by Stephen Frey
Her thoughts slipped back to last night and John Tucker on the landing outside her door. How he had refused to kiss her just as their lips were about to meet. She wondered to herself why what came so easily with Sam was so difficult with John.
“Hey, thanks, Mom!”
Angela took a step back from Sam as Hunter appeared in the doorway. But they were still holding hands and she could see in Hunter’s eyes that the boy approved. “Is it what you wanted?” she asked.
“Oh yeah. It’s great.”
Then he was gone, back into his room, and she could hear him playing with the new toy.
“Nice going, Angie. Big hit.”
She glanced up at Sam. His hand was so warm. “Thanks.” As she gazed at him he brought his fingers to her face, looked deeply into her eyes for a few moments, then leaned forward. But at the last moment she turned her head to the side and he was forced to kiss her cheek. Just as John had done to her. But why? Why had John done that? Even now, with Jake Lawrence gone?
“Well,” Sam said quietly, straightening up, “I was hoping for a little more than that.”
“Is that why you brought Hunter here this weekend?” she asked quietly. “For that?”
“No. The visit is for real. I do believe he needs to see you more. I was just hoping you might believe that I need to see you more, too.”
“I can’t, Sam. Not while you’re married.”
He brought one of her hands to his lips and kissed it gently. “And if I weren’t?”
“I suppose I might feel differently.”
“How different?”
He still had that amazing hold over her. Even after all this time and all the terrible things he had done. “You know I’ve never been able to resist you.”
“You just did.”
She nodded. “Yes, I suppose I did, didn’t I?”
“Hunter,” Sam called. “Dad’s got to get going. Come out and say good-bye.” The boy appeared instantly, scampered to where Sam stood, hugged him tightly, then tore back to his room. “That was quick.” Sam chuckled as he headed toward the door.
“Now you know how I feel,” Angela pointed out.
“What do you mean?”
“That’s how weekends with him are for me. I feel like I see him for a few seconds, then he’s gone again.”
Sam turned back when he reached the door. “I understand, and we’re going to work on that.”
“Thanks.” She stood in front of him, hands clasped together. “You know I really appreciate it.”
“Were you serious?” he asked.
“About what?”
“If I weren’t married, would you consider renewing our relationship?”
“I thought we already had a relationship.”
“You know what I mean,” he said.
“I can’t guarantee anything, Sam. Besides, your father would have a—”
“Screw my father, Angie. I’m not going to let him run my life again. I’m not going to let him tell me who I can be with and who I can’t.” He hesitated. “I can’t get you out of my head. I want you back.”
His strong arms slipped around her and then their bodies were pressed together. He sounded so sincere, and the words were words she had wanted to hear for so long. “You don’t love Caroline?” she whispered.
“You mean the ice queen?”
Then Sam’s lips were on her neck, and she could feel electricity race through her. But, just as quickly as it had come, it faded. Something that had never happened before. All she could think about was John Tucker, and why he had refused her twice. She had seen in his eyes that he wanted to kiss her, but for some reason he’d held back.
“Mom.”
Angela pulled back, startled by the sound of Hunter’s voice. “Yes, honey?”
“I’m kinda hungry. Do you have anything to eat?”
She slipped from Sam’s arms. “How does a cheeseburger sound?”
“Yes!” Hunter pumped his fist several times.
Angela looked back at Sam, who had one foot out the door.
“I think I’d better get going,” he said. “I’ll be back Sunday at 7:00 to pick Hunter up.” He glanced around. “Nice place you’ve got here.” And then he was gone.
For several moments Angela gazed at the door, then she headed to the kitchen to put the burgers on. As she was taking out plates from the cupboard she heard a knock at the door, and she smiled to herself. Sam. It was the hopeless romantic in him coming out. He had been so certain that she was going to give him that kiss, and he couldn’t leave without it. Well, he was going to be disappointed.
“Look, I—” Angela stopped short as she opened the door. John Tucker stood on the landing.
“Hello, Angela.”
“John.” She checked back over her shoulder. Hunter was in his room. “Do you want to come in?”
“No. I just wanted to give you a piece of information I didn’t think ought to be delivered over the phone.”
Angela’s ears perked up. “What?”
“William Colby had us all fooled last night.”
“I don’t understand.”
“That wasn’t Jake Lawrence in the helicopter. It was a decoy. Lawrence is alive.” Tucker shook his head. “I don’t like Bill much, but he knows what he’s doing when it comes to protecting Lawrence.”
Angela brought both hands to her mouth, a surge of adrenaline rushing through her body. “My God.”
“Yes. And the message from Mr. Lawrence is that you are to keep pushing ahead.” Tucker shrugged. “Whatever that means. I suppose it has something to do with Proxmire.”
“Tell him that I will,” she replied, still shocked by the news. “Are you sure you don’t want to come in?”
“No, I can’t,” he said, turning away toward the steps. “I gotta go.”
“John.”
“Yeah?” He turned back, one hand on the railing. “What is it?”
“Given what you’ve told me, I’m going to need to go back up to northern Virginia on Monday afternoon to meet with Walter Fogel. I want you to go with me.”
He smiled, then bowed. “At your service, Ms. Day.”
“One more thing.” She kept thinking about Liv’s description of the person who had met her in the parking garage and passed on the incriminating information on Bob Dudley. The cowboy.
“Yes?”
“Do you know who Liv Jefferson is?”
“Nope,” he answered. “Never heard of her.”
“You sure?”
“Absolutely. Who is she?”
“A newspaper reporter here in Richmond. Short black woman who covers the business beat for theTrib .”
“Like I said, never heard of her. I don’t read theRichmond Trib real often, you know?”
“Right,” she agreed slowly.
“Doesn’t sound like you’re convinced.” Tucker winked. “Why are you looking at me like I’m KGB or something?”
“I’m not,” she answered, her voice serious.
“That was a joke, Angela,” Tucker said. “You were supposed to laugh.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Guess you aren’t in a very good mood tonight. Kind of surprising too.”
“Why?”
“You got your son in there.”
“How did you know that?” she asked, moving out onto the landing.
“I saw your ex-husband walking up the stairs with the boy. I waited until he was gone so as not to disturb you. Be careful there, Angela,” Tucker warned, descending the first step. “Never trust an ex.”
“John!”
He turned around once more. “Yes?”
It was a question that had troubled her all day. Something she had remembered Tucker saying last night. “Last night you made a comment to me after I saved you.”
“Yeah? What was that?”
“Something about a tattoo.”
Tucker stared back at her intently. “So?” he asked after a few moments, as if he didn’t even remember saying it.
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Perhaps someone had been behind the mirror in her bathroom at the lodge. Perhaps that someone had gotten a very nice view of her. Someone like John Tucker. He had claimed that the lodge manager didn’t let anybody up past the first floor. Perhaps that was a lie. “How did you know?”
“Know what?”
“That I have a tattoo there.”
He smiled. “Lucky guess.”
“John!”
Tucker rolled his eyes. “Look, when we went into that cave after whoever it was shot at us up on the mountain, we both bent down and leaned back against the wall. I happened to glance over and I saw the top of a little butterfly on your hip. Your jacket and shirt were riding up, and I guess those jeans we got you were a little big.” He hesitated. “Satisfied?”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“So, where do we stand?” Angela asked.
It was early Monday morning. Hunter was back at Rosemary, and she and Walter Fogel were back in the Proxmire boardroom.
“Looks to me as if you and your board of directors met over the weekend,” she continued when Fogel didn’t answer right away. Two trash cans on one side of the room were stuffed with pizza boxes and Styrofoam cups, and the stack of legal pads in the middle of the long table was half as high as it had been when she and Fogel had met last week. “What did you decide?”
“We were here until 2:00 this morning, and four out of five of us voted to proceed with your offer,” Fogel answered wearily.
Elation surged through Angela. One step closer. “Good. I assume, like most other boards, majority rules.”
“Unfortunately not,” Fogel informed her, rubbing his bloodshot eyes. “Not with respect to this decision anyway.”
Angela’s elation faded as quickly as it had jumped. “What do you mean?” Angela had confidently predicted to Tucker this morning that they would have a deal by noon.
“According to Proxmire’s bylaws, a decision by the board of directors to sell the company must be unanimous. One member abstained last night. At this time, we can’t move forward.”
“Abstained?”
“Yes. He didn’t voteagainst your offer, but he didn’t votefor it either. And as long as he doesn’t vote for the sale of the company, we cannot embrace the offer.”
“Why did he abstain?”
“He wanted more information,” Fogel explained, letting out a long, frustrated breath. “Translated, he wants more money than what you are offering.”
“He won’t get it, Walter,” she assured him adamantly. “If you’re playing good cop, bad cop with me, it won’t work.”
Fogel held up both hands. “That’s not what’s going on here, Angela, I promise.”
She wasn’t convinced. “I noticed in Proxmire’s SEC filings that the lead bank in your $200 million revolving credit agreement is the First National Bank of North Carolina.” She could smell a rat and she was going to quickly squash this attempt to squeeze more money out of Lawrence quickly. “I called a colleague of mine down there on Friday morning. She’s a lending officer for First National in Charlotte, and I’ve known her for several years. She did some digging around and found out that the senior credit people at First are very nervous about Proxmire’s ability to remain solvent,” she said sternly. “They are close to putting Proxmire into default on the loan agreement for multiple covenant violations, and could force you into Chapter 11. Your board member would have egg all over his face at that point. Not to mention a lawsuit on his hands that would surely exceed the limits of your directors and officers’ insurance policy,” she added.
“Relax,” Fogel pleaded. “I agree that what you are offering is fair. And believe me, I want my employment contract.”
“Then let’s call up your board member right now,” Angela suggested, pointing at the speaker phone in the middle of the table. “He needs to do the right thing. I don’t have time to screw around.”
“You’re quite a little pit bull, Ms. Day.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment, but let’s cut the polite but useless chitchat and get on with the deal. Let’s call this guy.”
“I don’t think calling him would do much good right now. He was dead set against the deal last night, despite the fact that we did our best to convince him to vote with us. We went back and forth for hours, but he wouldn’t budge.” Fogel paused. “You are exactly right about our cash situation, Ms. Day. We’re almost out.”
“Did you tell him that?”
“Several times. But he believes he can get a higher price. He said he was going to approach some people he thought might give us that better offer.”
“Let me remind you, Walter, that if Jake Lawrence has to announce a hostile tender offer for Proxmire, you and your management team won’t get contracts when he wins. You’ll be out in the cold.” Angela’s anger was building. She’d been so sure that Proxmire was in the bag. Now Fogel was screwing up a smooth transaction. Screwing up Danny Ford’s desire to talk, the woman’s agreement to testify to her affair with Sam, and the judge’s willingness to reopen the custody proceedings. “I’m warning you, Walter.”
“Easy. I think I may have a solution.”
“What?”
“You told me last week that you needed some time to perform your due diligence work, specifically at ESP.”
“Yes.”
“All right, then. Get started on it and let me deal with my board member. By the time you’re done, I think I can have him in line. I’ve arranged for you to have full access to all the books and records at ESP as soon as you want to start. Hell, you can go out there straight from here, if you’d like. ESP is out in Chantilly, which is only a few miles west of here.”
That sounded better. It would take several days of combing through ESP’s records before she could tell Jake she was confident there were no skeletons in the closet. At least none that would get in the way of an initial public offering of ESP. “Which board member is giving me heartburn, Walter?” She had reviewed each board member’s background—available in Proxmire’s annual 10-K report to the SEC.
“A man named Dennis Wolfe. He’s with an investment company called Sage Capital. We bought ESP from Sage,” Fogel explained. “In addition to the Proxmire shares we gave Sage as consideration for ESP, we also gave them a seat on our board. Dennis is their representative.”
“Sage Capital is based in downtown D.C., right?”
“Yes.”
According to Proxmire’s 10-K, Dennis Wolfe had been a managing director at Sumter Bank until six years ago. Until just before she’d taken her job at Sumter. “Sage owns almost 20 percent of Proxmire as a result of the shares you issued to purchase ESP.”
“About that.”
“Do you think Wolfe sincerely believes he can get a higher price for Proxmire, or does he have other motivations?”
A curious expression came to Fogel’s face. “I’m not sure what you mean. What other motivation could he have?”
Angela’s eyes narrowed. Wolfe’s Sumter connection was too coincidental. “I don’t know,” she admitted, standing up. “I’ll be going out to ESP now.”
“Okay,” Fogel agreed, standing as well.
“There’s something I need you to do, Walter.”
“What?”
“Keep my visit to ESP very quiet. Don’t tell anyone other than staff people here at Proxmire and at ESP who absolutely have to know that I am going out there. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
Minutes later Angela was in the car with John Tucker. “Back to Richmond?” he asked, guiding the car toward the parking lot exit.
“No. Head west on the Dulles Toll Road. We’re going to Chantilly.”
“Okay.” Tucker glanced over. “You seem upset. Everything okay?”
Angela grimaced. “I hope you didn’t put your life savings into Proxmire stock.”
“Why?” he asked nervously.
“I don’t know if we have a deal or not,” she explained, pulling her cell phone from her purse and turning
it on. “And if there isn’t a deal, Proxmire isn’t going to be worth much.”
“What happened?”
The cell phone beeped as the signal strengthened, indicating that Angela had a new voice mail message. She entered her code. “One of Proxmire’s board members doesn’t like the deal.”
“That can’t be good.”
“It isn’t,” she agreed, listening to the message. It was from Liv, pleading with Angela to call her as soon as possible. Angela scrolled through her speed-dial numbers and selected Liv’s office number. “It isn’t good at all.”
“Hello,” came the quick reply at the other end of the line.
“Liv, it’s Angela. You called.”
“Yes,” Liv said loudly, her voice intensifying when she realized it was Angela. “Thanks for calling me back.”
“What’s wrong?” Angela asked, glancing over at Tucker, who seemed to be trying too hard to convince her he wasn’t listening.
“I found out this morning that theHerald is working on the Dudley story as well,” Liv said excitedly. TheHerald was Richmond’s other daily newspaper. “I have a mole over there who told me in confidence that they are close to confirming that Bob Dudley approved a loan to a manufacturing company he secretly controls. The company is going belly-up because they dividended too much cash out to him. Dudley’s really a bad guy, Angela.”
“I understand,” Angela said quietly, pressing the phone tightly to her ear so Tucker couldn’t hear. “That’s all good news.”
“The hell it is! I want to break this story, Angela. I want to be the one who brings Bob Dudley down. Have you gotten any more information on him yet? I want to print something before theHerald beats me to it, but I can’t until I confirm this stuff my contact gave me on Strategy Partners. My editor won’t budge until I have another source. I’ve tried to figure out this stuff myself, but I can’t get anywhere. Have you gotten anything?”
“I’m working on it. I’m close on a few things.”
“What?”
“I can’t say right now. Besides, what I have so far wouldn’t be enough.” To get what she needed, Angela had to go to Birmingham. She also had to hear back from a friend in Sumter’s funds-transfer area who was trying to confirm the money wires Liv had referred to. The wires the bank had supposedly sent to Strategy Partners.