He was silent for a moment, and then she heard him let out a soft chuckle. “Half of me wants to yell at you right now, and the other half couldn’t be more proud.”
She grinned. “Are we in business or what?”
“I’ll go thirty,” he replied, “but not thirty-one, and here’s why. Unlike Queen’s Fleet, I will not be cleaning house. In fact, a large part of what I’m buying are the very people they would be letting go. When I made that original offer, it included getting Gloria Poole as a part of the package. Now that she’s gone, I’m sorry, Kelsey, but the value drops for me, regardless of any of these other current factors that are also dragging things down.”
Kelsey thought his words made sense, but she asked him to hold so as not to lose the upper hand. Pressing the mute button on the phone, she bounced Lou’s offer off of Cole, and he agreed that $30 million seemed fair, given Lou’s logic.
Back on the line with him again, she agreed to his price. They arranged to get together later in the day to go over specifics and present their plan to the board, if she was able to convene a meeting that quickly. At the very least, they should be able to sit down with Walter this afternoon over at B & T and crunch some numbers together.
Before they hung up, Kelsey reminded Lou she was pursuing one other option, and there was a slight chance it might pan out.
“If it does, that’s the option I’ll be going with,” she said. “No offense, but it’s the more favorable outcome for me and my family.” She didn’t elaborate beyond that and he didn’t ask, but he probably knew it had to do with the securing of enough funding to buy out a majority herself. What he didn’t know was that the only way she could acquire that much cash that fast was to find the missing bonds.
CHAPTER
FORTY-THREE
April 14, 1912
JOCELYN
Jocelyn walked out into the corridor, closing the door behind her with a mixture of guilt and relief. Guilt that she hadn’t shared the whole truth. Relief that Adele hadn’t figured it out anyway.
Jocelyn knew she was going about this wrong, that her first outing with Tad should be a far more public affair. But before she decided whether or not to let the world know about their feelings for each other—and possibly alienate her dear cousin in the process—she wanted to share one stolen hour together tonight, just the two of them. There would be time tomorrow to make the bigger decision of when and how to break this news with others.
She made her way to the aft stairwell and began climbing the steps. When she reached the B deck, where they were to meet, she saw Tad already waiting for her. Unable to hold in her smile, she was beaming as she went up to him and he took her hand in his.
“Tad,” she said softly.
“You came,” he replied, also smiling, his eyes holding hers. Then slowly he lifted her hand to his lips.
Pleased but surprised, she could feel heat rise to her face. She looked around, realizing that this part of the ship was completely devoid of others at the moment.
“I didn’t realize we would be quite so alone here,” she said. “I think it would be more proper for us to be among passengers on the promenade deck.”
“I agree,” Tad replied, “but only after you allow me to kiss you.”
Eyes wide, she nodded, tilting her face upward. He leaned toward her and lightly touched his lips to hers in a chaste kiss, her first. Afterward, she gazed into his eyes, unable to understand how Adele could be so immune to his charms.
“That’s better,” he said with a grin. “Shall we take our walk?”
Holding hands, they stepped into the chill air outside on the promenade deck. It was much colder now than it had been on any other night of the trip, but at least she had someone to keep her warm.
As they gazed up at the stars on this perfectly clear night, Tad put an arm around her shoulders and sighed contentedly.
“This is the happiest night of my life,” he said. “There’s only one thing that keeps my joy from being complete.”
Jocelyn nodded sadly. “The fact that we can’t yet reveal our relationship openly?”
“No, that will happen in time. I’m bothered by the fact that your father left me out of the bond deal he made on Wednesday morning. That really hurt. I thought he respected my opinion, but his actions show me that he doesn’t.” He hung his head and looked away.
“Oh, Tad, I am sure it wasn’t like that. He had a change of heart, is all. It had nothing to do with you personally.”
“You’re probably right. I’ll try not to worry about it.” He pulled her closer. “It has made me rethink my position, however. Your father is a wise man, and I am starting to believe that he may have been right and I was wrong. Do you know where the bonds are so that I could inspect them? I’m thinking perhaps I should reconsider my investment.”
“I believe they are in the purser’s office.”
Turning toward her, Tad took both of her hands in his and looked deeply into her eyes. “Perhaps you could request them from the purser for a while, just so I could get a closer look. But don’t tell your father. It’s too embarrassing to have him know how stupid I’m feeling.”
Jocelyn was about to reply when she realized that he was leaning toward her for another kiss. Not ten feet away was another couple, so before his mouth met hers she placed a gloved finger against his lips.
“Not here,” she whispered.
“Where, then?” he replied in a husky voice, eyes filled with passion.
Standing there in his embrace, her back against the rail, Jocelyn suddenly felt a tremor running through her body, one so strong she actually lost her balance. Tad’s strong arms kept her from falling, but then he released her and took a step back, a puzzled expression on his face.
“What was that?” he asked. “The whole deck shook.”
CHAPTER
FORTY-FOUR
Two hours later, Kelsey and Cole were still at it. Comfortably ensconced on the couch, she was surrounded by a mess of crumpled-up papers, and the pad in her hand was covered with copious notes. Cole and his laptop were equally buried over at the kitchen table. Between the two of them, they had managed to convince several of the private investors to let Kelsey serve as their proxy, voting in whatever way she thought best. Grandpa Jonah was also busy on the phone, trying to convince the various Tate relatives to do the same.
Walter, too, was handling his part with the retired employees of B & T, though Kelsey had yet to speak with him directly. She was still so upset about the fact that he’d invalidated her security code that for the time being Cole was handling communications with him on her behalf. She wasn’t sure if she could trust Walter or not, especially given the information Cole’s team had turned up about the man’s previous ties to Pamela Greeley. Better she bide her time and see how he handled this current assignment. If he really could sway some votes in her direction, maybe that would be proof enough that he was on the up and up after all.
He didn’t know about the copies of the bonds, of course, so he hadn’t been told about scenario number three. But at least he was on board with scenario number two, the friendly merger with Strahan Realty Trust for $30 million. Walter, Kelsey, and Cole would be meeting with Lou at the B & T offices at four p.m. to hash out the details, and then the board members would be joining them there two hours later, when Walter would present the full plan and they could make the decision as to whether or not that was how they wanted to proceed.
And even though Kelsey needed to be on hand for both meetings, her continuous presence would not be required at either. Her plan was to slip out whenever possible and do some digging around in Gloria’s office in the vague hope that the woman might have hidden the bonds there somewhere before she died. Kelsey knew that Gloria’s files had been removed by the police, but she had a feeling that if the bonds were in the office, they would be in some place the police would not have thought to look, such as taped to the underside of a drawer or slipped into the back of a picture frame. It was definit
ely worth a shot. With Monday’s deadline looming, she didn’t know what else to do but keep looking—and keep praying.
If the bonds didn’t turn up during this afternoon’s surreptitious search, then the only choice left was to take steps for a more open and direct exploration tomorrow, perhaps by closing tonight’s board meeting with the big news that not only were the bonds real but that Gloria had them in her possession on Monday night—and they were now nowhere to be found.
By one thirty Kelsey’s efforts came to a standstill as she reached the end of her calling list. She was still waiting for a number of people to get back to her, but for the moment she had done all she could do. Cole was still working away at the table on his laptop, so she decided to change course, dig out Adele’s diary, and keep reading between callbacks. There was still the question of the woman’s true identity, and Kelsey’s hope was that the diary contained some sort of irrefutable evidence that she really had been who she’d said she was.
At one point, Kelsey was deeply engrossed in Adele’s description of the ship’s library when she had the feeling that she was being observed. Glancing up, she caught Cole looking at her from across the room, his expression unreadable. He glanced away, and when she asked if something was wrong, he simply said he was getting hungry and wondered if she was ready for lunch yet.
She wasn’t exactly starving, but her eyes and brain needed a break, so she put the diary aside and offered to pull something together. She dug through the fridge and came out with some sliced deli meat and other sandwich fixings, glad to have a physical task after a morning filled with so much mental effort. Cole put his laptop aside and joined her as they made themselves ham-and-cheese sandwiches, and after a while she realized he was joking and she was laughing and it felt perfectly natural and easy. Maybe they could be friends after all.
Then again, did friends ache to be held by their friends? Did they yearn to be pulled into their arms and kissed and told that they were loved? She needed to face the fact that once they had navigated through these current troubles, they would pretty much have to wrap things up for good. At least this time around they had found some closure, and she’d even been able to apologize for her past actions. And as hard as it was going to be to see Cole walk out of her life yet again, in the long run it would be the easier choice—like ripping off a Band-Aid all at once instead of enduring a long, slow, excruciating pull.
Once their sandwiches were ready, they took a break and ate together at the table.
“Can I ask you a question?” Kelsey asked, placing a napkin on her lap. “What did Mr. Hu mean this morning when he said he owed you so much?”
“A few years ago I helped find funding for a nonprofit organization the Hu family created, one that helps immigrants get settled in America.”
“Interesting.”
“Yeah, they had a great business model but couldn’t procure any start-up funds. I found some grants for them and helped them get rolling. Nowadays the organization is doing quite well. They have even taken over their own fund-raising.”
Kelsey took a bite of her sandwich, considering his answer. She didn’t know much about the nonprofit world and asked if he dealt with that type of thing very often.
“Yes, actually,” he replied. “Thornton Resources has a specialized team that works exclusively with nonprofits, linking them with grants, donors, government programs, and other sources of funding. In the past five years, we’ve helped more than thirty-seven organizations get their start.”
“Is there money in that?”
Cole chuckled. “Not much. I mean, we do all right, but it pays off in so many other ways. I really enjoy working with the nonprofit sector. They are just as driven as the for-profit world, but their overriding goal is to help, not to make money.”
Kelsey put down her sandwich and looked at Cole. “That’s really quite amazing. I should hire you to work with the foundation that B & T has started in memory of my great-grandmother. I could use some advice.”
“I’d love to hear more about it.”
Kelsey was eager to discuss it, but just then his phone rang, and then her phone rang, and soon they were back at their separate stations, finishing up their lunches as they continued to work.
At one point she could tell Cole was disturbed by something, so when she wrapped up her next call, she asked him what was wrong.
“Two things, actually,” he said, glancing her way and then returning his eyes to the computer screen. “One to do with Lou and one with your brother Matt.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, let’s talk about Lou first. I’ve been running through his financials, like I did with B & T and Queen’s Fleet, just to head off any potential problems with the deal, but I’m seeing some figures I don’t understand. Can you give him a call and see if he can bring along a copy of his most recent certified audit when he comes to meet with us today at B & T?”
“Sure.”
“Also, I’d like to get contact info for some of his investors. There seem to be some discrepancies, but if I could just verify a few things, I think I could clear this up.”
Standing, Kelsey crossed the room to stand behind Cole and look at his screen. All she saw were rows and columns of numbers, perfectly understandable to him and utterly Greek to her.
“Should I be concerned?” she asked, resisting the urge to place her hands on his broad shoulders and give him one of the quick massages he used to love so much. “We are about to put all of our eggs in his basket.”
“Yeah, I know. That’s why I’m going through this now. I hope it’s just a case of insufficient info. If I can get some more facts, I should be able to figure it all out.”
“Good. I’ll give him a call now. Before I do, though, tell me about Matt.”
With a few clicks, Cole changed the screen, pulling up what looked like a telephone list. There were two columns. The one on the left showed a bunch of names, both businesses and people, and the one on the right was a column of 10-digit numbers separated by dashes.
“Flash sent this over a little while ago,” Cole explained. “This is a record of all phone calls made to and from Gloria Poole’s office extension in the fourteen days prior to her death.”
“Impressive. But what does this have to do with Matt?”
Without speaking, Cole pointed to the screen, left column, which showed the name Matthew Tate about halfway down. “Any reason Matt would have been calling Gloria?”
Kelsey shrugged. “Not necessarily, but they certainly knew each other. It doesn’t seem all that weird. Maybe he was trying to find me and I didn’t answer, so he called her office instead to see if I was up there.”
Cole glanced her way, eyes narrowing. Then, with a few more clicks of the mouse, he sorted the name list in alphabetical order. On the screen Matthew Tate appeared five times in a row.
Five calls in two weeks?
Cole scrolled to the right, revealing the next few columns, which showed the dates and times and origins of those calls. They seemed to alternate—him calling her, her calling him—and were evenly spaced, every other day or so around two or three in the afternoon.
“Doesn’t that seem just a little bit odd to you?”
Again, Kelsey shrugged. “Sort of, I guess, but I feel sure there’s a logical explanation for it. Maybe she was handling an investment for him. Maybe she needed some information, the kind only a professor can give. I’ve called him a few times myself over the years whenever some new economic development cropped up I didn’t understand. Matt’s a great teacher. When it comes to financial theory, he can explain things better than anyone I know.”
“Kelsey—”
She cut him off, growing irritated. Exactly what was he trying to imply? That her brother had been involved in some sort of sneaky dealings with Gloria before her death? She took a step back, shaking her head.
“Give him the benefit of the doubt, would you? I don’t know why he was calling her, Cole. Maybe they were in the same book club and wan
ted to chat about the latest selection.”
“Oh, come on—”
“I’m just saying that it could be almost anything. Gloria wasn’t just an employee of my father’s; she was also a friend of our family. She’s known Matt since he was a little boy. If they were having a flurry of communications near the end of her life, I’m sure it was perfectly innocent and completely explainable.”
“I hope you’re right, but do me a favor. Once you’re finished talking with Lou, why don’t you give Matt a call and ask.”
“Don’t worry, I will.”
Kelsey returned to the couch and fiercely pressed the buttons that would bring up Lou’s number. As she listened to the ring, she told herself to calm down. Why was she being so defensive? Was this just her inner big sister coming out in defense of her little brother?
Or was she thoroughly rattled by the possibility of having been betrayed, yet again, by someone she loved?
Lou answered on the second ring, his voice sounding so light and happy that she instantly felt bad for having to dampen his mood. Putting the Matt question out of her mind for the moment, she relayed Cole’s request, making sure to phrase it in such a way that it came across as standard operating procedure and not as a response to some red flags. Even so, he sounded somewhat offended. For a moment she felt guilty about that, but then she realized she shouldn’t. Lou might be like family, but they were about to enter into a major business transaction together. He had to know that any good businessperson would be doing their homework right about now.
In the end he agreed to bring along the items she had requested. Once they wrapped up their call and she hit the speed dial for Matt, she decided to relocate to a different room, preferring that their conversation be private. Unfortunately, this being a loft, there weren’t exactly separate rooms, just “areas” that had been demarcated by various architectural elements, such as half walls and big plants and glass block towers. She thought of Cole’s vision of filling this place with a wife and kids. Without a doubt, if that ever did happen, she felt sure some walls would go up real fast.
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