The Lottery Council- Chapter IX: Leyland Makes A Move

When Jim got to work on Monday there was a note from Leyland wanting a meeting. He called Sarah his assistant and asked her to set one up. She called back within minutes, Jim hardly had a chance to finish his coffee.

"Mr. Masters can see you right away, Mr. Nolan," she said. Jim finished his coffee and headed for the elevators. He found Masters waiting.

"Jim, my boy," he said jovially, "how did you like the game?"

"Fine," replied Jim, "always fine when the Sox win."

"The reason I called you up here is that I really wanted you to meet Mr. Metzger, but I had hoped you'd bring Ann along. I don't know your brother-in-law and didn't want to discuss council business in front of him."

"Sorry," said Jim, "Ann hates baseball, so I brought David along. He's a good guy and he loves the Sox."

"Let me get to the point, so you can get back to work. You'll understand why I didn't want to say anything in front of David. By the way, how much do you trust him?" Leyland looked at him inquisitively.

"Oh, David," Jim was noncommittal, "He's OK. He's a little peculiar... one of those 'everybody but Oswald shot JFK' or '9/11 was part of a big government plot,' kind of guys. He's harmless, just one of those guys that has trouble keeping a job. He loves his sister and the kids and I get along fine with him, so..."

Leyland made a mental note to have this guy checked out. "Well anyway," he began again, "we're thinking about moving you up in the council again- to State Administrator. It will be quite a bit more work and a lot more responsibility. You'd be working more directly with the state agencies and organizations we deal with, coordinating events, things like that. That's why I'd hoped you would have brought Ann along to the game... so you could discuss it with her. Also so you could both meet Bill Metzger."

"Is he one of the council bigwigs?" Jim asked.

"You could say that," said Leyland. "He's more of a coordinator, an expediter. He makes sure that things get done according to plan. He coordinates between the council, the government and many of the organizations that we interact with on a steady basis. He'll be back in town in another week or so, so you'll get to meet him then. Maybe you can persuade Ann to come along. Until then, talk to her about what we talked about and see how she feels about you moving up... of course, there's more money involved."

"I barely have time to spend all I'm making now," Jim laughed. "I'll tell her, but I know what she'll say, 'it's up to you darling.'"

"I'm sure Ann can find something to do with it," Leyland winked. "Or, you could take up golf... buy a boat... go on vacation. You can afford it now. You live like you're still crunching numbers. I thought you'd never get that new house."

"It's not me, it's Ann. She never wants to spend any money, she's one of those practical Scottish girls."

"OK then," Leyland said, "you head back to work and think about what we talked about... and discuss it with your wife. You can tell your brother-in-law I shot JFK." Jim looked at him and Leyland was grinning broadly.

"Will do," he grinned back and left.

After Jim had gone, Masters picked up his phone. "Get me security and get Metzger on the line," he said.

"Security," the voice on the other end said.

"This is Masters. I need you to run a check on a David Russell." He gave them an approximate age and Jim's address. "I need everything you can find... look until you find something."

"Yes, sir," said the voice.

"Metzger..."

"Leyland here. I talked to Nolan and I think he's in. I'm running a check on the brother-in law. I don't like him, he's too nosy for my liking."

"I'll see what I can find on him on my end," said Metzger. They hung up.

https://steemit.com/fiction/@richq11/the-lottery-council-introduction
https://steemit.com/fiction/@richq11/the-lottery-council-chapter-i-seminar
https://steemit.com/fiction/@richq11/the-lottery-council-chapter-ii-elation
https://steemit.com/fiction/@richq11/the-lottery-council-chapter-iii-back-to-work
https://steemit.com/fiction/@richq11/the-lottery-council-chapter-iv-david
https://steemit.com/fiction/@richq11/the-lottery-council-chapter-v-the-beginning-of-the-end
https://steemit.com/fiction/@richq11/the-lottery-council-chapter-vi-the-plot-thickens
https://steemit.com/fiction/@richq11/the-lottery-council-chapter-vii-councils-within-councils
https://steemit.com/fiction/@richq11/the-lottery-council-chapter-viii-after-the-game

GIF by @papa-pepper