Everybody laughed, and Zach said, “Okay, Brad, now you can tell her about Part Four.”
“Right. I have The Odyssey, in which the hero and the maiden travel back home to their enchanted kingdom, fighting evil forces along the way, kind of like the freeway at rush hour.” He fished a handkerchief from his pocket and blew his nose.
“Well, it’s very nice to meet all of you,” Cassidy said, “and I think it’s fascinating that each of you has designed a part of this new game.”
Will beamed as if she had given him an exclusive compliment, then he coughed. “The Game is really Zach’s baby. He gave us the overall outline, character sketches, and specs, and we just basically filled them in.”
Brad nodded and blew his nose once more. “Zach’s the brains and heart behind The Game, and it is truly amazing. It’s at least a couple of generations ahead of anything on the market today with three-dimensional, high-definition graphics. The rules are different for each section, and the player will have to figure out those rules. There are monsters, tests, magic - ” He broke off to cough.
“Not only will the characters in The Game change and grow, but the kids playing The Game will advance in their knowledge as well,” Janet said, “because there is a learning system written into the program. But it isn’t obvious. As if by accident, their knowledge of things such as geography, history, math, and mythology will grow without them even realizing they’re learning.”
Cassidy looked at Zach. “You didn’t tell me that.”
He shrugged. “We haven’t really talked about it.”
Janet held a tissue to her nose and sneezed. “Despite the fact that we’ve all been sick, the project is almost finished. About all that’s left to do is put our four parts together with the master disk.”
Cassidy eyed the four with sympathy. “You’ve all been sick.”
Will, Janet, Mitchell, and Brad nodded in concert.
“The whole company has,” Will said.
Brad made a face. “Except for Zach.”
Mitchell took a cough drop from Will and popped it into his mouth. “But we’re getting better. The cough is the last to go. That and the scratchy throat.”
Zach rolled his eyes. “I can’t tell you how glad I am to hear you’re getting better. Cassidy, you’ve never seen such long-suffering people in your life.”
Janet’s expression turned to one of mock affront. “Excuse me, but it was the men who were babies about the whole thing, not me. In fact, I’m the only one who hasn’t been to the doctor or lost a day at work. Everyone knows that women deal with sickness better than men.”
Brad looked at Will, then Mitchell. “I didn’t know that. Did you guys know that?”
Will and Mitchell both chuckled and shook their heads.
Zach laughed. “As I said, I’m glad you’re getting better.”
They all seemed so nice, Cassidy thought. It didn’t seem to her as if any one of them could be the person Deep Teddy Bear had overheard. “Janet, what is the master disk you referred to?”
“It’s what’s going to make The Game so spectacular that it will bring our competition to their knees. It’s the actual program that will weld our individual four parts into a complete game.”
“All we have without the master disk are four video games,” Will said, with a deferential look at Zach. “Granted, they're above-average video games, but it’s nothing compared with what they’re going to be when they’re put together.”
Mitchell cleared his throat and took another cough drop from Will. “Zach felt it would be easier for us to work on the individual parts this way, and I suppose it was a good security measure too. Right, Zach?”
“Right.” He put his hand on her back. “We’re on our way over to check out production, so we'll see you later.”
Cassidy collapsed into a chair in front of Zach’s desk and rubbed her eyes. “I’ve seen more toys in these last two hours than most people see in a lifetime. And” - she eyed her surroundings incredulously - “there’re more in here!” Toys of every kind and color vied for space with file folders and computer printouts in the large, luxurious, sunshine-filled office.
With a wry grin, Zach dropped down into his big leather chair and rested his elbows on the heavily upholstered arms. “What can I say? It’s home.”
She laid her head against the back of her chair and eyed him curiously. How could he remain so inherently masculine and in control, surrounded as he was by toys, dolls, and stuffed animals? “You’re not one bit tired, are you?”
“I make those rounds every day, Cassidy.” She thought for a minute. “Your employees all seem to like and respect you a great deal.”
“Well that’s good, because I like and respect them.”
He was serious, she realized. It hadn’t been a throwaway line.
Just then an older woman wearing a shirtwaist dress, her silver hair drawn back into a bun, walked into the office carrying a tray loaded with drinks, sandwiches, and fruit. “Here’s your lunch, Zach.”
He gave his secretary a smile and rolled a big red fire engine to the side of his desk to make room for the tray. “Thanks, Marsha.”
After Marsha had left, Cassidy pondered a stuffed monkey hanging by his hand from a file basket. “What are all these toys, anyway? I mean, does your company sell them?”
“Some of them. Some of them are prototypes. Some of them are sold by our competitors. Some of them are from my personal collection.”
She frowned, still not understanding. “But what are they doing in here? I mean, this is your office. This is where you work.”
“The toys are here because I like them, Cassidy. Tuna sandwich?”
She nodded absently, reflecting on what she had seen and done this morning. Bennett Toys was even larger than she had believed it to be, spread out over several acres like a college campus. The production plants were housed in several huge auxiliary buildings, and Zach had seemed determined to show her every inch of each of them, right down to the basements, and even one subbasement they were about to seal off. The offices were in the main building, where they were now. And in between the buildings, there were pretty little lakes and parks, designed, she had learned, by Zach for his employees' enjoyment.
That Zach could design lakes and parks wasn’t the only thing she had learned about him this morning. She had seen firsthand the keen interest he had taken in every aspect of the business. A dirty cog warranted as much of his attention as a doll that didn’t have enough hair. He had spoken the truth when he had said Bennett Toys was his dream.
Who was trying to take his dream away from him?
She took a bite of the tuna sandwich. “This is very good.”
“I’ll tell Lily you liked it. She makes my lunch every day.”
“She’s obviously crazy about you.”
“Yes.”
The dreaminess and the twinkle were back full force in his eyes, texturing and deepening their blue color. She squirmed beneath his gaze. “Exactly how many people have access to The Game?”
“The four supervisors you met. Janet, Will, Brad, and Mitchell are each responsible for their individual part of The Game. Each part is on a three-and-a-half - inch disk. At the end of the day each disk is backed up onto another.”
“So there are eight disks in all?”
“That’s right.” He set aside the sandwich he had been eating, pulled the fire engine in front of him, and began cranking out the ladder to its extended length.
She watched, perplexed that he would start playing while they were supposed to be working out a problem together. “And where are the disks kept at night?”
He rotated the ladder, positioning it so that it rested against the file tray. “They are brought to me or Marsha and put into a safe. Only Marsha and I have the combination.”
“Could Marsha - ”
“No. Absolutely not. She took Lily’s position here and has proven herself completely trustworthy over the years.”
“Okay, then, th
at leaves the four supervisors. Copying his or her own disk would be no problem, of course. The trick would be to get hold of the other three.”
He walked a small plastic fireman up the ladder to the top and left him there so that he could look down into the file tray. “It’s hard for me to suspect any of them. They’ve all been good hard workers.”
She glanced at the fireman, perched atop the ladder, then she watched Zach pull a little hose from a wheel at the side of the fire truck. Why did he do things like this? “Zach?”
His blue gaze fixed on her. “Yes?”
She sighed. “Nothing.” She looked around the room and saw a baby doll with a sweet face lying on top of a mahogany credenza. “What about nighttime security? Does anyone ever come back at night to work, and would you know if they did?”
He shook his head. “I don’t believe in overtime, and we have a security team that guards the building at night. It would be very hard.”
“Hard, but not impossible?”
“Nothing’s impossible, Cassidy. But I think the copies would have to be made sometime during the day.”
“Okay.” She glanced again at the baby doll. “What does that doll over there do?”
“Nothing. She’s a doll.”
He fastened the fire hose in a miniature fireman’s hand, walked him up the ladder, and there improvised a hand-off of the hose to the other fireman.
Before she could catch herself, Cassidy raised half out of her seat and looked into the file tray to see if there really was a fire. Feeling foolish, she quickly sat back down again. “You know what I mean? Does she eat, wet, cry, suck her thumb, something like that?”
“She doesn’t do anything. She’s an old- fashioned baby doll that looks as close to a real baby as we could make her.”
She frowned. “So what’s a little girl supposed to do with her?”
“Love her and play with her as if she’s her own baby. Didn’t you ever do that when you were a little girl?”
“I - I can’t remember.”
“Want to play with her?”
“Heavens, no!”
“Just asking.” He and the little fireman at the top of the ladder aimed the fire hose at the file tray, and with a shooshing noise, extinguished all the imaginary flames.
Cassidy watched, bemused.
When he was through, he walked the two firemen back down the ladder, rolled the hose up, cranked the ladder back to its original position, and finally placed the two firemen in the front seat of the fire truck.
Fascinated, Cassidy noted the concentration he gave to the task. What was he thinking about? she wondered. Was he really that caught up in the little game he was playing? She soon had her answer.
“Whoever is trying to steal The Game very likely has already copied the four parts.” Cassidy blinked, wondering what she had missed. “Why do you say that?”
“Because I noticed several things that were slightly out of place when we came back from our tour of the plants.”
“How could you tell?” The office appeared a jumble of confusion to her, with toys filling up all the spare spaces.
He grinned, reading her thoughts. “I have a methodical mind as well as a creative one. I know where everything is.”
“Okay, Marsha could have - ”
“She’s learned never to touch my things. It’s one of the reasons she is so valuable to me. Besides, she took an early lunch.”
Cassidy wasn’t certain she was following his reasoning. “Okay, things were out of place here in the office and that means …”
“It means the person already has the copies of the four disks. The person would have to have them before discussing such a big money deal with a buyer. Now the thief is trying to find the master disk.”
“Where is it?”
“Someplace very safe.” He sent the fire engine rolling across his desk. “You and Bobby will have dinner at my house tonight.”
Her eyes widened, startled. “We will?”
“Yes.”
She was losing the battle inches at a time, she reflected. Worse, she had become unclear about exactly what the battle was, or why she was fighting it.
Five
Cassidy gave her brother a smile, part wry humor, part chagrin. “Bobby, will you please tell Lily and Zach that I occasionally do feed you.”
Looking up from his plate in surprise, fork in hand, Bobby asked, “Is something wrong?”
Lily was standing by his chair and patted his head. “Nothing is wrong. You just keep eating.”
He grinned. “It’s all really good.”
Cassidy shook her head in amazement. “If I ate half of what he does, I'd weigh a ton.”
Zach chuckled. “Teenage boys need a lot of fuel.”
Lily added another roll to Bobby’s plate. “It does my heart good to see someone enjoy his food so. There are times Zach would forget to eat if I didn’t shove a plate in front of him.”
Cassidy looked at him, inquiring.
He shrugged. “I get involved.”
“He’s always making things,” Lily said, adding a large dollop of mashed potatoes to Bobby’s plate.
“What do you make, Zach?” Bobby asked. “Toys?”
He nodded. “I mess around with ideas. Some of them end up to be prototypes. Some don’t.”
“It’d be great if you could show me sometime how to make something, a really cool car maybe.”
“I’d be happy to.” As soon as he said the words, he saw Cassidy tense, and he silently cursed. He had hoped by having Bobby with her this evening, she would be able to relax and enjoy herself.
“Your schedule is already pretty full, Bobby,” she said carefully.
“Not that full.”
“You should see Zach’s workshop,” Lily said to him. “He has every tool imaginable, and he can work with just about any material.”
“It sounds awesome. I’d love to see it.”
Zach smiled at him. “Any time.”
Cassidy spoke up quickly. “Bobby is going to study engineering in college.”
“What kind?” Zach asked Bobby, but his gaze remained on her. She looked so lovely, her blond hair shining in the light of the chandelier. She hadn’t wanted to come, but he had insisted. Continuing to get his way with her, he suspected was going to be difficult. Somehow he had to discover who was trying to steal a game that would mean hundreds of millions to his company, and at the same time, win the heart of a woman who had long ago decided to keep her heart to herself.
“Mechanical engineering, I think.”
Zach nodded. “It’s a good field.”
“I’m hoping to get a basketball scholarship. I’m the youngest player on our school’s varsity team, but Cass says I really shouldn’t pin my hopes on it.”
“Your sister may be right. Athletic scholarships are getting harder and harder to come by.” As attuned as he had become to her, he sensed some of the tension ease out of her. It was habit for her to protect Bobby in every way she could, he realized. It was also habit for her to guard her heart. But whether she knew it or not she was capable of great love, and he had decided he wanted to be the recipient of that love.
She smiled at her brother. “Athletic scholarships bring a different kind of pressure that I don’t want you to have to deal with. Basketball is for fun, period. Grades are for real. And I’m going to put you through college myself.”
He sent a grin toward her that was filled with loving indulgence. “I know, sis.”
Lily slapped Bobby on the shoulder. “How do you feel about seven-layer chocolate cake, young man?”
His grin widened. “Are you kidding? I’m very pro - chocolate cake.”
“How did I know you’d say that? Want to leave the old folks here and come out to the kitchen with me? We can have some cake and milk and talk basketball.”
“You like basketball?”
“I have an autographed poster of Michael Jordan over my bed.”
“Wow. Can I see it?”
He glanced down at her go-go boots. “You skateboard?”
“I’ve won our neighborhood skateboarding Olympics two years running.”
“Well, let's go then!” He pushed back from the table. “See you later, Cass, Zach.”
“Bobby, it's dark outside - ”
Lily gave a dismissive wave of her hand. “Don’t worry, sugar. Zach has the best-lit driveway in town. All the kids come over and use it.”
“Okay, but we can’t stay late. Bobby has school in the morning and a game tomorrow night. And if they win that game - ”
“Tomorrow night’s game is in the bag,” Bobby told Lily and Zach.
“ - then they'll have a series of games to play in the state capital.”
“The state tournament,” Bobby said proudly. “I’m already packed.”
“That’s great,” Zach said, sincere in his praise.
Lily hit Bobby on the shoulder. “Yeah, maybe someday I’ll be asking you for your autograph.”
“Heck, I’ll give it to you now.”
“Will you?”
“The point is,” Cassidy said, feeling like a wet blanket, but unable to help herself, “Bobby needs his rest.”
Bobby’s voice took on a wistful tone, the same tone that nine times out of ten guaranteed him his way. “We can stay one more hour, can’t we, sis? Just to have some cake and ride the board a couple of times?”
“Well …” She had given it her best effort, Cassidy thought wryly.
“We’ll either be in the kitchen or outside,” Lily said, pushing Bobby in front of her and out the door. “Zach, serve Cassidy some coffee and cake.”
Once Lily and Bobby had gone, Zach shoved his plate out of the way and leaned back in his chair. “He’ll be fine, Cassidy.”
“I know he will.”
“You’re worried about something. What is it?” She didn’t answer him. She seemed to be drawing a cloak of self-protection around her.
“I don’t know,” she said finally. “I guess I’m just preoccupied with whether or not I’m going to be able to get a story out of whatever’s going on at your company.”
The story wasn’t what was bothering her, he thought. At least not at the moment. He needed to get her to talk to him, not about what was happening at the company, but about what was going on inside her. “You’re worried about being alone with me, aren’t you?”
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