“Even though they specialize in it.”
He kept his eyes locked on mine, thankfully. “Exactly. But even you have to admit, the numbers don’t lie.”
I leaned forward, placing my palms on the table, and then grabbed the paperwork to start reading over the fine print. I wasn’t going to tell him not to worry, because he was right. The numbers were worse than I thought. I was going to have to study these and then give clear direction.
“Where would you suggest I begin?” I asked.
“I’d sell off one of the entities. The airline, the shipping company, or the leasing agency. I’d boost your personnel security contracts since they are the most lucrative, and frankly, they are the most vulnerable. You might consider using some of your sales to hire a Washington PR company.”
“I’ve never had one before. You think it’s wise to do that now? Start a new project?”
He shrugged. “You need to protect your personal connections with your higher ups. You need those contracts. It’s the fuel that makes everything else run smoothly. Your friendship with the Vice President, the Secretary of State—you need to make sure they are solid.”
He was right. I needed to reassure myself things were that bad, first.
“And,” Frank started, placing his hands on the table. “I know you’ve never considered this, but it would be a good idea to cultivate some contracts with the Kingdoms.”
“No. No non-US.”
“But Clearwater and Red Dog are making big inroads into that,” he argued.
“You don’t know their numbers, Frank, or do you?”
“No, sir—Marco. I don’t. I have nothing to go by except what I see in the papers, and the contract bulletins.”
“And you don’t know the casualties they are suffering, do you?”
“No, Marco.”
“They put their men and women in bad places. I won’t do that. I don’t care how bad ass we are. I won’t do that.”
He leaned back in the chair, and I knew there was something else.
“What is it?”
“Yesterday, I got a call from Senator Campbell. He asked me point blank if you were interested in meeting with a delegation from the Kingdom of Bonin. They have just signed on to bankroll a housing project in North Africa. They are going to need security for their royal family as they negotiate and follow-up on these projects.”
“So? I’ll meet with them, but I’ve never had to take one of those jobs before. I usually collect a referral fee and send it to someone else.”
“I understand, but Senator Campbell said he was hesitant to refer them to you. He had questions. He asked me if your recent setbacks had caused you to lose your nerve.”
I was ready to toss the paperwork, the table and all four chairs out the large window overlooking the bustling street outside.
Hadn’t Frank ever heard the term, “Don’t shoot the messenger?”
Chapter 4
Shannon
I waited two days before flying home to St. Pete. My body still rumbled—shaking, really, from the insides of my core all the way to my toes. I’d stepped into forbidden territory, yet something was so satisfying about it, I was a moth to the flame. It might destroy me, but I’d accomplished what I set out to do, and now, unexpectedly, I wanted more. So much more.
After Emily’s death, Mom and Dad moved to Florida once I left for college a few years later. They joined an active adult community in order to fill that horrible void left with Em’s passing. I was grateful the burden didn’t fall on me, because I was also reeling from my older sister’s untimely death. Those were strange years, finishing up high school and then applying to colleges with as much direction as a rudderless boat. The house had been so quiet without her. My mother rarely smiled, and my dad drank more. Never one for many words anyway, he retreated into a darkness that was so black it threatened to take me with it.
I became invisible. I never knew how much light Emily shed on our family until that radiance was extinguished. I was careful not to upset my parents, and they tried very hard to shield me from the hurt and pain they were feeling and could not help but show. It was a standoff with no winners.
I finished my degree in California, at Sonoma State, in communications and started exploring my options for future television work, which had been my long-term goal. I learned how to look and act professionally and took on an acting coach. A small low-budget indie film even cast me, giving me screen credits only. I modeled some, but when I was encouraged to go to near-starvation levels to get my weight down, and I refused. Plus-sized jobs started booking me, even though I was normal weight. My self-esteem plummeted and at my lowest, had an affair with my drama teacher in college. That lasted until his marriage broke up over his affair with another student.
I vowed that would never happen again to me. It was not a part of my life I felt very proud of. Lesson learned.
But it whetted my appetite for older men.
Em would have married Marco Gambini if she hadn’t been killed in that car accident that took her life with three of her sorority sisters’. My mother and I had hoped the accident would curtail my father’s drinking, because the drunk who hit them walked away with just a broken nose. He got some jail time, but not enough to satisfy our revenge and anger.
And that brought the other heartache into my
