He stopped and turned to face her, pulling her into his arms and looking down into her eyes. She fell into him, laying her face on his shoulder, trying to search for the old familiar comfort and thrill from memories of their time together. Lost in her thoughts, she felt his hand pull her chin up to his face and she looked into his eyes and smiled an uneven smile.
“Why so sad?” he asked.
She looked away out across the lake, a dozen thoughts racing through her mind.
“Megan?”
She shook her head, looking back at him. “Rick, I don’t know, it’s just been so long and now we’re finally back here together and for some reason it just doesn’t seem real yet. Why don’t you pinch me?” she said and laughed.
He took her up on the offer and pinched her gently on her bottom. She laughed and pushed him away. “Alright, so we’re really here,” she said.
Rick reached for her hand again and they continued down along the shoreline. The sun was just touching the horizon and glowed a soft red and orange against the sky.
“This is going to be a great summer, Megan. School’s over, all our friends are back up here. My dad bought a new wakeboard boat last week up at the marina that is so hot. We’ll have to go for a ride tomorrow.”
Megan heard what he was saying, but found she wasn’t really listening. Her mind was wandering off to nothing in particular, just a general sense of why do I want to be any place but here right now?
“Megan?” he asked again. “What in hell’s the matter with you tonight?”
The hardened edge in his voice was clear and she looked at him again. “Really Rick, I’m sorry. I’ll be alright.”
“Don’t tell me it’s that damn Indian kid today? What was his name?”
She was caught off guard by his question and the sudden switch in the tone of the conversation. She tried to laugh it off. “You mean Will?”
“Yeah, Will Running Beaver, or whatever his name was.”
Megan felt a cold chill run through her and her anger swell. “His name’s Will Truegood, and you have no reason to make fun of him, or his people, or anything about him. You don’t even know him!”
He reached over and placed his hands on her shoulders. “Hey, I’m sorry. Really, I’m sorry. I’m sure he’s a nice enough guy, but… but what’s it going to look like for everyone to see you running around with another guy like that this summer?”
She tried her best to maintain calm. “A guy like what?”
“Oh, come on, Megan. You know what I mean. He’s a damn local kid and…”
“And what!” she demanded.
“Hey, really… just calm down,” he said rubbing her shoulders, but she backed away from him and started to walk back toward the path up to town. He ran up next to her and tried to take her arm, but she pulled away.
“I’m going home,” she said, walking with purpose back up the beach. He stopped and watched her walking away, a look of bewilderment on his face.
She looked back and saw him standing there.
“I’ll call you tomorrow,” he yelled.
She stopped for a moment and then nodded before heading back up the beach to town.
Alex Clark stood at the island in the kitchen with his wife and lawyer, an interesting combination of female forces, he thought to himself. Elam Stone had left some time ago and Alex had just opened a bottle of Cabernet. He unscrewed the cork from the corkscrew and sniffed it before placing it down on the granite countertop. The musty and fruity smell hung in his nostrils. Sally placed three glasses down in front of him and he poured the red wine into each glass. The deep red color of the wine splashed out into the clear glasses. Alex handed one to both Sally and Anna.
“To our great friend, George Hansen.” He lifted his glass. “May he be at peace with his Maker.” They all touched their glasses together and took a drink. He looked at Sally. “Again, I’m so sorry I couldn’t be here for the service. It’s just that…”
“I know,” Sally interrupted, “you don’t have to explain again.”
Anna cleared her throat and placed her wine glass down on the counter. “I really am sorry I’ve kept Alex away, but there are some very serious issues we need to be aggressively preparing for.”
“With both of you here,” Sally said, “it’s probably a good time for me to get completely up-to-date on what’s happening. I’ve heard Louis Kramer’s side of the story.”
Alex sighed deeply, shaking his head. “Louis and his financial guy he insisted on bringing into the business have got us in a very tough spot.”
“You know, he says you won’t talk to him,” Sally said.
“That’s at my urging,” Anna said. “We needed to get a better understanding of the situation and the details of the indictment before we started comparing information with Louis. It’s very important we distance ourselves from him as much as we can.”
“But, we are going to sit down with him privately while we’re here this week,” Alex said.
Sally sipped from her wine glass. “Without getting into all of the details, what are we looking at here?”
Anna walked around the island and then lifted herself up to sit on the counter against the wall. She crossed her long legs out in front of her. Sally couldn’t help but look over at Alex to see if he was watching, but saw he was filling their wine glasses again.
It’s a very complex case with several interrelated issues,” Anna began, “but fundamentally, we’re looking at SEC filings falsified to inflate earnings, and stock option contracts that were backdated to provide for more favorable returns to the option holders, which just happen to be Louis and his financial guy, Littlefair.”
“But also, Alex, right?” Sally asked.
“Yes, your husband would have benefited substantially from these fraudulent manipulations.”
“Sally, I’ve told you I had no knowledge of this. I trusted Louis and I had every reason to do so. We’ve never had issues like this in all of the years we’ve been in business together.”
“So, why now?”
Anna said, “There are indications that Louis has gotten in quite a bit over his head on some other business investments that haven’t done well. We think he’s trying to bail himself out by artificially inflating the value of our stock in this business.”
“And now we have a major shareholder who has filed an options-related lawsuit against us and is mounting a proxy fight demanding substantial changes in the board and our governance policies,” Alex continued.
“Basically, it’s a damn mess,” Anna said.
“And what is the worst-case scenario?” Sally asked.
Alex looked over at Anna. He had asked her to not frighten his wife with potentially how bad this could be, both legally and financially. Anna didn’t respond and took a drink from her wine. “Honey, I don’t want you to get overly concerned here, but there certainly are risks of significant financial penalties,” he said.
“And what about jail?”
Alex looked down at his drink for a moment.
Anna answered the question cautiously on his behalf. “There are definitely civil and criminal charges on the table here. Louis and his team are at much higher risk in each of those cases. I feel we are pulling together a strong defense for Alex. The fact he has never exercised any of his stock options in this business, sold any of his stock, or benefited financially in any way to date from these manipulations, speaks very strongly in his favor.”
Sally walked over and put her arm around her husband’s shoulders and kissed him on the cheek. “I’m so sorry about all of this.”
Anna jumped down from the counter. “We should set up a private breakfast meeting with Louis for the morning,” she said. “Nowhere in public; maybe out at his place.”
Sally squirmed and stepped back to lean against the sink. “If you want to keep this confidential, I wouldn’t go anywhere near his wife’s house. Mary Alice Gregory-Kramer is the last person you would want to trust for her discretion. Why don’t you
have him over here or even out on the EmmaLee.”
“I’ll go call his cell,” Anna said. “And then I need to get down into town to get a hotel room.”
Alex looked over at Sally. She caught his silent suggestion and offered, “You will certainly stay here with us. The guest room is all made up and we have lots of room for you and Alex to work. Or, if you’d like a little more privacy, you can stay out on the boat.”
“Thank you, Sally,” Anna said. “That’s very nice of you. If it’s not too much trouble, maybe I should stay out at the boat; give you two some time to yourselves as well.”
Alex reached for his cell phone in his pocket. “Let me call the crew and have someone meet us down at the docks with the launch. We can take you down in a few minutes.” He made the call.
Anna came around the counter and stood next to Sally. “Really, I don’t want you to think we’re not doing everything possible here to protect Alex. He really is innocent of any wrongdoing, although as president of the company, his oversight and controls will certainly be challenged.”
“Anna, I know you and your firm are the best,” Sally said. Alex speaks very highly of you.”
“Well, he’s a good client. He lets us do our jobs,” Anna replied.
Sally studied her face for any deeper meaning or innuendo but detected nothing more. “Yes, I’m sure,” she said, “and thank you for everything you’re doing.”
Alex finished his call down to the EmmaLee’s crew. “They’ll meet us down there in a few minutes at the docks. Sally, what do you make of all this with the sheriff and George?”
“I’m just in shock about the whole thing,” she answered. “I can’t imagine who would want to hurt George Hansen. I’m going to try to reach his wife Liz out in Montana later tonight.”
Ten minutes later, Sally and Alex were down at the city docks in Charlevoix, waiting for the launch with Anna Bataglia. The EmmaLee rested at anchor out in the middle of Round Lake surrounded by dozens of smaller sailboats and cruisers.
“God, she’s beautiful,” Alex said.
“Well thank you, dear,” Sally said and then laughed, knowing he was talking about his boat. “Sometimes I have to wonder who you love more.”
“I can tell you,” Anna said, “he talks about you a lot more than he does about that old ship.”
“Well, that’s certainly comforting,” Sally replied.
Alex pulled Sally into a big bear hug and kissed her. “EmmaLee is the one who should be jealous. You won my heart all those years ago here in this sleepy little town, and it’s never been the same between me and the boat,” he said laughing.
“You’re a lucky woman, Sally,” Anna said. “When he first found this old boat, it’s all he could talk about. I couldn’t get him to focus on anything else.”
“I didn’t know you two had known each other for so long,” Sally said.
“I’ve worked with Anna and her firm for years,” Alex said. “I told you, they’re the best.”
“Thank you, Alex,” Anna said, “we appreciate your business.”
The launch pulled up beside the dock with one of the EmmaLee’s deckhands at the controls. “Good evening ladies, Mr. Clark,” he said as he helped them down into the long wooden launch, painted white to match the ship. They sat down on seats in the bow of the boat and the crewman steered them back out to the EmmaLee. “Beautiful night isn’t it?” the crewman said.
“Yes, it’s good to be back up here,” Alex answered. He looked out across the quaint beauty of Round Lake; the incredible boats tied up along the city docks or moored out in the small inland harbor; the town of Charlevoix spread out up on the hill and the magnificent homes that had been built over the years all around the lake.
He remembered the first day he brought the EmmaLee back to Charlevoix. He met Sally soon after they tied up at the docks and had been so taken with her right from the start. It had been an interesting couple of weeks, getting acquainted and working through issues of their pasts and what the future together might hold. He felt so blessed they had come together. She was the one true sanctuary he could come back to, particularly at times like these when so many other things in his life were falling apart.
“Daddy!”
Alex turned to see his daughter come out of the side cabin door from the bridge. She ran up and jumped into his arms, giving him a big kiss. “Hi, sweetie, I missed you,” he said.
“I missed you, too,” Megan answered. “I have so much to tell you.”
“Sally said that you were out with Rick tonight.”
“I was, but well… I decided to get home early tonight. I just got off the phone with Becca and she’s coming out to spend the night.”
“That’s great, honey,” Alex said. “You know Anna.”
Megan walked over and gave her a hug. “Hi Ms. Bataglia, welcome to Charlevoix. Have you been up here before?”
“Hi Megan, no this is my first trip. It’s a beautiful place and please call me Anna.”
“We’ll have to go for a cruise tomorrow,” Megan said, “maybe out to Beaver Island if the winds don’t come up too much. Daddy, can we?”
“We’ll see, honey, we have a lot of work to do.”
“You have an office here on the boat. You can work there and take some breaks to swim and fish. Wait ‘til you hear about this fish I caught.”
“We’ll see. Sally and I are going to head back to the house. Megan, can you show Anna to one of the berths down below and get her comfortable. Show her where the galley is and who to call if she needs anything.”
“Sure, we’ll take real good care of her,” Megan said.
“Alex, I’ll try to reach Louis tonight,” Anna said. “What time do you want to meet out here for breakfast in the morning?”
“Let’s roust him early,” Alex said. “He hates that. How about 7:00?”
“I’ll get it set up,” replied Anna. “If you don’t hear from me, we’re on for 7.”
Alex and Sally both hugged Megan again and said goodnight.
“Goodnight Alex and thank you Sally for your hospitality and understanding in all this mess,” Anna said.
“Of course.”
As Alex and Sally rode back to the docks in the launch, she looked up at her husband. “Is this all going to be okay?”
“What, the business?” he answered. “What’s the worst that can happen, they take away one of my companies, I pay some fines and I watch Louis go to jail, the sonofabitch.” He managed a strained smile.
“Are you telling me everything?” she asked again, looking into his eyes for any sign of hesitation.
“Trust me; if anyone can make this come out right, it’s Anna.”
Sally felt less than comforted by the stakes being placed in the hands of Anna Bataglia.
Chapter Ten
Emily McKendry was one of the strongest women I’ve ever known. She brought Jonathan back from the brink when so many others had given up on him. When we found out my sister was gone, Emily was there for me, too. But, deep down, Emily was like most of us, she had her weaknesses and her fears, and she felt real pain like we all do. Her father’s passing that day on the big boat down in the bay hit her real hard, but it was the frailty and helplessness of a little girl that got to that place way down deep inside her.
… the summer of 1952
Dr. Emily McKendry felt she needed to get back to work the next morning. She had relied on her partner, Dr. Julian Rose, to cover with her patients for the past couple of days and she had to catch up and give the poor man a break. Dr. Rose was 60 years-old and brought her into his practice two years ago with the thought she would take over when he retired. She got down to the small physician’s office they shared on Clinton Street and let herself in an hour before office appointments would begin. Emily was proud of the practice she and Julian served and she loved the patients in this quiet little town. So many of them felt almost like family to her. She turned the light on in her office in the back and sat down to sort through phone
messages and paperwork.
Her office was decorated simply, mostly with pictures of her family and of Jonathan, and of course the family’s boat, the EmmaLee. Her father had commissioned a model builder to create replicas of the ship for each of his three children. Emily’s model of the boat, nearly three feet long, rested on a shelf on the far wall. Looking at it, she found herself reliving the terrible day of her father’s heart attack out on the boat at Horton Bay. She put her head down in her hands and tried to hold back the emotions.
She heard a knock on the front door. Looking at the clock on the wall she saw it was still 30 minutes until they would be open for appointments. There was another knock. She got up and walked down the hall to the reception area. Through the glass door she saw a woman standing beside a young girl. The little girl looked to be around eight years-old, small and stooped, her head down, as if she was trying to disappear into herself. She had on a worn green print dress and dirty shoes. As Emily came closer, she saw the girl had spots of blood on her dress, apparently from a cut near her mouth, and she was holding her left arm still.
She didn’t recognize the woman. Her face was mostly covered by an old wide-brimmed straw hat. What she could see of her face was plain with no hint of makeup. Her clothes were worn and faded, a dirty black skirt and rumpled gray blouse. Her old boots were even dirtier than the little girl’s. She reached up to knock again as Emily unlocked and opened the door.
Emily knelt in front of the young girl. “Are you okay, honey? Let me look at you.” She lifted the girl’s chin and watched as she grimaced and started to cry softly. She could see an angry bruise spreading out from a cut at the corner of her mouth across her small cheek. The blood was still flowing fresh and several drops had fallen on her dress.
“Can you help us, doctor?” she heard the woman ask.
Emily stood up and held the door for them. “Of course, come in.” She led them back to one of the examination rooms. The little girl moved slowly, walking with a slight limp and still holding on to her arm. In the room, Emily carefully lifted the little girl up on the exam table. “What is your name, honey?”
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