by K. T. Tomb
“But the fact that the car left said it all. She intends to stay for dinner uninvited,” Rae continued, “What the hell am I supposed to do under these circumstances? I can’t turn her away, but no one was prepared for another guest. I made sure to speak loud enough that the three of them might hear when I instructed Mr. Bowman to advise Mrs. Newland of our unexpected company then I came straight up here. The nerve of those two.”
“This is turning into a soap opera,” John quipped.
“It’s not funny, John, I’m not running a hotel here. Your new business partners are working the last nerve I have left.”
Everything concerning their dealings with Southern Metal was becoming more complicated by the hour and Rae was finding it difficult to cope. Since the night she had caught Steve Farmer staring at her in the dining room, she had made certain that she was never unaccompanied in his presence, and even though he had pressed her for meetings during the days they’d spent at the office, she had circumvented his every attempt at getting her alone. She had such a deep mistrust of the man that she felt obligated to ensure her safety around him at all times.
Rae couldn’t help but feel that there was something more to Miss Moore’s sudden arrival, but she couldn’t quite put a finger on it. What she did know was that the woman, very much like her brother, didn’t have an ounce of decency in her body. When she’d arrived at the house, Anita Moore had been sure to make quite a show of it. Her skirt was way too short to even allow her to get out of the back seat without parting her knees completely. And that atrocious head of fire-red hair! You’d think the woman would keep it under control. Rae’s face was flushed with anger just remembering the sight of her.
***
As the cocktails were served, it must have become apparent to their guests that there was something out of the ordinary.
Mrs. Thorn, whom they were used to seeing well-dressed for entertaining, wore another remarkable evening dress. It was black silk with a deep cut down her back almost to her bottom. The cleavage of her ample bosom was cleverly revealed by the low cowl neckline. Raleigh Benson, an unexpected addition to the party, was a sight to behold in his black Italian suit and tie. The two engaged each other in casual conversation at one end of the room and were served drinks by Mr. Bowman.
When Steve, Emmitt and Anita walked into the drawing room, they looked as if they had spent the entire afternoon conspiring together. Rae was not surprised as even then, they seemed to be exchanging whispers and comments with each other. Anita’s mouth fell open with shock after one look at Rae in her designer dress. A glance down at her own too-tight, red shift was enough to tell Rae she was feeling out of her league; which she was. Before a word could be exchanged between the two groups, John walked past them into the room, and shook Raleigh’s hand. He took a drink from the bar and drank deeply before turning to the room and announcing that the dinner was served. Without another word, John extended his arm to Rae and escorted her into the dining room. That sent Anita Moore into a fit of rage. Her brother had somehow forgotten to mention to her how devoted John Thorn was to his wife. That little detail would certainly put a stick in the spokes of her current plan.
The dinner progressed beautifully and not long after the dessert course was cleared away, John stood up to thank his guests for their visit. He announced that the men would move into the family room to discuss their business and that he was sad to see them leave Lexington House for the last time that evening and Atlanta at the end of the week, since he was intent on finalizing their arrangements regarding the factory that night. Anita Moore’s jaw almost hit the table at his remark. Rae caught a glimpse of her expression as she led Anita into the drawing room and couldn’t help but smile to herself.
“Follow me, Miss Moore,” Rae prompted. “We shall have an after dinner drink in here and maybe talk a little.”
In the family room, John took the glass of whiskey that Bowman had poured for him and turned to face Steve and Emmitt.
“Gentlemen, let us bring these negotiations to a close so you can enjoy the rest of your holiday in the city and get back to whatever it is that you do in Augusta,” he started. “I do believe that you’ve heard all I have to say about the merger, so I’ll have your honest thoughts and a decision from you on the matter now.”
“Yes, sir,” Steve started. “That we have and if I do say so myself...”
“Please,” John interrupted sternly. “Let’s not beat around the bush any longer. I am not a man for too much formality; I always left that to my father-in-law. He was very good at it. I never learned the art. I’m more of a straight shooter, so just get to the point. What do you want to do with Southern Metal?”
“We think your ideas are good for the company. The injection of capital is very needed and would help with the current financial state of things.”
“Well, that’s obvious, but what do you think about merging the companies to become Thorn Industries?” John asked.
“We’re not certain that’s the direction we want to take the company in right now.”
“Is that right?” John countered sarcastically.
The men looked at each other, puzzled. They were caught unaware by John expressing so candidly that he didn’t find their response satisfying.
“Why?” Steve replied, recovering his composure. “What more could you possibly do for Southern, besides putting some money in to keep us afloat?”
John looked straight at Steve and narrowed his eyes. It was exactly what he’d been waiting to hear him say. He held the look for a moment, then laughed loudly, breaking the silence. He held up his empty glass and Bowman refilled it, purposely leaving the other men’s glasses empty.
“Mr. Farmer, Mr. Moore,” John said, sitting forward in his chair. “Please do not presume that because I’m a man of simple means that I am also an idiot. I’ve put a great deal of work into getting where I am today and I’ve learned a lot along the way. The day that I decide to just fork over millions to people who run a failing business will be the day the world ends. But I’m sure that’s what you’re used to. Selling the opportunity to bail out Southern Metal to gullible investors all over the country, over and over again?”
“What are you insinuating, Mr. Thorn?” Emmitt piped up.
“I’m not insinuating anything; I’ve done the research. There are at least five gentlemen right here in the state of Georgia who would like nothing better than to see both your necks in a noose. All I have to do is call the police and they’d get their wish soon enough. Never shit where you eat. I’d think experienced con artists like you would know better. So I think that you’ll find my new offer irresistible.”
He paused to admire the puzzled and anxious looks on their faces as he took another sip of his whiskey.
“You may have noticed that I surround myself with my confidants, gentlemen; Rae, Mr. Bowman and Raleigh; this is the team that I’ve assembled around myself and we are a formidable one. These people depend on me and I depend on them. It is a responsibility that we do not take lightly.”
“John started checking into your company a long time ago and he’d noticed that several times large sums were injected into the business to regenerate, it but within a year or two of that investment, Southern Metal returned to its old state of near collapse. Then another investment would revitalize things only for the same thing to happen again,” Raleigh put in. “At first we just thought it was a supply problem or maybe low demand for your products, but then everything started to point to bad management.”
“A few calls to your former investors confirmed that after they’d put money into the company, they’d seen some returns, but shortly after, the company seemed to fall back on hard times,” John finished. “I think we all know what’s going on here. So gentlemen, at the risk of sounding inhospitable, I think it’s a safe point in this conversation to presume that this is now a discussion about what it is that I can do for you and not the other way around. Wouldn’t you agree?”
John sat back in
his chair and allowed his glass to be refilled for the final time. His eyes moved from Steve to Emmitt, analyzing the expressions on their faces.
“Well, Mr. Thorn,” Emmitt finally conceded, “it seems you’ve exposed us and have figured everything out.”
Unwilling to be left out of the exchange, Mr. Moore interjected, “You’re playing with fire here, Thorn. We’re not going to just turn over our cash cow to you.”
John laughed and stood up, discreetly announcing his intention to end the exchange.
“It’s amusing that you still think you have a choice,” John said bitterly and set his glass down on the table. “Mr. Bowman will draft the details and I will need you to sign them before you leave.” He smiled as the two exchanged glances.
“Yes, it seems you continue to underestimate us, boys; he’s a trained paralegal. Here’s my new proposal.”
John explained that he would honor the previously discussed sum of money for Thorn & Lexington’s buy-in into Southern Metal, but it would now be a buyout of the two men. When the money was exchanged, they would sign over all ownership and involvement in the company and disappear. As it turned out, John would also end up taking on the earlier commitments to their angry, former investors, but wouldn’t point them in the direction of the ousted men as long as they left the state of Georgia. Any indication that they or their sister had returned, even for a visit, would result in the police being notified.
“Your check will be ready in the morning. Pick it up at the front desk of my office.”
John watched as they both signed the drafted contract before he and Raleigh also signed it. They watched as Bowman affixed his signature and pressed a seal into the paper. Then they all stood and left the two men in the room, still bewildered at how the tables had been turned on them. Eventually, Steve and Emmitt joined the others in the drawing room, but no sooner had they appeared than John announced that he would retire for the evening. As if to rub salt into Steve and Emmitt’s wounds he added, “The car will be around for you shortly and will take you back to your hotel in Atlanta. As this is the last we will be seeing of you; I wish you all well.”
John went straight upstairs, ran a hot bath and slowly undressed. He’d never had an experience like the one he’d just been through in all his days as a lawyer, but he’d known one day it would come. There were always going to be people who tried to operate just within the boundaries of the law and feel as if they had the right to do so. When John closed the bedroom door, he reclined into the hot water and exhaled. He felt as if a load had been shed and it invigorated him.
It wasn’t long before the water cooled and he was clean and felt relaxed. Fully expecting that everyone had left the house, he got dressed and went down to the study. As he crossed the downstairs hallway, he almost tripped over Anita Moore, who looked as if she had just come through the study door. She launched herself into his arms. John caught her and steadied her on her feet.
“Oh,” she exclaimed, “you frightened me. I thought you went to bed, John.”
“And I thought you had left for Atlanta,” John countered. “Were you just coming out of the study?”
“Oh no,” Anita stuttered. “I tripped over something and caught the doorjamb for support. I was just checking the heel of my shoe when you came around the corner.”
“I see,” John said.
He realized that Anita was still clinging to him so he gently removed her hands and placed them at her sides. She pushed some hair away from her face and smoothed her mass of red curls over her shoulders.
“Well, good night,” he said.
“Good night,” Anita said, but instead of stepping out of his way, she moved closer to John.
Before he realized what she was doing, her arm was snaked around his neck and she pressed her lips to his mouth. Stunned, John stood still as she kissed him. For a moment, his body responded to her advances, his arm went around her waist and his tongue slipped into her mouth. She moaned at the taste of him and placed her hand on the front of his pants. The sound of her pleasure brought John crashing back. He tore his lips from hers and pushed her away from him.
“Stop that!” he exclaimed. “What the hell are you playing at?”
“John Thorn,” she said coyly, “I know that I’m not the first woman who’s tried to seduce you.”
“No, but certainly the first to be so damn shameless about it, I can assure you.”
“Well, I’m not in the habit of beating around the bush. It’s a waste of time.”
“Really?” John replied. He created some distance between himself and Anita. “From that display, it’s quite obvious.”
He stood wiping the stains of her lipstick from his mouth when he heard a voice from behind him.
“Are we ready to send our guests off, John?” Rae asked stiffly.
“Yeah,” John stuttered. “I really am. Is the car ready?”
“It’s out front, waiting.”
John stepped aside and allowed Anita to walk past him, then took Rae’s hand and followed her and the two men out onto the front porch without another word. They watched as the three got into the car and it sped off down the driveway.
***
Unsure how to take what she had seen in the hallway between her husband and Anita, Rae sat down at the table with John and Raleigh as she usually would.
She couldn’t help but steal a puzzled look in John’s direction whenever she could. He looked completely distraught but the faint trace of Anita’s lipstick on his face reminded her that he owed her an explanation. As their eyes met across the room, Rae held his gaze and took a puff of her cigarette. She licked her lips nervously and blew the smoke out slowly. The breath caught in his throat and he coughed, trying to gulp it down.
Laughing softly, John lifted the whiskey bottle from the table and topped up everyone’s glasses. He paused beside Rae and placed a reassuring hand on her before returning to his seat.
“Our friends were extremely disappointed to learn about the research we’d done and our proactive decision making regarding their steel works,” he announced to the sound of laughter from all those present at the table. “We caught them completely off guard with our pre-emptive strike.”
“They were presumptuous in trying to rip you off, to say the least,” Raleigh added.
“According to them,” John continued, “they did nothing wrong; it was business as usual. They felt that their past investors knew the risk they were taking and it was just unfortunate that the business did not improve in order to secure their investments.”
“They squandered the money those men gave them,” Rae countered. “There is no doubt about that. You can tell from their mannerisms that they’re nothing but a couple of white collar criminals taking advantage of gullible rich men after the opportunity to turn a quick return on their money.”
“Nothing too good turns out to be true,” Raleigh pointed out to them. “Rae’s contacts will be crying for their blood. What will we tell them?”
“That’s to be expected,” Rae said. “If anyone asks any questions we’ll just tell them that Farmer and Moore caught on to us and made a run for it.”
John and Raleigh nodded in agreement.
“I’d never want to be on your bad list, Rae,” Raleigh said. “I hope that’s not one pickle John never manages to get himself into.”
“Indeed,” John responded and added with a laugh, “Just goes to show that it’s our wives that run things, they just let us feel that we do.”
“I’m happy with all the arrangements as they turned out,” Rae concluded. “Now we can move ahead at the Macon site and get the technicians and the transport people out to Augusta to salvage what we can use from the old works there.”
“Moore should be by the office in the morning to deliver the deeds and collect his two million dollars. It’s so sad. If they had been straight with us and decided to straighten out their act, they would have stood to make so much more than that over the next year.”
“Yo
u can’t change the way people are,” Raleigh observed. “Those three have gotten used to doing what they do. The easy money is too alluring for them to commit to actually going to work for it.”
There were murmurs of assent all around the room.
“Well, we move ahead as planned then. Thorn Industries will be up and running in a few weeks at our present rate. Rae, I’m going to need you to secure the facilities in both Augusta and Macon. I wouldn’t be surprised if Moore or Farmer tried to loot or sabotage our investments there.”
She nodded her agreement as did Raleigh. John took that as a cue to end the night’s talks and stood up, bidding everyone a good night before turning to climb the stairs to the bedroom. Rae stood on the porch with Mr. Bowman as Raleigh drove away from the house, then locked the doors and turned off the lights before disappearing upstairs. When she pushed open their bedroom door, she found John undressed and in bed, snoring peacefully. She undressed and slipped under the covers. Instinctively, he rolled over to wrap his arm around her and she shifted herself into the curve of his body.
“Don’t you even think that I’ve forgotten about that little encounter of yours with Miss Moore tonight,” she whispered.
Clearing his throat, John said, “Even I don’t know what the hell that was about, my darling. She pounced on me like a hawk and completely threw me off guard.”
“I don’t like her, John,” she said seriously. “Something wasn’t right about them from the very beginning.”
“I know. I’m really bothered by the whole thing.”
“There isn’t a need to worry about it anymore, is there?” she asked.
“The paperwork will be signed and the assets paid for in the morning and they’ll be on their way out of state soon enough.”
He nuzzled into the back of her neck and fell asleep with the scent of her hair filling his nostrils.
