by K. M. Scott
Dear Tressa,
Diana would never forgive me if I didn’t tell you first, and I hope you understand what I must do. We’re a long way from the nights when you and she would sneak out of your dorm at Bryn Mawr to come see me at the News Gleaner, aren’t we?
You asked me if there was anything you could say or do to convince me to keep what I’ve found to myself. I wish I could. My investigation has uncovered many secrets around your family. I promise you that the only details that will come out will be those related to my investigation. Please know that I would never intentionally hurt you or your family. You’re the reason I met Diana, and I’ve never forgotten that wonderful favor.
Take care to keep yourself safe. Do whatever you must to protect yourself and your family, but know that I have no choice now.
Joe
The news that my mother had been Tressa Stone’s friend and had met my father because of her touched my heart. To me, my parents had always been older. To think of them younger seemed odd, but as Tristan read my father’s letter, I imagined the three of them as college friends. The idea left me with more questions than answers, though. Had they remained close after college? How had Tristan’s mother met my father and later introduced him to my mother? Sadly, none of them were around to answer any of my questions.
“It seems that your father knew far more than just what my father and Taylor did,” Tristan said with a smile.
“They were college friends. My mother and your mother. Do you think we met as kids? My father mentioned that she was wonderful to Kim and me when my mother died. Maybe she brought you along.”
“Maybe. Maybe I fell in love with you all the way back then,” he said with a grin.
“Now you’re just making fun of me. You’re terrible! I don’t care what you say. I like the idea of us meeting when we were kids and falling in love years later.”
“I know what you were thinking, though. You were worried that my mother and your father had been together.”
“I was. That’s sort of creepy, don’t you think? A little too close for comfort for me.”
Tristan shrugged and shook his head. “People love who they love, Nina. If my mother was in love with your father, I don’t see anything bad in it, especially if he was anything like you. She deserved someone good in her life since she sure as hell didn’t have that with my father.”
“Then why was she with Karl, of all people?” I asked, still puzzled at how someone so good could be with someone who wanted to kill us.
“I have no idea.”
I pointed at the third envelope. “There’s one more letter we need to read.”
He slipped the letter out and began reading it aloud.
Dear Tressa,
I’ve found evidence that Stone Worldwide is the maker of the heart medicine Cordovex. The company that produces the drug, Rider Pharmaceutical, is a subsidiary company of Stone run by a man named Karl Dreger. I don’t know if anyone in your family knows what Rider is guilty of, but people are dying because of it.
I can’t wait with this part of the story. I’m sorry if your family is innocently tied up in this. As I’ve promised, only what I must reveal will come out.
Joe
“My father tried to warn her. What do you think she did with this information?”
“I don’t know, but there are other sheets of paper in the envelope.” He pulled the pages out and showed me the first one. On it, Karl’s name was written over and over, along with references to Cordovex. “I think we found what he’s been looking for.”
“That’s it. That’s what he thinks is in my father’s notebook. He had no idea he’d sent the information to your mother instead. But why would he send it to her?”
Tristan shook his head as he read the second note.
“What’s that one say?” I asked as he stuffed it back inside the envelope.
“Just more about the Cordovex business. We better find Daryl.”
Suddenly, Tristan seemed uneasy. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but his expression had changed. Standing up, I took his hand in mine. “You okay?”
“I’m fine. Just a lot to take in.”
“I don’t think you should judge your mother too harshly, if that’s what you’re thinking. I don’t think she knew about any of what your father or Taylor were doing, and I certainly can’t imagine she knew what Karl was doing.”
Tristan lifted my hand to his lips and kissed the back of it. “I don’t blame her. Of all the people involved in this, only she and your father were innocent. I guess some people would argue that she was responsible even in some small way since she benefited from what Stone Worldwide did…”
His words trailed off, but I quickly tried to ease his mind. “That’s bullshit. Your father was responsible for what happened with his company. From what you’ve told me, she wasn’t involved at all. None of the blame is hers, Tristan.”
“I know. I do. It’s just hard to find out that the woman you thought you knew had all these secrets.”
We walked hand-in-hand downstairs and found Daryl peeking behind pictures in the game room. He’d found nothing, but at hearing the news of what we found, his burly face twisted into a clownish grin.
“Good. At least now we know what we have. Any idea how all of that got up there?”
Tristan sat down on a barstool and pushed his hair out of his eyes. “I imagine Rogers took it up there. He was responsible for all of that.”
“Well, thank you, Rogers. Now we need to decide what you should do next. You can’t get the authorities involved in the whole Cordovex-Cardiell thing until Karl’s out of power with Rider,” Daryl said.
“Then it’s time for Karl to be out of a job. Call Michelle and tell her to schedule a board meeting for three this afternoon.”
“Got it.”
I watched as the sadness at the mention of Rogers’ name slipped from Tristan’s face. Stepping close to him, I ran my hands through his hair and kissed his cheek. “Three gives you a little time. Any plans?”
Turning toward me, he winked. “A few things, but first this hair has to go. Time for the Tristan Stone Karl knows all too well to finally be back in full force.”
Chapter Fifteen
Tristan
After I’d run a few errands and gotten rid of the boy band angst hair, I was finally back to being myself again, and it was time to return to the building I hadn’t seen in over four months. The lobby looked the same with its white marble floors and dark wood walls, and as I passed through security I saw the guards’ eyes widen just a little as they recognized me. The oldest one, a man named Bill who’d worked for the company since before I was born, gave me a tiny smile, as if to let me know that he was glad to see me back where I belonged.
Not that I necessarily believed being back at the helm of Stone Worldwide was where I belonged. As I waited for the elevator doors to open to take me to the twenty-fifth floor and my office, I looked at the reflection of myself in the metal panels. The same old Tristan Stone I’d been every day of my time in that building looked back at me wearing my usual suit and tie, but I didn’t feel like that man anymore. My time in exile had given me a lot of time to think about my life, and the thought of spending the rest of my adult years in this building no longer seemed right. After the coke and the booze, I finally found out who I was in that old home my mother had loved, and it wasn’t the man in front of me now.
That didn’t mean I was ready to hand over the company to the likes of Karl, though.
I exited the elevator on the floor that housed my office suite and saw Michelle’s face light up as she realized her prodigal boss had finally returned. I could only hope that the reception I received from the Stone Worldwide Board of Directors was half as terrific.
Michelle stood from her desk, obviously excited and with a big smile said, “Mr. Stone! Your office is just as you left it. No one has stepped foot inside, not even security or maintenance. Just as you instructed.”
I stopped at her desk
and responded to her welcome with a smile of my own. “Good afternoon, Michelle. Thank you for holding down the fort. I’m sure it wasn’t easy.”
“Mr. Dreger was an almost constant visitor, but I never let him in. He certainly was persistent, though.”
“Thank you for taking such care to make sure of that.” I turned to head into my office and noticed that there was something different about my assistant. My eyes traveled down her body to a slightly noticeable baby bump. Michelle was pregnant.
“I’ve been gone a long time, haven’t I?” I asked as I pointed to her stomach. “When’s the happy day?”
She rubbed her hands over her belly and smiled. “I didn’t know the last time we talked. I found out in January. We’re due in early August.”
“Congratulations, Michelle. Does this mean I’m going to lose you?”
“For a little while, at least. I’m hoping to return after my six week leave, but we’re going to have to find care for the baby. It’s a big change. We need to find a new apartment first, though.”
Michelle paused and a blush came over her cheeks. “I’m sorry. Here I am chattering on about me while you have a big meeting ahead of you. I did as Daryl said and notified all the members of the Stone board that you wanted a meeting at three today. The ones who are out of town will be teleconferencing, but they all said they’d be there.”
Chuckling, I said, “I’d rather talk about you than the meeting with the Board, but thank you for handling it. I have a few minutes before I have to head down, so I’m going to gather my thoughts so I’m ready.”
“Yes, Mr. Stone.”
Michelle sat down and got back to whatever work she had after months of me being absent. Before I walked into my office, I stopped and thought about what she’d just said. Never once had she called me anything but Mr. Stone, but now, it felt wrong. Mr. Stone was my father. I was Tristan.
“Michelle, do me a favor, would you?”
She spun slowly in her chair to face me and nodded. “Of course, Mr. Stone.”
“Call me Tristan. We’ve known each other long enough that you should call me by my first name.”
A broad smile spread across her face. “Thank you, Tristan.” Hesitating, she added, “That’s going to take some getting used to.”
“Well, let’s hope you have the time to. We’ll see after the meeting today,” I said as I headed into my office for the first time in months.
The fact was there was a real chance the Board of Directors would inform me that I was no longer able to handle the CEO position, in their opinion. My absence might just have been too much, and if they did move to replace me, I honestly didn’t know if I wanted to fight it. I should have wanted to, but as I stood there in my gorgeous corner office looking out the windows at the city below, I wasn’t sure. I had enough money to take Nina anywhere her heart desired every day for the rest of our lives.
Why would I stay working in that corner office for another of those days?
Michelle’s voice interrupted my thoughts to let me know the time had come. “It’s nearly three, Tristan.”
Without answering her, I took one last look around my office, just in case that was the last time I could call it mine. As much as I wanted to run off with Nina and never look back at this office and everything about the company, something inside me wasn’t quite ready to give up yet. I’d never been meant for this, but after taking the responsibility on, it had become part of me, part of who I truly was.
Michelle was waiting for me with a supportive smile, and as I walked by, I heard her say under her breath, “Knock ’em dead.” That’s exactly what I intended on doing.
The conference room teemed with board members all ready to discuss the future of Stone Worldwide. The sea of faces turned toward me as I took my seat at the head of the long polished wood table. Never before had I looked at these people and seen them as strangers like I did at that moment. They looked like me in their expensive suits and silk ties, older than I but sitting there like me in comfortable leather chairs discussing topics that until today I actually tried to care about, but now I felt like we had nothing in common.
Noticeably absent was Karl, however.
Lawrence Meister, the chairman of the Stone Worldwide board, sat to my right halfway down the table and nodded silently at me to give the signal it was time to begin. “Tristan, we’re happy to see you’re back. We look forward to hearing what you have to say.”
I took a deep breath and began. “I’ve never felt close to anyone on this board, unfortunately. If I had, my time away may have been different. That being what it is, I’m here today to let you know that if this board is planning on removing me from my place here, you’re going to have a fight on your hands. I am Stone Worldwide. When the world thinks of this company, it thinks of me, just as it thought of my father before me. Each of you may think you can take my place and do a better job, but the fact is, you can’t and you won’t have the chance.”
“Tristan, I’m not sure what you thought, but no one here wants that,” Lawrence said as he scanned the surprised expressions on the faces of the men around him. “We’re here to find out what you plan to do now that you’re back.”
“First, I’m curious where Karl is. He’s got some supporters on this board and his actions need to be discussed.”
A few of the board members whispered to one another at my mention of Karl, but no one volunteered any information to explain his absence. Lawrence’s expression showed he knew nothing of what I suspected were Karl’s plans to take my place at the head of the company.
“Karl contacted me when this meeting was called and informed me that he would be late. What’s going on here?”
I opened the folder Daryl had given me containing all the information concerning Rider Pharmaceutical, Cordovex, and Cardiell. Taking the first packet off the top of the pile, I passed the rest to my right for each member to have for their own. As each man scanned the facts surrounding Rider and its heart drugs, their eyes grew wide in horror. Even the members I’d suspected of backing Karl looked shocked at the information Daryl had gathered.
“What you’re looking at is the information the Feds will have concerning a subsidiary of Stone Worldwide. My father gave Rider Pharmaceutical to Karl Dreger to run, and for years he handled the company without a misstep. However, just after my father died, leaving his position to me, Rider found itself in trouble with Cordovex. As you can see on page two, the drug was deadly. The FDA knew, and Rider pulled it voluntarily, but it still held the patent.”
James Sheridan, one of the members I’d believed supported Karl in his takeover plans cleared his throat and asked in a shaky voice, “Is this company responsible for Rider’s actions?”
I knew what he was afraid of. As a Stone Worldwide stockholder, Sheridan worried more about his portfolio than helping Karl climb over me on his way up the corporate ladder. Nodding, I spoke the truth that no one in that room wanted to hear. “Of course. This board will have to answer for its actions in this matter also, especially considering how accommodating you’ve been to Karl Dreger’s ambitions over the years.”
Whatever support he’d had evaporated as they read page after page of his malfeasance as the head of Rider. While the members of the board began to mutter their disbelief, Karl himself came through the conference room doors full of confidence and oblivious to the shitstorm he’d just stumbled into.
He stopped next to my chair and looked down at me, his beady eyes telegraphing his smugness. “Nice to see you again, Tristan. A few days more and you may not have had that seat.”
Leaning back, I stared up at him and smiled. “We were just talking about you, Karl. Sit down. I think you’ll be very interested in this. Perhaps you’d like to give us a rundown of how Rider Pharmaceutical is doing.”
He pulled up a chair and sat down as I slid one last copy of Daryl’s report toward him. He hadn’t read more than a few words before his hands began shaking.
“Rider? I think you’ll
find it’s doing just fine,” he sputtered out. Looking up from the stack of papers with enough proof to cost him everything he’d earned, Karl scowled. “What the hell is this? You all aren’t believing this, are you?”
“Yes, they are, Karl, and so are the Feds. Killing people is not only bad business. It’s wrong. When it comes out that you knew what Cordovex did and still brought it back as Cardiell, you’re going to be the one to pay.”
His eyes darted around the room, searching for an ally that no longer existed. Looking like a trapped animal, he swallowed hard. Sweat beaded on his brow, even as the fight inside him struggled to overcome his fear. Thrusting his chair away from the table, he stood upright and shook his head violently.
“This is fucking bullshit! I’m not going to stand here and take this. That company was nothing when I took over. It was nothing!”
Lawrence shot me a glance and calmly spoke up. “Karl, I think it would be better if you got your things in order and spoke to counsel. What we’re seeing in this report means you’ll have to go.”
As if the chairman’s words set something off inside him, Karl turned toward me and spat out, “You don’t know who you’re fucking with, son. You’re not going to take me down. No fucking way.”
“Time’s up, Karl. And don’t call me son. I’m Tristan Stone, son of Victor and Tressa Stone.”
I watched as the mention of my mother’s name made his eyes flash with rage, and he stormed out of the room, slamming the doors behind him. While the members of the board sat in stunned silence at what they’d seen, I stood and leaned down to place my hands on the table. “Gentlemen, if you’ll excuse me, I have a mess to clean up.”
“Before you go, can you tell us if anyone died this time? There were no details in the report about Cardiell,” James Sheridan asked, obviously concerned.
Shaking my head, I said, “Not that we know of. Hopefully, we’ve caught this early enough.”
Sheridan slumped back in his seat, his expression one of disbelief. “My mother takes Cardiell. To think that bastard knew what it could do and still let it be sold to people.”