Tall Poppies (28 page)

‘I don’t think you should be doing anything but skiing, Elizabeth,’ Karen lectured. ‘It’s not proper.’

Elizabeth squeezed her feet into trainers and eased into some deep stretches.

‘England rugby players work in banks. Sally Gunnell’s

got a fulltime job. So have Jayne and Chris. It’s supposed

to be an amateur event.’

z34

‘Amateur is right,’ Karen muttered.

Elizabeth rounded on her. ‘Yeah? Think you can do better? I don’t need to train as hard as you, Karen, because I’m twice as good. You can stick to opening supermarkets and writing columns for Cosmo. I’m out here to do something for Britain. You don’t have a prayer, not if you spend every day of the year on the snow. So get out of my face.’

Karen’s mouth dropped open as Elizabeth stomped off to the elevator bank.

‘Snobby cow,’ she said.

Kate Cox moved closer. ‘Don’t worry, she’ll get hers. I heard Louise Levier’s been training with Franz Klammer. She’ll be lucky if she scrapes a bronze.’

Janet glanced down at a ski brochure franked with the

Olympic rings. Jack Taylor’s bronzed, square,jawed face. ‘Can’t think what he sees in her.’

‘Not that much,’ Karen said gleefully. ‘He hasn’t called her once, not at this hotel. I checked with the operator,

pretending to be her.’

‘You never.’

‘I did. And you know his reputation: find ‘em, feel ‘em, luck ‘em, forget ‘em. He fancied her, she dropped her

pants, end of story.’

‘You reckon?’

‘She’s had it far too easy for far too long,’ Karen muttered. ‘She’s got it coming, that girl.’

z35

Nina shivered and looked at her watch. Quarter of nine in the cold morning light, no sign of life. The bell on the fading pistachio paint buzzed insistently; the grubby steel plaque read Hall/Namath Consulting. She was in the right place at the right time, representing Dragon’s global power and wealth. And nobody seemed to care.

This was the sleazy part of town, facing away from the lakeside. The main rail station was a few blocks away, the Strafien packed with dull, shabby apartment blocks full of unskilled workers. Maybe this was the only low rent street in Switzerland. The shuttered stores used C/finese letters; the wrappings dropped in front of the delis were Turkish and Polish. It was almost like being back on Flatbush, except the air was clean.

Nina shifted from foot to foot. The neighbourhood wasn’t stirring yet from whatever trouble it had seen last night. Otherwise she’d have been scared to be stood here, wearing an expensive, tailored suit of dove-grey cashmere, a silver cuff bracelet and prim little studs. Her make-up was pulled together, a’ pale foundation, clover lips and cheeks. She’d made sure she dressed as formal and old as possible. In her experience, mavericks liked to keep all the craziness for themselves. If executives showed up in jeans and Tshirts they panicked. No, Nina wanted to look dull and trustworthy. And rich. As much like a nice Swiss banker as she could manage.

She picked up her briefcase and depressed the buzzer

2.36

again, a long, hard push. Namath’s deep, warm voice had said eight thirty. Real insistent.

‘Are you sure?’ Nina had asked, surprised.

‘Eight thirty’s good for me, Ms Roth. Best time of day. Clear head, you can think straight.’

Now she’d been stood here for fifteen minutes. It was freezing, but little midges were already buzzing around. This quarter had been built on former swamps. Fuck, she was going to have to leave and get to a phone, rearrange.

Angrily Nina took her finger off the buzzer and kicked hard at the door.

It swung open, yanked back by a tall man with a broad chest, a square, clean-shaven jaw and handsome brown eyes. He was wearing a robe and not much else. He was very tanned. He looked furious.

‘Gott in Himmel, was ist geschah? Was ist los?’ Nina swallowed hard. ‘Dr Namath?’

He straightened up. ‘Yeah. Who the fuck wants to know? Are you from the embassy? I sent the visa papers over last week. Don’t you people have phones?’

Nina flushed scarlet. She didn’t dare look at him, he was almost naked.

‘I’m Nina Roth from Dragon. I - don’t we have an appointment?’

‘You’re who? Oh, sure, the drugs people.’ He was still pissed off. ‘What the hell do you want now?’

Nina was miserably confused. ‘Sir. It’s quarter of. I’ve been here since eight thirty. That’s when you told me to turn up.’

Dr Namath paused, then shr&gged his shoulders and grinned. ‘You’re kidding. You thought I meant eight thirty as in a.m.?’

Nina had absolutely no idea what to say. If it hadn’t been for the voice she’d never even have recognised him. She was expecting a bearded geek with bottle glasses she could sign up on the spot, a poor researcher who’d be.

z37

grateful for her attentions. Not this big hulk standing here in his robe, laughing at her.

‘I meant at night. When we’re done. Lilly doesn’t even open her eyes till ten, kiddo. Go have some breakfast and come back then.’ He gestured to the thin Paisley robe covering his bronzed chest with its wiry black hair and cutting off above stocky legs. ‘I’d ask you in for coffee but I’m not exactly dressed for it.’

‘Yes. Sure. Uh, I’m sorry I got the time wrong. In Dragon we tend to—’

‘Eleven,’ Namath said firmly, and shut the door in her face.

,Nina went to the chrome and glass temple of the Container design centre for breakfast; something ludicrously expensive to charge to her platinum company Amex. Spending money would help her feel back in control. She was still blushing with embarrassment and

when the coffee came, a large espresso so

annoyance

thick and bitter she could almost rest her spoon on it. The restaurant was full of businessmen. Nina ordered a Wall Street Journal and Financial Times sent over and breakfasted on croissants and a bowl of wild strawberries. She buried her face in the Journal. Kiddo! He’d wrongfooted her, dressed her down whilst nearly naked, then called her kiddot How frustrating was that, to be all revved up for the big poaching ,operation, and then ….

Namath had made her blush. Not just because she’d gotten the times mixed up, either. Whenever he’d lost the shrubbery and got himself the lenses he’d unwrapped something pretty special. That was no nerd. He looked like Sean Connery with an American accent, when she’d confidently been expecting Pee-Wee Herman. And her Swiss banker look hadn’t taken him in for a millisecond. It was just like being back at Dolan in her first week,

z38

when she’d got everything wrong and stumbled round with her face permanently set to strawberry.

Nina began combing through the financial reports. Boring stuff about interest rates and EC budget quotas. But Dragon stock was up significantly. That must be Tony’s latest raft of disposals; he was getting sharper and deadlier every day.

A small heading in the Marketing section of the FT caught her eye. A nice photo of Dragon Gold, the new vitamin pill, in new packaging. The revamped label was bold even in black and white, and showed a Dragon sitting on a hoard of vitamin pills. A raft of slogans jumped out of the text: Dragon Gold - Go for It; Ill Getting Gold; Gold not Cold; Golden Wonders. Despite her mood, Nina started grinning. Then she stopped.

The next picture was very familiar. Too familiar. Lady Elizabeth. Savage, posing her lean, hard body in a new skisuit, black with gold detailing. Skis resting against her shoulders, holding up a bottle of pills and smiling that arrogant smile.

‘British Olympic hope Elizabeth Savage launching Dragon Gold in Kitzbiihel yesterday. Breaking her training to supervise the launch, Savage has commissioned a bold ad campaign that seems to have been an instant hit. UK retailers’ advance orders are high, and with Savage also personally involved, Dragon Gold looks set to become an important retail line for the UK giant.’

Nina felt a thin coat of ice settle on her heart. Elizabeth’s launch plans had been faxed to her last week and ignored. Who cares what the princess does with her stupid pill? But this looked good. Amazingly so. She reread the piece and stopped dead at the order figures. Goddamn, that was terrific. There was no denying it. It’s got to be a massage by the sales department, Nina thought, then shook her head. No. There was no way Tony would hand Elizabeth any extra credit.

z39

She made herself look carefully at some of the followup slogans, due to be wheeled out next month. After novelty, Elizabeth had decided to use the pill’s medical advantage, calcium and iron together. Again, the line was short and sweet - ‘Blood. Bones. Brilliant.’

Nina called for the check and pushed the papers away. She didn’t know anything about advertising, but she trusted her instincts. They were screaming. Underestimating your enemies was a dumb mistake, and clearly, Elizabeth had hit paydirt.

It doesn’t bother me, Nina thought. So she’s got some talent? Great. It takes more than talent to survive out there. Assuming she doesn’t scamper off to Texas with the playboy.

, If Elizabeth was more of a danger than she’d thought, Elizabeth would be more fun to bury. Simple as that.

Nina glanced back at the grinning picture before she threw the text away. She longed to wipe the grin off that rich-girl face.

‘Come in,’ Namath said grinning, opening the door for her. He was wearing a grubby white lab coat and tinted goggles, but she could still see the faint trace of mockery behind the eyes. ‘Lilly’s just in the kitchen, waiting for you.’

Nina followed him inside, taking a deep breath. They’d probably been laughing at her all morning long, but she had to be in control here. As far as these people knew, she was an angel from heaven bearing gifts: secure funding, top equipment, fat salaries. Namath and Hall were fly-by-night researchers, hawking their projects round hospitals and drug firms; they had to be up for this. She wasn’t going to be shaken just because Namath had opened the door semi-naked.

The kitchen was clean and functional. They’d converted this building themselves; the table looked through

z4o

a reinforced glass window over the lab, where pigs and rabbits were crouched in wire cages and computers perched on tables strewn with messy notes. Dr Lilly Hall did resemble her picture, short and squat. She was wearing blue slacks and a red shirt, sitting at the table sipping an Orangina.

‘Dr Hall, I’m Nina Roth,’ Nina said confidently, leaning over and shaking her hand. ‘I’m with Dragon. We’d like to talk to you about a joint venture.’

‘So take a seat. We’re listening,’ Harry Namath said. Nina sat.

‘You look pretty young to be a pharmaceutical exec,’ Lilly Hall commented. She was unimpressed by Nina’s expensive suit. Nina also guessed she might be irritated

by her looks. ‘How old are you?’

‘Twenty-eight,’ Nina lied.

Harry Namath snorted. Quickly she moved on. ‘Doctor, we’re aware of your recent biochemical work on pigs. We’re very impressed and we’d like you to come and work for us, exclusively. We have a heavy package on offer including your own lab and guaranteed noninterference in your research. We understand how Hall/ Namath do things.’

‘Done your homework, yeah?’

‘What do you want us to work on?’ Harry asked. ‘Same area.’ I don’t want you at all, flyboy, Nina thought, but I gotta kiss your butt to get Lilly here. ‘We don’t like to get too specific before you’re actually on board.’

‘Well, I wanna know,’ Dr Hall insisted. The Aussie accent was as thick as sourdough. ‘Slimming pills, Lil.’ Harry regarded Nina. ‘That’s what they all want. Especially Dragon: they hired Steele and Ripley—’

‘Strewth!’ Lilly laughed rudely. ‘Is that right? That what you’re after?’

Nina’s fingers balled into a fist under the table. ‘Yes, ma’am,’ she said calmly. ‘You’ve seen the benefits we’re offering. Plus autonomy. You’ll get full funding and remuneration but be free to do things your way. All the other big firms have tried to stuff you into suits and ties.’

Lilly Hall looked up at her partner. Harry shrugged. ‘I want to go back to London,’ she said eventually. ‘You

cover relocation as well?’

‘Yes, ma’am.’

‘Then if we can work it out, legally, I’m game.’

Nina froze. Just like that? She had them? Could it really be that easy?

‘But we’ll want more money. And a legal guarantee, we’re in charge, you just own the results,’ Harry Namath said.

‘There’s no more money,’ Nina said authoritatively.

‘You already have our absolute best offer.’

Dr Namath stood up slowly and looked her up and down. Then he opened the kitchen door out of the hallway.

“OK, well, thanks for dropping by,’ he said.

‘What?’ Nina said.

‘Come on, kid. We’ve both been around the block a

few times more than you. You’ll go, best guess, fifty per cent higher than your “absolute best”, and believe me, you’ll need to. Or I just get right on to Glaxo.’ Namath picked up an imaginary phone. ‘Yeah, hi, is that legal?’ Cause Dragon are lying in front, of us with their skirts up and their legs open, but they’re only offering a quarter mil …’

‘OK. OK.’ Nina knew she was scarlet. ‘It’s negotiable.’

‘And I want to deal with a lawyer on the cash,’ Lilly added, ‘no offence, kid.’

This is about the deal, it’s not personal, Nina told herself, biting her lip. ‘Sure.’

‘That’s better.’ Harry Namath’s face was straight but Nina heard the laugh in his voice. ‘If we’re gonna work together we’ve got to be able to trust what you tell us. Like, for example, how old are you?’

Nina couldn’t believe it. She swallowed hard. ‘I’m twenty-two.’

‘Really,’ Lilly Hall said, rather coldly.

‘But I went into work straight from school. I’ve worked in retail, at Dolan MacDonald and now Dragon. I have years of experience.’ Nina knew she was justifying herself but she couldn’t stop. ‘My computerisation programmes at both Dolan and Dragon were instituted across the whole of the US. I’m a senior New Products manager, and,’ she added with an acid stare at Namath, ‘it was my research that discovered the breakthrough pharmacologies you’ve been working on.’