call.”
“I'll call Gene about the Dibble thing. I have to talk to him anyway.”
“Your call,” Mark said. “I'll follow your lead, boss… nephew.”
Ward hung up.
He wouldn't sell the company to Dibble for himself, but he had other people to think about. Flash might agree to institute some form of profit- sharing and to not fire employees for a certain period of time. There was also a chance this would somehow work out and Ward would be cleared. All it would take was proving who had come after him. Maybe Todd Hartman could work that miracle. He dialed Gene.
“No news is good news” was how his friend and attorney answered the call. “Wiggins is going to meet with us this morning at tenthirty He's informed the assistant federal attorney that if he wants to see you, he will bring you in. Any interviews from here out will only be conducted in his presence. Even so, the FBI may pick you up. You can't trust the bastards. If they show up and want to take you in, call me, or have Natasha do it and I'll call Wiggins. It's likely they'll take it slow and easy and make sure they have their ducks lined up before they move. I get the feeling the prosecutor doesn't have much confidence in the case so far, but that could change at any moment. There's a big commotion to get somebody charged for this…”
“What's Wiggins costing me?” Ward asked.
“Twenty thousand retainer for starters. That a problem?”
Ward paused, then forged ahead. “Nope.”
“Then bring your checkbook. That pays up through arraignment and plea. The rest depends on what he has to do. This goes to trial, a hundred thousand easy.”
“A hundred thousand dollars? Listen-Unk told me that Flash Dibble still wants the company. Flash called him. If you want to, you can see if the offer stands, but if he tries to drop it, it will make me wonder if he's involved in bringing down the value. Keep me posted.”
“You change your mind?”
“No, I haven't. I don't know. Let's just say I want to do what's best. And maybe there are other potential buyers.”
“Who'd offer less and sell to Flash,” Gene said. “By the way, Todd Hartman making any progress on this?”
“I haven't talked to him today. So far, his people have kept the press away.”
“See you at ten- thirty Ward.”
“Sounds good.”
Ward called Todd's cell phone. It rang four times and went to his voice mail.
When Natasha came in, he filled her in on his conversation with Gene.
When his cell phone rang a minute later, Ward looked at the caller ID. It was Todd Hartman.
“Todd,” he said. “We need to talk to you. Something's come up that might be important.”
“I was coming to see you with good news. I'll be there in ten minutes.”
THIRTY-SEVEN
When Ward opened the front door, Todd was parking his Denali. Leslie Wilde drove in behind him. He waited for her to join him and kissed her on the cheek, and they came to the door together.
“I tried to call,” Leslie said, holding up her cell phone. “My battery is dead and I don't have my car charger. I thought I could run errands or whatever you need done. I'm going to take a personal day.”
“You don't have to do that, Leslie,” Ward said.
“I know, but I really want to help. Cheryl is covering your phone for the day. If it's okay?”
“We both appreciate what you've already done, more than you know. Come on in,” Ward said, holding the door open.
“The media vultures are still up there,” Leslie said. “It's the same thing over and over on the news. I guess they don't have anything better to put on. It dominated the Today show this morning. It's international news. The virus is still spreading, but they've been warning people about not opening the e-mail with the subject ‘You have to see this.’ ”
Ward led them into the den, where Natasha greeted them with a bright smile.
“Todd, what's your good news?” Ward asked.
Todd looked at Leslie. “Maybe we should talk in private,” he said.
“No problem. I'll give you guys a few minutes,” Leslie said.
Todd said, “It's about the prototype.”
“Leslie can hear it,” Ward said. “She knows all about it.”
“You're the client,” Todd told him, smiling at Leslie.
Todd took a tape player from his briefcase and placed it on the table. “I wired myself before I spoke to her.”
He pressed down on the play button and the quartet listened to the meeting on the campus of UNCC.
After the conversation played Todd clicked off the machine.
“Ward told me she looks young,” Natasha said.
“Yes, she does,” Todd replied. “She could pass for twelve.”
“And by now she's seen the news, and even before that she was insinuating that she thought Ward made overtures toward her. What if she thinks she can shake him down?” Leslie asked.
“I think we're past that,” Todd said.
“Christ,” Ward said.
“She's a disturbed young lady with a need for attention,” Natasha said. “This could get her some.”
Ward asked Todd, “How do we handle it?”
“She was in the middle seat, so I got the name of the man seated beside her on the aisle. His name is Albert Gaines, and he lives down in Rock Hill. I'll talk to him-I'd bet he saw the car when you showed it to her and that he was away from the seat only while you were. And he'll know whether or not you seemed to be coming on to Alice. Sitting that close he'd have to have seen or heard everything that went on.”
“Okay,” Ward said. “I'm sure you're right. He was right there.”
“I spoke to Alice Palmer late last night. She and her boyfriend tried extortion-asking for ten thousand. I told her I'd talked to witness Gaines, and said you'd go two and I wouldn't have them put in jail. Everybody gets what they want. We're going to pay to get the car back. Eight tonight at Concord Mills food court.”
“Let's just hope she doesn't decide to call the police anyway,” Natasha said. “Maybe she doesn't need the money as much as she needs attention.”
“That's possible,” Todd said, “but I'm sure her boyfriend just wants a payday.”
“By the way, I have someone looking into Trey Dibble, and I'm trying to find out if Lander Electric has an investigator they use locally or one their lawyers use. You know which law firm they've retained?”
“I forget the name. Gene's been dealing with them. They're a big firm with offices around the country and two- hundred- plus lawyers. Their North Carolina office is in Durham.”
“If you don't mind, I'll call him for that information.”
Ward wrote down Gene's phone numbers for Todd.
“This could get expensive,” Todd said.
Natasha said, “Whatever it takes, Todd. We'll handle it. Let's just get it fixed as quickly as possible.”
Todd nodded, but he didn't seem to be listening. He was looking out through the window at something near the trees. He turned to look at Ward. “I want everybody to just keep talking like you are now. And don't look outside.” He reached into his pocket for a walkie- talkie and, holding it in his lap, keyed it.
“Number two,” Todd said, as though he was talking to Ward, “circle the house. Slow and quiet. I saw a light flare in the trees, up on the back ridge, ninety degrees out from the living room. Might be a camera.”
“Everyone just keep talking, and don't look out the window.” Todd looked back toward the kitchen, stood and walked toward the door, turned, and sprinted for the front.
Ward, Natasha, and Leslie sat frozen, as Todd had instructed, until Ward heard him yell out, and he turned to
