"It's a pleasure to do business with you, Mr. Ruddick." "Likewise, Mr. Secretary." Ruddick watched Finletter leave, aroused by Finletter's challenge, aware that his problem now was to find substitute contracts for McNaughton's cancelled Manta missile. It would not be difficult, for the whole business of defense was a game, just like the little enterprise he had going with the esteemed senator from Wisconsin. * Little Rock, Arkansas/September 15, 1951 Stan Coleman eased the borrowed Chevy around the rise, then shut off his lights and coasted down Elmwood Avenue, where Little Rock's upper crust lived. The huge old houses sat on four-acre sites, surrounded by neatly mowed lawns and lines of magnolia trees. The place smelled of money and he loved it—marrying Ginny was the smartest thing he'd ever done, even if she was hard to get along with. When he'd gone to Korea, Ginny had gone back to live with her dad in the old family home, kidding Stan that she was going to see her high school sweetheart.
