Corporate Affair (30 page)

In spite of the leaden dread that threatened to sabotage any action she tried to take, Jordan’s heart lifted. Somehow, she believed this man. She believed that together, they could do anything, including finding Grace. For the first time, she was feeling the power of real love.

They jumped into the car, and Aiden sped down the road toward Chat. As they approached the building, fear nearly strangled Jordan’s new found hope once again.

The building was engulfed, with flames licking from the windows on the south end, along the far side of the parking lot. The scene was a melee of blue and red flashing lights, police cruisers, and fire trucks from neighboring towns. Jordan could hear men shouting. She felt Aiden’s hand close around hers.

“Where’s Giamo?” he said urgently. “Try to pick him out. We’ve got to know what they’re doing to find Grace and if these two things are related!”

As Jordan strained to identify the figures silhouetted against the flames, a crowd had begun to gather around them. Vernon Gray, in charge of electronics at Chat, was there. So was Dayton Phillips. Jordan saw him wiping at his eyes. Joan Halloran was there, standing beside Mr. Palmer’s oldest son, Dan.

“Jordan! Jordan!” Jordan and Aiden turned toward the voice, trying to peer through the darkness. Ashley was elbowing her way through the crowd. At last she reached them, taking Jordan’s hands in both of hers. “I heard, Jordan! Oh, Jordan!” She embraced her friend, then stepped back and looked at Aiden. “I have some information that might help,” she said.

“What is it?” he asked.

“I think Christopher Fenton is behind this. I did some research.” Ashley held up some papers with a shaking hand. “It’s all a house of cards! Fenton Industries is an empty shell!”

Aiden took the papers and began to go through them. Ashley went on, “The other day when Jordan saw Fenton, it set something off in me. You know how when you know in your gut something’s really wrong. It even kind of scared me. I started looking up things about him, you know, Googling him and stuff. I made some calls to Verizon and Comcast and AT&T. I asked did they know ChatDotCom was up for sale. I pretended I was you, Jordan. I’m sorry. Then I found out that all these big companies thought Fenton had purchased Chat already. I found out that he was negotiating to sell off Chat in three different deals to these companies. And I dug further, into his personal history. Jordan, he’s bad. He was accused of corporate espionage and fired from one corporation. Then he formed his own company, but it wasn’t really a company. He made some small deals, got some cash, and did all the rest with smoke and mirrors. His last deal before he tried to get us was with a company in New York City. I found that they have a lawsuit against him for twenty-five million dollars! When I talked to them, they said the DA thought they had enough evidence to charge him with insider trading and corporate espionage, and they were going to try to bring criminal charges against him! Jordan, he’s a phony, and he can’t sustain the lies any longer. He’s out of money and potential deals, and he’s desperate! That’s why he wanted your job at Chat! I think this has something to do with him.”

Ashley stopped to take a breath. Aiden took the papers from Jordan. “This is all tied together somehow,” Aiden said. “I’m taking this to Giamo. We’ve got to find out what they know about Grace.”

“They won’t let you across the bridge, Aiden,” Ashley said.

“Oh yes, they will,” said Aiden determinedly, but just as he started to cross, a man came toward them from the other side. The light from the fire illuminated him from behind: John Giamo.

“John!” cried Jordan running forward. “Have you found anything?”

Giamo took her hand. He was a father, too, after all. “We have a situation here, Jordan. I want you to listen to me carefully.”

Jordan reeled. She gripped Aiden’s arm and fought the nausea that overwhelmed her. “What is it?” Her mouth was so dry she could barely get the words out. Her heart pounded and fluttered at the same time. She felt faint and struggled to regain her composure.

“The fire is in the southwest corner of the building. I just talked to Caleb. He’s directing efforts by the firemen to keep it contained there, but it’s an old building. Caleb said there’s the danger of it going up the inside walls. The sprinklers have gone off throughout the building, so that’s a help. There’s about thirty firemen there now. Now here’s the problem: We did confirm that there’s man in there. A couple of firemen saw him run up one of the staircases after they broke through the wall of the outer office. Jordan, one of the men thought he heard a child crying.”

Jordan cried out and clapped her hands to her mouth. “No! No!” Ashley and Aiden supported her between them. “It’s Grace!”

“And I’m sure the man is Christopher Fenton, Chief,” said Aiden, handing him the papers that Ashley had brought. “Here’s his motive.”

“Fenton? You mean the guy who was trying to buy Chat?” Giamo took the papers.

“Yes,” answered Aiden. “He’s flat broke. It was all a sham. He was trying to negotiate a sale before anybody found out. I think he’s unstable. He must have snapped.”

Another fire truck arrived. Six or eight fully-outfitted men jumped out, dragging hoses behind them.

“Chief Giamo?” Ashley spoke up quietly. “Did you see Kyle? It’s—it’s his first fire.”

Giamo managed a small smile. “He’s sticking close to Caleb. Don’t worry, Ashley. Caleb will take care of him.” He turned again to Jordan. “Caleb is trying to divide his men. Some will contain the fire. The rest will fan out and try to find whoever’s in there. Jordan, we’re doing the best we can. I can’t go in, and I can’t let my men go in. Caleb’s in charge now until that fire is under control.”

Jordan nodded. Her knees were weak and she felt sick to her stomach. Giamo’s radio went off.

“Giamo,” he barked.

“John, it’s Caleb,” came the crackly voice. Jordan could hear it clearly. They all held their breaths. “We’ve got this guy up on the second floor. The baby’s with him. I saw her. She seems unharmed, but I don’t see them now. The fire’s gone up the outside of the annex, and I’m afraid it’s reached the third floor and it might cave. I’m going in to get them out.”

“Careful,” warned Giamo. “He may be armed.”

Suddenly, a voice called out from the distance. “Stewart! Stewart!” Aiden looked around wildly, as did Giamo and Jordan. It was hard to see, hard to tell in the night air where the sound was coming from.

Then Jordan screamed, “Grace!” and, breaking away from the group, she ran onto the bridge.

“Jordan, stop!” commanded Giamo, but it did no good. Aiden started after her, with Giamo right on his heels.

Jordan had stopped at the far end of the bridge. The hot air, stirred up by the fire, was whipping her hair across her face. She was looking up as Aiden caught up with her and followed her gaze. The windows of the building had shattered under the heat of the fire. Flames flashed and jumped inside the structure, casting an eerie half-glow out onto the canal. Unidentifiable shadows loomed against the side of the building and danced crazily in frenetic patterns. Jordan strained her eyes, and her chest constricted with fear. There, on the old fire escape that hung out over the canal, stood Christopher Fenton. He clutched Grace like a ragdoll under one arm.

Jordan shrieked. “Please! Please, let my baby go! Please bring her back!” She turned to the police chief, now beside her. “John, do something! Do something!”

“Jordan, go back and wait. This is a criminal matter.”

“I won’t!” she yelled back at him. “It’s my matter! It’s my child!”

Giamo must have seen that it was futile to argue with her. He nodded his head, and then shot a look over Jordan’s head toward Aiden. Aiden put a hand on each of Jordan’s shoulders and stood there.

“What now?” Aiden asked.

Giamo lifted his radio. “This patches me directly into Caleb Cochran. I’ll tell him what’s going on and ask him if he can get to the old second floor fire escape on the East side.” Then he stepped forward to the bridge railing. “Fenton,” he called, his voice calm despite the situation. “Fenton, can you understand me? Do you hear me?”

Jordan was overcome by a sudden onset of trembling. She stepped up beside the police chief and gripped the railing. Her teeth were chattering.

“Fenton,” called Giamo again, “can you hear me?”

“I can hear you,” the man on the fire escape yelled back.

“We’re sending firemen up to get you and the baby. Cooperate with them, Fenton.”

Fenton laughed back. “And why should I do that? Nobody’s cooperated with me. That’s directed at you, Miss CEO. What a fool you are! I offered you the best deal you could get, and you screwed everybody over because you were screwing the competition! I could have made your company more money in one year than you could have in fifty! Now you’ve ruined me. You’ve ruined everything I spent my life building. And I’m going to ruin yours. You think about that!”

Jordan slumped against the railing of the bridge. Her heart was pounding so hard she could hear it and her mouth was dry with primal fear.
I can’t let this happen,
she said over and over again to herself,
I just can’t let this happen!

Aiden signaled to Ashley, motioning for her to stay with Jordan. He then stepped up beside Giamo, listening to the conversation the chief was having with Caleb Cochran over the two-way radios.

“I’m working my way up there now,” Caleb replied. “I should be there in about five minutes. Just keep him busy. I’m sending my men back down. It’s too dangerous. I’ll go myself.” The radio went dead.

Aiden approached Giamo and relayed the conversation, adding, “I’m not sure he can make it up there.”

Giamo gazed up at the burning building and the hysterical man perched on the rusted fire escape, holding the squirming baby under his arm. It was a desperate situation. “Don’t worry about Caleb,” he said. “He’s not an ordinary man.”

Police from the state barracks and the surrounding towns had responded to the call. Aiden looked around; everywhere he looked there were flashing lights and men yelling to each other. He had never felt so hollow, so stymied and useless.

The words of John Giamo echoed back at him through the melee. “He’s not an ordinary man.” Aiden shook his head and ran both hands through his thick hair. Something clicked in his soul as though he were suddenly reminded of who he was and where he came from. He came from people who met every day head on. He came from people who, despite adversity, figured their way out of difficult situations at every turn of the road. He came from people who didn’t give up, didn’t give in, and didn’t allow other people to solve their problems. He came from people who succeeded.

Aiden walked back to the railing and stood beside Jordan. He ascertained the scene with a critical eye. He saw the fire escape. Long abandoned, it hung out just over the canal, and the stairs led down to a narrow ledge which had probably originally been a walkway before the building had been widened over it. He put his arm around Jordan and bent his head to her ear. “I have a plan. I’m going to get Grace.”

“Not without me,” she said.

“It’s too dangerous. I’ve got to go out on that ledge. You stay back here.”

“No way, Aiden. I love you and I trust you, but Grace is my life. I’m going with you.”

Aiden could see the resolve in her face. It would be futile to try to dissuade her. He met her eyes for a moment, then gave the hint of smile. “Okay,” he said, “but only so far as I can keep you safe.”

Aiden saw Giamo, still absorbed in trying to keep Fenton distracted until Caleb was able to access the fire escape. It was their moment of opportunity. While Giamo played Fenton like a fiddle, Aiden and Jordan walked quickly across the bridge, the shadows hiding them. Giamo, as intent as he was on keeping Fenton occupied and Grace safe until Caleb got there, didn’t see them as they slipped into the darkness under the bridge.