so he took it.
Not that Tarnwell wasn’t competitive. He was. Very. But only at one thing. Making money. All this he-man stuff was bullshit. Sure, he was good at it. A natural athlete all his life, Tarnwell had been gifted enough to play linebacker at the University of Michigan until a knee injury ended his career. He’d gotten a lot of sympathy at the time, but one thing nobody seemed to realize was that he didn’t really care.
Football was a means to an end, the method of putting himself through school, his major in both business and chemistry. That was the ticket out of his father’s shadow, the way to make even more than the vaunted Bernard Tarnwell ever dreamed of having. All his life, Clayton Tarnwell saw the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, and he couldn’t care less how beautiful that rainbow was. If it could lead him to the pot, fine. Otherwise, it was just in the way.
And losing to this shithead was just another means to that end. If he had to lose a few rounds of golf, so be it. As long as it made Rex Hanson happy and ready to close a deal, he’d piss into the wind for all he cared.
They climbed into the cart with Tarnwell driving. Another of Hanson’s little ways of attempting to show who was in control. He never drove his own cars, preferring to leave that menial chore to his underlings.
Tarnwell was glad to drive, owning six vintage Ferraris himself, often driving one of them to work. Besides, he knew it would make Hanson happy.
“So, Clay,” said Hanson as they drove, “you really think you can pull this merger off? If you don’t, there’s no way I could help save you or your company. Your credit would be ruined. You wouldn’t be able to get a five dollar loan with ten dollars collateral.”
Tarnwell thought he would get this response, which is exactly why he was trying to butter the old man up by losing.
“Rex, I know what I’m doing. I’ve given this a lot of thought, and there’s just no way I can lose. Not with my ace. When the banks realize what this new invention means, they’ll be throwing money at me.”
“Clay, the only reason I’m here, letting you pretend you’re losing to me, is that your father was a good friend of mine. You were always a suck-up and a cheat. But you were also loyal to your father and extremely good at making money. I never understood why Bernie didn’t leave you his company. I suppose it was his attempt to teach you some values, late as it was, most likely the same reason he made you pay for your own education, but I was probably as surprised as you were. Now you’ve built up your own company, almost as successful as your father’s. I just don’t want to see you blow it, son.”
The line about being almost as successful as his father grated on Tarnwell, but he managed to hold back a sneer. His father had built up a mining company from scratch and then sold it for $200 million. When his father died in Clayton Tarnwell’s senior year of college, the will left him with a pittance, less than $500,000, with the rest going to charity. Tarnwell was furious, betrayed by his own father to whom he had shown unwavering devotion. He had used that money to start his own company, Tarnwell Mining and Chemical, just to show the world he was even better at making money than Bernard Tarnwell. Now he was a week away from proving that point.
“This buyout is important,” Tarnwell said. “If it doesn’t come through, it’ll take me two years to get up to full production on Adamas. Forrestal Chemical has the facilities I need now. I’ve been trying to buy those facilities, but they won’t sell. If I had them, I could be producing in two months. The only other choice is to buy the company. And without your support, I’ll never get the loans I need for the leveraged buyout.”
“You’re sure this Adamas process works? How has testing been?”
Tarnwell pulled to a stop near his ball. “Final validation is taking place as we speak. We should know the results by Tuesday. But I’ve seen the process myself. It works. Tarnwell Mining and Chemical already has an invention disclosure out, and the patent process will be well under way this week.”
“I certainly trust your business sense if nothing else. I know you wouldn’t do anything to con me.” Hanson looked at Tarnwell as if posing a question.
“Of course not. This is the wisest investment you’ll ever make.”
Hanson paused and then nodded. “I leave on a business trip Monday afternoon. Come to my office first thing Monday morning. We’ll talk to Wayne Haddam over at First Texas. I’m sure we’ll be able to work out a favorable agreement.”
“Thanks, Rex,” Tarnwell said as he climbed out of the cart. “You won’t be disappointed.”
“I better not be.”
CHAPTER 13
Kevin looked around nervously as Erica punched her code into the ATM. The vestibule was partially enclosed, but he could see Kirby Drive easily from his position, as easily as the passing motorists could see him. He didn’t like being exposed like this, especially when using an electronic device that could be traced.
Erica removed the maximum $300 from the receptacle and retrieved her card.
After she had picked Kevin up and told him what had happened at the university, they’d agreed that the people they were dealing with were probably resourceful enough to trace their credit cards. They hadn’t discussed what to do next, but it seemed like a good idea to have as much cash on hand as possible, so they headed to an ATM that Erica didn’t normally use. Since Barnett and Kaplan had taken Kevin’s wallet, there was no way to get the $86 in his checking account.
“It’ll be another 24 hours before I can take any more out,” Erica said.
“I hope you don’t mind that we’re doing this,” said Kevin, as they walked toward the Honda.
“I’ve got some extra saved up. We’ll be OK.” He thought that the last phrase meant more than the money, perhaps trying to reassure herself that the entire situation would be all right. He could tell that she was still unnerved by her close call.
When they were back in the car, Erica sat staring at the steering wheel as if in a trance.
“What now?” she said. She had already called the hospital and told them she couldn’t come in for her ER rotation this afternoon, making up the excuse that there was a death in the family. Which almost came true.
“Start driving,” Kevin said. “If they’ve tapped into your account, they may know we just made a withdrawal from this location.”
Erica started the car and turned south onto Kirby. “What do you think the chances are that they’ll find this car? They probably know my license plate number by now.”
“As long as we stay away from anywhere we usually go,” Kevin said, “it’ll be coincidence if they see us. And if they find us on some random street, then either our luck is incredibly bad, or they have so much intelligence or manpower that we’ll never get away from them. The question is, how do we get into that safe deposit box on Monday?”
Erica seemed to come back to her senses and looked at him. “Ever since I found the key I’ve been thinking about that. And I only came up with two possibilities. We can either give the key to the police…”
“No way. As soon as we say it’s from Ward, it’ll get back to Robley. They’ll just think it’s another prank.”
“We could drop it off anonymously,” Erica said.
“What if the police just mail it to the bank? Who knows what’ll happen. It’s too risky.”
“Then the only other option is for you to use the key and open the safe deposit box.”
“Me?”
“Well, they’re not going to think I’m Michael Ward.”
“And you think I’ll do better?”
“One time you told me that you filled out so many forms for Dr. Ward that you probably signed his name better than he did.”
“That’s true, but so what? You think I’m going to walk in there and just sign my name and they’ll let me in? Come on!” Kevin threw his hands up.
“Why not? Banks are so big nowadays that the odds of the bank officer knowing any one customer are 100 to 1. And I’ve had a safe deposit box before. All they make you do is show them your ID and sign your name.”
“Hello McFly! One of those two is missing. I don’t even have my own driver’s license, let alone one that says Michael Ward.”
Erica rolled her eyes and gritted her teeth. “Fine. What do you want to do?”
