Road Kill; Puppet Master; Cross Wired

by Jan Coffey

  “Mr. Galvin. I have to tell you I’m surprised.”

  Almost half a decade out of the business, Steven was never really sure if people would still recognize him. She obviously did.

  “Why surprised, Dr. Mendes?”

  “Would it be wrong to assume Mr. Diarte and Lyons interviewed me for a project of yours?”

  “That would be the correct assumption. And please, call me Steven.”

  “Do they work for you?” she asked.

  “Only on a consulting basis,” he told her. “They’re excellent at putting together teams of people for specific projects. I have used their services before.”

  “Why the secrecy?” she asked.

  “Dr. Mendes, that’s a difficult question to answer in ten words or less.”

  “I’ll give you twenty,” she said. “And you can call me Alanna.”

  “Thank you. In Seattle, we always operated on a first-name basis.” He motioned to a set of chairs near the window. She followed him and they both took a seat. The sun was a golden red ball dropping brilliantly toward the horizon. He smiled. “I’m afraid twenty words still won’t let me get my point across.”

  “How many words do you need?” The scientist asked looking out at the sea.

  “I do think that a day or two would be enough time.”

  She wasn’t afraid to make eye-contact. She studied him for a few moments. “Enough time for what? You should know up front that I don’t care for the way I was lured here.”

  “Yes,” Steven nodded. “I’m sorry about that. You’re such a key part of this project that we…I…needed to be sure you came.”

  “You could have just asked me and told me what the project entails,” she told him.

  “You’re right. We could have,” he conceded. “But I couldn’t risk you saying no.”

  “That kind of talk doesn’t really fill me with confidence.”

  “I can understand that, but I promise you that everything I tell you from here on will be the truth.”

  The scientist looked at him intently, measuring him up.

  “I need your involvement in this project, Alanna,” he said. “I’m asking you now to hear me out, to listen to what I need from you, and then to make the decision whether you’ll work with us or not.”

  “What’s the project?” she asked again.

  “If you won’t mind, I’m planning to explain it to everyone who arrived today at the same time. I was planning to discuss it after dinner.”

  She looked at him and then nodded. He was relieved when she didn’t object. She was thinking of something else right now, and Steven knew what it was. Her former fiancée. He waited. She started to ask him, but then stopped. He saw her look around at the library again.

  “You have a beautiful place here,” she said finally, gesturing to the scene outside the window.

  “Thank you.”

  “Is the entire resort yours…the grounds and cottages?”

  He understood her need to have some answers. He understood how her mind worked. It was very much like his.

  “Yes, it’s mine.”

  “It’s pretty spacious for a private residence,” she said.

  “It was originally a business investment, actually. I bought the place in 1989, I think it was. It was my wife’s idea. She always thought I worked my managers too hard. So she found this place. For years, there had been a hotel here, dating back to the thirties. Pretty famous with the yachting crowd. Movie stars, too. They’d all come out to fish and drink and gamble, I guess.” Steven paused. She actually seemed interested. “We have a bunch of photos from the glory days in the dining room and the bar. A couple of the pictures show Ernest Hemingway and Errol Flynn partying it up here, in fact.”

  “What happened to the hotel?” she asked.

  “It started to go downhill from lack of business during the Second World War. The airport was built in the fifties to make the hotel more accessible, but it didn’t make any difference. The place went out of business in the late sixties after a hurricane did a ton of damage. It was a total wreck when we bought the property.”

  “The one constant in life is change.”

  “That’s true,” he replied. “And my wife loved making changes that improved life. This property, as run down as it was, suited her perfectly. It was just what she wanted. She had a vision for the place and supervised the project. We tore down the old hotel and built this. After that, she’d force me to hold staff meetings here a few times a year. Everyone would bring their families.” He found himself looking at the picture of Kei on his desk. Her dark eyes, the smile reminded him of happier days. “Everyone had a great time.”

  “American business, for the most part, hasn’t discovered the importance of finding a balance. I’m guilty of that, myself. We tend to work so hard until we burn out.” Her voice softened. “Your wife is so wise.”

  He’d tried to keep as much of it out of the news as he could. That’s the way Kei would have wanted it.

  “A very wise woman,” he agreed. “But that too has changed.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “My wife is dead, Dr. Mendes.”

  CHAPTER 43

  The television screen showed two political pundits, but only one was holding forth as Jay came out of the bathroom.

  “…promising start for his campaign, but we’re still nine months from the first presidential primary. A lot can happen. One big thing the senator has going for him is the solid campaign financing he’s starting out with. Hersey’s campaign has raised an estimated fifteen million dollars in the first three months of this year. Add that to the sixty million in the war chest from last year, and the early frontrunner is in terrific shape. Even more important, though, Hersey’s campaign manager has made a point of getting the word out the senator has put up a hundred thirty million dollars of his own money to set the stage. Major donors like to see that, Chris. Nothing like seeing a presidential candidate put his money where his mouth is. Even at this point in the race, they’re clearly in great shape for the long h—”

  “What are you watching?” Jay asked, padding across the marble tile into the sitting area.

  “I don’t know,” Padma said with a smile. Cuddled with the baby in the corner of the sofa, she was feeding him. “I turned it on just for the background noise.”

  “Why don’t you sit on the patio outside, so you can enjoy the view?” he asked.

  “I’m breastfeeding him,” she said in shock. “I can’t go out in public.”

  Jay laughed. He picked up the remote and turned off the television, then moved next to her on the sofa.

  “And you shouldn’t walk around in a towel. What happens if someone comes in?”

  “The door is locked,” he whispered, kissing her over the baby’s head. “And nobody’s coming in.”

  “This is an amazing place, Jay.”

  “And that’s one amazing shower in there. Enough room for both of us, you know.”

  “We still have to wait two more weeks,” she whispered to him. “But I guess only a shower wouldn’t hurt.”

  He laughed and kissed her again. Trailing the back of his fingers across the soft skin of her neck and shoulder, he thought for the thousandth time how mad awesome it was having Padma and their baby here with him. The place was like something you’d see on a TV show. Jay thought he’d died and gone to heaven.

  Harsha made a noise as he ate. Jay placed a soft kiss on his head.

  “Greedy little bugger, isn’t he?”

  Padma’s laugh sounded like music in his ear. “Listen, you jealous beast, you’d better dress. You are supposed to meet the rest of them in that dining room at the main house for dinner.”

  “I hate to leave you alone here,” he said.

  “This is part of your work,” she reminded him. “That fridge and freezer are packed with all kinds of good stuff to eat. Besides, the person who brought our luggage in said I can call in and order anything I want for dinner.”

  �
�Good, if you call for something, I won’t feel too guilty.”

  “I’ll think about it. You just go meet your co-workers,” she told him.

  This was the big night, Jay thought. He was dying to know what they wanted him to do.

  “The other people in the van looked a lot older than us,” he admitted.

  “And so serious,” she replied. “That guy in the front never said a word till we got here.”

  “Yeah, they all were…except for the sick girl.” Jay sat forward and gazed at the empty TV screen. “I hope Mr. Big doesn’t change his mind when he sees me.”

  “Why would he change his mind?” Padma told him. “Jay, baby, you’re smart. Don’t you forget that. You’ll do great. I know they’re lucky to have you.”

  “I’m the lucky one, because of you.”

  Jay stood up and started toward the bedroom. Before coming out to the island, she’d forced him to use the gift card and buy himself a pair of khakis and a few polo shirts.

  “I think I’m going to check on Leah after you’re gone,” Padma called in to him. “I think they’re in the place right next to ours.”

  Jay had been relieved to see someone else arrive with their family. At the same time, he’d felt bad about the wheelchair. “Do you know what’s wrong with her?”

  “She can walk. I saw that, but she’s really weak. Her father probably will be with you, and I heard a nurse was going to be staying with her all the time. But maybe she could use more company.”

  “That will be really nice,” he encouraged her.

  Jay really liked the set up here. There were other people that Padma could talk to. She could take walks. The weather was great. If it worked out, he’d make more money at this gig than he would be working his entire life at the warehouse.

  It was all right. He just hoped that they hadn’t made a mistake and that he was qualified to do whatever it was they wanted him to do.

  CHAPTER 44

  Wherever Ray was staying, it was clear to Alanna that he wasn’t staying with her.

  When she realized that his things hadn’t been delivered to her cottage, Alanna could not decide if she was relieved or disappointed. She missed him—and they had so many things to talk out—but at the same time she knew she had to make her decision about staying or going in a rational fashion and without the distractions that their relationship entailed.

  She tied her hair back quickly and frowned at her reflection in the mirror.

  “Now you’re thinking of your relationship as a distraction,” she murmured to herself. “That’s not a very good sign, Alanna Maria.”

  Going to the glass doors leading to the patio, she closed the blinds and went into the bedroom. Alanna hadn’t bothered to unpack anything but her bathroom things and a change of clothes for dinner. She picked up her red cardigan sweater off the bed and went to close the blinds in that room, as well.

  She paused, looking out at the moon, already ten degrees off the horizon. It was nearly full, an amber disk casting a thousand flecks of light on the water. If things were a little different, it would have been a very romantic image. She drew the blinds shut.

  As Alanna headed for the door, she turned and looked around at the accommodations. Steven Galvin’s people called this a cottage, but the square footage was greater than her apartment in California. She glanced at her laptop and frowned. She would have liked a chance to do some research on Steven Galvin. But she wasn’t going to be late for dinner.

  Outside, she draped the sweater over her shoulders. Alanna was glad she’d brought it along. The breeze off the ocean was cool. The pathway leading to the main house was well lit and took her to the edge of the marina. The water was lapping at the docks and the boats. She glanced back at the other cottages and wondered which one Ray was staying in.

  As she walked toward the main building, Alanna had to admit that she’d felt a huge sense of relief when she discovered Steven Galvin was the man behind the curtain. A decade ago, he was almost as well known as Bill Gates. An absolute poster boy for success. What she knew about him was only headline material, of course, but all of that had been complimentary.

  He was the quintessential self-made man. Instrumental in elevating a number of companies to ‘Fortune 500’ status. By the time he was fifty, he was solidly entrenched in the Who’s Who of the rich and powerful. And then, he’d simply retired early to spend time with his family and pursue his numerous philanthropic projects. While she hoped this project was one of those, she couldn’t imagine why he’d need her for it.

  Alanna couldn’t recall much about Galvin’s family except having a vague image of his wife in some business publication photos. She was of Asian descent and extremely beautiful. Alanna thought how sad it was that she was dead.

  As she thought about it more, she had a vague recollection of something about him in the newspapers in this past year or so. She had been—and still was—too consumed with the STEREO project to pay much attention to the real world, but there was something gnawing at her memory. Alanna wondered if it was his wife’s death that she was thinking of.

  From a pathway to her left, Alanna saw Leah’s father coming toward the building. She considered going in, but then decided to wait for him. She was good at putting on the appearance of confidence and intelligence, but deep down her insecurities never went away. As a woman engineer operating in a man’s profession, she’d learned early that it was always good to walk into a situation like this with another person. It was easier to deflect attention that way.

  David Collier, realizing she was waiting, smiled as he approached.

  “Thanks for waiting,” he said. “I hate going into these things alone.”

  “I was just thinking the same thing,” she admitted.

  “Quite a place, isn’t it, Dr. Mendes?”

  “It’s beautiful. Please call me Alanna.”

  “Okay.” He gestured toward the main building. “Shall we?”

  She nodded. “So how does Leah like it?”

  “The little imp has explored every inch of our unit. She likes it a lot. My only hope is that it rains outside every day that we’re here.”

  She looked up at him, surprised.

  “She has dialysis tubes protruding from her body,” he explained. “Infection is a huge concern. She hasn’t asked yet, but going swimming in the ocean is an absolute no-go. Even playing in the sand outside can have serious complications.” His eyes met hers. “How do you tell a kid not to be a kid?”

  Once again, Alanna was reminded how minute her problems in life were compared to what Leah and her father were facing.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, realizing as she said it that everyone probably said that to him. “If we get out of here early enough tonight, perhaps I could visit with your daughter and give her a crash course in how to play chess?”

  She might as well have told him it was Christmas come early.

  “That would be just great,” he replied happily. “To be honest with you, she asked me if I would see if you wanted to come over. But I didn’t want to impose.”

  David Collier had the signature marks of an executive—expensive sport jacket and designer tie, good looks, impeccable manners. He’d be the kind of person that Alanna assumed could get anything just by asking. But one look in his face and you could see that life’s strains were leaving their mark. Alanna recalled Leah saying that her mom had died of cancer.

  They reached the door, and a young man in a white shirt and black pants opened the door.

  Alanna realized that she might know more about who their employer was than David Collier did. They never had a chance to discuss any of that, though, and it was too late now.

  A young woman serving as the hostess greeted them inside. “Good evening, Dr. Mendes. Mr. Collier. Cocktails are being served in the library this evening,” she told them in her lilting Bahaman accent. “Right this way, if you please.”

  Before they reached doors leading to the walkway to the library, the front door opened
again and Jay Alexei came in. Immediately, he cast a nervous glance at David’s sport jacket and tie.

  Their hostess extended the same invitation to the young man.

  Alanna was not very good at guessing ages, but she thought Jay looked very young and extremely nervous.

  “Hello, Jay.” David greeted him warmly. “That is so nice of your wife to have dinner with Leah.”

  “Oh, sure…sure,” he said, joining them.

  Alanna saw the young man pull uneasily at the collar of his shirt.

  “You look great,” she told him quietly.

  He looked at her, surprised, and then gave her a small nod of appreciation. The three of them followed the hostess to the library. This time, however, Steven Galvin wasn’t going to make a grand entrance the way he’d done with Alanna. He was waiting for them.

  She was glad to see the same bowled-over expression on David Collier’s face when he recognized their host. Even Jay, as young as he looked, appeared to know the man who had arranged for them to come here. He was a little stunned, too.

  Alanna looked around the library. She was disappointed to find no sign of Ray.

  “Please help yourselves at the bar over there and to the hors d’ oeuvres.”

  From their faces, she could see that David and Jay were both surprised that she’d already met Galvin. She looked at the others in the room. From the way everyone was conversing, it appeared that they were either employees of Steven’s or people who’d worked for him before. There were men and women of varying ages.

  “Alanna,” Steven said, touching her arm as the other two moved off. “Are your living arrangements satisfactory?”

  “Yes, absolutely. Everything is lovely,” she told him, looking around the room again. “Was my friend, Ray Savoy, invited to this gathering, as well?”

  “Yes, of course,” he said, looking past her. “But he’s not here.”

  She nodded. The hostess came up from behind her.

  “Pardon me, Steven. May I have a word, sir?”

  “Sure.” He looked back at Alanna. “Excuse me for a moment.”