Corporate Secrets

Two large aerospace companies enter into an agreement to produce commercial jet engines parts in Japan. The transition to manufacture the parts in Japan moves smoothly at first with the assistance of a technical support team. The owner of Hawthorn Industries has second thoughts about the joint venture and hires Rick Emerson's firm to investigate. Rick learns of the sudden death of a member of the American technical support team while en route to Japan. Rick has confrontations with Japanese executives during his investigation. He discovers evidence of illegal military hardware in Japan and returns to America to meet with Hawthorn executives, only to find an American senator and two military officers who try to persuade him from any further investigation of the agreement, in the name of national security. The more Rick investigates, the wider the conspiracy grows. Rick's employer brings in highly visible U.S. Senator McCabe who unites several federal agencies to put a stop to the illegal activities of a right-wing group, the Federated Freedom Council. The story reaches a climax with a confrontation between Rick, members of the FFC and the two corporations' crooked executives in the Cayman Islands.