordeal she just had."
Julia's father could not stop the anger that came to him: "And why do you think I would willingly risk my daughter's life, especially after what just happened to her."
Myers leaned back, took a puff of his cigar and answered with a smile: "Because Sir, I hear that your daughter has been having a difficult time of it since it happened. She needs a change. She needs to get out of the house. Her life will not be in danger and if I am wrong, and nothing happens on the voyage, then you and she will have had a pleasant holiday."
Ogden hated to admit it, but Myers was right. Julia had fallen into a depression after coming so close to death. She kept blaming herself for her husband's death and was pushing everybody away. She needed something to break her out of her morosity. This trip just might be it…