The Customer (dexter's Saga)

This story is dedicated to all the real Super Heroes of our time - The Service men and women of our Armed Forces and First Responders.

I hope you enjoy my work, and if you have any comments, or ideas that may inspire new work, please feel free to contact me - all E-mails will be answered to the best of my ability.

I would like to thank all of you that wrote and told me how much you like the story and Special Thanks to two very special fans for their help with part of this chapter. Thanks for the education guys. Please keep those letters coming.

End of Chapter 26

"I hate to think of the day when you are forced to take a woman to your bed in order to give us a son. I will hate every minute that you have to spend with her making her with child. Just remember that when she has a boy, it will be 'OUR' son, yours and mine, not hers."

Chapter 27

"If that is the case -- why not skip the whole marriage bit and we just adopt a child of our own right now? It would be much simpler that way."

"Yes, perhaps in your world, but in mine it would be an admission that I have not been able to sire a child and that all the rumors about us having sexual relations are true. And doing that is a NO-NO. We cannot admit to that in the open. Even you have said it would be the end of my political life as well as any hopes of your following in my footsteps. I was able to adopt you only because my ex-wife refused to have children of her own. Besides if we do have to adopt a child it would have neither your nor my blood in him and that is unacceptable to me."

"In today's world, I can not see that that makes any difference. I really don't get this duplicity, but if it makes you happy..."

"That is because you are still Christian and you live in a world that says, 'Love conquers all!' Laws, customs and tribe mean nothing to you. Only Love! When will you get it through your head that 'love crap' fades in time? It, like the rest of your society, will soon perish when we take over. But you, my love, have nothing to fear. You are my son and after your conversion you will be one of us -- a child of Islam. Until then, you just keep doing what I tell you to do and it will work out just fine. For now all you have to worry about is the security of the President," Yethro said. "That should keep you busy for a while. Now get out of here, I have to see Dan and tell him about these developments."

"You should keep it quiet for a while, at least until I get back and we are sure that he is coming."

"You may be right about that. However, I know he is going to put in an appearance. He has to. This is a great opportunity for him to try to cut me down to size."

"It can also be your opportunity to be the diplomat and try to win him over. After all if he does have Muslim blood in him, he can't be all that bad," Jesse laughed. "After all his father was one of "us" and it has to come out in the long run! Now it's time to get back to work. We are supposed to be on State Time, you know!"

"Fuck State Time, we need to relax more. Just remember to schedule another "Break" before you leave for Washington."

"I can't promise, but I'll see what I can do. It all depends on what Mr. Green has to say tomorrow. I was hoping to go to Washington early next week and get the security thing settled. However, I have to try to get to Mosque and class this Friday. The Imam was very angry with me during our last lesson. I guess I was kind of flippant with him and he almost threw a fit."

"What did you do now?" Yethro asked exasperatedly. "Will you just try and stay on his good side ¬-- for now ¬-- we may need him in the future. Besides when you do convert, it will be him that most likely will perform the circumcision. I think you would like to stay on his good side. You never know -- that knife might just slip. I thought that the two of you were getting along so well."

"Circumcision, that's what caused his tirade. I thought that we were getting along also. But this last time he just turned purple when I asked if it was that important that I get "cut" in order to convert or if it was really important that it be done without anesthesia," Jesse said. "I never saw him so upset. You would have thought he would have pulled out a blade and done it right there! Why?"

"I guess it is partly my fault. I should have warned you. I'm surprised he was that angry with you. You could not have known the real deep root connection between circumcision and the Muslim. He was really angry with me for not telling you this. As your father, I should have been the one to tell you this. Jesse, you have to understand we never use the term 'cut'. You see circumcision is a badge of honor to us Muslims. We never refer to it as 'being cut'. While there may be some academic/health and religious reasons for this practice among non-Muslims, for the Muslim man it is fundamental to his inclusion in Islam. It is our connection to the prophet Mohamed and father Abraham. It is often referred to as the "ring" of Abraham (like a ring in a marriage). Your flippant referrals to Muslims being "cut" could be considered blasphemy because it undignifies this act. We view this as being a gift from God and as such it is of fundamental importance to Islam. Also the roots of Islam come via the firstborn son of Abraham, Ishmael, and not the second born Isaac as in Judaism and Christianity. When you read your Bible it is Isaac who is the sacrifice, whereas in our Koran it is Ishmael. The circumcision, therefore, is in remembrance of a blood sacrifice to honor God, and a reminder of father Abraham's willingness to do all that God commanded him to do. Until you realize this and believe it, you will not be worthy of being considered a Muslim. So if you want to enter into the faith of Islam, I suggest that you show some respect for the basics."

"I never thought of it in those terms. But why not do it at birth?"

"Its being done at birth would make it very simple and easy ¬-- but the way of Mohamed is not easy nor simple. I remember when I received the "Ring" at the age of 10. It was as if I had received a gift from God. Yes it hurt but it also made me proud. So until you can feel that way, and until you can accept Islam within your heart, I suggest you delete the word "Cut" from your conversations with the true believers. Is that understood?"

"Yes, my lord! However, is it still permitted for me to kiss "the Ring"?

"Ohhhhhh I can see that you are going to be difficult..." Yethro smiled. "However, when we are alone, I will permit you to kiss my "Ring" and only mine as long as you follow the correct procedure of kneeling before me and.... Ohh you will be the death of me yet! Get back to work now you scoundrel." Yethro laughed.

"Yes, my love and remember we have an appointment for another "relaxing session" ASAP!"

The next morning, Jesse drove to his meeting with Mr. Green. Sitting in the rented hotel room, the Director informed him that a meeting had been arranged with the President and would take place in the President's residence. He would be smuggled in there under the guise of a regular tour. The meeting is scheduled to last for fifteen minutes.

"Fifteen minutes? That's all I have?" Jesse laughed. "It hardly seems worth the trip! What do you think I can tell him in that short of time?"

"Knowing you, I'm sure you can think of something to catch his attention. If you can get him interested he most likely will grant you more time, but fifteen minutes is the usual time allotment for interviews," Philip said. "After all, the man is busy and he will be given a copy of your service record and a summary of your proposed report before hand to look at. He just wants to meet with you and see the agent to get a feel for your veracity."

"So, will I have to prepare a statement of my thoughts?"

"No, not from scratch. In order to save you time, I took the liberty of preparing an outline for you to work on. It is based on our conversation the other day. This is your chance to let your boss know what you think -- so make the most of it. While he most likely does talk with his security agents often, I doubt if they discuss the topics you will be discussing. Believe me, it is not often that he is given the opportunity of meeting a field agent, nor is it common practice for a field agent getting the chance to meet with the President. I, myself, have met with him only a few times one of them being the interview before he nominated me for the Directorship. I now report to the National Security Board of which I am only one member. Here is a copy of the paper I prepared for you. I typed it double-spaced, so you can read it and make any corrections or additions you may feel like making. You can change it if you want. Go sit at the desk and read and work it over. What is written there are 'my words', but I want them to be 'your words and thoughts'. But try to confine it to one page."

Jesse did just that and for the next hour he reworked the report over and over. When he was finished he handed it to the Director and said, "Well I hope this will do it? Let's go over it and make sure we are both in agreement before you redo it."

They worked out a new draft and both the Director and Jesse approved the final rework. "I'm not being too presumptuous, am I? You know the more I think it over, the more I ask myself who the hell I think I am to even think I know it all! He surely knows whatever I am going to tell him and he may not even want to hear it coming from me."

"Don't chicken out on me now. It took a lot of dealing to get you this interview and I had to call in a lot of favors. I would not have gone out on the so-called limb if I did not think what you had to say was not only important but needed to be said; and said to his face. Even if he does not like what you have to say -- at least he will have heard the truth of the situation from an insider's point of view. He needs that and if he fires you -- so be it! He may even fire me at the same time, but I don't think so. In any event it will be interesting to see what happens."

"Why don't you think he will not fire us?"

"For two reasons. One: Because if anything goes wrong in the future he will have me to throw to the wolves. And two: He knows that as long as I'm working for him -- I'm not going to rat on him. We each build up points and when the time comes, we are able to redeem them as favors. That's how I got you this meeting and it's the Washington way of doing things ¬-- called deniability and payback."

"We have that on the State level also. It sucks, but there is nothing you can do about it. Yethro tries to get things done but he finds that he has to 'make deals' himself. I dread to think of some of the things he had done in order to ram through most of his program. Who knows how many State legislators are using his 'Shipments Overseas' before they are packaged up? He also deports some very hot women inmates. Mostly young blonds, so I hear. I don't know why these people volunteer to be shipped out of the country. I guess they figure that anything is better than being locked up."

"Yeah! And they think there is always the chance of escaping. Yethro has that way about him. I think he could sell air conditioners to the Eskimos. They call it the 'Art' of Governing," the Director said. "You'd better get back to the office now. I'll have this typed up and I'll submit it to the 'Boss' and we'll see what happens. Perhaps we can be able to make the trip early next week. How are things going at the Mosque? Anything new there?"

"Not a thing. The young people are becoming bored with me. They want me to date their sisters or at least to pal around with them more. I think they are beginning to consider me as 'one of their own'. It is a lot more relaxed and family like. I wish that I had more time to spend among them but running the office is very time consuming."

"Perhaps they are right, you should get a bit more involved with them. I have always thought that Yethro was a bit too old to really be involved with the 'Brotherhood' and even though we saw him meet with one of the leaders -- I still had reservations. Since the crackdown in Egypt I think the leaders have given up on Yethro's generation and are looking for new, younger leaders. They want leaders who are going to take their orders and carry them out. Action is what they want and they want it not tomorrow but yesterday. They are tired of trying to gain power through the old methods and want results. They are no longer willing to wait and gain power country by country, they want it all and they want it now. A world wide Caliphate and nothing else will satisfy them. You can see the results in the Middle East. It has started there already. An Islamic State from Spain to China. One State, One law, one religion, and soon one Caliph. Yethro and this generation are too old for them. Too set in their ways. They have been poisoned and corrupted by the west. The fact of the matter is that they maybe more interested in you. Someone new, fresh, impressionable and most of all controllable! You might be the link they are looking for. They have been enrolling more and more, younger new converts and pushing them into leadership positions. Newly converted Americans have climbed very high in the higher achy. There have been a few of them that are terrorist leaders. An American Caliph, why not?"

"They would be crazy if they thought that, but they have done lots of crazier things. Maybe you are right and it will have to be the younger generation that will have to flex its mussels sooner or later. I'll give it a try and see what comes of it. I will be going to Mosque tomorrow anyway and I'll sniff around. There is one guy that seems to like me and has offered his friendship to me. He is a bit different than the others. Unlike them, I don't even think he has a sister that he is looking to 'fix me up with'. If he had one then I could understand his attentions. He appears to be a sort of leader of some kind. There are always guys that come to him and they sort of pay him homage."

"What is his name?"

"Rashid Hussein" Jesse said.

"No relation to Sadam?"

"Not that I know of. Look it's a fairly common Arabic name spelled in many different ways. Almost like Smith or Jones is in the USA. Hell, it is also our President's middle name. In any event, I seriously doubt that there is any connection but run a check on him anyway. See if you have anything on him in your files?"

"I'll check it out and let you know. I would have thought that if there were something, I would have been told. With a name like that I would think he would have changed it. But then again you never know. He just might have felt that since the name is rather common, we might over look it. Anyway, I'll double check it anyway," the Director, said as he wrote the name down. "You'd better get back to your office, now. I'll be in touch."

Jesse returned to the executive offices and told Yethro about his meeting with Mr. Green and that he would make arrangements for him to meet with the security people about the up-coming Presidential visit. He did not tell him about a possible meeting with the President. He mentioned that Green said he would arrange everything and get back to both him and Yethro sometime next week when he had arranged it all.

"Yes I know," Yethro said smiling. "He called after your meeting to say that he was very impressed with you and that he could now understand why I wanted you to be in charge of this. You must have made a very good impression on him, because he sort of hinted that if he could, he was going to have you meet the President before hand. He did say that you looked a bit uptight about the President's visit and this might calm you down. In any event, he suggested, and I agree, that it might be a good idea if you were to take a few days off to relax and get ready for your trip."

"Yethro, what do you say to both of us going up to the lake for some rest and relaxation time? It would be good for both of us."

"I would love to, but you know my schedule and you of all people should know I can't. But he is right; you go on and do it. You have not seen Phyllis in a while. Why don't the two of you make use of the cabin this weekend? I hear the weather is going to be perfect for swimming."

"Why are you still pushing me to go out with her? Is it not enough that I talk to her at least three or four times a week?"

"We still need her father's support and good will, to say nothing of his money. Remember we still have to think about my next election." Yethro almost shouted at him. "Besides, I got to like her during the campaign. She is bright and interesting and I want you to keep her around. Is that understood?"

"We are still friendly but I don't think that would be a good idea for us to go up to the lake alone again. I don't want her to get any serious ideas about our relationship. I thought that I had made it clear from the beginning that marriage was out of the question. Now, I think she is becoming a bit too attached to me. I keep telling her that I'm going to convert and when I do, I will have to marry a young Muslim. She says that she would look good in a long dress and head covering and likes to tease me by doing a very poor imitation of a belly dance. However she is getting up there in age and not really very good at it. Besides she doesn't like fishing. Maybe a little fishing is what I need to relax me. Yes, that's what I'll do."

"I don't want you to go up there alone! You might get hurt and be unable to call for help. Should I inform Mike that you would be there and have him check up on you? Better yet, would you like to invite some of the guys from the Mosque for a weekend of fishing? It might sort of help you to relax and have a bit of fun. You have been working too hard."

"As far as Mike goes -- I know he patrols the compound, but, please, keep him away from me. He still scares me!" Jesse said. "As for inviting some of the Mosque guys go, that might not be a bad idea. It might even be fun and I would be able to get to meet some of the other young people socially. I have been pretty much of a loner and I should become friendlier if I am to convert. Do you have anyone in mind?"

"No one, just make sure you don't wreck the place. Don't bring too many now as there is not much room and I don't want Mike calling me in the middle of the night to tell me you have wrecked the place. Remember that I don't want to see or hear about any drugs or hard liquor," he jested.

"You know me better. Only a little beer and perhaps some wine. I'll behave myself and you just tell Mike that he is to keep away from me. I still think he is looking to grab my ass again."

"Why do you say that? Has he made any moves on you since that last time?"

"No, Not really. I just don't trust him. He acts sort of sleazy with me."

"Jess, get that thought out of your head. Maybe when I was just a Judge he might have thought he could get away with a lot of things. But now he knows that if he tries any thing like that again, I'll kill him and skin him alive! There is not a law officer in the world that wants the Governor of his state on his bad side. He might find himself behind bars as the plaything for a few of the guys he sent up the river.... Even if he were in the best of physical shape, as Mike is, he would not last long. The 'big house' is just full of rough inmates that have nothing to loose and would just love to 'entertain' our law officer. In fact, I can think of a few that have been dreaming and planning on it for years. He is also aware of my ability to have him 'Exported'. He knows that I could just as easily include him in one of my overseas consignments. I know he would not like to find out that his next job is as a ball-less eunuch guard at some mid-east harem. So you can be sure he will behave himself and he will try to keep as far away from you as he can."