Alice brought her attention back to the moment. She was sitting beside Ken as he scanned through his own files—a chronological, thorough record of the founding of a business that today was flourishing and that, in the future, she’d bet would be considered the beginning of a dynasty.
Her men were incredibly talented and driven.
“Is it a pleasant stroll?”
Ken had told her he’d responded to what he couldn’t control in his youth by embracing, categorizing, and organizing what he could control.
His reaction to the uncomfortable emotional hurdles of adolescence was similar to mine.
“It is.” He looked over at her and smiled. “I have journal entries in here, one for each month of the first year.” He clicked on the first one and then read aloud.
“We decided to call the company Edgers. That’s an inside joke as much as it’s a marketing brand. Yeah, we might be a little ahead of ourselves thinking of this venture as some grand company when we just have the one retail location. But I believe, if we’re careful and smart, then down the road—maybe in a decade or so—Edgers, Inc. might even become a dynasty.” Ken paused and looked at her.
“I know. Big dreams, right?”
She knew he was referring to her grin. “No. I’m smiling because I thought the same word—dynasty—to be in your future before you started reading.”
“Oh. That’s sweet.” He leaned over and kissed her. “I’ll spare you all the nitty and gritty of the first year. It was touch and go for a while. But we got our feet under us, and began to see a fair bit of success, when we began to advertise Edgers’ Connections.”
“We shared a makeshift apartment in those days, an extra bit of space that was above the store,” Ian said. He came into the room bearing a tray holding coffee—and some of Anna Jessop’s cookies. “We technically weren’t supposed to do that, because the area was zoned as business only, but we did it anyway. We rented a post office box so we could have a personal mailing address separate from our business one. That was a hell of a lot cheaper than paying rent, which we couldn’t afford.”
“Like I said, if you want something badly enough, you find a way to do it.” Alice looked from one lover to the other.
“You did indeed say that.” Ken grinned at his cousin then turned his attention back to his computer screen.
“You’re looking for clues in your accounting files.” Alice nodded toward the screen. “But maybe you need to reacquaint yourself with your journal, instead.”
“You have a point.”
“I’m going to give Charlie a call,” Ian said.
“Good thinking, cousin.”
“Charlie?”
“Our manager,” Ian explained. “We hired him part time that first month. By the third month, he took a chance on us and quit his other two part-time jobs, even though we couldn’t pay him as a full-time employee yet. That came a few months after that. He gave us a lot of free time, so when things started to improve, so did his wages. In fact, that was the first major investment in the business we made after the initial outlay.”
“The way you’re speaking of him, it sounds like he was definitely worth it.”
“Absolutely. And he’s got a great memory. Maybe he’ll be able to think of someone we crossed or pissed off or whatever.” Ian pulled out his phone and stepped out of the office.
Alice turned her attention back to Ken. “It must have been exciting,” she said to him. “Stepping out, just the two of you, no family close by. Believing in yourselves, having a dream, and then making that dream into a reality.”
Ken ran his hand down her back. “You’re damn good for my ego, sweetheart.”
“I’m just stating the truth. You and your cousin—your best friend—left Wyoming behind and settled in Colorado. You had a dream, and you waited for the right opportunity. I can just picture it. There you were, on a shoestring budget, but with really big balls.” She winked, and Ken chuckled. “Then the right business became available, and you jumped on it. You didn’t let anyone, or anything, get in your way. You bought that place, and you owned your dream. You were coordinated, smart, and savvy. And then, step by step, you put your plan into action. The two of you transformed Baker’s Sports Supply into a thriving, top-notch company!” Then she looked at him. “I’ll even bet you the former owner is pleased you took his baby and gave it new life.”
Ken blinked and had the oddest look on his face.
“What? What did I say?” She tried to run her words back to herself, but she’d been on one of her “emotive rants,” as Jason would sometimes call them. She didn’t always remember every word that came out of her mouth when she got going.
“Baker’s baby. Yeah, the store was all of that. But he had a son—a grown son whom the man hadn’t seen in several years and…”
Ian stepped into the room, holding his cell phone to his ear. “Baker’s son…the little shithead that showed up at the beginning of our third year and tried to sue us for stealing his legacy. What was his name?”
“Owen.” Ken’s smile didn’t look very friendly. But that was all right, because Alice understood they’d just thought of someone who might have had an axe to grind.
“Owen fucking Baker. Thanks, Charlie. I’ll get back to you soon.” Ian ended the call and just stared at Ken.
“Travis mentioned that he’d had us checked out, remember?” Ken said. “He said after we came up good from the usual sources, he called someone, a personal friend. And on that friend’s recommendation, he accepted our offer.”
“Bob Travis and Carrick Baker are friends?” Alice asked.
“Yeah, childhood friends.” Ian nodded. “I wonder where the hell Owen Baker is now. More to the point, I wonder where he was a couple weeks ago, when that fire was started.”
“Are
