Free Running With The Big Dogs: Sybil Norcroft Book Six by Carl Douglass Page B

money seems to be the only major hurdle, then I would like to help you get through your educations—no strings attached.”
    “Like a loan?”
    “No, think of it as a wedding gift—one that keeps on giving. When you become rich doctors, you can take care of the doddering old folks at home.”
    “I don’t know what to say. That is the most incredible piece of luck in my entire life.”
    “There is no such thing as luck, Drake. I compete in a dog-eat-dog business world and have done so for a long time. You have earned my offer. I ask only that you continue to earn it.”
    “I will take care of Cerisse all the days of my life. I will protect her, love her, and make her as happy as it is possible to be. Your offer is life to me. I will owe you forever. Thank you so much.”
    They shook hands on the most important bargain two men can make.
    While the two men were in the study having their talk, Sybil took Cerisse aside in the sitting room outside hers and Charles’s bed room.
    “I know what Daddy is doing, Mama; I just hope he isn’t too old-fashioned and stodgy with Drake.”
    “You know your daddy better than that, Cerisse. I will bet you a milkshake that they come out of that room all smiles.”
    “I certainly hope so.”
    “There’s something else I need to talk to you about alone. You know about my new job.”
    “Of course, Mama, everybody in the country—probably in the world—knows that you are the new director of the CIA.”
    “Yes. You have to understand that we are in very unsettling times. What you might not know is that I have been receiving lots of threats lately, ever since the impeachment proceedings. I am not popular because of my participation in the imposition of martial law three years ago. Now, there are a lot of people who threaten me and my family because of the new efforts to stave off national bankruptcy, especially my role in pushing forward a plan to start a National Health Service.”
    “But, you’re out of that, right? How come Secretary Margoles and the people in the SEC and the Medicare and Medicaid agencies testified before the congressional committee that it was all the president’s and your ideas. They got scared and blamed you, right? I thought they were your friends.”
    “Cerisse, my dear, there’s a saying that has a lot of truth to it—’in Washington, if you need a friend, get a dog’. That’s cynical but seems accurate.”
    “It’s not fair, and it’s nasty.”
    Sybil nodded.
    “The people who are blaming me are just covering themselves. They will continue to work for the National Health Service and probably to blame me. I don’t really care so long as they do their jobs and get the nation’s health care delivery back on track. I am no longer actively involved; but the hatred and threats from the radical right-wing people have not let up. You recognize that our security guard unit has doubled in size and that we have to obey some rules about where and when we can go out and with whom. Incidentally, presuming that you intend to keep company with Drake, he will have to have his own guards. The president has signed a special order to provide our whole family—including Drake—with a very serious security force. I have got to trust you to comply with the requests—yes, the orders—of the Secret Service agents. Will you do that for me?”
    “Yes, Mama. I won’t like it, but I understand that it is necessary. Will things ever get better?”
    “Frankly, Cerisse, I don’t think they will until I complete my term—which is indefinite—as the DCIA. I am going to tell you a family secret. You are an adult, and a very intelligent and serious one. There have been threats from the Russians against me and a lot of other U.S. officials because of some financial crimes they tried to get away with.”
    “From the Russian government?”
    “Certainly not directly, but there have been very direct ones from the Russian mafia who want to extort concessions from our