Some Days Are Diamonds; Some Aren't
By Beth Green
Part Two ***** The Official gave them his usual cheerful greetings. "It's about time you got here. I've got an assignment for you."
Eberts handed the usual file folders to both Bobby and Darien as they took their seats. The Official continued, "I need you to investigate Calco Oil. Specifically, there's been a serious accusation leveled that they've been diluting their product."
Bobby held up his hand in protest. "Whoa, whoa there, just a minute. This certainly doesn't sound like an assignment that requires two highly skilled agents."
The Official calmly replied, "I never said that it does. As I was saying, the possibility of Calco Oil facing criminal charges at this particular point in time is endangering a multimillion dollar merger between Calco and Bell Oil. Calco Oil is ready to ante up some serious dollars in gratitude if we're able to prove that they've been set up."
Bobby could see the dollar signs dancing in the Official's greedy little eyes. It was all the more reason he did not want to take on this assignment, especially the way that things were going for him today. If anything went wrong, he'd never hear the end of it. "But, Sir, isn't there an agency that's supposed to be in charge of overseeing that sort of thing?"
The Official's cheeks crinkled in amusement. "As a matter of fact, there is." He pointed to the large seal on the wall behind him. "The Bureau of Weights and Measures. In case you've forgotten, that's who you work for, at least for the time being. Seeing as I don't currently have anything else for you two to be doing, you might as well do something to justify your paycheck this week."
Bobby slumped in defeat and scanned through the information he'd been given. It told him a whole lot more about the oil business than he ever wanted to know, but gave no clue as the where to begin investigating. He looked over at Fawkes, noticing that the man hadn't even bothered to open the file he held.
The Official added, "There's also some suspicion that someone at the Bureau of Weights and Measures may have done the setting up. Check it out. You've got your assignment. Get to it."
Bobby stood up, giving the Official a mock salute. "Aye, aye, Sir."
He and Darien left, plotting strategy. If the Fat Man wanted a serious investigation, he'd get one. Bobby stated, "Okay. First thing, let's go pay a visit to Calco Oil."
Darien disagreed. "I don't think so."
Bobby did not appreciate being disagreed with, especially by someone who hadn't even looked at the case file. Indignantly, he echoed, "You don't think so? I suppose you have a better idea?"
Smiling an irritating I-know-something-you-don't-know smile, Darien stated, "As a matter of fact, I do."
His annoyance plain to hear, Bobby said, "Please, don't keep me in suspense. What do you think we ought to do?"
Justifying his smug expression, Darien replied, "I think we ought to go by your place so you can put on a decent pair of pants."
His anger turning to embarrassment, Bobby quickly agreed. Unfortunately, the only thing halfway clean he found to change into was a worn pair of blue jeans.
As they headed to the offices of Calco Oil, Bobby voiced his hope that they were into business casual. Of course, they were the farthest thing from it. Everything about the place screamed "Money," from the ostentatious décor to the artfully decorated office staff.
Their first task was to get by the tall, blonde receptionist. She was coolly efficient, informing them that the CEO, Mr. Mathers, would not see them without an appointment. Bobby was in no mood to be stonewalled. Pulling out his badge and shoving it in her face, he declared, "Ma'am, we're Federal Agents. Mr. Mathers himself has called us in to consult on a case."
She stared at him, unimpressed. "I'm sorry, but Mr. Mathers never sees anyone without an appointment."
Darien pulled his irate partner aside, deciding to try a little kindness. His voice pitched low and soothing, he began by introducing himself, offering his hand to the CEO's fierce guardian. "My name is Darien Fawkes. Please forgive my partner. He's been having kind of a bad day. Although, what he's told you is the absolute truth. Mr. Mathers did ask for our help." He looked at her hopefully, giving her his patented pleading puppy dog look. Every time Bobby saw it, he never knew whether to kick Darien or just give in and give him whatever the hell he was asking for.
Bobby turned away in disgust. He missed seeing the woman's cold expression thaw as she took Darien's offered hand. "Well, let me just ring him, and see what he says." Once she'd spoken with her boss, they were quickly escorted into the depths of the building. Bobby felt like shading his eyes from all the gleaming silver and gold furnishings and décor that were meant to dazzle and impress. He did not let any hint of his impression of the place show outwardly. What he most felt was disgust at the overdone obviousness of it all. His disgust increased at the actions of his companions.
As Darien viewed the passing scenery with an admiring eye, their blonde escort's haughty demeanor faded as she was obviously admiring Darien. Bobby saw her surreptitiously pass on a note, no doubt containing her phone number, as she handed them over into Mr. Mathers' office.
Mr. Mathers was a tall, well preserved, older heavy-set man. He towered over Bobby, and even Darien had to look up to meet the man eye to eye. The CEO did not seem happy to see them, stating, "You've got five minutes."
Bobby was ready to turn around and walk right there and then. Darien had anticipated his partner's action and had a hand wrapped tightly around his arm, keeping him in place. As Bobby opened his mouth, about to say something non-PC, he was distracted by Darien stomping on his foot.
Darien looked at the CEO in honest puzzlement. "Mr. Mathers. Sir. We were under the impression that you needed our help. The Bureau of Weights and Measures . . ."
Darien was abruptly cut off as Mathers spoke over him. ". . . are the ones who started this whole thing."
Bobby was suddenly reminded of the Official's comment that someone from the Bureau might be dirty. Yanking his arm out of Darien's grip, he stated, "You may have dealt with someone from the Bureau of Weights and Measures before, but you haven't dealt with us. Maybe we can start over here, a fresh start, get a new perspective. Why don't you tell us everything from the beginning, like we don't know anything?"
Darien cringed at his partner's last line, hoping that the CEO wouldn't pick up on it. After all, they did, in fact, know nothing. At least, he didn't. A three way staring match went on as Mathers mentally weighed them, taking their measure. When it seemed that the man planned to just spend all day staring at them, he finally came to a decision. "All right. Gentlemen. Please be seated." They took the indicated chairs and sat for the next hour as Mr. Mathers filled them in on more details than they could ever possibly want to know. Bobby busily took notes, while Darien did his best to try to stay awake and look interested in someone who had Eberts beat all to hell in the long boring speech department.
Finally, the man ran out of hot air and they were able to leave, once again escorted by the blonde secretary. Darien rubbed at his eyes, trying to wake himself up enough to drive. As he became more alert, he remembered the note that Blondie had slipped him. He pulled it from his pocket, pointedly hiding it from Bobby's view as he read.
Bobby, made all the more curious, asked, "So, she give you her phone number? Huh? Hey, c'mon, partners share, right?"
Darien declared, "Yes, they do," and handed the note over. It said, "Please meet me tonight at 7:00 p.m. in the lobby of the Plaza Hotel." Darien looked at Bobby. Bobby looked at Darien. They simultaneously commented, "Huh."
Bobby speculated, "It could be just a date."
Darien agreed. "Yeah. It could be."
"It could be some kind of set up, or a trap, or something."
"Yeah, that too." So," Darien asked, "Back me up, partner?"
Giving him a "thumbs up," Bobby responded, "Always. That's what partners are for." ***** continued in part 3
Part Two ***** The Official gave them his usual cheerful greetings. "It's about time you got here. I've got an assignment for you."
Eberts handed the usual file folders to both Bobby and Darien as they took their seats. The Official continued, "I need you to investigate Calco Oil. Specifically, there's been a serious accusation leveled that they've been diluting their product."
Bobby held up his hand in protest. "Whoa, whoa there, just a minute. This certainly doesn't sound like an assignment that requires two highly skilled agents."
The Official calmly replied, "I never said that it does. As I was saying, the possibility of Calco Oil facing criminal charges at this particular point in time is endangering a multimillion dollar merger between Calco and Bell Oil. Calco Oil is ready to ante up some serious dollars in gratitude if we're able to prove that they've been set up."
Bobby could see the dollar signs dancing in the Official's greedy little eyes. It was all the more reason he did not want to take on this assignment, especially the way that things were going for him today. If anything went wrong, he'd never hear the end of it. "But, Sir, isn't there an agency that's supposed to be in charge of overseeing that sort of thing?"
The Official's cheeks crinkled in amusement. "As a matter of fact, there is." He pointed to the large seal on the wall behind him. "The Bureau of Weights and Measures. In case you've forgotten, that's who you work for, at least for the time being. Seeing as I don't currently have anything else for you two to be doing, you might as well do something to justify your paycheck this week."
Bobby slumped in defeat and scanned through the information he'd been given. It told him a whole lot more about the oil business than he ever wanted to know, but gave no clue as the where to begin investigating. He looked over at Fawkes, noticing that the man hadn't even bothered to open the file he held.
The Official added, "There's also some suspicion that someone at the Bureau of Weights and Measures may have done the setting up. Check it out. You've got your assignment. Get to it."
Bobby stood up, giving the Official a mock salute. "Aye, aye, Sir."
He and Darien left, plotting strategy. If the Fat Man wanted a serious investigation, he'd get one. Bobby stated, "Okay. First thing, let's go pay a visit to Calco Oil."
Darien disagreed. "I don't think so."
Bobby did not appreciate being disagreed with, especially by someone who hadn't even looked at the case file. Indignantly, he echoed, "You don't think so? I suppose you have a better idea?"
Smiling an irritating I-know-something-you-don't-know smile, Darien stated, "As a matter of fact, I do."
His annoyance plain to hear, Bobby said, "Please, don't keep me in suspense. What do you think we ought to do?"
Justifying his smug expression, Darien replied, "I think we ought to go by your place so you can put on a decent pair of pants."
His anger turning to embarrassment, Bobby quickly agreed. Unfortunately, the only thing halfway clean he found to change into was a worn pair of blue jeans.
As they headed to the offices of Calco Oil, Bobby voiced his hope that they were into business casual. Of course, they were the farthest thing from it. Everything about the place screamed "Money," from the ostentatious décor to the artfully decorated office staff.
Their first task was to get by the tall, blonde receptionist. She was coolly efficient, informing them that the CEO, Mr. Mathers, would not see them without an appointment. Bobby was in no mood to be stonewalled. Pulling out his badge and shoving it in her face, he declared, "Ma'am, we're Federal Agents. Mr. Mathers himself has called us in to consult on a case."
She stared at him, unimpressed. "I'm sorry, but Mr. Mathers never sees anyone without an appointment."
Darien pulled his irate partner aside, deciding to try a little kindness. His voice pitched low and soothing, he began by introducing himself, offering his hand to the CEO's fierce guardian. "My name is Darien Fawkes. Please forgive my partner. He's been having kind of a bad day. Although, what he's told you is the absolute truth. Mr. Mathers did ask for our help." He looked at her hopefully, giving her his patented pleading puppy dog look. Every time Bobby saw it, he never knew whether to kick Darien or just give in and give him whatever the hell he was asking for.
Bobby turned away in disgust. He missed seeing the woman's cold expression thaw as she took Darien's offered hand. "Well, let me just ring him, and see what he says." Once she'd spoken with her boss, they were quickly escorted into the depths of the building. Bobby felt like shading his eyes from all the gleaming silver and gold furnishings and décor that were meant to dazzle and impress. He did not let any hint of his impression of the place show outwardly. What he most felt was disgust at the overdone obviousness of it all. His disgust increased at the actions of his companions.
As Darien viewed the passing scenery with an admiring eye, their blonde escort's haughty demeanor faded as she was obviously admiring Darien. Bobby saw her surreptitiously pass on a note, no doubt containing her phone number, as she handed them over into Mr. Mathers' office.
Mr. Mathers was a tall, well preserved, older heavy-set man. He towered over Bobby, and even Darien had to look up to meet the man eye to eye. The CEO did not seem happy to see them, stating, "You've got five minutes."
Bobby was ready to turn around and walk right there and then. Darien had anticipated his partner's action and had a hand wrapped tightly around his arm, keeping him in place. As Bobby opened his mouth, about to say something non-PC, he was distracted by Darien stomping on his foot.
Darien looked at the CEO in honest puzzlement. "Mr. Mathers. Sir. We were under the impression that you needed our help. The Bureau of Weights and Measures . . ."
Darien was abruptly cut off as Mathers spoke over him. ". . . are the ones who started this whole thing."
Bobby was suddenly reminded of the Official's comment that someone from the Bureau might be dirty. Yanking his arm out of Darien's grip, he stated, "You may have dealt with someone from the Bureau of Weights and Measures before, but you haven't dealt with us. Maybe we can start over here, a fresh start, get a new perspective. Why don't you tell us everything from the beginning, like we don't know anything?"
Darien cringed at his partner's last line, hoping that the CEO wouldn't pick up on it. After all, they did, in fact, know nothing. At least, he didn't. A three way staring match went on as Mathers mentally weighed them, taking their measure. When it seemed that the man planned to just spend all day staring at them, he finally came to a decision. "All right. Gentlemen. Please be seated." They took the indicated chairs and sat for the next hour as Mr. Mathers filled them in on more details than they could ever possibly want to know. Bobby busily took notes, while Darien did his best to try to stay awake and look interested in someone who had Eberts beat all to hell in the long boring speech department.
Finally, the man ran out of hot air and they were able to leave, once again escorted by the blonde secretary. Darien rubbed at his eyes, trying to wake himself up enough to drive. As he became more alert, he remembered the note that Blondie had slipped him. He pulled it from his pocket, pointedly hiding it from Bobby's view as he read.
Bobby, made all the more curious, asked, "So, she give you her phone number? Huh? Hey, c'mon, partners share, right?"
Darien declared, "Yes, they do," and handed the note over. It said, "Please meet me tonight at 7:00 p.m. in the lobby of the Plaza Hotel." Darien looked at Bobby. Bobby looked at Darien. They simultaneously commented, "Huh."
Bobby speculated, "It could be just a date."
Darien agreed. "Yeah. It could be."
"It could be some kind of set up, or a trap, or something."
"Yeah, that too." So," Darien asked, "Back me up, partner?"
Giving him a "thumbs up," Bobby responded, "Always. That's what partners are for." ***** continued in part 3