Sleeper Bluff
by
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Five minutes before noon everyone except Chris was back and seated at the conference table. No one was talking. In front of each of them was a small cardboard box, 2 inches high by 4 inches wide by 2 inches deep. The entire group waited an additional 15 minutes for Chris’ arrival. When he did arrive, there was no explanation for being late, he just took his seat and looked at Robert. “Sorry guys, this was the best I could come up with,” said Robert, “ and I had to raid my daughter’s candy stash at that. Inside these little boxes are two gumballs, one white and one black. Take them out; hold them in your hand. In a moment I am going to pass a small bag around and each of you are going to place either the white or the black gumball in the bag. A white gumball means you agree to go forward and agree to the strictest of secrecy. A black gumball means you are unwilling. A single black gumball is a no for the entire group. One “no” and it is all off. To maintain complete confidentiality I will ask you to eat the gumball that you do not put in the bag. Not really 007, but the best I could come up with.” Robert picked up a small soft cloth black bag off the table, took his two gumballs in his hand, placed his hand in the bag and then pulled it out and put his hand to his mouth. One vote in. The bag moved around the table, everyone doing more or less the same thing. When the bag was returned to Robert he held it up and then slowly turned it over spilling the contents onto the table in front of him. Everyone stared intently. Eight white gumballs! Everyone looked around at each other. There were no high fives, no pumping fists. In fact, the general expression on everyone’s face was, ‘Oh My God, what have I just done?' Robert got up and addressed the group, “OK, as we agreed, the decision is made, the decision is final, there is no going back, and we are all sworn to secrecy. Anyone that violates that is out, period!”
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About the Book
It is 2013, and Chris Johnson is a Midwesterner whose word is his reputation. By all accounts, he should be a model member of society. What no one knows is that he is embroiled in a dark world fueled by a dangerous secret. As he prepares to host another meeting for eleven other talented and successful men who worked with him at Newport Industries nearly a decade earlier, Chris knows it will be a few years before the secret bond that holds the group together will become reality. As Chris vacillates between the past and the present and reflects on how the original events played out, he makes a pivotal decision. After three years eventually pass and the men ultimately congregate in Switzerland to arrange the final payoff, they have no idea that one of them is secretly altering their plan and, in the process, transforming the future. In this gripping story, one of twelve men bonded together by a secret must decide whether to compromise his morals or stand strong in his beliefs as a dark world closes in and threatens to envelop him.
About the Author
John Christman is a former navy pilot and graduate of the United States Naval Academy who recently retired from a career in banking and finance. John and his wife, Erina, have had the good fortune to have lived internationally spending more than eleven years outside of the U.S. and traveling extensively to many fascinating destinations around the world.They have two sons and three grandchildren and now split their time between homes in the United States and Italy.