Hendrix with a Fiddle

180.

We leave it at that.

I am not one-hundred percent sure what the others assessments are, but the fact that the success of our entire operation rests squarely on the shoulders of a teen-aged computer hacker who once jacked Air Force jets and jammed military and commercial radar, and has a history with a felon doing hard time in a Super Max facility, a place where terrorists go to die, could be considered questionable at best and borderline insane at the worst.

I am on the hot seat here. It was my recommendation, based upon her extraordinary performance in the ad-lib prison breakout and subsequent intense and accelerated training — along with the many hours of philosophical, moral and ethical conversations that led me to believe that she was a perfect fit to become an asset. She again performed admirably during the foiled plot to assassinate the VP. I have no reason to doubt her veracity, courage under fire or loyalty. Still, as every mailman will tell you, once bitten, man’s best friend gets second suspicious looks.

I have a late flight out of Reno, I am flying commercial, and invite Drysdale along for the ride. He has done a terrific job of supporting Davis and Saunders in Vegas and an even better job in his negotiations withe the local ACLU bureau. The slime-ball Senator from South Carolina has all but thrown down with his money-guy, Adelson, making the back-up con game Drysdale was running obsolete and unnecessary. We will make a graceful exit and keep them, the local chapter, at the top of our ‘favor to be named later’ list.

It is a hot night in The Biggest Little City in America and we have a couple of hours before the scheduled flight time. He returns the Honda to the extreme-sports rental center and I do likewise with my Jeep. We decide to meet for a quick dinner downtown. Due to our extremely different preferences, we opt for Mexican.

“Nice work in Vegas,” I begin as the waiter takes our order and hurries away to fetch a pair of Negra Modellos and a bowl of chips.

“Thanks, it was a little tense at first, the slot machine play, but once we were introduced to Adelson things ran pretty smooth. The guy will listen to anyone if he thinks they can make him some tax-free money.”

“And Davis was superb, playing the riverboat gambler role to the hilt. Saunders too, wow, I never knew she had that type of talent. She killed it, you could see Adelson ogle and sweat nines when she talked about the sensuality of gambling and the rush of adrenaline as the game goes down,” he continues.

We are interrupted by the waiter, Miguel his name tag reveals, as he pours our beers into frosty mugs and sets the home-made corn chips at the center of the table. He takes pride, or is it showmanship?, in his placement of the salsa bowls which include a healthy dollop each of avocado and sour cream.

Miguel takes our order, Drysdale the fajitas and a plate of spinach and onion enchiladas for me. I can hear the mariachi band move closer so I lean towards Drysdale to encourage him to continue the accounting as the trumpet player takes off on a wicked solo.

“You guys did a bang-up job on the internet bios, all three of us came out looking exactly as advertised, maybe even better.”

“That was all Julie, Harlan and The Queen. I was dealing with the Warden and Hartaugh during that time. Tell me, since the subject has been breeched, what is your opinion of Her Majesty, your honest and off-record opinion?” I ask as the sextet shuffles ever closer.

He looks around, perhaps a touch unnerved by my cavalier casualness, and leans in, almost directly over the huge wooden bowl of chips and says in a low, serious voice, “She is a diamond in the rough, sir, she is brilliant and I have no reason to doubt that the algorithm she is testing,” he looks at his watch, “right about now, will be equally as incredible as what we witnessed this afternoon.”

He ends this powerful and convincing testimony by sitting back in his chair and starring over my shoulder at the mariachi violinist who is playing what I can only describe as Hendrix with a fiddle.