Chasing the Wind (25 page)

At 4:30 in the afternoon Ashley Elizabeth rushed in. "Here you go." She waved a thick document and her eyes shone.

Amalise looked up. "How are we doing?"

Ashley Elizabeth brushed back her hair and dropped the document on Amalise's desk. "This is number six."

"All faxed to New York?"

"Yes."

Amalise smiled. "Here's the last one." She held it out, and Ashley Elizabeth took it with a glance at the blinking light.

Ashley Elizabeth headed for the door. "Your handwriting's getting worse," she said. "Typing's starting to grumble."

When she had gone, Amalise dropped her throbbing head into her hands.

"Richard's still waiting?" Rebecca's voice roused her.

Amalise lifted her head and nodded with the beginning of a smile. She straightened as Rebecca dropped into the chair in front of her desk. "You're just in time."

High-heeled shoes clicked double-time down the hallway, and Ashley Elizabeth burst in. With a quick nod, she gave Amalise thumbs up.

Amalise placed her hands on the desk before her, sitting in what Jude would have called the launch position. "We have a fax confirmation for the last one?"

Ashley Elizabeth smiled and did a little jig.

Rebecca rose, walked to the window. "Showtime." With a cat-like smile, she folded her arms and leaned back against the window frame. "Wish I had a movie camera. At least use the speaker, so we can hear."

Ashley Elizabeth took the chair. Amalise held up one finger. Swiveling to the telephone, she pressed the button and placed Richard Murray's call on the speaker. "Richard," she said. A crackling sound answered, plastic paper—potato chips, she'd bet. She leaned close to the speaker.

Louder now: "Richard!"

Ashley Elizabeth stifled a choking sound.

There was the sound of shuffling shoes, a slow, heavy walk coming close. The squeak and groan of a chair. "Yeah." He sounded fatigued.

"We're all set." Amalise's tone was bright, cheerful.

"We leave for the airport in thirty minutes. You're dead." His voice came through harsh but clear. "You've played Russian roulette and lost. And don't think this won't be a subject for discussion tomorrow."

"There must be some mistake, Richard." Amalise's voice was silk. She turned her head, watching Ashley Elizabeth, who nodded. "Since this morning we've been faxing each agreement to your office as I completed the revisions. You've had plenty of time to read them." Leaning back in the chair, she curled her fingers and studied her nails. "We were hoping you'd be ready with some preliminary thoughts on the changes before you leave for the airport."

"I don't know what you're talking about. You say you've sent them?"

"Of course."

There was a long silence on the other end. She turned to Ashley Elizabeth, held out her hand, and took the final fax confirmation. "Everything was faxed to this number." She read it out loud.

"That's Tom Hannigan's fax, not mine!"

"It was addressed to both of you. Don't you work together?"

"What the—"

She leaned toward the speaker, elbows on the credenza, chin in her hands. "Richard, we're wasting time." She had to work to force a hint of compassion into her voice. "There are seven agreements in all. Tom will have them. He's probably already looked at them—the changes are black-lined for you. Ask his secretary to give you copies. I'm sure he'll fill you in on the plane."

"You—"

"The meeting's tomorrow at nine. Plenty of time to catch up."

With a smile, she clicked off the phone in the middle of his splutter.

"That was delicious," Rebecca said, laughing.

Ashley Elizabeth stood, straightened her skirt, and headed for the door. "I'm off to tennis. See you ladies in the morning."

"Hey."

Ashley Elizabeth turned.

"Thanks."

Ashley Elizabeth grinned, linked her hands over her head, and executed an excellent stroll right out the door.

Raymond backed into the room, eyes following Ashley Elizabeth's trail.

Brows up, he turned to Amalise and Rebecca. "What's going on?"

Amalise opened her mouth, but Raymond interrupted, pointing to the stack of papers on her desk. "Amalise, when you finish those revisions—"

"They're done."

"Good. Distribute them to the group. And Preston's waiting."

He turned and disappeared.

Amalise stared at the empty doorway and shook her head.

"Huh," Rebecca, sauntered to the door and stood, hands on her hips, looking after Raymond. After a moment she turned back to Amalise. "I get the feeling that if we both walked buck naked down that hallway after him, no one around here would even look up."

Richard Murray dragged into the conference
room with Tom Hannigan the next morning, red-eyed and ill-tempered. Tom shut him down immediately when he groused about receiving the documents two minutes before they left for the airport the night before. Doug had given her a knowing smile. Raymond must have spilled the beans.

After a long morning Bingham Murdoch insisted on taking the New Yorkers to Antoine's for lunch. When the meeting broke up, Amalise excused herself, not a difficult task for an overworked associate. Now she sat in her quiet office, summarizing the most pertinent points to be covered in the next round of negotiations.

A rapid succession of knocks on the door roused her. She looked up to see Rebecca standing there, lips curled, bright eyes flashing. "How'd it go? What's Richard Murray like?" Without waiting for an answer, she strolled into the office and fell into the client chair.

Amalise smiled. "Dick? He's just what we expected."

"Was he sufficiently intimidated?"

"I don't think so."

Rebecca slid down in the chair, resting her head on the back, studying the ceiling. "Do you want to get a quick lunch? I need a break."

Amalise glanced at her watch. It was only one fifteen, plenty of time. "All right." She stood and stretched.

"Mother's, for po' boys?"

"Takes too long. How about downstairs?"

Rebecca sighed. "That'll do." They walked past Ashley Elizabeth's desk on the way to the elevator. "Back in a half hour," Amalise said, and Ashley Elizabeth nodded without looking up.

"She works hard," Rebecca murmured.

Amalise pressed the button for the elevator. "Until five o'clock. That's our deal. I find temps for evenings and weekends."

"Do you blame her? This isn't her life. For her, it's just a job."

"I don't blame her a bit."

The coffee shop just off the lobby was small but bright, and except for the cleaning woman and a young man behind the counter, it was empty.

Amalise inspected the trays of tuna, egg salad, ham, turkey, and cheese in the glass display counter and ordered a turkey sandwich with lettuce, tomatoes, and spicy mustard. Rebecca ordered tuna. They stood waiting for the sandwiches and chatting, and through the whole conversation, Amalise braced herself for the news that Rebecca and Jude were to be married.

Still, she prayed that for one more day Rebecca wouldn't raise the subject. Once the words were spoken, it would all be true. She'd have lost Jude forever. A small tremor ran through her.

Rebecca turned just then and handed her one sandwich plate and a napkin. "Are you all right?" she asked.

"Just a little tired."

To their right was the cooler. They retrieved two cans of Tab and chose a table.

"How's the Murdoch deal going?"

"It's barreling along. Raymond's in my office every ten minutes with new work. The investors are panting. They'll make a bundle."

Suddenly, Rebecca set down her sandwich and leaned forward. Amalise blinked and swallowed. Rebecca lowered her voice, almost whispering. "I want to be on that deal, Amalise. Could you say something to Preston? Or maybe even Doug?"

Amalise stared. A quick stab of envy washed through her. Rebecca had Jude, and now she wanted Black Diamond, too. But this deal was hers. If Rebecca was added to the team, Amalise knew exactly what would happen. She'd become lost in Rebecca's vortex, the swirl of attention she commanded every time she walked into a room.

She hated herself when she thought this way. After all, they were friends.

"Would you mind?" Rebecca's eyes held hers.

"Of course not," Amalise replied a little too loud. She picked up her sandwich, glancing around. "It's a killer, though, I'll warn you. You're sure that's what you really want?"

Rebecca's face lit. She settled back and nodded her head. "Sure! It would be fun to work together again."

Of course, she had to try. They were friends, not really competitors. She nodded. "I'll talk to Preston as soon as the opportunity comes up. I've got to wait for the right time, but we could certainly use the help."

Rebecca seemed satisfied. She folded her arms, ignoring her food. "What's Bingham Murdoch like? Everyone in the firm's talking about him."

Amalise shrugged. "He's been a silent partner in several big developments. Recommended by Tom Hannigan at Morgan Klemp. Doug and Tom have been friends for years, so Tom's the connection, I guess." She smiled. "And he likes good food."

Amalise washed down the last of her sandwich with the Tab and glanced at the clock on the wall. "Time to go." She pushed back her chair.

Crossing the lobby, she said, "I came across an interesting article at the library when I was checking out Murdoch's background. Remember that airline hijacker a few years ago? D. B. Cooper?"

"Sure. The hijacker that got away in 1971?" She shook her head. "What's he got to do with Murdoch?"

"Nothing." Amalise's eyes twinkled. "I copied the story and brought it back for Raymond—he's such a nut on the subject. The detective handling the case said Cooper was a real lone ranger. Lone Ranger happens to be the name of Murdoch's company."

"Hm. I wonder where he is."

"Who?"

Rebecca gave her a look. "D. B. Cooper."

"That's what everyone wants to know."

The elevator arrived empty and they stepped in. Amalise pressed sixteen and leaned against the wall beside Rebecca. "Raymond thinks he's on an island somewhere. But Cooper's not his real name. No one ever identified him."

As they reached the sixteenth floor, Rebecca swept her hair from the nape of her neck, twisted it, and let it fall again. Her hair shone like a sunset, Jude had once remarked. Without thinking, Amalise tucked back her own short, dark hair.

"Let me know what Preston says, will you?" Rebecca said as the doors opened and she stepped out ahead of Amalise.

"Sure."

Back in her office, Amalise stood in front of the window, looking out at the building next door and the cloudless stretch of sky over the city to her left. Rebecca hadn't mentioned Jude once. A sharp pain gripped her middle at the thought of Jude. She wrapped her arms across her waist, wondering how she would survive on the day that one of them, Jude or Rebecca, actually got around to telling her their good news.

Days passed when the only sun Amalise saw glared through the windows of the hot, crowded conference room as the project working group negotiated the provisions of the documents page by page. She arrived at work before the sun came up and returned home well after dark.

As always, Amalise sat beside Raymond near one end of the long table, noting revisions and disagreements between the parties as they progressed through the provisions. Revisions to the documents would be made later once solutions were reached. Raymond sat beside Preston, and Preston sat next to Doug, the partner in charge. Doug, the lead negotiator, occupied the center seat at the long table with the windows and sun at his back. On the other side of him was Frank Earl from First Merchant Bank.

Seating arrangement in such meetings had always fascinated Amalise. She would watch executives survey the room when they entered, making a beeline for the power seats, often subtly moving others aside in the process. She needed to learn to do that, she thought, and tucked the information away for the day when she'd be leading a team.

She had broached the subject of including Rebecca on the transaction two days ago, but Preston had put her off. He'd see how things went, he said, and she knew he was thinking of fees. But she'd been swamped since by feelings of guilt over her initial reaction to Rebecca's request, and even now she felt a twinge of remorse over the satisfaction Preston's response had given her. He seemed happy enough with Amalise as the sole female presence on the team.

She'd chided herself for that and vowed to ask him again another day.

Doug and Adam were arguing yet another point. Amalise balanced her pencil on a finger and watched it seesaw over the page while she waited. When she glanced up, Robert caught her eyes, as if he had been probing for secrets. Immediately adrenaline shot through her, putting her on alert. She let her eyes roam past him, wondering if it were possible for him to have found out about her friends on Kerlerec Street?

She mulled it over and relaxed.

Impossible.

Still, Robert was intense. He was not one to cross.

The conference room door opened, and Ashley Elizabeth peeked in. When Amalise looked up, she signaled. Amalise nodded. Bingham would call a halt for lunch in the next couple of hours, she knew. They'd been working day and night on this transaction, with little time off for sleep, but the one thing Bingham insisted upon was continuing his march through the restaurants of the city.