Catalyst

by Ross Richdale

  "I thought I'd be first but saw Lem on his way out," Courtney said and handed Renee a small box of chocolates. "Not as flash as the flowers and your bracelet but I wanted to thank you as well."

  "I love chocolates but it wasn't necessary," Renee replied. "You did as much for me as vice versa."

  "No, I didn't." Courtney grabbed a piece of toast Renee hadn't eaten and bit into it. "You both helped in all sorts of ways." She frowned. "There's something strange going on, though."

  "You mean something else?"

  "Yes. Grandma has got the hots for Jack."

  "Oh, don't be silly," Renee responded.

  "Yeah, well you tell me why she's coming out to Seattle and all they could do last night is say stupid things at each other. I was so embarrassed I couldn't look anyone in the face. Didn't Lem tell you?"

  "No."

  "My God. Is the man dumb or something?" The teenager rolled her eyes. "All this hot news and he never says a word."

  "Oh, Courtney." Renee laughed. "We had other things to discuss. He has to go back to Seattle early."

  "Yeah, I heard his wife is trying to bleed him dry."

  "More or less." Renee brought her arm out from under the blanket. "He did say you helped him find my bracelet. Beautiful, isn't it?"

  Courtney grabbed Renee's hand and fingered the bracelet. "I never picked that one."

  "You didn't?"

  "Hell, no." Courtney gasped. "This one cost over a grand. I had no idea he wanted to spend that much and made a sarcastic joke about buying half a dozen when the sales lady held it up. I thought he'd bought a cheaper one for about two hundred bucks. Even that amount seemed a lot."

  "I had no idea it was that valuable."

  "Believe me, girl, it is. Aren't we lucky that cave tunnel collapsed?"

  Renee agreed. She wondered what other news would be forthcoming.

  It came a few moments later when Jack walked in and after Courtney discreetly disappeared, muttered that Amy might be staying in Seattle for a while. "She wants to get to know Courtney," he said in a defensive voice.

  "Daddy, I know. Courtney told me."

  "About what?" Jack asked with a scowl.

  "That you and Amy are good companions." She laughed. "Got the hots for each other were her words."

  Jack flushed. "That young lady does use expressive terms." He hesitated. "Do you mind if she accompanies us back home?"

  "Of course I don't. Why should I, Dad?"

  "Well, with your mom gone only a little while…"

  "That was years ago, Dad, not a few months."

  "I suppose it was," Jack said with a twitch of sadness in his voice. "It doesn't seem that way." He broke into a smile. "Anyhow, Amy and I are just good friends."

  "Sure, Dad." Renee grinned, flung her arms around his neck and kissed him.

  ****

  Though dwarfed by aircraft factories within the vicinity, the Epsilon Products buildings were impressive in their own right. The modern glass mushroom shaped administration block sat in front of a rectangular structure as long as a football field and half as wide. Along its windowless walls were a series of massive roll down doors numbered alphabetically. Doors E and F were open with three vans cluttering the access lane in front.

  Lem frowned. With the air-conditioned interior, the doors should be closed. He headed his pearl white Cadillac Deville, one of the last things he purchased with Nikki's approval, between well-kept lawns and gardens to Door E.

  "What's wrong, Mike?" he asked when his foreman appeared, looking more serious than his usual.

  "More problems with the new assembly unit, Lem," Mike grunted. "Come in and I'll show you."

  "This is all I need."

  "It's not the machine itself but the roller diversion that bypasses the tester when it's overloaded," Mike confessed, "

  Lem nodded, slung a hard hat on his head and walked to where several engineers stood around various pieces of disassembled machinery.

  Mike introduced Lem to Frank Fromont, the engineer in charge, who began his explanation of the problem. "As you know, Mr. Erksberg, the output of the new production unit is too fast for the tester."

  "Sure," Lem replied. "I thought we had solved that by decreasing the production run and allowing the tester to catch up." He stared at the pieces lying around in a haphazard manner. "What went wrong?"

  "A switching mechanism seized when a unit jammed it. There was a pile up back to the assembly unit but it failed to switch down. More units jammed and by the time the assembler was shut down, a dozen or more assembled units were wedged in and caused a short circuit." Frank nodded to the buckled pieces of steel on the floor. "We had to bring in a new component to replace the damaged section."

  "This is under the manufacturer's guarantee, I hope," Lem replied in a quiet but serious voice.

  "It is."

  Lem turned to his foreman. "How does this affect production?"

  "If we can be back on line today we should meet our quota. Luckily, we were well ahead of our estimated run rate."

  "And when will it be on line?" Lem turned back to the engineer.

  "It's almost ready," Frank answered. "After testing and dummy runs you should be back in production by five."

  "I've brought the morning crew to start a midnight shift," Mike added. "And the afternoon shift will switch to morning. By tomorrow afternoon we should have caught up."

  "Thanks." Lem smiled for the first time. "I'll leave it to you then. Have you noticed if Ashley's arrived?"

  "Yes, your accountant is waiting in your office."

  ****

  Ashley Armstrong, a tall bespectacled man of similar age to Lem, glanced up as he walked in. They were friends and over the last few months the accountant had been very supportive. He smiled faintly as Lem sat down and yawned.

  "I heard all about your sojourn down in the cave," he said. "I knew you wanted to have a break but that was ridiculous."

  "Yes." Lem couldn't help grinning.

  "And who was that young redhead they showed you cuddling up to outside the cave mouth?"

  "Renee Bonnett is a local lawyer." Lem frowned again. "But how did you know about her?"

  "It was on KIRO local news, close-up shot, too. She's a real honey."

  "More ammunition for Nikki."

  "Yeah, it's an evil wind and all that stuff."

  "What do you mean?"

  "If you weren't stuck down that hole in the ground and I didn't know you better, I would have believed you orchestrated this whole factory breakdown."

  "Why would I do that?"

  "Well," Ashley said. "The manufacturing machinery was defective but the rumor went around that the units you were making were the problem."

  Lem swore again. "More problems. You know how particular the Boeing Company is?"

  "It's not them. They were given all the information and realize your units weren't deficient. It's the minor shareholders who panicked over the last three days."

  "So?" Lem scowled at his friend.

  "As of an hour ago, Epsilon Products shares dropped twenty cents, which means, My Dear Friend, that the buy back from your wife will be a hundred thousand less than yesterday."

  "But is it legal?"

  "It is. Your wife's lawyer stipulated the price had to be this afternoon's. The shares have been riding so high, I think he suspected a fall but they played their cards too close this time."

  "She won't like it."

  "So what? If they'd suddenly gone up by ten cents, do you think she would have offered you a refund? My advice is to buy her out and spend another hundred grand on other shares. That'll give you a clear majority in the company."

  "But the money?"

  "Oh, the bank has approved a loan. It's ready for your signature."

  "Who started the rumor it was our product that was inferior?"

  "No idea," Ashley replied. He brought a web site up on the firm's computer. Moments later the screen displayed Epsilon Products shares at a dollar and six cents. "They
've dropped another cent. Want to buy now or wait an hour or so?"

  "Now."

  "Those extras, too?"

  "Why not?"

  Ashley's fingers tapped out a purchase order, codes were entered and all of Nikki's, plus the extra hundred thousand shares were transferred into Lem's name and the purchase price transferred out from the bank loan.

  "I hope you're right," Lem muttered after Ashley completed the entry. "If they keep dropping, I'll be bankrupt."

  "Want to bet they'll be up by the time you've finished your afternoon coffee break?"

  "I know you never bet unless something is a certainty."

  ****

  Ashley was right. After dipping another cent, by mid-afternoon Epsilon stocks were trading at a dollar and ten cents and by the close of day were up to a dollar and twelve. Indications were they'd soon be back to their record high before the plant mishap. Lem had made thirty-six thousand dollars in a few hours.

  "Just about pay the interest to my bank," he retorted when Ashley rung his apartment that evening with the news.

  Lem hung up and glanced around the empty kitchen. He was about to go down to a local restaurant for supper when his phone rang again. Perhaps it was Renee phoning.

  "Hello. Lem speaking."

  "You contemptible bastard," a woman screamed. "If you think you can get away with this double cross, you had better think again. Trading with insider information is illegal in this state, you know. Also, that pathetic performance on the local news with that redhead. My God, Lem, you've got a lot to answer for."

  "Oh hello, Nikki." Lem's calm voice hid his true feelings. "I thought you might call.'

  ****

  CHAPTER 11

  As the Chevy Blazer approached the small city of Missoula, halfway back to Seattle, Renee gazed wearily at the interstate stretching into distance and regarded the foggy mountain peaks. It was beautiful country but traveling all day had worn her out. Her ankle itched inside a cast that had been placed on it when it was found that it was broken. She glanced at Courtney, who had relieved Jack and taken over driving two hours earlier and back at her father and Amy. The older passengers were asleep in the back seat.

  "This is a good spot to spend the night," she said as she studied the map on her knee. "Take the first exit left onto East Broadway. There's a swag of motels to choose from."

  "Right," Courtney replied.

  Twenty minutes later, everyone was relaxing in a pleasant motel called Pine Tree Inn. A small swimming pool was available on the motel grounds and within moments Courtney plunged into the refreshing water, while an envious Renee looked on.

  Two youths homed in on the teenager but their inevitable display of physical prowess by hooting and splashing around the pool only received a curt response.

  "Stupid nerds," Courtney growled as she slipped out of the water and wrapped a towel around herself.

  Renee was about to make a light comment but saw her friend looked annoyed rather than flattered by the attention. "Don't worry about them. I'm sure they're harmless enough."

  The teenager rubbed her wet hair and glanced at Renee. "I guess," she said in a solemn voice. "I've had my swim, so let's go back to our unit. I'm sure Grandma and Jack will want a hand to unload all the junk from the wagon."

  Courtney helped Renee from the lawn, handed her the crutches and headed back. One youth attracted her attention again but she flashed him a dark look and turned her back on him.

  Renee swung her crutches out and caught up to the girl who had reached the corner of the motel building. "Are you okay?"

  Courtney stopped and turned a pale face at her companion. "When those boys were goggling at me, I felt scared, Renee. It's stupid, I know. It's a beautiful evening, people are all over the place, you were there but I was gripped by a sudden fear that they'd grab me or something." Her chin quivered as she continued. "It sounds ridiculous but I wish we were back in the cave, just you, Lem and me. Nobody could reach us there and I felt secure. Tell me I'm neurotic but I can't help how I feel."

  "You aren't," Renee replied. "It's a natural reaction and nothing to be ashamed of."

  Courtney caught her eyes and smiled. "Thanks. Will you promise me something?"

  "Probably. What is it?"

  "Don't tell Grandma anything about what happened to me. She's a dear and I love her but...well, you know."

  "I know. As far as I'm concerned, everything is confidential and I'll tell nobody, unless you wish."

  "Thanks, Renee. You're a real pal." Courtney took one of Renee's crutches and placed an arm around her back. "I reckon I'm going to like it out west," she added with a whimsical gaze in her eyes.

  ****

  The arrangements for the evening produced a new surprise. Their motel unit had two single beds in the lounge and a double bed and single bed in a separate bedroom. She assumed she'd be sharing one of these spaces with her father but was taken back when Jack and Amy moved their bags into the bedroom.

  Jack noticed his daughter's astonished look and followed her outside when she went to get something from the Blazer. "Renee, you said you didn't mind if Amy and I were friends," he said in a hushed tone.

  "I know, Dad," Renee replied, "but I thought it was just that, not sharing a bedroom."

  "So nothing happened between you and Lem in the cave?" Jack added with his eyes firmly fixed on his daughter.

  She flushed a bright red and bit her lip. "What has that got to do with this situation?"

  "If it can happen to you, Sweetheart, why can't the same happen to me?" Jack continued. "I may be a cripple but I'm not about to lay down and die."

  "Oh, Daddy." Renee gulped. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it like that. It's just that..."

  "I've never shown an interest in women since your mother died. That's true, Renee. I was afraid my disability would turn any woman away. It's been lonely at times and without you I don't know how I would have coped. But, like your meeting Lem, I found my life has changed. Perhaps the Good Lord planned it for us this way."

  Renee stood back deep in thought. Her father had never been religious; in fact since her mother's death he had never mentioned the topic.

  "Perhaps, Dad," she replied cautiously.

  Jack coughed in embarrassment. "If you feel awkward, Courtney can share with her Grandma and I'll bunk down in the lounge with you."

  Renee hesitated again and tried to come to terms with her emotions. Somehow the idea that her father might be sexually attracted to someone seemed wrong. But this was childish. Why shouldn't her father have a normal relationship?

  "I'm not a monk, Sweetheart," Jack continued. "Any more than you are a nun. I have no objections about your involvement with Lem. In fact, I've always felt guilty about you staying home and caring for me instead of having a normal social life."

  "I didn't mind, Dad."

  "Of course you didn't. And I love you because of this but think ahead to next year, the year after, five years down the track. You have your whole life ahead, Sweetheart and if you can share it with a young man like Lem, I don't want to be in your way." He reached out and tucked an arm around Renee's shoulders. "But neither do I want to spend my time by myself. Humans aren't meant to be alone."

  Renee nodded. Her father had never talked this way before.

  "Shall I place Courtney's backpack in the bedroom?" Jack asked.

  "No, Daddy," Renee forced a smile. "Of course not. Courtney's great company at night, anyway."

  She turned, found tears in her eyes and a strange emptiness churning inside. Jack noticed and limped the few paces across the sidewalk that separated them. "Go and call Lem, Sweetheart," he suggested. "I'm sure he'll love to hear your voice."

  "You were always like this Dad," Renee responded. She took a handkerchief out, blew her nose and wiped the rogue tears from her eyes.

  "Like what, Sweetheart?"

  "Just so understanding. You can read me like a book and I'm so selfish in return."

  "No," Jack interrupted. "You're never
selfish. Not ever." He kissed her cheek and squeezed her shoulders again. "Now go and phone Lem, right now."

  "I will, Dad."

  She kissed her father and reached for her cellphone. She took Lem's business card from the fannypack wrapped around her waist, found his home number and punched it in.

  It was answered on the fifth ring.

  "What do you want, now?" Lem's curt voice came over the line.

  Renee's heart lurched and she almost hung up without talking. "Lem," she spluttered. "It's Renee. Have I rung at an inconvenient time?"

  The change in Lem's voice was immediate with anger replaced by relief. "Renee. Oh God, am I glad to hear from you. Where are you?"

  Renee gave Lem a brief summary of her day.

  "Oh Renee," Lem responded. "I've been thinking about you all day and hoped you'd call."

  "So why the snarl at the beginning?"

  "Nikki," Lem replied. "The hysterical woman has rung me three times and I'd just hung up on her five minutes ago. I thought it was her again."

  "Why? Couldn't you raise the money to buy her out?"

  "Oh yes, that went through okay." Lem laughed. "She didn't like what she received. Reckoned I was swindling her. She's going to serve a warrant out against me, take me to the Supreme Court, petition the Governor and God knows what else."

  "But why?"

  Lem repeated his news, while Renee listened intently.

  "And did your accountant know this would happen?" she asked.

  "After the breakdown and rumors went around, he guessed our shares would fall before rising but there was no way that he could predict we'd have an equipment failure."

  "And he never started the rumor?"

  "No, My Dear Attorney."

  Renee had to smile. "Okay, I know I slipped my business cap on. It's just that if your wife could prove he manipulated the situation to force the shares down, she may have a case."

  "I know." Lem's voice turned serious. "That's what she swears she's going to do. If I don't give her another thirty thousand, she's going to file a criminal charge against Ashley and me. I told her to go ahead and hung up on her. That was two calls back. She rang again, screamed abuse, so I hung up again."