Gondor started shaking his head, but Yaacov went on doggedly. “That’s two of Barclay’s key people out. It may not stop him, but it will delay him long enough to buy us the time we need in Washington.”
“We cannot let them know that the state of Israel is involved in this affair in any way. We have come this far because we have stayed completely out of sight. There is to be no contact made with either Barclay or Jeppson. Is that clear?”
The men locked eyes for several seconds. When Yaacov made no expression either way, Gondor played his final card. “And appealing this to the Prime Minister is useless. The director has met with him this very day. I have full authorization to determine what action is taken.”
“I had no plans to try to go over your head, Mr. Gondor,” Yaacov said dryly. He didn’t add that such was the case because he had also talked to the Prime Minister earlier and had seen the handwriting on the wall.
“Then it would be most helpful to me if you would let us proceed with our plans without further interruption.”
The silence grew heavy, every man in the room feeling awkward and uncomfortable, except for Yaacov Shoshani who was in deep thought on another matter. When there was no response from him, Gondor turned to the others. “All right. Our next task is to get set up for the Hotel LaRoche.” He reached for a folder on the table and extracted a piece of paper. He looked around at the operational team, finally settling on Nathan.
“Nathan, here’s the list of the rooms Barclay’s secretary reserved for the big meeting on the thirteenth. As you can see, they’ve reserved some pretty high-class suites.”
“Barclay is determined to get this deal.”
Gondor nodded. “I want someone in every one of those rooms in the next few days. Shana has already made reservations for one night each. The dates are on here too.”
He handed the list to Nathan who read it quickly, then looked up. “Okay.”
Gondor handed him another sheet. “We’ve booked the Laguna Suite on the thirtieth floor starting tomorrow night through the meeting. That will be the monitoring center.”
“I assume you want every room tapped—Barclay’s people as well as the Arabs.”
“Barclay, Jeppson, Gerritt. Anybody who comes to that hotel for this meeting.”
Yaacov Shoshani stood, shaking his head, and walked out of Gondor’s apartment.
Marc pulled the car into the parking lot of the restaurant and shut off the lights and engine. He turned to Valerie. “So that’s it, I guess. I’m going to talk to Alex on Monday and tell him where I stand. I hope that’s enough to convince Miss Valerie Robertson that I’m serious about getting her back.”
She slipped her arm through his and squeezed it happily. “I’m convinced, and I’m so glad. I’ve never been so miserable in my life before. But what is Alex going to say when you tell him?”
There was a long pause as Marc stared out into the night. “I don’t know. The next few weeks are critical. I can’t pull back completely, but things are going to change, or else I come back to Claremont.”
She watched the disappointment around his mouth and reached up and touched his face, smoothing the lines along his jaw. “I hope it doesn’t come to that.”
“No more than I. I’ve loved these last two months. I feel like I’m alive again.” He shrugged. “But…” He let it trail off, thinking of what Alex would say.
Valerie gently turned his head, and his eyes softened.
“I love you, Valerie. I want you to know that.”
“And I love you, Marc Jeppson.” She kissed him then, a long, lingering kiss that held all of the joy she was feeling. “Well,” she said a little breathlessly when she pulled away, “I’m famished. Shall we go eat?”
“I thought you were tired.”
She dug him in the ribs with her elbow. “Don’t get smart.”
“Okay, but before we go in, there is one other priority I’d like to get straight first.”
“What?”
He reached across the back seat and fumbled until he got his briefcase open. When he straightened back around, he held a small gift-wrapped package. “After your enthusiastic reception of the necklace I brought you from Columbia, I don’t know whether I dare do this or not.” He handed it to her.
For several moments she just stared at it, then finally looked up at him, her eyes luminescent. “Go on,” he encouraged her. “This has very much to do with priorities.”
There was no careful opening of the paper, no saving of bows and ribbons. She tore the paper off quickly, then looked up at him again when she saw it was a blue velvet ring box. “Oh, Marc!”
“Come on, I thought you were famished. Open it.”
She lifted the lid slowly, then her jaw dropped. The box was empty. Marc laughed at her expression, then gathered her up into his arms. “I actually went to a jeweler,” he said, “but then at the last minute I decided I didn’t want to pick your engagement ring without you. The man looked at me very strangely when I told him all I wanted was the ring box.”
Valerie was rubbing the inside velvet softly, the happiness evident in her eyes.
“If you’ll accept an empty ring box for now, we could get back early from San Diego and go shopping together. I think—”
She clamped her hand over his mouth. “Will you be quiet and kiss me, please?”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Jackie opened the door to Alex’s office and stuck her head in. “Alex, I’m going home now. Is there anything you need before I leave?”
Alex did not look up at her, just kept staring at Marc. “I’d like you to hear this, Jackie. Come in.”
Jackie came in tentatively, sensing the tension crackling in the air, and sat down next to Marc. Marc took a deep breath. He had been afraid it wasn’t going to go down easy.
“Go on, Marc, tell Jackie.”
Marc glanced at her, then turned back to Alex. He took another quick breath and began, talking slowly and quietly. “You were in the meeting this morning, Jackie. Between now and next week, when we go to the LaRoche, Alex has set up three more trips. He wants you and me to leave with Derek in the morning and go to Switzerland to meet with Gerritt. Then there’ll be another trip or maybe two to Washington. And if all goes well at the LaRoche, then it’s off to Saudi Arabia for two or three weeks. In the meantime, we’ll be over our heads trying to get everything put into place.”
Jackie nodded, waiting.
“Brett’s teacher called Mary, my housekeeper, while I was in Washington. In the last few weeks, Brett’s performance in school has nose-dived. For the first time, he is a behavioral problem. Matt has started to wake up every night now and has to sleep with an adult.”
“So,” Alex cut in, “Marc informs me that he cannot give his full devotion to Barclay Enterprises anymore.”
“Alex, that’s not what I said.”
“All right, what did you say?”
“I said that my family is going to start taking a higher priority than it has. I’ve got to spend some time with my boys.”
Alex swore. “You know, Marc, when you first came on board with me, you said you couldn’t work on Sundays. I’ve honored that, even though there have been times when the rest of us have had to. Now, this. This is not an eight-to-five job, Marc. You don’t get eighty-five thousand a year for eight-to-five jobs.”
Marc bit back an angry retort, fighting to keep his voice even. “I have never asked for an eight-to-five schedule, and you know it. But I am asking that I have some time with my family. We work every Saturday. Night after night I’m gone, or when I am home, I’m working on something. And now you tell me the real pressure is just beginning.”
“You’d better believe it. You think these deals just put themselves together? If you can’t stand that kind of heat, then you’d better get out of the kitchen, kid.”
Marc flushed as Alex turned to Jackie. “Can you believe this? And Friday night Ardith is trying to tell me how valuable he is to me. I was even thinking of bring
ing him into partnership with you and me.” He gave a derisive hoot of disgust. “And now this!”
Jackie looked at Marc, who had looked up again in surprise. “That’s right. He mentioned it to me this morning. Marc, I know it’s been rough. On all of us. But you can’t quit now.”
“I’m not talking about quitting. I’m just saying that my family is no longer going to come second. I’ll still give a hundred percent.”
“Sure! But he gets to say when and where the hundred percent goes.” He was still talking to Jackie as though Marc were not in the room. “I can’t believe it! I take him from some jerkwater college, double his salary, bring him up to a full executive level, and what do I get? I mean a cruise to Mexico, trips to South America, bonuses, a company car—and what do I get? He comes in and starts crying about being overworked.”
“Alex,” Jackie said, trying to soothe him.
“Alex nothing!” He jerked back around to Marc. “You owe me, Marc! And I’m calling in the markers.” He sat back, breathing heavily, glaring at him.
Marc stood slowly, looked first at Jackie, who looked away, then at Alex. “I’m not one of your markers, Alex, and I’m not much for playing poker with people. You’ll have my resignation in the morning.”
Alex’s mouth dropped open as Marc moved to the door. He stopped and turned back, fishing for his keys from his pocket. He pulled two of them off the ring and tossed them on the desk. “There’s your company car, Alex. I’ll find my own way home, like I should have that first night at UCLA.”
And he walked out.
For several seconds Alex and Jackie both sat there, half stunned by the suddenness of Marc’s departure. Then Alex swore again. “I can’t believe it! I can’t believe it!”
“And I can’t believe you,” Jackie said softly.
He whirled on her, raging. “Don’t you start on me! If I hadn’t given into Ardith the other night, he wouldn’t be in here demanding his rights.”
“Alex Barclay,” she went on, as if he hadn’t spoken, “the master of leverage. The man who gives lectures on how to bind people to him. And you just violated every principle, I mean every principle, you ever taught on the subject.”
His mouth opened, but Jackie bored in on him. “I don’t think Marc is right on this, but do you think you bought him with company cars and Mexican cruises? Derek, yes. Even me, maybe. But not Marc Jeppson.”
He sat back, his eyes still smouldering, but getting control again. “All right, I’m listening.”
“I guess the first question is, do you want him back or not?”
“You know I do.”
“Simply to keep the deal together?”
He paused, then sighed wearily. “You know it’s more than that too.”
“You have leverage with Marc, Alex, but not through any of the things you tried to use right now. You called in the wrong markers.”
“Come on, Jackie! We’re in the biggest deal of our lives right now. I can’t have him just waltzing all over me with his personal demands.”
“I guess you’re right. And you surely straightened him around on that account.”
He winced. “Okay, okay. Between you and Ardith, I’m starting to feel like a dog on a freeway. So what are the right markers?”
“Friendship. Loyalty. Integrity.” She took a deep breath, then proceeded to explain, talking earnestly for five minutes.
When she finally sat back, Alex stared at the ceiling for almost a full thirty seconds. When he turned back to look at her, it was with a rueful expression. “Do I pay you enough?” he asked.
She smiled. “We’ll talk about that later.”
Suddenly he straightened. “If he’s on foot, he can’t get too far. See if you can find him.”
Jackie stood. “Maybe we both ought to try to find him.”
But ten minutes later, when Alex drove back into the parking lot in front of the warehouse, Jackie was waiting next to her car, shaking her head.
“Matt,” Marc said firmly, “we are not going on our walk until you get all those towels folded.”
Brett scowled at his younger brother. “Hurry, Matt! Valerie and I are all ready.” He walked over and knelt beside him. “Look, let’s pretend we’re making a mountain. You fold the towel, and then put it on top of the mountain. You’ve only got three or four left.”
“I’m not making a mountain,” he said matter of factly, starting to fold more rapidly.
“What are you making?”
“I’m making the Entire State Building.”
“The Empire State Building,” Brett corrected, as Marc and Valerie both laughed.
At that moment, the phone rang. Brett darted to it and picked it up. “Jeppson residence.” He listened for a moment, then held the phone out toward his father. “Dad, it’s Mr. Barclay.”
Valerie turned slowly, unconsciously starting to twist the diamond ring on her left hand. Marc gave her a questioning glance, then took the phone. “Hello.”
He listened for several seconds, his face expressionless, then finally nodded. “Yes. I’ll be here.”
When he hung up, he turned slowly, looking at Valerie. “He and Jackie are over on Indian Hill Boulevard. They want to talk.”
“Good.”
He shook his head. “I don’t know if it is or not.”
“Yes it is. You don’t want to leave it like this.” She put her arm around his waist. “I’ll take the boys for the walk so you can be alone.”
He kissed her lightly. “Okay.”
He turned to Brett, dropping into a squat, and pulled him around to him. “Son,” he began, fumbling for words. “As you know, Mr. Barclay and I are having some problems right now. I know I promised you a long walk, and I’ll join you as soon as I can. Okay?”
Brett nodded, very adult. “I understand, Dad. It’s all right.”
Marc swung one arm and pulled him in tight. “Thanks, Brett. It shouldn’t take long.”
He straightened, looking glumly at Valerie. “There’s not a lot to say.”
“You’re not wrong, Marc,” she said earnestly. “He’ll try and talk you out of your decision. But you’re not wrong.”
“I know. My mind is made up. It just isn’t going to be very pleasant.”
Valerie nodded then turned. “Matt, get your jacket. Brett, will you take the Entire State Building and put it in the linen closet?”
Alex sat on the couch in Marc’s living room, as close to true nervousness as Marc had ever seen him. Jackie sat next to him. Marc was in a chair where he could face them both.
“Marc, I…” He took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. That was stupid of me to get angry.”
Marc nodded. “I understand. I shouldn’t haven’t gotten in a huff and walked out.”
Jackie stirred. “How did you get home? We came looking for you.”
Marc smiled fleetingly. “I found a cab. The driver was delighted to make the run to Claremont. And I talked to my banker. He thinks he can get me a second mortgage to cover the fare.”
Alex laughed. “I’ll cover the fare.” He held up his hands quickly at Marc’s expression. “No conditions. It’s my fault. I’ll cover it.”
Marc shrugged and sat back. There was silence for several seconds. Alex glanced once at Jackie, who nodded in encouragement, then turned to Marc again. “Marc, let me tell you some things about myself that not a lot of people know.”
Marc nodded. “As you’ve seen, Ardith and I live rather well. Home on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, yacht, private plane, fancy sports car.”
Again Marc just nodded, not sure where this was leading.
“I’m good at what I do,” Alex continued, without any false modesty, “and it pays off. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have financial challenges. I buy on credit just like you do. The only difference between you and me is my payments. If you count the house, the boat—all the rest—my payments run about fifty or sixty thousand dollars a month.”
Marc gave a low, soundless whistle.
&n
bsp; “That,” Alex added dryly, “keeps my cash flow needs at a moderately high level.”
“Slightly,” Marc said, still a bit shocked at the figure.
“If we pull this sale off with the Saudis, all of that will change. But for now, I’m hurting. I’ve let other deals go to pursue this one. And we’re talking significant out-of-pocket expenses for the deal even at this point. I’ve already had to put up more than half a million on that bauxite ore deal. Then you count the quarter of a million Gerritt is demanding up front for his part of the agent’s fees. Add travel, what we’ve already paid to the five percenters in Saudi Arabia, your salary, Derek’s.” He shrugged. “I’m not trying to give you a sob story, just laying out the realities of life. And we’re just beginning. I figure I’m in close to a million five already, and that could double or triple before we start seeing the first returns.”
Marc remained silent, seeing where Alex was leading, and knowing that in spite of himself, the figures were staggering and rocking his determination.
“We’re borrowing to the hilt to bring it off.” He spread his hands. “I guess what I’m saying is, if this deal goes down, I go down with it.”
Jackie leaned forward. “There’s something else, Marc. And Alex doesn’t know I’m going to say this. In fact, he doesn’t even know I know it.”
Alex turned to her with a quizzical look on his face, but she ignored him. “Alex has a heart problem. A serious heart problem.”
From the instant surprise on Alex’s face, Marc knew this had not been part of the script. Jackie had caught Alex completely off guard. Ardith’s reaction at the restaurant in Ensenada when Alex had lit a cigarette flashed into his mind. Marc had not seen him smoke since. And Alex had started an exercise-and-weight-loss program that he joked about from time to time.
Jackie was watching Marc intently. “Two weeks ago, the doctor told him that he was on the verge of having a major heart attack or a stroke. He has high blood pressure. He’s had pains in his chest. He’s on medication.”
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