One Love (31 page)

Dawson threw down his Mont Blanc pen
onto the desk. His mask of southern gentility vanished because of
rage. “Your father can kiss my—“

“
Gentlemen, please.” Charles
Metoyer stepped between them. “Unless the walls of this office are
sound proof, half the city will hear you.”

They were in Dawson’s office in the
Paxton-Waite headquarters. Caine stepped back and seemed to
struggle for control for several seconds. He turned his back to
stare out the window. When he faced them again, he was calmer. Ken
still huffed with wrath.

“
I know what I’m doing,” Ken
said.

“
You’re incompetent.”
Dawson’s voice was like a surgical blade. “The only reason you’ve
gotten this far in your so-called career is because of your
father.”

Ken’s face drained of color. “Sure,
try to convince yourself I’m no threat.”

“
If you were judged based on
your merits, you’d be down in the mail room,” Dawson
said.

“
You’re a washed up old
man,” Ken yelled. “I’ve been making you look good!”

“
You?” Dawson barked out
guttural sound that was supposed to be a laugh. “What a
joke.”

“
Shut up both of you!”
Charles broke in. He left the office and went out into the hall.
After looking both ways, he came back inside and closed the door.
“Your secretary is out there.”

“
These walls are thick. The
most she heard was raised voices.” Dawson sat down. “And she’s
discreet.”

Ken stood at the edge of Dawson’s
desk. “You’re through.”

“
Going to have me fired?”
Dawson looked up at him.

Ken wore a sneer. “I’ve had concerns
about you from the beginning. The board will listen, especially in
light of the cost overruns.”

“
Dawson is the only one that
can make this deal work.” Charles put in. He spoke as though trying
to reason with a child. “You might as well burn a couple of
millions bucks. And then there are the risks we’ve
taken.”

“
Ken hasn’t taken any risks,
Charles.” Dawson looked at Ken with contempt curling his thin
lips.

“
Listen, you know how jumpy
Orin Blanchard is,” Charles continued. “He set the stage, made the
introductions and now he’s scared spitless. He won’t even meet with
us in private.”

“
Three of his pals just
plead guilty in another case to avoid long federal sentences.”
Dawson wore a cold smile. “He helped them with ‘introductions’,
too. So it’s not all in his imagination.”

“
They were careless.”
Charles shrugged.

“
And what about you two?”
Dawson shot back.

“
My problem with Yasmin is a
minor setback.” Charles did not seem disturbed.

“
A vengeful woman can be
deadly. Especially one close to a powerful state senator.” Dawson
stared at him hard.

“
After a few days she’ll
calm down.” Charles smiled with confidence. “We have something
quite special.”

“
Really? And did you know
Lanessa Thomas is one of her closest friends?” Dawson sat forward
in his chair.

“
I don’t see it as a
problem.” Charles wore a frown that betrayed his words. “Yasmin
doesn’t know anything important.”

“
She knows enough!” Dawson
said.

“
Damn it, I wish I’d known
before...” Charles rubbed his jaw.

Dawson turned his ire back to Ken.
“And you decide to use your masculine charm on Ms. Thomas. If she’s
as smart as I think, she’ll be suspicious.”

“
It’s just another contract
to her. She likes money and success. I can give her both,” Hargrove
said.

Dawson gazed at them in turn. “I see.
You both have such power over women that I shouldn’t
worry.”

“
Now look--” Charles spoke
first.

“
A multi-million dollar
venture hangs on the sex appeal of two egotistical fools,” Dawson
cut him off sharply. He stood up. “Lanessa Thomas has been digging
into the operation of Paxton-Waite. She’s been asking questions
very quietly. No doubt Ms. Thomas has used her considerable
research skills to assemble quite a file.”

“
How do you know all this?”
Charles had lost the relaxed pose. He sat forward.

“
I have sources,” Dawson
said in a deceptively mild tone.

Charles exchanged a glance with Ken.
By the worried expressions on both their faces, it seemed Dawson’s
message was understood.

“
You had her followed?”
Hargrove tugged at his collar.

Dawson ignored his question. “The
plant needs to be up and running by November. Months of planning
could go right down the drain because of your bumbling.”

“
Your contacts in Thailand
are desperate for those components. They won’t back out.” Charles
said.

“
Desperate and ruthless.
Going to prison for arms dealing is the least of our worries!”
Dawson tossed out the words like a bomb. From their expressions,
he’d hit home.

Ken blinked rapidly. “We’re not
dealing in guns. Th-they couldn’t prove that.”

“
The Commerce Department
investigators will figure it out in no time. So don’t kid
yourself.” Dawson paced back and forth.

“
Listen, let’s just settle
down. We’re getting paranoid. Lanessa Thomas is never going find
out anything.” Charles waved a hand in the air. He sat back again.
“Think about it. She’d have to know just where to look. We’ve got
the goods going through at least five legitimate overseas
buyers.”

“
How much did you tell your
girlfriend?” Dawson gazed at him.

“
Nothing. She thinks I’m
interested in doing business in the Caribbean.” Charles lifted a
shoulder.

“
Lanessa won’t care as long
as she’s making lots of money and has access to power. I know what
she wants,” Ken said.

Dawson shook his head slowly. “You two
really can’t think past your zippers. Our plant will produce toxic
waste byproducts. Lanessa Thomas worked at the
legislature.”

“
So what?” Ken’s dark brows
drew together.

“
Ms. Thomas knows the regs
like the back of her hand. And she’s wondering why we’re being so
closed-mouth.” Dawson stared off. “I could see that when we had our
last meeting with her.”

“
We followed the procedures
and notified the Department of Environmental Quality and the
Department of Natural Resources. We went beyond what we had to
do.”

“
Even local officials are
satisfied. Having my contacts down in the parish helped,” Charles
added.

Ken sat down and crossed his legs. “So
once she finds out we’re legal, she’ll concentrate on getting
paid.”

“
Right. Let her follow a
false trail.” Charles nodded his agreement with Ken.

“
It doesn’t matter why she
starts to dig. What matters is what she’ll find out.” Dawson
appeared far from reassured.

“
I really think you’re going
overboard, Caine.” Ken had regained his cocksure attitude. “Let’s
forget all this paranoid speculation. The sooner we get the plant
operating, the sooner our profits shoot up.”

“
I agree,” Charles added.
“Yasmin is no threat. She’ll listen to me. And Lanessa will get
tired of stumbling into dead ends.”

“
I intend to keep her mind
on other things,” Ken added with a smile. “My reformed party girl
will see nothing but dollar signs when I get through.”

Dawson looked at the two men with a
stony expression. “Too much is at stake here. We’ve got to deal
with MS. Thomas.”

Charles looked back at him through
narrowed eyes. “When you say deal with her you mean?”

“
Make sure she’s in no
position to hurt us, period. Her father has friends in high places.
If she starts talking to the wrong people...” Dawson wore a fierce
look.

Ken’s mouth went slack with fear. “You
can’t mean murder,” he said in a strangled whisper.

Charles studied Dawson. “You surprise
me. That Ivy League exterior hides it well.”

“
Must you gentlemen be so
theatrical?” Dawson smiled. He’d resumed his upper-class southern
manner. “No I have a better plan.”

***

Lanessa arrived at the Fine and Mellow
Café ten minutes late. The popular jazz bar and restaurant was in
the heart of old downtown Baton Rouge. Yasmin had suggested they
meet for lunch since it was close to her office. Lanessa found her
seated upstairs at a table with a view of the Mississippi
River.

“
Hey girl.” Lanessa gave her
an affectionate pat then sat down. “Whew! Sorry I’m late. Got
caught up reading some very interesting stuff.”

“
Really?” Yasmin did not
look at her.

“
Yes. And you’ll be happy to
know I’ve got a solid lead on what Chucky boy is up to. You were
right. Franklin Enterprises is the key.”

“
It’s just a small computer
hardware firm. Nothing really important. They had modest sales last
year.” Yasmin fiddled with the straw in her soft drink
glass.

Lanessa nodded. “But things are
looking up these days. Charles buys out the former owners, right?
Then he kicks production into high gear making widget doo-hickies
called...”

“
K-chips,” Yasmin put
in.

“
That’s it. One of their
employees developed it. It’s used to make microphones for recording
music easier in studios.” Lanessa sat forward.

“
I know. Charles told me
about it.”

“
They’ve got some of the
brightest engineers working for them. One thing for sure, Chucky is
not stupid. He’s going into consulting as well. I mean, a lot of
companies simply don’t want the expense of hiring their own
computer nerds full-time.” Lanessa meant what she said. The man was
nothing if not a forward thinker. It was fascinating to study his
moves.

“
Of course. It’s become
standard practice,” Yasmin said.

“
Now this is where
Paxton-Waite comes in, Chucky sees the future. He gets the business
for a song. Then the previous owner found out that Paxton-Waite
wants not only their chip, but consulting that could mean hundreds
of thousands.” Lanessa pursed her lips in disapproval.

“
It’s not illegal to be a
shrewd businessman, Lanessa.” Yasmin replied.

“
The man went broke, Yasmin.
They’d been business associates for twelve years, even partied
together. Did Charles bail him out with a loan? No. He could have
invested and become a partner even.”

“
Franklin mis-managed the
firm. Why would Charles want to let him lose his money, too?”
Yasmin said.

“
He had bad breaks that were
nobody’s fault. From what I’ve seen, Franklin just needed a helping
hand. Charles is one cold-blooded dude.”

Lanessa had been lucky in her search.
Franklin was not only bitter; he was vocal about Charles Metoyer’s
betrayal. An old friend of her father’s had introduced
them.

“
Paxton-Waite is going to
manufacture components that will leave some toxic wastes. That
could be why they’re jumpy.” Lanessa stared out the window. A
tugboat drifted by on the dark brown water. “But I don’t think
so.”

“
They’ve complied with every
permitting process required. And the local people aren’t
concerned.” Yasmin looked at her. “There’s a firm in Baton Rouge
that can even recycle the waste.”

“
True. Which makes their
behavior even more curious. I’m telling you, it’s got more to do
with those components. This plant is somehow connected to another
plant they have in Houston.” Lanessa snapped her fingers. “That’s
it!”

“
What are you talking
about?”

“
Okay, this is tricky so
listen carefully. The plant in Des Allemands makes plain old copper
wiring. Lanessa was excited now.

“
Something we’ve known for
almost two months,” Yasmin said in a short tone.

“
Be patient,” Lanessa said.
She bit her lip as she thought for a few seconds. “What if they
chose little out of the way Paradise Island as a way to slip out
goods they don’t want examined too closely?”

“
What a far-fetched idea,”
Yasmin muttered. She drummed her fingers on the table.

“
Not at all. Companies do it
all the time.” Lanessa lowered her voice and leaned forward.
“Charles is one greedy, ruthless man.”

“
Oh stop inventing
conspiracies!” Yasmin looked at her with an angry frown. “This
isn’t a spy movie.” She crossed her arms.

Lanessa had been wrapped up in working
through her theory for the last few minutes. Now she really looked
at her friend for the first time. Yasmin was not disinterested in
her ideas. She was downright hostile.

“
What’s going on with you,
Yasmin? When I talked to you last week it was ‘Get the bum!’ Now
you don’t want to hear it.”

“
There is nothing sinister
going on. Charles saw an opportunity and grabbed it.” Yasmin seemed
to be repeating words not her own.