Perfect Partners (35 page)

Joel went over to the window and lowered his voice. “You armed?”

“Are you kidding?” Keith said equally softly. “I've got an automatic. Bought it three years ago right after I married Diana and began to realize just how close to the edge my new father-in-law was.”

“Right. I'll talk to you in the morning. If anything happens tonight you can reach me at my office.”

“Got it.” Keith hesitated. “I'm going to call Diana. Tell her to stay in the hotel room. I don't think she's in any real danger. Copeland has never hurt her, as far as I know, but apparently he used to beat her mother. She let that much information slip once.”

Joel slid a glance at Letty, who was watching him intently. She had her arms folded tightly under her breasts. “Look, I'm going to send Letty over to her father's place. You want Diana to go there with her?”

“Thanks,” Keith said, sounding relieved. “I'd feel a lot better if I knew she wasn't alone.”

“I'll take care of it.” Joel started to hang up the phone.

“Blackstone?”

“Yeah?”

“If I manage to keep Copeland from torching this yard and if I pull it out of the red, you and I are going to have to do a deal. Fair enough?”

Joel smiled humorlessly. “Fair enough. Save Copeland Marine and I'll sell it to you. Real cheap.”

Keith chuckled. “I'll call you if anything happens.”

Joel hung up and turned to Letty. “Let's go, honey. We have to stop at the hotel and pick up Diana.”

She looked mutinous. “I don't want to be tucked away somewhere while you're trying to protect yourself and Thornquist Gear from some crazy man. This is my company, Joel. I've got a right to help defend it.”

“Not a chance. I'm the one who dragged Thornquist Gear into this situation. I'll take care of the cleanup.” Joel took her arm and drew her out of the devastated apartment and into the hall. “You're not going to be anywhere near Thornquist Gear or me tonight.”

She gave him an anxious look. “Are you saying he might come after you personally?”

“He hit my apartment. I don't know where he'll go next. I still have a hunch he's on his way to Echo Cove. But who knows for certain? As Escott said, the man's gone over the edge.”

“Joel, please let me stay with you,” Letty begged.

“No.”

“Damn it, I own the company. I am ordering you to let me stay with you.”

“The answer is no, Letty.”

“But why?”

“You know why.” He got her into the elevator and punched the lobby button. “This entire situation exists because I set up the takeover of Copeland Marine. It has nothing to do with you, and that's the way I intend to keep it.”

She touched his arm, her eyes pleading. “Joel, this is not your fault.”

Anger washed through him. “It is my fault, goddamn it, and I am not going to risk your neck. Escott and I will deal with Copeland, and that's final.”

“But, Joel…”

“What's the matter?” he bit out. “Don't you think I can handle this? You told Diana she should have more faith in Escott. Well, where's your faith in me?”

Letty looked at him in shocked silence for several long seconds. “All right,” she finally said very quietly. “I'll go to Dad's house.”

Joel heaved an inner sigh of relief. That particular tactic was definitely a case of hitting below the belt. He told himself he would apologize later. The important thing now was to make certain Letty was not in the vicinity if Victor Copeland came calling tonight.

Letty was still in an unnaturally quiet mood when they reached the hotel where Diana was staying. But when Diana opened the door, her eyes full of anxious questions, Letty made an obvious effort to pull herself together.

She took charge of dealing with Diana, for which Joel was profoundly grateful. He would thank her later, he told himself. Right after he apologized for virtually blackmailing her into following orders.

“Keith called,” Diana said to Letty. “He wants me to spend the night with you at your father's house. I argued with him, but he was very insistent. I've already packed.”

Letty grimaced wryly. “I'm afraid we women are being sent off to hide in the wagons while the men deal with the bad guys.”

Diana glanced uneasily at Joel and then away. “I'm afraid my father is not well, mentally. I don't know what to say. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for everything.”

“It's hardly your fault, Diana,” Letty said firmly. “Come on, we'd better get going.” She put her arm around Diana's shoulders and guided her out of the hotel room.

Joel picked up Diana's elegant leather suitcase and followed the two women out the door.

Twenty minutes later they all stood in Morgan and Stephanie's living room. Joel ran through the explanations and was relieved when Morgan agreed immediately with his decision.

“Letty and Diana can stay here with Stephanie tonight,” Morgan announced. “I'll come down to Thornquist Gear and keep the midnight vigil with you, Joel.”

Joel started to protest but changed his mind when he saw the stubborn expression in Morgan's eyes. Something told him there was no point in arguing with an Indiana farmer once he had made up his mind. All the logic in the world would not alter Morgan's decision.

What the hell, the man was going to be his father-in-law someday, Joel thought.

“All right,” he said.

Joel was profoundly grateful when nobody put up any more arguments. Letty walked out to the Jeep with him while they waited for Morgan to throw a few items into a duffel bag. Her expression was serious and intent.

“Joel, there's something I want to tell you.”

He leaned back against the Jeep and smiled. “More orders for your CEO, Madam President?”

Her eyes were huge and solemn with concern. “I want you to be very careful tonight.”

“I will,” he promised.

“Joel, I love you. You know that, don't you?”

For an instant he was stunned at the admission. Then elation soared in him. For the moment, at least, it blotted out all the other things he had been feeling since he'd walked into his apartment and seen the evidence of Victor Copeland's ungovernable rage. He reached for Letty.

“Damn, Letty,” he muttered thickly, “you've picked a fine time to tell me.” He pulled her into his arms, fumbling for the feel of her through the plump layers of her Thornquist Gear down coat. “You know I love you, too, don't you?”

“Well, you hadn't actually said so,” she reminded him. The comment was tart, but her eyes were brimming with delight. “However, I have been extremely optimistic.”

“Don't ever forget it.” He kissed her mouth, the only part of her that was not swallowed up by her voluminous jacket. Her lips were warm in spite of the cold air. Joel groaned and pulled her closer.

“I'm ready,” Morgan called as he came down the steps.

Letty stepped back and smiled at Joel. “Remember what I said. Be careful.”

“Letty…” Joel broke off. This was not the time to say all the things he wanted to say. He smiled wryly. “Sure, boss.”

Within the hour Joel and Morgan were camped out in Joel's office. Joel had a cordless telephone at hand. A security guard had been posted at the building entrance downstairs and the state-of-the-art security system that had been installed last year had been activated and double-checked.

“Now we wait,” Morgan said calmly.

Joel lounged back in his chair and stacked his feet on the desk. “Now we wait.”

“Do you play chess, by any chance?” Morgan asked.

Joel eyed him warily. “Some.”

“Excellent.” Morgan beamed. “I just happen to have brought along a small set. Can I interest you in a game?”

“I am not, by any chance, being hustled, am I?”

Morgan gave him a reproachful look. “What a suspicious mind you have. I was just thinking of a friendly little game to pass the time.”

“How friendly?”

“Well,” Morgan said with an air of grave consideration, “I suppose a small wager might liven things up a bit, eh?”

“What kind of wager did you have in mind?” Joel asked as he watched Morgan open his duffel bag and remove a miniature chess set.

“We'll think of something.” Morgan opened the board and set out the pieces. “In the meantime we might as well have a little chat.”

“About what?”

“This affair you're having with my daughter,” Morgan said bluntly. “I want to know when you're going to marry her.”

Joel groaned. “I knew you were going to start with that. Dammit, Morgan, stay out of this.”

“Can't do that. I'm opposed, on philosophical grounds, to the idea of you having an open-ended affair with Letty.”

“The hell you are.” Joel smiled faintly. “You're opposed to it because you were brought up on a bunch of old-fashioned midwestern small-town notions. And all the lofty education you've had hasn't changed those notions one bit, has it?”

“Afraid not.” Morgan surveyed the chess pieces and then leaned back in his chair. “Her mother would never have approved and neither do I.”

“Don't worry about it, Morgan. I was brought up in a small town, too, remember?”

Morgan cocked a bushy brow. “Meaning?”

“Meaning I'm going to marry her. Eventually.” Joel considered his first move.

“Mind if I ask why you're waiting?”

Joel glanced up. “There's the little matter of Thornquist Gear to be cleared up first.”

“Ah.” Morgan looked satisfied. “Afraid folks will think you married her for the company, is that it?”

“That's it. When Letty decides to go through with the deal I had worked out with Charlie, I'll marry her.” He moved his first pawn.

Morgan nodded. “A standoff. Should be interesting to see what happens next.” He leaned forward and moved a pawn.

“About that wager of ours.”

“What about it?”

“What do you say we specify that one way or another you and Letty will be married by next spring?”

Joel was not all that sorry when he lost the match an hour and a half later. What the hell, he thought. One way or another he did plan to be married to Letty by the spring.

At midnight Morgan crawled into one of the Thornquist Gear sleeping bags that Joel had commandeered for the night. He eyed Joel, who was still sitting at his desk. “You going to get some sleep?”

“Maybe. Later. I think I'll take another walk around the building. Check in with the security guard.”

“You just heard from him fifteen minutes ago. Everything's quiet. Everything's probably going to remain quiet. And if anything does happen, your high-tech security system will wake you up and tell you about it.”

“I know. But I don't feel like sleeping.” Joel stood up and opened his desk drawer. He removed the revolver he had put there earlier. “I'll be back in a little while.”

“You be careful with that thing,” Morgan advised. “Don't go shooting yourself in the foot.”

Joel went out into the hall and shut the door behind him. He headed for the stairwell to start another floor-by-floor tour of Thornquist Gear.

He had built this place, he thought as he walked past the silent, empty offices. He was responsible for every square inch of it, from the display cases on the first floor to the sizable payroll the company met every month. He had made the decision to get into catalog sales, and he had supervised the installation of the expensive new mainframe computers that were needed. He had pored over the designers' plans every time the sales floor had been expanded. He had selected the security system. He had established the management hierarchy that made the company function so effectively.

And now Thornquist Gear stood like a stone wall between him and the future he wanted with Letty. Somehow he had to find a way to climb that wall.

The call from Echo Cove came at six in the morning. Joel was brewing coffee and watching for the first hint of dawn over the city when the phone warbled. He grabbed it halfway through the first ring.

“Blackstone here.”

“It's Escott.” Keith sounded out of breath but triumphant. “Damned if the son of a bitch didn't try to torch the place, after all. Showed up about twenty minutes ago. I saw him myself.”

“What happened?”

“The guards and I managed to stop him, but he got away. The bastard left two cans of gasoline behind. Can you believe it? He was going to burn the whole damn place down. He didn't care what it would do to this town. You were right when you said he's decided that if he can't have Copeland Marine, nobody can have it.”

“Did you notify the cops?”

“Sure. They're on their way. But, Blackstone?”

“Yeah?”

“I wouldn't count on them holding him for long, even if they do stop him. He's still Victor Copeland, and you know what that means in this town.”

“I know.”

“There's something else,” Keith said slowly. “The guy has really flipped this time. I've never seen him like this. I don't know what he'll do if he gets out of Echo Cove. Are you absolutely certain Diana and Letty are safe?”

Joel looked across the room at Morgan who was levering himself up out of the sleeping bag. “I'll make sure of it, Escott.”