Flash (16 page)

Unfortunately,
Hard Currency
was the first thing most local executives read when they arrived in their offices in the mornings.

“Rollie had a subscription,” Rose confided. “But he never got called for an interview.”

That was because in Rollie's day nothing even remotely resembling gossip of the kind that would be of interest to the business community had ever occurred at Glow, Jasper thought. Glow's image had always been on the staid side.

But things had changed.

He rapidly assessed the situation. Talking to journalists, especially Andrews, was not one of his favorite activities. In his previous career as a venture capitalist, it had been relatively simple to avoid the media.

But he was operating in a different sphere now, one in which rumors were tools that had to be well managed. The wrong sort of speculation could be extremely damaging to a company in Glow's position.

The fact that the editor of the region's most influential investment newsletter was on the phone meant that gossip was already swirling in the Northwest business community.

“I'll take the call in my office, Rose. When I'm through, send Morrison in, will you?”

“Yes, Mr. Sloan.” Rose gave him an expectant look. “Does this mean that Glow will be featured in
Hard Currency?”

“Not if I can help it.”

Ignoring Rose's obvious disappointment, Jasper walked into the inner suite and closed the door. He reached across the desk to pick up the phone.

“Sloan here.” He lounged on the edge of the neat, polished surface.

“Andy Andrews with
Hard Currency
.” The voice was artificially warm and hearty, the voice of a journalist who made his living on the phone. “We met a year ago when I stopped by Sloan & Associates to get a quote from you regarding the Hatcher merger.”

“I remember. What can I do for you, Andrews?”

“I'm putting together a short feature on the recent changes there at Glow. I'd like to ask you a few questions, if I may.”

“What questions?”

“A lot of my readers have heard about you, of course. Sloan & Associates has backed some of the most successful young entrepreneurs in the region as well as a lot of expansions like the one at Glow. But it's my understanding that you don't generally get involved in the management of your clients' firms.”

“Glow is no longer one of my clients. I own it.”

“Fifty-one percent, according to my information.”

“Fifty-one percent is enough.”

“I'll cut to the chase. Why did you take control of the company?”

“Glow is a change of direction for me,” Jasper said evenly. “I've been looking for a situation that would allow me to take on the challenge of dealing with all aspects of a growing and diversified business.”

Andy cleared his throat. “There is some speculation that you took it over because the recent death of Glow's owner and CEO may have put the company in jeopardy.”

“That speculation is absolutely false.”

“The firm is, after all, at a very delicate point in its expansion process, isn't it? Is that why you felt you had to step in and take command at this juncture?”

Time to squelch that rumor, Jasper thought. “Glow has always been a well-run company. In keeping with his usual far-sighted management philosophy, Rollie Chantry made appropriate provision for the present scenario.”

“Uh-huh.” Andy did not sound convinced. “I'm told that forty-nine percent of the company is now owned by Rollie Chantry's niece, Olivia Chantry.”

“Right.”

“Ms. Chantry obviously represents the interests of the rest of the Chantry family. How would you describe your relationship with her?”

“Close,” Jasper said. “Very close.”

“That's not what I've heard,” Andy said with the deliberately vague air of someone who's a little uncertain of his facts and a little slow to put those facts together.

Oh, shit
. Jasper allowed only the most casual curiosity into his own voice. “What have you heard, Andy?”

“There's a rumor in certain circles that the Chantrys don't like having an outsider at the helm. Care to comment?”

“I don't know what you've heard. I can, however, assure you that I have Olivia Chantry's complete trust and cooperation. We've both got the long-term interests of Glow at heart.”

There was a short, heavy pause. “Are you officially denying that you're there to fatten up Glow for a possible sale or merger?”

“Categorically,” Jasper said. “Glow is my company, and it will stay that way.”

He brought the interview to a close five minutes later and immediately hit the Light Fantastic office number on his phone.

“This is Olivia.” She sounded distracted.

“I just had a call from Andy Andrews of
Hard Currency
,” Jasper said without preamble.

“Congratulations,” she said dryly. There was a short silence during which Jasper heard a small slurping sound. It sounded like Olivia was taking a sip of coffee.
“Andy Andrews must think you're interesting. He never pays any attention to us small-time entrepreneurs.”

“That,” Jasper said, “is about to change.”

“What do you mean?”

“Andrews called me because he wanted information about our relationship.”

There was a half-strangled exclamation followed by a gasp, a choking sound, and a couple of small coughs.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Uh-huh. Coffee went down the wrong way,” she wheezed. “What about our relationship?”

“Our business relationship.”

“Oh.” There was another pause. Another slurp. “Well? What did you tell him?”

“That the two owners of Glow enjoy a very close working partnership.”

“I see.” Her voice was elaborately neutral.

“That we share an identical vision for Glow's future.”

“Uh-huh.”

“And that you,” Jasper said very deliberately, “as the representative of the Chantry family, had absolute confidence in my ability to manage the growth and expansion of Glow, Inc.”

“Absolute confidence?”

“Yes. Absolute confidence.” Jasper carried the phone to his office window and looked down at the street six floors below. “Andrews said he'd heard rumors, Olivia.”

“What sort of rumors?”

“The kind that could spell trouble.” He hesitated.
“Someone is either feeding him gossip or else he's just fishing. Either way, we've got to squelch this before it blows up in our faces.”

“How do you suggest we do that?”

“Andrews will probably call you next to get your side of the story. Remember what I said about presenting a united front.”

“Oh, yeah. Right. A united front.”

“I hope I've got your attention here, Olivia. Rumors of trouble between the two of us could do a lot of damage to Glow. You're a businesswoman. You know what the wrong kind of talk can do to a company.”

“Uh-huh.”

“We don't want suppliers, vendors, and customers getting nervous. Especially not at this stage.”

“Uh-huh.” There was another faint slurp.

Exasperated with her apparent lack of interest in the subject, Jasper tightened his grip on the phone. “Think of this as a marriage of convenience.”

“I tried marriage once.” She sounded thoughtful. “It wasn't very convenient.”

“I had a similar experience with the institution. But this time it will be different.”

“You're sure?”

“I'm sure. This is business.” He watched the traffic on First Avenue. He wondered if it was possible to read the future in the movements of cars the way some people read it in tea leaves. “When it comes to business, I'm always sure.”

It was just the personal stuff in life that gave him problems, he thought.

He heard another sip on the other end of the line.

“Nice to be sure about things, isn't it?” Olivia asked eventually.

Something had happened, Jasper realized suddenly. Something serious. This was not the modern-day Juliet who had waved farewell to him from her balcony last night. Olivia was tense. Cautious. Distant.

Was she feeling guilty because she had arranged for his house to be searched while he was at her place?

He decided to try a subtle probe.

“Olivia?”

“What?”

“God knows I'm no nutritionist, but do you think maybe you're drinking a little too much coffee?”

There was a short, startled pause on the other end. “This is only my second cup today. No, wait, I guess it's my third. Or maybe my fourth. Eleanor Lancaster invited me to breakfast. I had some there.”

Jasper frowned. “You had breakfast with Lancaster?”

“I'm moving in some pretty exalted circles these days, thanks to my brother. Why did you ask about my coffee consumption?”

“I just wondered. You sound a little uptight.”

She went off like Mount St. Helens, without any warning.

“Uptight? Now, why would I be uptight? Just because I've got a major event scheduled for an important client tomorrow night, my aunt is being blackmailed, I've got footprints on my floor—”

“You're worried about footprints? No offense, but I don't see you as the compulsively neat type, Olivia.”

“And on top of everything else,” she said, overriding the interruption, “I'm about to get a call from a reporter who wants to grill me about my relationship with the new CEO of Glow. No, sir. Nothing going on around here that might make a person a little tense. Nothing at all.”

Jasper heard another slurp. A large one this time.

From out of nowhere he was overtaken with a wholly irrational urge to soothe her. “About your aunt's blackmailer…”

“What about him?” she demanded.

“Try not to worry too much. Once we get Zara's list, it won't take a professional investigator long to figure out who's behind the extortion.”

“I hope you're right. Zara certainly believes in you. She feels much better this morning now that you've taken charge of the situation.”

Olivia sounded disgruntled now. Jasper wondered if his assuming the lead on the problem annoyed her. She was accustomed to making the decisions.

“Like I said, blackmail, especially this kind, is almost always a personal thing.”

“You may be right,” she said. “I would certainly like to personally throttle the jerk who's terrorizing my aunt. Look, I've got to go, Jasper. I've got a lot to do this morning.”

“So do I.” But he did not hang up the phone.

Neither did she.

Jasper heard her take another swallow of coffee. He sensed that she was steeling herself.

“Jasper?” Her voice was tight.

“Yes?”

“Where did you go last night after you left my place?”

Of all the questions he had been expecting, that was last on the list.

“Home to Bainbridge.” He propped one shoulder against the windowsill. “Why?”

“No reason.”

Like hell, he thought. So much for the subtle approach. He had nothing to lose by being a little more direct, himself. “Funny, I was wondering about something, too.”

“What's that?”

“Did you send someone to search my house last night while we had dinner together?”

There was an unnatural stillness on the other end of the line. Not even a coffee slurp disturbed the crashing silence.

Jasper continued to lean against the edge of the window, but every muscle in his body went taut as he waited for her answer. Not that it would tell him much, he thought. Not if she chose to lie.

“I think,” Olivia said very carefully, “that you and I had better talk.”

“We are talking.”

“Privately. I'll meet you at that Market espresso bar where you found me yesterday. Ten minutes.”

“Olivia, what the hell is going on here? I don't have time for any more cloak-and-dagger stuff.”

There was no response. Olivia had already hung up the phone.

“Searched your study?” Olivia wrapped her hands around the small cup of supercharged espresso she had
just bought. She leaned urgently across the little table. “And your computer files? You're sure?”

Jasper gave her a warning glance as he methodically unwrapped the piece of biscotti he had purchased to go with his coffee. “This is a public place. You might want to keep your voice down.”

Olivia did a quick, impatient survey of the handful of occupied tables nearby and lowered her tone. “You really believe someone went into your home and through your personal records last night?”

“I figure I've got two choices. Either someone searched my study or I've gone full-blown paranoid.”

That gave her pause. “Is paranoia a meaningful option here?”

He ignored the question. “You're sure about the footprint?”

“Yes.” She took a swift sip of the potent espresso and waited hopefully for the jolt. “That is, I'm sure there was a man's footprint on the rug under my computer desk this morning. But in all honesty, I'm not sure what it was doing there. I couldn't tell if someone had actually used my computer.”

“What about your hard copy files? The stuff in the drawers? Any evidence that someone went through them?”

“Who knows? How could you tell if someone had rummaged through a filing cabinet?”

“Those of us who take filing and organization seriously are probably better equipped to detect the work of an intruder than those who don't,” Jasper said very dryly.

“I can do without the lecture on office management.” “I'll save it for another time.” He dunked the
piece of biscotti into his coffee and took a large bite. “So you found a footprint on your floor this morning and leaped to the conclusion that I had been fooling around in your computer files? I'm hurt. Deeply hurt.”

Olivia did not understand the sudden change in his mood. Earlier on the phone he had sounded distant, cool, almost grim. But now he seemed downright cheerful, which did not make a lot of sense given the topic of conversation.