Bad Guys Don't Win (Janet Maple Series Book 4) (23 page)

“My point precisely, Brad. And please
don’t take it the wrong way. I’m very fortunate to have you work for me. I’ve
told you many times that I think of you as my son, and I mean it. But the CEO
role requires a much broader perspective. To be a great CEO, one must see the
big picture. That includes competitor landscape, as well as political and
international factors that may impact Orion.”

“And you don’t think I have enough
experience to do that?”

“I think you’d get much better at it
after working with Steven Wright.”

“Why don’t you teach me yourself then?”
Brad asked. He eyed his boss’s face with expectation. For over ten years Brad
had been looking into that face with hope and admiration, and now for the first
time in his life he was looking at it with resentment.

“I’ve taught you everything I could,
Brad. But I too suffer from the same limitation that I just mentioned. My whole
life I ran my own companies and before that I worked for my father’s company.
Granted, those were all sizeable businesses, but they were nowhere near the
company size that Orion has grown into. With the gas contracts we’ve secured
with China and Hong Kong, Orion’s importance as a company has skyrocketed
overnight. We’re now a major player and there are lots of competitors, both
domestic and foreign, who are wishing us harm. We need a captain who has
experience navigating through these kinds of rough waters to steer our ship.
Steven Wright is an experienced executive who’s worked for companies like
Boeing and Halliburton, to name a few. He’ll bring us the expertise we need.”

From the tone of Langman’s voice, Brad
knew their conversation was over. That was what you got for placing all your
eggs in one basket. He’d bet on Peter Langman, giving Orion his all and lost.
Of course Langman wanted Brad to believe that eventually the CEO role would be
his, but what was to stop Wright from kicking Brad out? With Wright as the new
CEO, there was no certainty to Brad’s future. Needless to say, Brad couldn’t
voice his suspicions to Langman, or he might just as well turn in his
resignation now. “I understand, sir. I’m sure you made the best decision for
the company. It goes without saying that I will continue to serve Orion to the
best of my ability.”

Langman chuckled. “You don’t need to
assure me of that, Brad. You’ve done a great job. If you just exercise a little
patience, there’ll be great things for you at Orion in the future.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“All things in due time,” Langman
assured him.

“Yes, sir. I understand your vision now,
sir, and I’m going to do everything in my power to work toward its seamless
implementation,” Brad replied like the good corporate soldier that he was.

“That’s my boy. That’s my Brad.” Langman
got up to refill their drinks. He handed Brad another scotch, which he accepted
numbly. “You’ve been doing an outstanding job, but I fear that you’re all work
and no play.”

Brad arched an eyebrow. At a time like
this Langman was talking about play? For years he’d been diligently maintaining
a veneer of a reclusive workaholic to earn Langman’s confidence. And now the
old man was accusing him of not being any fun?

“I’m going back to Oregon tomorrow
morning, but I thought you could use a night or two out on the town. I hear
Macau is a fun place.” Langman handed him an envelope.

Brad opened the envelope. Inside was a
reservation with Citron Hotel & Casino—the most prestigious casino in
Macau. There was also a first class plane ticket back to Oregon. He was
relieved to see that the return date was in two days. At least Langman wasn’t
trying to get rid of him permanently.

“All expenses are on me,” Langman said.

Brad opened his mouth to politely reject
Langman’s offer, but then swiftly changed his mind. What was the harm in taking
a few days off? He’d busting his tail and it was obvious that his hard work
wasn’t about to get rewarded any time soon. He might as well take what he could
get. A quick vacation might do him some good. “Thank you, sir. This is very
generous of you.”

“Enjoy yourself, Brad. You have to let
loose once in a while. Of course, I trust that you won’t engage in any reckless
gambling,” Langman added judiciously.

Brad was the picture of pure innocence.
“I wouldn’t think of it, sir. Gambling is opium for the feeble-minded,” he
spewed out the most righteous-sounding bromide that came to mind. He certainly
didn’t consider himself to be feeble-minded, and he enjoyed taking a few turns
at poker and craps now and then.

Langman chuckled. “I trust you don’t
need any further warning from me. So enjoy yourself and relax. I hear they’ve
got marvelous accommodations at Citron.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Don’t mention it. Now if you’ll excuse
me, with the jetlag and the time change, it’s way past my bedtime. Oh, I almost
forgot, Wright is starting two weeks from now. I’ll ask my secretary to put a
meeting with him on your calendar.”

“Thank you, sir.”

As soon as Brad was back in his suite
his hands clenched into fists. He sank onto a couch and sat there in silent
rage, gritting his teeth. He wanted to scream, to smash the entire room with
the anger that was burning inside him, but he knew better than that so he
forced himself into immobility. Wright was starting in two weeks, which meant
that negotiations to hire him had been going on for several months at least. No
executive of Wright’s level accepted a job on a whim—Wright had to have given
his employer ample notice to take the job with Orion. All that time Langman
plotted under Brad’s nose, and Brad had been stupid enough not to see it. The
most important thing to do now was to remain calm. He needed to think
rationally about what to do next. He had invested a lot of time and effort into
his career at Orion and he wasn’t going to let it slip away.

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