by Maggie Thom
"What's going on? I expected to hear from you a while ago that this had been resolved." Geoff straightened his tie as he looked out his office window. The expanse of the orchards with the leaves gently fluttering in the wind, reminded him of all that he'd fought for. This was his life, his legacy. No one would take it away from him, no one.
"Listen, asshole. I did you a favor twenty-nine years ago. Not the other way around. You came to me. I'm handling this situation."
You damned well better be. Or we all pay.
"I take it you at least know where she is?" The silence was so long and tense he feared the man on the other end of the phone might be having a stroke.
"For your information and in case you want to come and take care of the problem yourself," there was a long silent pause, "she's in Edmonton. You know, the capital of Alberta."
He ground his teeth but didn't respond to the jibe. This man would soon be out of his life forever. The last link they had to each other was Cassidy. If this man couldn't do it he'd find someone who could.
"I've got to go."
The phone went dead. He looked at the receiver in his hand for a moment, before setting it down. He might need that someone else anyway.
"You seem stressed, Geoffrey."
His head snapped up, his eyes narrowed. "What the hell do you think you're doing, sneaking into my office, Dorothy?"
"Ah, we're going to play those games, are we, Geoffrey. My name is Dorothea. You're memory seems to be going. Maybe it's time I stopped letting you be my right hand person. Hmmm." She walked in as though royalty and sat down at his desk in his chair.
The rage rushed through him so fast he was barely able to stop himself from grabbing her cane and beating the living day lights out of her. Again. It had been too long since he'd reacted so strongly to her.
Does she know it's because of me that she's carried that cane around for 40 years?
That did bring a smile to his face.
"Aahh. I'm glad to see you're going to be sensible, Geoffrey. I need to talk to you about some concerns regarding the contract negotiations for that small winery in Southern California. It seems we're paying an exorbitant fee."
Oh, you have no idea, my bitch of a sister. He felt elated and sad almost at the same time. He wished he'd be there to see the look on her face when she put it all together, when she found out there was no winery. There was no money. Sighing, he glanced outside. It was almost sad that this amusement was coming to an end. He'd have to move on. He took a deep breath, smiled and walked to the straight back leather chair he kept for guests. He sat down and explained to his sister what made the fictitious California winery worth every penny they were putting into it.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN