1 Law 4 All - Vegas. Billy Angel

go," Mac said.

      Ben asked him if he wanted anything to drink. "I'll have a Coke, thanks."

      Mac figured it was about eleven AM in Samoa so he didn't hesitate to call Kitiona.

      "Hi Mac," Kitiona answered on the second ring. "Is this a Foundation call or are you wondering which bathing suit I'm wearing?"

      "Ahhhh, Ben's on speaker with us!" Mac wanted to sound official.

      "Hi Ben. Don't imagine you care which bathing suit I'm wearing."

      "Well, if knowing will help Mac to focus, sure, go ahead and tell us."

      "It's a tied, blue, bikini top and gold bottom. But, I'll put on my Foundation t-shirt for this call if it's important."

      "Oh, give me the Polynesian lifestyle," Mac whispered.

      "I heard that! Anytime Mac," Kitiona said with a hopefully challenge.

      Ben interpreted their banter. "Thanks for texting Janelle's cell phone carrier. Bob and Lacey pinned her senator text to the Galaxy Hotel vicinity."

      Mac, over his Polynesian, Kitiona-type fantasies, chimed in. "Jimmy has some contacts inside the Galaxy, who work around Janelle's area. They and detective Rizzo are working the case from the inside. They came up with a Chinese contact. Doesn't your factory, Motorhead, sell brake glue to China?"

      Kitiona thought for a few seconds. "We have a few outlets. One's in Beijing. I'm not sure exactly where the others are located."

      "We were thinking. If necessary, could you take a trip to visit one of those outlets? And maybe do some scouting?"

      "I've never been to China. That could be interesting. Would you come along?"

      Mac hesitated for a long moment. "I should but I won't…..this time."

      Disappointed, Kitiona said, "I would feel safer going with someone. I can ask Kaia and Mark. He's going nuts not hearing from Janelle."

      "Jimmy will be getting back to us in a day or two. Check out who Motorhead sells to and find their locations. See what kind of visiting arrangements you can set up with them without causing a stir. You know those Chinese are suspicious of everything!"

      "Ok Mac." She paused for effect. "Time to take the Harley for a ride. Need to check on Kaia and Mark. She's doing her best to keep him focused on his research and her, of course."

      "Ok then, bye for now," said Mac.

      "Bye," she echoed.

      Chapter 22 Discovery

      About noon the next day, Mac received a text message from Carol. It read, 'one Senator and two Representatives were signed out to Vegas that weekend'.

      Mac immediately texted back, 'WHO'.

      Carol responding text read, Senator Larry Sneed, Reps George Timmathy, and Jeannine Yemen.

      His text back simply read, 'thxs'.

      Ben arrived with Chinese takeout from King Lings. "A little Chinese brainstorming fuel!" he said setting the bag filled with four, quart cartons on the conference table.

      They started eating and Mac started talking. "The name Larry Sneed keeps popping up. I thought we could go through Sneed's legislative history while we eat."

      "Remember, I use the seek and peck typing method." Ben said with a mouth full of chow mein noodles.

      "No problem. All you'll have to do is read and scroll. You read about Sneed. Here's Sneed's legislative record," he said turning the Dell laptop so the screen faced Ben. "You scan through it. Start with this year and work your way back. I'll do a Lexis-Nexis search on Sneed's friend, Li Wing."

      "Good plan," Ben said chop-sticking a juicy piece of sweet and sour pork into his mouth. He began tapping on the keyboard's down arrow and scanning the monitor's information.

      An hour later, Mac asked, "Anything?"

      Ben raised his head. "Sneed's into land stuff. His record is full of land-use legislation. He recently attached a land-use amendment to the Obamacare Bill."

      "You mean the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act?"

      "Yea. You know from the bill's name that it won't protect anyone or make healthcare affordable," Ben mused.

      "What does the amendment say?"

      "It calls for 50,000 acres in the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge to be reclassified and transferred into the Public Land System."

      Mac remembered reading in law school about the Public Land System being an outgrowth of the Northwest Territory. He beamed. "Sneed's clever. He basically put government land up for sale. He's probably going to buy it. Or maybe he already did!"

      Mac picked up his phone and called Carol. The voice on the other end said, "You need me, don't you?"

      "Carol, you are indispensible."

      "And desirable," She added.

      "We'll leave that determination to Carl. We need you to research what happened to the 50,000 acres of Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge. It was put into the Public Land System by none other than Senator Larry Sneed a little over three years ago. What happened to the land? Did anyone buy it or is it just sitting there?"

      "Piece of cake. Anna and I are going shopping for shoes later. After that we'll be able to access those files through her office computer. You remember her boss, Representative Timothy Red Wolf. He's at home in South Dakota this week. I guess the oil fracking mania is traveling South. He's helping the governor educate land owners what fracking means to them."

      "Great," Mac said. "Call us tomorrow about noon your time."

      They both ended the call. Mac said to Ben. "Carol's on it!"

      Senator Sneed's daughter, Jennifer Ariosto, sat in her DC office listening to her phone messages. The message from the escrow company caught her interest. She returned their call.

      She connected with the escrow officer and was smiling at the news. She immediately pick up the phone to call her father. Then she sat back and wondered. Her recollections of daddy haunted her even today. She took a deep breath, repressed the memory and placed the call.

      "Jennifer, how are you?" The Senator answered.

      "Escrow called. The Refuse has been deeded. The final papers for our sale to Quon-Rong will be ready to sign tomorrow."

      "That's good news. Locci's persuasive methods worked."

      "Dad, I wanted to make a deal with an Indian tribe for the land. But your idea to use reclassified government land will make us a hundred times more money. Now, Wing and his people will relax and stop pressuring you."

      "I'd better call Wing. He'll need to take a red-eye out from San Francisco to sign the papers. Set up the escrow signing for as late in the day tomorrow as possible."

      "Will do. Bye." Jennifer ended this call. She dialed escrow's number and made the arrangements.

      Sneed called Wing. He explained the escrow process to him. Wing acknowledged he was eager to sign the paperwork. Sneed ended the conversation with, "I'll send a government jet for you. See you tomorrow." And he did.

      Chapter 23 Shoes Plus

      At nine sharp Carol called Mac's cell. "Good morning, Carol," Mac answered.

      "Good afternoon," Carol replied from DC. "You won't believe the cute red pumps Anna and I found yesterday. They're Diego di Lucca's on sale for $125. They were $155. Deal hah?"

      "Such a deal," Mac couldn't help remembering Carol's dilemma over which dress to wear when she first met Carl Grandson. "They'll match the red dress you wore when you met Carl."

      "You remembered! I think I'll wear that dress with my new Diego shoes tonight for dinner with my man!"

      "The shoe frenzy didn't keep you from