Flash (27 page)

He frowned. “There's a lot more to being a good father than just sticking to the job.”

“No,” she said. “There isn't. I can't think of anything more important than just being there, day in and day out, come hell or high water.”

The directness of her gaze made him uncomfortable. Jasper was aware of an awkward heat in his face. He hoped he was not doing anything really dumb like turning red.

He cleared his throat. “A few months after Kirby and Paul came to live with me, one of the investment projects for which Fletcher had had primary responsibility and which had been sold to a consortium of investors began to unravel.”

“What went wrong?”

“It took me a while to find out,” Jasper said softly. “Things nearly blew up in my face before I realized that Fletcher had scammed everyone, including me.”

“Oh, Jasper.”

“Yes.” Absently, he rubbed the back of his neck. “I won't bore you with the details. It took me nearly three months to work through them, myself. But the bottom line was that the investment was a total fraud. The equivalent of a very complicated pyramid scheme. God only knows how Fletcher intended to pull it off. He must have figured he could keep it going like a game of three-card monte.”

“What did you do?”

“It cost me a bundle, and I nearly went bankrupt
before it was over, but in the end I managed to cancel the deal and pay off the consortium's investment. The clients weren't happy when I told them some mistakes had been made in the original projections, but at least they hadn't been defrauded.”

“And after you had cleaned up the mess, you destroyed the evidence of Fletcher's involvement, didn't you?”

“Yes.”

She got to her feet and came toward him. Her eyes were deep and knowing. “Because you didn't want Kirby and Paul ever to know that their father had been a swindler and a thief.”

“Hell, I had a hard enough time facing the truth, myself. Fletcher was my big brother. I trusted him. Kirby and Paul loved him. I did not want his memory tarnished in their eyes. He was, after all, their father.”

She smiled tremulously. “Believe me, I understand.”

Something eased slightly inside him. He thought about her desire to protect Nina and Zara and everyone else around her. “Yes, you do, don't you?”

“Tell me, was it after you cleaned up the mess Fletcher left behind that you began doing serious background checks on potential clients?”

He smiled humorlessly. “You could say the incident taught me a lesson. I learned a lot about the importance of information. If you can't trust your big brother, who can you trust?”

She touched his arm, but she said nothing.

“That's it. I burned all of the records I could locate that related to Fletcher's scheme. Until I found that
blackmail note in my Jeep this morning, I thought I had erased all the evidence.”

“But Uncle Rollie may have found something and filed it.”

“Yes.” Jasper thought about the cabinets in his basement. “I guess I can't blame him. I've got the same bad habits.”

Olivia studied his face. “What's done is done. We'll both be hearing from the blackmailer again soon. We need a new plan.”

“True.” He brushed his fingers lightly against hers. “We've got a lot of information to work with, and I think I know where I can get some more.”

“Where?”

“From Silas at Pri-Con Self-Storage.”

She frowned. “You're going back there to talk to him?”

“Yes. Right now, in fact.” Jasper shifted her gently out of his path. He went across the room to where his jacket lay on the back of the sofa. “That padlock on Rollie's locker looked new, didn't it?”

“Yes.”

“What if the blackmailer broke in, took out whatever was inside, and then installed another lock to make it look as though no one had opened the locker?”

Her eyes widened. “Good thought. If someone removed the entire contents of a locker during the past month, Silas would have been aware of it. Whoever did it would have had to use the elevator to bring everything downstairs and put it into a car or a truck.”

“Right. With any luck, Silas will have some kind of
record of the move-ins and move-outs. His office looked fairly well organized. All I need is a name.”

Olivia frowned. “Silas didn't mention anyone else asking him about locker four-ninety, though.”

“If the blackmailer already knew about Rollie's locker, he wouldn't have had to ask Silas about it. You saw how the system worked. If you know your locker number, you get inside without too many questions.”

She glanced at the clock. “I wish I could go with you, but I've got a meeting with Todd and Dixon Haggard.”

Jasper walked to the front door. “I'll let you know what I find out from Silas.”

“All right.” She grabbed her purse, slung it over her shoulder, and hurried after him.

“By the way,” Jasper said as they went out into the hall. “I'm going to fire Melwood Gill this afternoon.”

Olivia gave a half-strangled yelp of outrage and spun around. Behind the lenses of her sleek glasses Jasper saw green flames leap in her eyes.

“What are you talking about?” She blocked the path to the elevator. “You can't fire poor Mel. I won't allow it.”

Jasper reached past her to push the elevator call button. “Olivia, Gill is guilty of more than bad management. He's embezzled over a hundred and fifty thousand dollars from Glow in the past four months. What do you want me to do? Give him a medal?”

She was still staring at him, open-mouthed, when he gently hauled her into the elevator.

The chess player considered the new positions the opponent had taken. The unpredictable element in the other's strategy had become more evident. And more difficult to anticipate
.

It was time to remove one of the pieces on the board
.

Twenty-four hours
. Olivia was still fuming forty-five minutes later as she stood with Todd and Dixon in the old pier warehouse. The two men were poring over the plans for the huge, glowing flag that was to unfurl down from the ceiling behind the speaker's platform.

The argument with Jasper had lasted for the duration of the very brisk walk from her condo to the Light Fantastic studio. She had fought every inch of the way and had at last managed to buy Melwood Gill a twenty-four-hour reprieve.

Fat lot of good it would do, she thought. It was clear that Jasper had already made up his mind.

A hundred and fifty thousand dollars? Melwood
Gill? It was a staggering thought. Jasper had to be wrong.

“Love the lit flag concept, Olivia.” Dixon looked up at the heavily timbered ceiling. “I can see it now, unfurling behind Eleanor just as she finishes her speech. The flag is large enough to provide strong visual impact, I hope?”

“It's a really big flag,” Olivia assured him. “When it's released, it will fall full length, all the way from that rafter to the floor of the stage behind Ms. Lancaster.”

Todd looked dubious. “A glowing flag?”

“Wait'll you see it,” Olivia said. “Very dramatic.”

He mulled that over. “Won't it look a little tacky?”

She glared at him. “No, it will look patriotic.”

“I like it,” Dixon said. He shot Todd a cold look. “You don't understand the importance of visuals.” He looked at Olivia. “How do the lights work? Will they shine on it?”

“No, this is very high-tech. We've used some of the latest and greatest gadgetry from Glow, Inc. The red, white, and blue electroluminescent fibers are woven right into the fabric of the flag. The audience will see glowing red and white stripes and a lighted blue background behind the stars.”

“Fantastic.” Dixon looked impressed. “At the finale of the speech, all the lights in the room go out simultaneously. Then the lighted flag descends full length behind Eleanor.”

“That's the idea,” Olivia agreed. “The effect will be accented with music. A single flip of the switch on the control panel behind the curtain makes it all happen.”

“She'll be framed in the red, white, and blue glow
of the American flag.” Dixon nodded, pleased. “Perfect.”

“She's running for governor, not president,” Todd said mildly.

Dixon scowled. “Stick to writing her speeches, Chantry. I'll handle her image.”

Todd shrugged. “A politician who looks overly ambitious can turn off voters.”

“We want to establish the feeling that Eleanor is a future leader for this country,” Dixon snapped. “It will be a great photo op for the press.”

Todd's jaw tightened. “This flag-and-music thing sounds a little gimmicky to me.”

Dixon gave him a scornful look. “Welcome to the wonderful world of the modern media campaign. No such thing as too many special effects.”

“I just don't want the bells and whistles to detract from the message,” Todd said.

“She can't implement her agenda if we don't get her elected, now, can she?” Dixon turned back to Olivia. His eyes still smoldered with anger, but his voice did not betray it. “I like it. We'll go with your plans.”

Todd said nothing, but he did not argue.

Olivia cleared her throat politely. “If you're satisfied, I'd like to conclude this meeting. I've got a big event scheduled for tomorrow night. We're rather busy back at the studio.”

Dixon nodded. “That would be the Camelot Blue launch?”

“Right.”

He glanced at his watch. “We'll see you there. Eleanor cleared her schedule so that she could attend.”

I'll just bet she did, Olivia thought. And so would her rivals, if they could get invitations. That many monied people in one place at one time would be an irresistible lure to all of the candidates.

She got back to her office fifteen minutes later. The seat of her chair was heaped with faxes and phone messages. She had barely started through them when Zara put her head around the door.

“I've finished my list.”

Olivia looked up. “What list?” Then it all came back in a flash. She managed a smile. “Oh, yes. Of course. Your list.”

Zara walked into the office. Her eyes shone with satisfaction. “I had to pull out my old press clippings to get some of these names. Brought back a lot of old memories, I can tell you. But I think I've got everyone.”

Olivia decided not to inform Zara that the list-making endeavor had probably been a total waste of time because the focus of the investigation had shifted. She made an effort to appear enthusiastic.

“Great,” she said. “Give it to me, and I'll pass it along to Jasper. He'll contact his private investigator.”

“My money is on Beatrice Hanford.” Zara handed Olivia a thick sheaf of neatly typed pages that had been stapled together at the corner. “She was always insanely jealous of me. It got worse after I got the part of Sybil on
Crystal Cove.”

“I'll tell Jasper to put Beatrice Hanford at the top of the list.” She hesitated. “You haven't had any more messages from the blackmailer, have you?”

“No, thank heavens. But I'm sure it's only a matter of time.”

It was more likely that the extortionist had turned his attention to his juicier prey, Olivia thought. But she said nothing. She had a feeling that Zara would be disappointed if she found out that the blackmailer had lost interest in her.

Olivia dropped Zara's list into her satchel. “Everything set for our staff to start work first thing in the morning at the Enfield Mansion?”

“Yes. I've also talked to the manager of the catering company to make certain that there were no glitches there.”

“Thanks. Send Bolivar in here, will you? I want to go over the lighting plans one more time.”

“Right away.” Zara paused in the doorway. “Did I tell you that your mother called last night?”

“No.” Olivia went back to her pile of messages.