Minnie Chase Makes a Mistake (11 page)

Minnie involuntarily pulled back slightly but then stood her ground. ‘Yes, of course…’ She faltered, wishing she had rehearsed a script of sorts in her head. 

‘So, if this has nothing to do with me running for Governor?’

‘No, absolutely not. I had no idea.’

‘Then it is about Greene!’

'Yes,’ said Minnie. She tried to hide her surprise that Bachmann wasn’t more concerned about him.

‘Who is your handler?’ 

‘Um,’ Minnie was thrown. It felt as though the brilliant Bachmann had lapsed into one of her very different languages – Minnie didn’t have a clue what she was talking about. ‘Could you repeat the question, please?’

‘Who. Are. You. Working. For?’

‘I don’t understand,’ confessed Minnie. She wondered if she sounded stupid. An angry toss of Bachmann’s hair confirmed it. What on earth was Bachmann talking about? Minnie didn’t have the slightest clue.

‘Tell me who is paying you to destroy him?’ 

Minnie opened and shut her mouth like a fish. No words came out.

Bachmann snapped, ‘I know you are working for someone who wants to annihilate Greene.’

Minnie shook her head emphatically. ‘I work for Jones & Sword.’ She paused and reluctantly corrected herself. ‘Worked.’ 

‘Worked?’

‘I was, um, let go,’ explained Minnie, after a moment’s hesitation. She had a dramatic vision of A.A Jones dangling her over a cliff. Seconds passed with their fingers interlinked before Minnie was released to tumble interminably into the abyss.

‘You were fired?’ barked Bachmann, interrupting Minnie’s thoughts.

‘Yes,’ confirmed Minnie. ‘I’m not here to represent Jones & Sword but I can still help,’ said Minnie.

‘Help who?’

‘
Greene
,’ said Minnie. ‘I’m here because I want to
help
him.’ She pronounced the words carefully to get the point across without offending Bachmann. She wasn’t interested in her political ambitions. 

Bachmann raised an eyebrow and spoke with mirrored precision. ‘No. You’re here because you
hurt
him.’

‘I realise that now but I didn’t mean to.’ Minnie positioned herself so that Bachmann caught her eye. She wanted the woman to know that she was telling the truth. ‘I really didn’t.’

‘Please don’t stand there and tell me there was no motive behind your little speech at The Savoy because that would make you off-the-scale stupid. No one in their right mind would pull a stunt like that unless it was a premeditated move to destroy Ashton Greene, whether you were trying to extort money from him or because you were being paid to do it I have no idea.’

‘I didn’t think.’ Minnie lowered her chin slightly in remorse. ‘I heard the hesitation in his voice and…’ She stopped talking because Bachmann clearly didn’t need to be reminded of what happened next. 

‘You didn’t think?’ Bachmann’s eyebrows disappeared into her hairline. 

Minnie shook her head. ‘I wish I could take it back, I do, but I can’t.’

‘This is a pointless,
stupid
conversation, rather like you.’

‘Do you know where I can find him?’ Minnie asked suddenly, she knew that her time was almost up.

‘Do you seriously think I would tell you?’

Minnie soldiered on. ‘I just want to speak with him.’

‘Let me guess. You want to apologise for humiliating him and wiping out a sizeable slice of his business and personal fortune?’

Minnie squirmed. ‘First and foremost, yes. But we have unfinished business, too. I can help him.’

Bachmann moved even closer with no regard for Minnie’s personal space. There was a venomous twitch to her lips as she launched her tirade. ‘I don’t know where he is. He isn’t returning my calls or emails. He has shut down his Twitter account. Greene’s company and personal staff have imposed an entire social media blackout. This elaborate disappearing act is killing his business empire,’ hissed Bachmann. ‘As one of the top CEOs in the world, he is not
allowed
to fall off the face of the earth without a goddamn explanation. He might as well be dead! Is this what you wanted?’ 

Minnie reacted, horrified. ‘No!’

‘I know it has something to do with this natural gas deal. Extortion?’

Minnie was even more horrified. ‘NO! It’s got nothing to do with money.’

Bachmann actually laughed – a snorting hoot. ‘It’s
always
about money.’

‘It’s
not
. I promise you.’

‘I think I’m running out of questions. I’m definitely running out of patience.’

‘I’m going to fix this.’ Minnie lifted her chin determinedly.

Bachmann’s jaw twitched and she raised a hand to her face as though she was experiencing searing toothache. She stooped to put herself eye-to-eye with Minnie. ‘Fix
this
?’

‘Y…yes,’ stammered Minnie, intimidated, breathing in a full whoosh of Bachmann’s powerful perfume. She coughed, choking on the fumes.

‘Remember,
this
isn’t just about Greene.’

‘I know.’

‘I am the goddamn acting mayor of San Francisco.’ She lowered her voice to a furious growl. ‘As you are now aware, I plan to announce my candidacy for Governor of California.
You
have unleashed a tsunami of poisonous publicity over my head. I’ve been labelled cold-hearted, insensitive and cruel. Apparently I lack compassion. People don’t vote for cold-hearted candidates. I need to kiss babies and spread the love. It was the worst-possible timing for me. Tell me how you plan to undo that damage?’

Minnie swallowed.

Bachmann continued. ‘I
need
Greene beside me. We create a stronger emotional connection together.’

It sounded like product placement to Minnie not a romance but she kept her face expressionless. She couldn’t resist a question though. ‘You really haven’t heard from him?’

‘
No one
has heard from him.’

‘I’ll do everything I can to find him. I’ve flown over from London; I’ve never been more serious about anything in my life.’

Bachmann rolled her eyes backwards in dramatic fashion, turning her handsome face into a ghoulish mask. ‘Greene doesn’t want to be found. I’ve used resources and connections in an attempt to track him down, which begs the question, if I haven’t been able to find him, how the hell will you?’

‘I won’t give up. I’ll make it right. I promise.’

‘Make it right? How?’

‘I can help with the natural gas deal. I
know
stuff.’

‘The deal’s off, according to my sources.’

‘I have information.’

Bachmann sighed so heavily she could have blown down a tree. ‘Greene will
buy
the information elsewhere. He doesn’t need you. He doesn’t need anyone.’

‘He does, actually, because I have what he needs right
now
. The deal and strategy is hugely complex and confidential – I’ve been working on it for months. I know what I’m talking about. I hate to use an old cliche, but time is money, especially in this field.’

‘But you need to
find
him first, genius.’

‘That’s why I’m here. I need your help. You’re the closest person to him.’

Bachmann’s eyelids flickered downwards. ‘He’s not returning my calls.’

‘
Please
help me. I can turn this around.’

Bachmann’s patience finally snapped. ‘Turn this around? Do yourself a favour and stop talking! I don’t have time to listen to psychotic fantasists.’

Minnie backed off immediately. Better to leave of her own free will than to be forcibly ejected; a routine that was threatening to become hauntingly familiar. 

Minnie was never more glad to get back to the safety of her motel room. She immediately brought Angie up to speed on Skype. 

Minnie Chase:
She called me a psychotic fantasist

Angie Buckingham:
It went well then (winking)

MC:
She arrived in a Wienermobile

AB:
WHAT?!?

MC:
Campaign bus shaped like a hotdog on wheels

AB:
(Rolling on the floor laughing)

MC:
Hotdoggers contribute generously to the campaign (dollar sign), apparently

AB:
Priceless

MC:
She plans to run for Governor of California (shocked face)

AB:
Wowza. Fierce (winks)

MC:
See what I’m up against?

AB:
I need a photo of that bus

MC:
I need to eat that bus (hungry face)

AB:
(wait) photo first

MC:
(smiley face with tongue out)

It appeared that Parker Bachmann wasn’t going to lead Minnie to Greene. Minnie understood that politicians are taught to master the art of evasiveness but, in this instance, Bachmann genuinely didn’t seem to know where her fiancé was. It didn’t bode well for a high-profile couple who were supposed to be getting married in eight weeks’ time. Minnie never thought that her own broken relationship could possibly have an upside but she had found one. At least she had the privacy to mourn its agonising demise without the whole world clamouring for updates and wading in with relationship advice.  

Minnie knew she was probably the last person on the planet Greene wanted to see but she wasn’t the only person who wanted to know where he was. When a CEO shows even a hairline crack in his health or his judgement, shareholders quickly demand an explanation. Sympathy seems to be sidelined when more pertinent issues are raised such as how the illness will affect turnover and what the Game Plan is. 

Minnie was responsible for the whole hideous Parkinson’s exposure that forced Greene into hiding, she would not willingly be responsible for bringing down his business empire, too.

While time is often hailed as a great healer, it was definitely powerless here. Minnie didn’t have a second to lose. She needed to find Greene sooner rather than later otherwise there could be no reversal of his situation. She likened the search to looking for a needle in a haystack, to which Angie cheerfully replied in her latest phone call, ‘This is a good start, Minnie. You’ve narrowed the search down to haystacks.’

Time and haystacks aside, Minnie reasoned that Angie did have a point. When someone wants to retreat, there is no place like home. She had done it often enough herself, burying her head under the covers. Greene had properties around the world but was born and raised in San Francisco. Minnie didn’t necessarily need to upend the whole world to find him, she just needed to focus primarily on identifying which private residence meant the most to him.

Mapping out the city on her laptop Minnie sighed. She had to pinpoint an area of land approximately 49 square miles, thank goodness it wasn’t 50. But she had the outer perimeter of the search, all she had to do now was nail the specific coordinates.

Greene wasn’t the type to welcome people into his home through the pages of glossy magazines such as
Architectural Digest
and
Hello!
, so Minnie had to dig deeper. She discovered that he entertained at a place called Harbor Heights, which was a members only club in the centre of the city. Minnie attempted to join the club under an alias but her application was declined. It made Minnie wonder how this unknowable man managed to maintain his anonymity with the very public powerhouse Parker Bachmann and the exposure she courted. This thought brought Minnie back to Bachmann. The politician couldn’t resist bringing Greene into conversations and interviews namely because they created ‘a stronger emotional connection together’. Surely, somewhere, she would have mentioned time spent at one of Greene’s exclusive residences. 

Minnie trawled through transcripts of interviews observing wryly how much this woman liked to talk and talk. If someone could get elected as Governor of California through column inches alone, Bachmann had it nailed. The woman was, however, surprisingly, guarded when it came to her private life with Greene. There were no holiday snaps on Instagram or a sneak peek into her weekend world. She did, however, let down her guard in one interview and talk about ‘precious time’ spent with friends at Pacific Heights. At first glance, Minnie thought she was talking about Greene’s private members club. Then she realised that her search had just been narrowed down to a specific area of the haystack. A very prestigious, very private enclave to the north of the city by San Francisco Bay. It was an exclusive enough neighbourhood with its stately mansions and iconic 20
^th
-century architects but perhaps it was too obvious a choice. No, she decided that for a super-wealthy someone who considers privacy paramount and had millions to invest in San Francisco, Pacific Heights was as good as it gets. 

The next step was the easy part for someone with Minnie’s skills. Ironically, she found Greene because he was the best hidden. The high-tech elite, who had made their fortune through companies focused on social media and commerce, were more than happy to be photographed in the living rooms of their Pacific Heights home. Minnie managed to access detailed real estate information on who was buying, renovating and redesigning. Then there were the extravagant house parties that doubled up as fund-raisers and high-profile CEO dinners, which made it effortless to access the names of the hosts. Minnie name checked and fact checked, matching streets and house numbers to residents. She compiled an impressive list of names with one notable absence: Greene. She studied the list again, checking for connections to Bachmann. Finally, she noticed a purchase, some ten year ago, of an old five-storey warehouse that one would dismiss at first glance. Further research online revealed the place had been granted planning permission to turn it into a luxury private residence. She read through the small print and discovered that someone had undertaken the mammoth task of turning the warehouse into an exclusive retreat complete with gym, Olympic-size swimming pool, 125-person dining room, eight bars and 22 bedrooms. It could be a boutique hotel or it could be Greene’s home. Further digging and title deeds confirmed the latter.