JAKrentz - Uneasy Alliance (19 page)

A
bby paled. Eyes riveted to Ward's face, she sat frozen for a moment. "You did what?" she finally got out weakly.

"I explained everything to her," Ward said evenly. "Told her what a fool I'd been and how I'd tried to involve you in my foolishness. If you want the truth, I think she already knew it all, anyway."

"You're joking! But…but she's been as close to me as ever! She never gave any indication that she knew you and I…that we…"

"We never did anything, did we, Abby? That's the part you're supposed to remember. What's more, you never would have had an affair with me. Perhaps subconsciously I realized that all along. In a way you were 'safe' for me. I'm not proud of what happened, but it wasn't the end of the world as far as Cynthia was concerned. She forgave me completely."

"Your wife sounds like a very generous woman," Torr observed.

"My wife is an incredible person and she loves me." Ward spoke simply. "What's more, I love her. I always have and I always will. I went a little crazy there for a while. It won't ever happen again."

Abby absorbed the implications of his statement. In the midst of the turmoil she was experiencing the only thing that stood out clearly was a sudden, heartfelt desire to have Torr Latimer declare such words of love. Forever words.

"Well," said Torr smoothly, "that does unmuddy the waters a little."

"What do you suggest now?" Ward seemed quite willing to accept the other man as an equal. It spoke volumes for the respect he must have felt. That surprised Abby at first. And then she realized that her cousin's husband was anything but a stupid man. He would know his match when he saw him.

"I think we'll just wait for the payoff demand. Then we'll take it to the police together with our suspicions," Torr said flatly.

"There's another possibility," Ward mused.

"A private investigator?" Torr nodded thoughtfully. Abby was beginning to feel very much left out of the conversation.

"Why do we want a private investigator?" she asked.

"He might have more luck finding out who's behind the blackmail attempt," Torr explained politely.

"Just who is it you suspect?" Ward demanded.

"Oh, Torr has some ridiculous notion that Flynn Randolph might be behind all this," Abby said dismissively. "He fits the 'profile.' "

"What profile?" Ward pressed.

"One Torr has been compiling from what little we know."

"Randolph is only one of several possibilities," Torr interrupted calmly. "I rather like the idea of an investigator at this point. Know a good agency?"

"One of the best. I'm using them on something else at the moment. I'll give them a call this afternoon."

Abby looked from one to the other and decided that whatever happened next was out of her hands. Men. They thought they could run the world. "Ward, what was it that you wanted to see me about this past week?"

Ward pulled himself back from the conversation he had begun with Torr, glancing at her quickly. "Business, as I said. Someone's buying up shares of our stock. Since you hold the largest single block outside of Cynthia's portion, I wanted to get to you and warn you that you will probably be approached with an offer."

Abby was startled. "But, Ward, you know I'd never sell. And certainly not without discussing the matter with you and Cynthia. Besides, the shares aren't worth much."

Ward ran a hand through his brown hair and smiled grimly. "The offers have been surprisingly lucrative. Aunt May and Uncle Harold sold theirs last week without bothering to consult me. Said they had no idea I might be upset."

"But this has always been a family company."

"Well, it's not going to be in a couple of months. I'm taking the firm public, Abby."

"You're going to sell the stock on the open market? Why?"

It was Torr who answered. "Quickest way for a small firm to acquire a lot of capital. Issue stock and sell it on the open market. Instant cash, providing there are some willing buyers."

"There will be plenty of those when we unveil our latest bit of technology," Ward said.

"So someone's trying to get in on the ground floor by buying up what's now in family hands, right?" Torr smiled fleetingly, the expression rather predatory.

"He could acquire enough to give him a tremendous amount of control. He will also become very rich overnight when the stock goes public."

"Who is it?" Abby interposed quickly.

"I don't know yet. The offers have come through an intermediary. A third party who claims he's representing an interested businessman. Finding out who that 'interested businessman' is is the task I have the investigative agency on at the moment."

"Hell." Torr's comment was succinct and not unsympathetic.

"Isn't it, though," Ward agreed gruffly. "I feel better now that I've finally caught up with Abby and had a chance to warn her."

"Are a lot of the other relatives selling?" Abby demanded, infuriated at the notion.

"Unfortunately I haven't been able to convince all of Cynthia's relatives that if they want to sell, they should at least wait until we go public. They'll get a lot more for the stock then. But they're so accustomed to the idea of the company bordering on the edge of bankruptcy that they're welcoming offers. I guess they don't believe I'll pull the firm out of the red."

"Well, you won't lose my stock!" Abby declared forcefully.

"Thanks." Ward grinned. "I needed to hear that. I wasn't sure just how much faith you had in me these days. Especially after what happened two months ago."

Abby leaned forward impulsively, putting out her hand to cover Ward's fingers. "Ward, I've never doubted your ability to handle the firm. What's more, I've always had a lot of faith in you as a man. You've made Cynthia very happy."

Abruptly Torr got to his feet. He closed his large hand around Abby's wrist and pointedly removed her comforting fingers from Ward's. "I think that's about enough family sympathy and support," he remarked. "It's all very touching, naturally, but for my peace of mind, I'd like to limit just how touching. Come on, Abby, you and I are going to get a cup of coffee while Ward calls that investigation agency." He glanced at a wryly amused Ward. "See if they can get someone over here reasonably soon. I'd like to get back to Portland in the morning."

Ward nodded. "I'll get on it now. And, Abby?"

"Yes, Ward?" Abby was already half out of the office because of Torr's firm grip on her wrist.

"I'm sorry. For everything."

"So am I, Ward." She got no further. Torr was in the act of closing the office door behind them before she could finish the sentence.

In silence he guided her through the outer office, nodding politely if distantly at the middle-aged secretary who smiled back in mild puzzlement. Then Abby found herself in a crowded elevator descending to the lobby. It wasn't until she was seated across from Torr in the glassed-in sidewalk cafe on the ground floor of the building that Abby finally got a chance to free her wrist. She favored Torr with a scathing glance of pure annoyance.

"You didn't have to manhandle me like that! You know perfectly well by now that there was never anything between Ward and myself and there never will be. I was merely being sympathetic. He's under a lot of pressure."

"Comforting a man when he's in that state can lead to all sorts of problems. I'd have thought you'd have learned that by now. It was how you got into trouble last time with Ward, remember?" Torr eyed her sardonically, stirring his coffee with an absent gesture.

Abby blinked in sudden wariness. "But nothing happened. You know that."

"But you were willing to submit to blackmail to keep your cousin Cynthia from finding out that nothing happened, weren't you?"

"Torr! Are you saying you don't believe me?" she whispered tightly.

"No. I believe you." His face softened appreciably as he saw the stricken look in her blue eyes. "But that doesn't mean I'm going to let you run around comforting every male in the vicinity who happens to be under a lot of stress. If you want to comfort someone, comfort me. I trust you, honey, but I'm not about to let your impulsiveness lead you into any more untenable situations. Clear?"

"You've gotten awfully bossy lately, Torr." Abby's eyes narrowed. "On second thought, I guess you were all along. Wonder why I didn't notice it right off?"

Torr said nothing, merely smiled gently and plucked the daisy from the small glass bud vase in the center of the table. He extended his palm toward her, the daisy lying across it. His amber eyes gleamed with silent urging.

Abby eyed the daisy and then looked up at the man offering it. There was no doubt that he was reminding her of the night she had taken the yellow rose from his hand and found herself in bed with him. A shiver of love and sensual anticipation gripped her as the memories flooded into her head.

"Do you think," she began in a tight whisper, "that flowers will get you anything you want?"

"I only want you."

Abby bit her lip and then made a quick grab for the daisy. Snatching it up, she carried it down under the table, cradling it in her lap. She refused to meet his eyes for some time after that, fully aware that she would find nothing but masculine satisfaction reflected in the golden pools. She could do without that for a while, she thought with a small smile.

T
he interview
with the investigator sent over by the agency was not at all what Abby had anticipated. She'd read enough detective fiction to know what private eyes ought to look like and this one didn't fit the mold at all. He was dressed like an executive, spoke in a well-educated manner, and took notes with a tape recorder. The recorder made Abby uneasy, but the man's careful questioning eventually drew out everything she knew or guessed. While her own answers were somewhat hesitant, Torr and Ward spoke as easily as if they had prepared written reports. Executives, she thought grimly, right down to their toenails. They were succinct, crisp, organized and didn't seem fazed by some of the more embarrassing aspects of the situation.

"Not what you expected, Abby?" Torr asked with lazy amusement after the investigator had departed.

"Obviously the man has not read Raymond Chandler," she sniffed.

"Or maybe he has and decided to upgrade the image," Ward suggested. "Whatever the reason for the style, the agency's good."

"You said earlier you have them looking into the stock purchases?" Torr asked curiously.

"Ummm. I want to know who's out there buying up the family stock, and what's more, I want to know how he knew it was suddenly becoming available."

"He must have someone inside," Torr observed thoughtfully.

"I'm afraid so."

"A spy? In the company?" Abby asked, horrified.

"Just someone who's trying to make a few bucks on the side peddling company information," Ward replied, shrugging. "Happens a lot these days."

"That's disgusting. Thank heavens I don't have to deal with that sort of thing in my vitamin business."

"There are advantages to being self-employed." Torr chuckled. "I know how you feel."

"You two seem to have a few things in common," Ward said, grinning.

"More than you will ever know," Torr said.

"So how is business, Abby?" Ward turned to her, leaning back in his chair.

"Judging by the amount of pills she takes every day, business has got to be booming." Torr stepped in to answer for her.

"Go ahead and laugh," Abby challenged. "I haven't had a cold in almost a year."

Ward looked at Torr. "Better prepare yourself for a lifetime of good health."

Abby flushed at the use of the word "lifetime." She and Torr had made no lasting commitments of any kind, but she hardly wanted to explain that to Ward. Torr took the comment easily enough, however, smiling as he glanced at Abby.

"The woman's worth a few pills," he said blandly.

"Gee, thanks." Abby rose from her chair disdainfully. "If the two of you are through playing detective, I think I'd like to do some shopping."

"I'll call Cynthia and warn her you'll be coming over for dinner," Ward said, reaching for the phone.

"No!" Hastily Abby turned back, an anxious expression on her face. "No, Ward, I'd rather not. I mean, not this trip. Perhaps another time. I don't want to have to explain. I mean, it would just be too awkward and she's got her hands full with the baby and all—"

"Abby," Torr interrupted calmly, catching her restlessly waving wrist, "calm down. Ward says she knows everything, remember?"

"But I didn't know she knew everything," Abby wailed beseechingly.

"Cynthia and you are like sisters. If she was going to have any lasting problems about that idiotic incident, you'd know it by now," Ward pointed out coolly, dialing his home number.

He was right, Abby realized gloomily. But how could she explain that she was going to feel strange sitting down to dinner with Cynthia, knowing that her cousin knew all about that embarrassing weekend? She thought back to all the phone calls she'd had with Cynthia since the baby's birth, remembered going to see her in the hospital. Cynthia had known everything then and yet her affection for Abby had undergone no change.