Sweat by Mark Gilleo Page A

cigar to his lips.
    â€œHow did your filming efforts turn out?”
    â€œVery professional. We completed editing last week. All told, our trip produced thirty solid minutes of footage.”
    â€œWhen is the film scheduled for its big screen release?”
    Senator Day squirmed slightly in his chair. His thoughts turned toward the photographs he had received in the mail and the wire transfers that vanished without a trace into a bank in Hong Kong. The senator lied. “I’m planning to work it into the schedule this month with the Special Committee on Overseas Labor. We are at a critical juncture and need to make our recommendation to the Senate.”
    â€œI’m sure your constituents will be pleased with your recommendation.”
    The senator flashed his best smile. He knew all too well how deep Peter kept his hand in Congress’s pocket. His guest understood that the senator had a vested interest in the garment industry. Peter personally knew many of the businessmen with manufacturing interests in the senator’s home state—businessmen with thick briefcases and thicker wallets that pushed, coerced, and bullied for status quo and the ability to overlook a little human suffering in the name of making money.
    â€œI would love to see the footage from Saipan,” Peter said.
    If you only knew what I know, the senator thought. That tape and those photos could ruin my life.
    The senator lied again. “That can be arranged.”
    â€œPlease let me know. Of course, I’d also be happy to testify before the committee in any way that you see fit.”
    Now there is an idea. “That may be very well received, Peter,” the senator said, his mind churning.
    â€œI’m at your disposal.”
    Peter took a sip of his brandy and a pull from his cigar. The senator looked around the room to keep tabs on the night’s list of who’s who.
    â€œHow is your chief-of-staff?”
    â€œScott? Took a few weeks before they could even do surgery due to swelling and internal hemorrhaging. He was scheduled to be back at work this week, but that was before he developed a staph infection. The doctors aren’t saying when he will be released. In the meantime, the rest of my staff is floundering to cover for him. Twenty employees who can’t get out of each other’s way.”
    â€œWaterskiing can be dangerous.”
    â€œEverything can be dangerous,” the senator answered. The senator saw his segue into the heart of the topic he was looking to broach. “By the way, I wanted to thank you and Lee Chang for your assistance with my aide. Lee was most helpful in coordinating the medical care on Saipan. Under the circumstances, I felt somewhat responsible for my employee’s injury.”
    â€œLee Chang knows Saipan very well.”
    â€œYes, he seemed to be very well-connected. A very interesting man.”
    There was a slight change in the nuance of the conversation, a mild shift in mannerisms Peter immediately recognized. “In what way, Senator?”
    â€œI understand Lee comes from a very successful family.”
    â€œYes, he does.”
    â€œSo why Saipan? Running a sweatshop seems like, how should I put it…an underachievement.”
    Both men jogged for position.
    â€œThe Chang family has manufacturing interests in a half-dozen Asian countries,” Peter said, pausing briefly to sip his brandy. “But Chang Industries on Saipan is the most profitable.”
    â€œLee has brothers, no?”
    Peter knew the senator had been doing his homework. “The Chang family has a proud lineage in China going back too many generations to count. Lee has two elder brothers who are successfully running other business interests of the family.”
    â€œIn China?”
    â€œYes, on the mainland.”
    â€œIn Hong Kong?”
    â€œNo,” Peter answered.
    â€œSo only Lee resides outside of the country?”
    Peter didn’t respond.