My head was pounding and I needed optimum relaxation. As I slipped into the bath, I tried to clear my mind and leave the office behind. I definitely d...d not want to worry about work right now. I let the hot water soothe my body and laid back, listening to the silence in the house. After a few minutes, I thought I heard footsteps. I sat up, listening again, but heard nothing. I must have imagined it. I leaned back into the water and closed my eyes. My eyes shot open when I heard them again. I. Next time, I'm going to write you aticket." I thought if there ever was a next time, I'd simply wear thepantyhose till they fell off in shreds. I laughed as I then consideredthat I'd be ticketed for littering. What a crazy world! Thankfully Samwas still waiting for me when I returned. "What was that all about?" he asked me indicating my brief conversationwith the police. I told him. He replied with mock seriousness that Ishould indeed know better and laughed. I went to punch him on the arm.He. By 10:30 I was done with both the VCATS and SVOL conference calls. At 10:45 I was sitting in the hairdresser’s chair at Jenny’s insistence.Then we went home for a quick lunch and for me to change into the best professional form fitting pant suit I had. We needed to be early; Victor had tons of rules, regulations and policies that I needed to review. We were just going to hit the important ones; the rest I would look up if I needed them.It was a cover story for all the peons in the department. They had seen heads chopped off with swords in the halls of government. They had seen their neighbors die in the streets. It was impossible not to question how the situation had gotten to that point. The answer pointed directly at the primary victim of the coup — the government itself.The rest of Europe had watched the coup take place in a state of shock. The leadership of Europe was paralyzed by the brutality of the radicals and shocked at the overwhelming response of the Americans. There was.