Stealing Luca's Heart (25 page)

She pulled out the conference agenda from the envelope and scanned the itinerary. The first main speaker, Graham McMann with Eurostar Energy, was scheduled for nine o’clock. Luca planned on meeting her there when he was done with his small breakout session. He chaired The Power Brokers, which was a clever name for a panel of individuals and companies who listened to pitches from people looking for investors. Looking at her watch, she figured she had time to grab a coffee and have a quick walk through the exhibit hall before McMann spoke.

Ally did another quick scan searching for Luca’s name. When she saw his name, she couldn’t help but feel excitement for him and his family to finally share the wind farm project. He would unveil Turning Green at three.

Smiling, she stepped onto the escalator, replaying the last couple of days in her mind. She rubbed her lips together, remembering the long hot kiss they shared before exiting the cab this morning, dragging themselves back to reality at the convention center. Damn, he’d looked every bit the powerful executive in his black business suit with unbuttoned black silk shirt. Luca had managed to turn her world upside down and sideways. It had been amazing, but the harsh reality was she was going back to Iowa soon, as a different person.

Ally made her way to the hallway outside the main convention hall. She joined the parade of people filing into the expansive room where rows of exhibits were displayed, each vendor promoting or educating on their particular area of expertise. Walking the length of the hall, she saw everything from technology companies offering safer chemicals, grid alternatives, fringe alternative energy groups, and international power companies. Any way you looked at it, energy was big business.

At the end of the hall was some modular seating set up around a morning break area. She helped herself to a plastic cup of coffee and took a seat. She decided to call her dad, knowing he was missing an event that he’d been looking forward to.

He picked up after one ring. “Ally.”

“Dad.”

“This is a little awkward. I’m not going to ask how your time with Luca was since I have a fairly good idea.”

She could hear how uncomfortable he was discussing what she and Luca had obviously done yesterday. “We had a really nice day, Dad. You don’t have to worry.”

“Hmm-mm.”

“How are you doing?”

“Much better. Off the pain meds, so I’m going to check out the airlines today for our flight options for later in the week. What’s your schedule for this morning?”

She stared out into the hall, considering his words. She wasn’t prepared to think about leaving just yet.

“Ally? Can you hear me?”

“I’m here. I’m going to hear the first speaker in about ten minutes,” she said, glancing at her watch. “I haven’t decided on which smaller breakout sessions I’ll go to yet, but Luca is speaking at three.”

“Have you seen Sean or Wayne yet?”

Ally frowned. “No, I didn’t realize they were coming.” She was sure Luca didn’t know either, or he would have said something. “Are they going to present with Luca?”

“I have no idea and neither does George. He received an e-mail last night that said they were going to be there today and would speak to him when they returned. It was very strange, and he doesn’t know what to make of it.”

“Luca never said anything about them coming, but I’ll keep my eyes open.” She stood up, gathering her purse and envelope. “I’m going to head out now and get my seat. Do you know the speaker, Graham McMann?”

“Yeah. He’s big time. He is responsible for the rise of Eurostar Energy. I teamed him up with Governor Jacobs to do the Iowa wind farm project. Make sure to say hi to Ian if you see him.”

“Will do. Not sure if we’re traveling back tonight or tomorrow, but I’ll let you know. Is Tara back from Australia?”

“She is. I think her team did well in the tournament. I told her to stay up north, and we’ll stop by for a visit before we fly home. She sounded disappointed that I didn’t want her down here, but I didn’t see the point. After all, I’m bouncing back.”

She assumed Tara was more disappointed about not having the opportunity to visit a certain blond Tetari boy again. She decided to call Tara after the first session was over and give her all the juicy details from the past few days.

“I’m going to run, Dad. I’ll talk to you later this afternoon and let you know how Luca’s big announcement goes.”

She sent a quick text to Luca, mentioning that Sean and Wayne were here. She stood up, straightening her pantsuit before making her way to find Ballroom B to listen to McMann speak.

Glancing down the hallway to her left, she thought she recognized Governor Ian Jacobs through the mass of people. From behind, she saw the tall, bald brick of a man moving quickly through the crowd. She needed to head in that direction anyway, so quickly decided this would be a good opportunity to snag him for a quick hello.

It was difficult to keep up with him. Where was he heading in such a hurry? When she finally reached the end of the hallway, she stopped to catch her breath, losing sight of him. There weren’t any other doors here and no bathrooms, just the door to the stairs and a side door into the lecture hall. She pulled open that door but just saw attendees taking their seats, no governor.

Ally turned around, crossing the hallway, and pushed open the stair door, listening for footsteps traveling up or down. Holding the door open with her foot, she realized she could hear voices but didn’t want to risk letting the door close behind her in case she trapped herself in the stairwell.

The voices were coming from the stoop one flight above her. One voice was English and the other American. Ally recognized Ian’s voice, and he sounded very angry. She stepped inside and closed the door as far as she could, now holding it open with her envelope to drown out as much of the hallway noise as possible.

“Ian, get a hold of yourself,” the Englishman said calmly. “Why don’t you unball your fists and tell me what you want. I’ve got somewhere to be.”

“I’m going to ask you again. Why did you send Cal down to the Tetari’s?”

There was a sound of something hitting the wall, and a coffee cup tumbled down the steps, landing next to her. She froze, wondering why they were talking about her dad.

“Listen here, asshole. I’m done with you and your threats. I know you had something to do with Cal’s accident,” Ian continued.

“I needed Cal to confirm information for me, and I couldn’t ask him since we don’t have the relationship you two do. He might have found it suspicious. I’ve found it pays to have as many eyes on the ground as possible. I never put all my eggs in one basket, as they say.”

Ian’s voice was vibrating. “I’ve done my own background on the Tetari family. I know you’ve had contact with at least two of them in Europe. Your assistant was actually very helpful with that when I called. When I figure out what you’re up to, I’ll take you down.”

“Ian, I’m not hiding anything. I think you are forgetting your place, however. You’re in no position to question me. You were only too happy to take my kickbacks. I’d hate for the people of Iowa to hear about that. Does your wife know? Probably not. I could call and ask her.”

“Don’t you dare go near my family,” Ian growled. “All I have to do is call your board of directors and share with them how you’re stealing millions from them by overinflating the selling price of all of your projects and then handing out kickbacks to the property owners.”

“Go ahead. I’ve made them billions. What do they care how I do it?” he said flatly.

Ally could hear feet shuffling above and prepared to dash through her door if the man with the English accent suddenly came down the stairs.

“Oh, and Ian, if you do decide to start taking matters into your own hands, you might want to tell your wife to be extra careful when she goes out to visit her parents on the family farm. It’s almost pheasant season in Iowa, right? I’d hate for any stray hunters’ bullets to accidentally hit her car. Those hunters are really unpredictable.”

What did he say? Ally’s heart was racing, but she couldn’t process anything since there were footsteps shuffling down the stairs in her direction. She quickly slid through the door, rounding the hallway corner just before Ian Jacobs came around it himself.

“Governor Jacobs!” Ally blurted, attempting to sound surprised and not out of breath. “Ally Edwards,” she said, extending her hand. “I was hoping to bump into you here.”

He automatically extended his hand but took a beat to dial down the lethal look in his eyes. She watched his expression soften when he realized who she was.

“Ally, how good to see you,” he said, closing both hands over hers. “Are you going to listen to the morning speaker?” His eyes darted around him, clearly distracted.

“I am.” She thought about how to bring up what she’d just heard but didn’t get the chance as he quickly ushered her over to the lecture room door.

“Why don’t I find you afterward, and we can talk.” He held the door open for her.

“Okay.” She didn’t have a choice but to walk with him through the doors. The room was already full, and the lights had just dimmed.

Someone recognized Ian, waved, and started walking over to him. “You go on ahead, Ally.” He held up a finger to the man next him, signaling him to wait. Then he leaned down closer to Ally and spoke quietly in her ear. “Make sure to look for me when the lights go up. There’s something you need to know.” He then turned his back to her and greeted the waiting man.

Her heart was pounding out of her chest. She had to find Luca and call her dad. She heard a voice on the front stage welcome the crowd, so she quickly scanned the room. Her eyes saw an arm go up in the center aisle. It was Luca motioning to the open seat next to him. She hustled up the aisle and slid into the outside seat.

Luca tilted his head toward her, “I didn’t want to wait until lunch to see you. Thanks for letting me know about Sean and Wayne. Sean is becoming more unpredictable by the minute. I’ll track him down when this session is over.” A look of concern filled his face. “Ally, what’s wrong?”

Her entire body felt numb. She leaned in and spoke quickly, trying to keep her voice level. “I overheard someone threaten Governor Jacobs with the same kind of accident that happened to my dad.” She pulled back, managing to push the tears back down. “I think this guy shot my dad.”

“What?” Luca stared back at her in utter confusion, clearly digesting her words.

They both ignored the standing ovation around them while she quickly recounted what she overheard.

“Without further delay, I give you Graham McMann!”

“Thank you, thank you! Please, everyone, please take a seat,” said Graham.

“Oh, my God, Luca! That’s him. That’s the voice I heard on the stairs!” She wheeled her head around to Luca. “I’ve seen him before.”

“What?”

“He was the man who was talking to Sean at your rugby game when I saw Sean hand over a flash drive.”

*

“Thank you for that kind introduction,” Graham said, grinning from behind the podium. While he waited for the applause to die down and people to finish taking their seats, he scanned the crowd, noting where the key players were seated. He had the best view of the house for viewing the flying shit. This would be priceless. Even he had to admit what he’d pulled off was fucking brilliant.

Sean Tetari and Wayne Hill were seated together in the front row by the exit door to his left. Luca was down the center next to Cal’s beautiful daughter. That relationship developed quickly but, given the circumstances, not unexpected. It had been such an advantage having Luca distracted this past week. One fewer pair of eyes at the farm.

Ah—then there was Governor Jacobs standing in the back of the room by the media. Ian had grown a pair as of late; good for him, but it changed nothing. The governor would never risk losing the bid for the Oval Office over an expendable college buddy, not to mention having to explain to his naïve wife his shady dealings. He met Ian’s stare across the room. Yes, Ian needed to be reminded of the seriousness of what they were doing. This afternoon he’d put a call into his contact in Iowa and look for an opportunity, maybe something with one of Ian’s kids should do the trick to get him back in line.

“Thank you for the opportunity to speak at the Annual International Conference for Clean Energy. Let’s applaud the choice to host this conference in a country that is at the forefront for global energy alternatives.” Graham took the microphone from the podium and walked to the front of the stage. “There are exciting advances coming out of this country that will have global impact. I’ll share some specifics in a minute, but let’s put our hands together for New Zealand’s Minister of the Environment, a man committed to preserving the environment and committed to this organization.”

Graham waited for the applause to subside. He turned and walked casually across the stage. “Alternative energy discussions have been around since the late nineteenth century. They began during the industrial revolution when fears of peak coal had everyone worried. Scientists of the time discussed that man would need to be required to return to wind and water as their main power sources after coal mines and petroleum springs were exhausted. There were also discussions about emigrating to warmer climates to harness the sun’s energy.

“Eurostar Energy continues the British tradition going back a century to develop wind power as a global alternative. I could stand here before you all day outlining examples of brave, thoughtful, forward-thinking farmers who are working side-by-side with Eurostar, offering their countrymen an alternative.

“New Zealand has an opportunity, not only to demonstrate their ability to utilize the natural winds available to them but to show the world that wind turbines do have a place alongside the mystical landscapes this country is known for.

“There are brave landowners in this country who realize the importance of wind power to their environment, their community, their country, and to the world. New Zealand has the opportunity to show the world how it’s done, and Eurostar is prepared to take this journey with them.”