Hampton Manor (13 page)

“How can I help?”

“I’m not exactly sure. I know that much of the data we compiled is meaningless in the light of what will be a major hit on our sales and earnings. I did a quick scan of the effect this would have on our sales estimates. It looks like it’ll be almost thirty percent.”

“Ouch! Look, why don’t I meet you? We can redo our estimates and put together a tactical plan. Maybe with some additional production cuts, we can keep the sales loss from having too great an impact on profit margins. We put a very generous cushion in our figures for anticipated increases in demand. We could back those out entirely.”

“I guess you’re right. It’s getting late, but I don’t think I could get any sleep anyway, not with this on my mind. Are you willing to work on it tonight?

“Absolutely! Are you still at the office? I can meet you in about twenty minutes.”

“No, I’m at home. Why don’t you come over here? I’ve got all the files we need except those that you’re working on.”

“Good! I’ll gather them up and bring them over.”

Marcia gave him directions and set about straightening up the room she used as a home office. She considered calling Adam, but at the last minute decided not to.
He
doesn’t need to know everything I do.
Meaning, that she didn’t want him to know that she had invited Kane to her place, especially since she has turned him down three times since their last time in bed together. She reasoned,
I can work better if I’m not being second-guessed on my approach.
Meaning, that she knew Adam wouldn’t approve. He would want to join the meeting or suggest that it be moved to his office. He would just get in the way.

Marcia made a quick change into a v-neck sweater and jeans. She applied a dab of cologne on her wrists, neck and between her breasts. She returned the bottle to her make-up table, wondering,
Why did I do that?

Kane showed up about twenty minutes later with a box of files. He didn’t notice the gray sedan parked about a half block from her entrance. The driver held a cell phone to his ear giving the impression that he had just pulled over to make a call. It was a perfect cover for the investigator Adam hired.

“I grabbed everything I thought might be relevant.”

She pointed toward the den. He placed the box on the floor and returned to his car which was parked next to hers in the carport. This time he carried in a bag from a local coffeehouse. He grinned as he said, “Given your history with this stuff, I was hesitant to bring it, but I think we’re going to need it the next few hours to keep us sharp.”

Marcia smiled, but didn’t reply. She was busy forming a new impression of Kane Masterson. He was wearing jeans and a white turtleneck that appeared to be molded to his body. At work he either wore a suit or dressed business casual with sports jackets and slacks, but she was always too busy to pay much attention.
He’s quite a hunk. I wonder if he’s got anyone back in Wooster Square. He sure has a nicer disposition than Adam. Oh, well, back to business.

They spent hours reworking the merger plan. The changes didn’t improve the situation much, extending to at least three years the time required to absorb the impact of the lost customers. Hampton Industries would have to exert a major customer relations effort to assure that there were no additional defections of customers.

Kane left at 3 a.m.

The gray sedan that was parked near the entrance to the Sedgewick Arms Suites remained there long enough for the driver to complete his report. He checked the pictures he took of Kane’s arrival and departure. The date and time were recorded with the digital image.

Chapter 19

Adam paced his bedroom deciding what to do about the information that Chuck had just given him
. 3 a.m.? What the hell were they doing until 3 a.m.? Is she having an affair
with
Masterson
?
Is
that
why
she
’s
given
me the cold shoulder for
the
last
few
weeks
?
I knew there was something peculiar in the way she was acting .I can’t let on that I know anything. I need her for this merger deal. Why did I ever accept Masterson’s offer? If he wasn’t around I ‘d stand a much better chance with Marcia.

His cell phone rang. Marcia’s name appeared on the screen. He hurriedly pressed the talk button. “Marcia, what did you find out?”

“I worked on the figures all night. I have some good news and some bad news.”

“Give me the bad news first.”

“All five customers have irrevocable agreements with a European consortium. They negotiated a fifteen percent cost reduction. Unless we make certain strategic moves in the next month the hit on us is going to be twenty percent of our projected sales for the combined companies and lower our margins by up to twenty percent.

Adam appeared to be unmoved by the figures. “What about Masterson? Did he know this was going to happen?”

“I received assurances from all the companies that the agreements were negotiated in private at secret meetings in Italy. There is no chance that any outside party could have learned the details prior to the announcement.”

“So, what’s the good news?” His voice took on a sarcastic tone.

“Well, actually, it’s the effect that this will have on our bottom line. Unfortunately, Preston has the highest margins, so projected profits will only be impacted by slightly more than twenty-eight percent.”

“You call that good news?”

“Well, yeah, considering that it could have been significantly higher. I’m proposing that Hampton switch two-thirds of their sportswear production to Preston’s newer and faster machines, immediately. According to our three year projections, we’ll recoup the loss mid-way through the third year. Sportswear will benefit the most since the defecting companies were only marginal buyers.”

“Our three year projections?”

“Yes, Kane and I worked on these projections until 3 a.m. this morning. We had to re-do the work we’ve done over the last four weeks. I couldn’t have done it alone.”

Adam was quiet for a few minutes.
At least she’s admitting they were together.
Finally he said, “You better meet me in my office at ten o‘clock. I want to go over those figures. There must be a better way to limit our losses. Bring Masterson with you.”

Adam went down to breakfast at his usual time. As he sipped his coffee, Milton came to the table to tell him that John wanted to speak to him, privately.

“I’ll go over there now. Hold my breakfast.”

“Yes, sir.”

John escorted Adam into his office.

“What’s so important, John?”

“Well, Mister Hampton, It may be nothing, but I thought I should tell you this in person. We had a specialist in to check your father yesterday. Being new, he went through the usual litany of questions for his records. He asked your father how many children he had. Your father answered that he had two grown sons.”

“Are you certain?”

“It’s right here in his report and I checked the transcript. That is exactly what he said.”

Adam skimmed through the papers until he located the “Personal Information” section. He stared at the paper for a few minutes.

“There must be some mistake. Perhaps he heard wrong.”

“That’s certainly possible, but he was very accurate about the rest of the information and the transcript is also very clear. I just thought you would want to know.”

“You did right, John. I tell you what, I want to ask my father about this. Would you let me into his bedroom, and do me a favor and turn off all the recording devices.”

“Certainly, Mister Hampton.” John went to the monitoring desk and flipped several switches. The screen for Adam’s room turned black. “Everything’s off.” John ushered Adam to his father’s bedroom. He unlocked the door and stepped aside.

“I want to see him alone.”

“Of course, sir,” he said. He closed the door behind Adam and returned to his office.

Adam II’s bedroom was dimly lit. Adam could see that his father was awake but lying quietly in his bed. He flipped a wall switch and the room became illuminated with the soft glow of the recessed lighting.

His father reacted by sitting up in his bed. “Who’s there?”

Adam stepped closer to the bed hoping that his father would recognize him.

“It’s me, dad. I need to talk to you.”

Adam II squinted to see his visitor more clearly. “Adam? Is that you, son? Is something the matter?” he asked in a halting voice.

Adam smiled at his father’s recognition of him. That was an important breakthrough attributed to the new medicine and far better than the last time. He pulled a side chair up close to the bed. “I have to ask you a really important question. Take your time answering.”

“Of course son. You can ask me anything, like you always did as a young child. You always wanted to know about everything. I couldn’t keep up with you. We used to spend hours in my library as I showed you pictures or read to you.” He smiled as he briefly recalled some of these memories.

“Yesterday, during your exam you told the doctor that you had two sons. Why did you say that?”

He was hoping that his father would tell him that he had made a mistake, or that he had misunderstood the question, but apparently that wasn’t going to be the case.

Adam II sat stoically. His eyes locked on his son.

“Did you hear what I said?”

Finally his father answered. He looked remorseful. “I heard you. I just don’t know how to say this. You know that I wasn’t always faithful to your mother. Over the years I was with a lot of whores and I kept several mistresses. It was the early seventies and everything was different then. Your mother knew about them, but she didn’t care as long as I provided for you and her. This is hazy, now, but I recall that back in ’74 I had an affair with a married woman. She got pregnant and had a boy. She said it was mine and somehow I knew she wasn’t lying. I broke things off and made her promise never to tell anyone about our affair or try to contact me again. I paid for the expenses through my lawyer. She never contacted me after that and I let the matter go. She gave the boy her husband’s name. I was really fortunate that it didn’t turn into a scandal.” His eyes filled with tears and his voice quivered. “I’m not very proud of those years, son.”

“I’m not judging you, dad, but I think that after all these years it would be all right to talk about it. I don’t give a rat’s ass about your infidelities. I screwed around when I was young too. What I do care about is that you’re saying that I have a half-brother. Who is he and who is his mother?”

Adam II was slow to answer his son. “It was such a long time ago. There were so many I can’t remember all their names. I still have trouble remembering simple things.”

“Try, dad. This is important. Surely you can remember the name of a woman who had your son.”

His father began to tremble. His face turned ashen and saliva began bubbling in the corner of his mouth. His body was shaking uncontrollably as he fell back against the pillows.

Adam reached for the call button.

Seconds later John and another nurse entered the room with a cart. “I called Dr. Seagrams, he’ll be here in five minutes. I’m going to give him a sedative for now.”
 

Within a few minutes his father was breathing normally.

“Do what you have to do. We were having a discussion when he suddenly started shaking. What could be wrong with him? I thought the Arecept was helping.”

“I can’t say for sure, but sometimes Alzheimer patients have episodes when they recall periods that were emotional plateaus in their lives. It may not have anything to do with the medicine. He’s been trying hard to remember things. It probably has more to do with a painful memory. He’ll need to rest for a few days, then he should be back on track.”

“Thanks, John. Keep me informed with his progress.”

“I certainly will, sir.”

Adam left his father’s bedroom in an agitated state. Questions raced through his mind as he made his way back to the main house.
Do I have a half-brother somewhere? Would he have any legal claim to the estate if this gets out? Does he know who his real father is? I sure don’t need this now, with everything else I have to deal with. Life’s a real bitch sometime. I’m going to have to follow up on this, with, or without, my father’s help. My instincts tell me that there is something more to this.

Milton approached him in the foyer. “Are you ready for breakfast now, sir?”

“No, Milton. I’m going to skip breakfast today. Just bring some coffee to my den.

“Right away, sir.”

When the coffee arrived he closed the doors to the den and took out his cell phone. “Chuck, I’ve got another job for you. I need an extensive background check done.” He explained that he needed some information dating back to 1974.

“Wow! That’s a long time. You’re talking thirty seven years ago. It won’t be easy to access records going back that far.”

“I understand that. You’ll just have to do your best.”

“Who’s the subject?”

“My father, Adam Hampton II. That should make your job easier. I need you to look at his activities for that entire year. I should have all his personal papers for that year in storage. You just have to sort through them.”