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She shook her head again. “I’d be ashamed of you if you were my daughter.”
Slumping down in the seat next to her I admitted it. “He’ll come to dinner, but I need to warn you that he’s… different from what you’re used to.”
Rita added a large sigh to her still shaking head. “You should listen to yourself, Alex. He seems to be a really nice man. He sent you flowers for a week, he came into the office specifically to help us, which by the way he did, and he thought enough of your safety to get you a new phone. What do you do? You get mad and yell at him—“
“I did not.”
“You did too. In the future if you want your conversations to be private, you should shut your door.”
* * *
Evan
I'd donea fair amount of thinking about dad's request regarding Martin and Northern Aerospace. With as little as I'd talked to Martin recently about anything in his purview, his antenna would be up if I asked him any direct questions.
I waited for the results of Diane’s visit upstairs.
The elevator door dinged and she appeared moments later. “Here you go, the full file.” She placed two file folders on my desk. “He's off playing nine rounds with somebody this morning, so I figure you have a good two hours before I need to get them back.”
“Any trouble?” I asked.
“Not at all. His admin is clueless. Very pretty, but clueless.”
Martin's criteria for picking an admin had never been the same as mine. Diane closed the door on her way out.
“I’m sure glad mine isn’t.”
She shot me a smile on her way out and closed the door behind her.
I opened the first folder and started through the Northern Aerospace notes and correspondence. I didn’t know what exactly I expected to find but found it near the end--a second folder. The letter was addressed to me, but I'd never gotten it.
Checking the date, it had been written weeks after I'd left that office.
Mr. McAllister;
I hope that we can handle this matter discreetly, but if nothing is done about that Grap pervert you sent to meet with us last week, I will have no alternative but to terminate our transaction.
I understand that a company should not be judged merely by the actions of a single individual, however your handling of this matter will tell me all I need to know about you, your father, and McAllister International.
I never have and I never will do business with a man of his sort. He plied my daughter with alcohol and took advantage of her. All she can remember about the night is waking up in his room naked the next morning.
My daughter is fragile and so I don't intend to get the police involved in this matter as too many days have passed for a definitive test regarding drugs.
If this person ever sets foot in my city again, he may rest assured that a father's justice will be visited upon him with extreme prejudice.
I expect to hear from you within three days.
The signature was illegible, probably from extreme hatred.
The guy probably expected me to put a hit out on Martin for him. I’d have to confirm it, but Grap had to be a bastardization of Graff.
The FedEx envelope paperclipped to the back explained why I’d never gotten it. It was addressed to me at mail stop 26-2, my previous office, and Martin or his admin had opened it and not sent it on for obvious reasons.
You could never be too careful, so I made five copies of the letter before returning the file folders to Diane. “You can put these back now. Oh, and I need Martin’s travel schedule for the last two months. No. Let’s widen the net. Everybody in Martin’s department for the last two months.”
She looked at the folded pieces of paper I held in my hand. “I take it from your expression you found what you were looking for.”
I nodded. “If you could be so kind as to get a roast beef sandwich sent up, I feel like lunch on the terrace.”
