Date:  April 7^th, 2011

I’ve arrived in Virginia on an early morning flight, which was accompanied by another sick feeling in my gut.  I hate flying… it is already shaping up to be a not-so-pleasant day for me here in Virginia where I have a meeting with former Senator Daniel J. Woods, current owner of the Arlington Bureaucrats.  As soon as I came off the plane, I vomited all over the runway here at Ronald Reagan National Airport.  So now I’ve spent the better half of the morning recovering in my motel room.  This has given me some time to glance over some paperwork that Jenny faxed over that she received from Mr. Jennings, my contact from the C.I.A.

It turns out that the Senator might not be as clean as I hoped he would be, or rather as clean as Denny turned out to be.  It was common knowledge that in 2009 the previous owner, John Whitacre, had gotten into some legal trouble with a DUI and vehicular manslaughter charges which compromised his position as owner.  Whitacre ended up having to pay millions in legal fees to his overpriced attorneys, and in doing so was no longer in the financial position to be able to keep the team.  Of course we all know what followed, as in stepped Senator Woods to buy out the team.

The disturbing discovery made that is not known by many is that the person hit by Mr. Whitacre was actually pushed in front of his oncoming vehicle.  Apparently a street surveillance camera picked up the accident, but the tape mysteriously disappeared soon after.  Jenny sent me the footage through my phone, along with the paperwork.  Apparently Mr. Jennings had such a tape handy.  It shows a drunken Mr. Whitacre in his car striking a man who comes tumbling into the road from the sidewalk.  On the sidewalk is a portly man dressed in a dark suit, and he just watches as the event unfolds in front of him after pushing the bystander into the road.  After the accident, the mystery man simply walks away.

While Mr. Whitacre was drunk and should not have been behind the wheel, it was not completely his fault that the accident had occurred.  What I am trying to figure out is why the tape went missing and why Mr. Jennings had access to the video.  I smell government cover-up all over this one.  I am also starting to think it is a little too convenient that the Senator finds himself as the owner of a baseball team now.  Hopefully I will be able to come up with some more answers in my meeting with him today.  I leave my motel room and head to his office.

My stomach bothers me all along the car ride over… I might be uneasy about the situation or I might just still be sick from the plane ride; I am not sure.  As I get out of the car, I remember that I need to leave my firearm in the glove box, as surely the Senator’s guards will pat me down before letting me speak with him.  I have gotten used to it being on me at all times recently, so I feel naked without my gun now… Once I get to the Senator’s office door I am met by a large Secret Service-looking gentleman.

“I am here for a meeting with Mr. Woods.”  The guard looks me over then motions for me to spread out my arms.  He glides his handheld metal detector over me a few times, and the device screeches.  I forgot I had my recorder in my pocket; I carry it everywhere as well.  I show him the device and then he motions for me to enter the room.  “Man of few words, I guess,” I think to myself as I enter the office.  Mr. Woods is behind his desk looking over some papers as I enter the massive office room.  “Welcome, welcome.  Mr. Nizinski, I presume?” He asks as I enter.  “Yes sir, pleasure to meet you.”

“So what brings you to this fine city of ours?  Getting sick of the Jersey area?  Maybe you are bored of watching a losing team and wanted to watch some winners for a change?” Mr. Woods chuckles to himself as he pokes fun at me.  “I was hoping you would be able to shed some light on something for me, Senator.”  Mr. Woods cocks an eyebrow as he waits for me to ask him a question.

“Why did you trade Yura Kajgaliev to the Hitmen earlier this year?” I ask him as I watch for any sudden changes in his expression.  He gives me a sly look like he’s toying with me.  “That’s a simple one, my lad; because it made sense.  My scouts told me we could make an improvement in our minors with the move; I simply listened.  Arturo has thrown well for us in AA.”  I become agitated with this response.  I already don’t feel well and I am not in the mood to be lied to.  Mr. Woods’s cocky attitude and smirk tells me he is having fun lying right to my face.

“Oh?  Not what you wanted to hear?” he continues to mock me.  “You can’t always get what you want, Mr. Nizinski, especially when you don’t know what is going on around you.” I give him an angry glare and begin fidgeting with my recorder in my pocket.  “Mr. Woods, it would benefit you to not lie so blatantly to my face when I ask you a question.  It is my belief that your trading Yura to the Hitmen was for reasons other than baseball.” He smirks.  “Do you have any proof?  Let me tell you something: you think you can scare me into confessing to some make-believe theory of yours?  Because that is all it is.  You have no proof that the trade was nothing more than me doing my job as owner of this team.  Let me remind you, Mr. Investigator, I am a former Senator; I’m not afraid of some lowly Jersey boy!”

“And what theory of mine would that be, Mr. Senator?” I ask, trying to get something I could use.  “Don’t play coy with me boy!  You’re here to try and get me to confess to some kind of mafia involvement!  I know all about what you are doing, about what John came to you for!” Mr. Woods shouts back at me.  I think I might be pushing his buttons finally.  “And how would you know about what John had come to me for, or the mafia?”  Mr. Woods laughs at me as I ask; this seems to be a reoccurring thing for me lately…

“Believe me when I say this: I have more friends in the higher-up than you ever will, boy.  I know all about your meeting with Denny as well,” he continues mocking me from behind his oak desk.  “So you’re saying that helping reunite some Lithuanian gangsters had nothing to do with the trade?” I continue to prod the Senator with questions.  “That is what you think?  That’s absurd; do you even listen to yourself as you speak?” Mr. Woods continues to deny any wrongdoing.  I am not going to be able to get anything on tape if this keeps up.

I am getting nowhere with this meeting.  All I am achieving is a newfound hatred for the former Senator.  Maybe I should ask him about the accident… “Okay, well, what about how you acquired the Bureaucrats?  I heard that Mr. Whitacre’s accident was no ‘accident’.”  This question doesn’t sit well with the Senator.  He erupts from his chair, slamming his hands down on his desk and snarls at me, “Watch your tongue, boy… do you know what your accusing me of?  You’d best watch what you say if you know what is good for you.”  Bingo.  That pretty much confirms it for me; the Senator is rotten to the core.  Let’s see what happens if I prod the beast a bit more.  “Are you threatening me, Mr. Senator?  That would not be very becoming of a man of your stature.”

“Get out!” The Senator shouts at me.  Immediately the door flings open, and lumbering in is the guard that was at the door.  “Show this bum the door!”  The guard nods as he grabs me by the collar and leads me out of the room.  “Oh, Mr. Nizinski. Do be careful.  Wouldn’t want you getting hurt now, would we…” The Senator adds with a grin on his face as I am being shown out.  I giggle to myself as I feel I won a little personal victory there with upsetting the Senator.  With a swift thrust the guard flings me out of the office building with surprising strength.  I dust myself off and make sure my recorder is not broken from the fall.  Everything seems in place so I head back to my car.

*THUD*

As I begin opening my door, the back of my head begins to throb and I start to lose consciousness.  “Shit, Mishe!  Watch your damn throwing hand, man!” one thick-accented voice exclaims as I start blacking out on the cold pavement.  “Shut up, Yura, can’t have this bum hearing our names now… that wouldn’t make the boss happy…”  Another voice adds as I lose consciousness.

I pass in and out of consciousness now for what seems like days.  At one point it sounds like I am in a moving vehicle; maybe a car, maybe a plane?  I am not sure; everything is so hazy.  I am constantly bound and gagged, and I have what I think is a tea cozy on my head.  When I am conscious, it is always dark and my head hurts so much from whatever it was that hit me that I can’t seem to stay awake long.  It is always completely silent or it sounds like I am being transported.  The worst possible scenario seems to have happened and I do not know what is in store for me.

It is silent again… no point in staying awake I guess… might as well try and sleep off the pain for a bit… *Rustling noises* “Ugghh…” There’s some noise; is there someone or something else with me?  “…Bo… bour… bon…”