The merger of Hampton Industries and Preston Industries was about sixty-five percent complete. Adam decided to take personal charge of the remaining planning, which mostly involved the UNITE organizing effort at a handful of Preston Industry plants and the sale of the British toiletry factories and Italian fashion shoe lines. Only loose ends remained to be handled.
Adam’s thoughts. shifted toward Daniel McKnight.
Finally Adam got to his last concern. The admission by his dad that he had fathered another son. Adam picked up the phone and dialed the West Wing. “How’s my father tonight, John?”
“He’s much better , but not fully recovered. Dr. Klein expected him to snap right back from his episode by now, but your father still has some issues. and continues to have difficulty remembering our names. The Doctor is quite sure that in a weeks’ time he’ll be much better.”
“I think that it’s best that I stay away until then, especially since it was probably something I did or said that triggered the episode.”
“That’s probably a good idea, sir. What a shame though, he was making such good progress on that new medicine. Is there anything I can do for you?”
Adam knew very well that his father’s condition was caused by his aggressive questioning about his potential half-brother. The search being conducted by his private investigators was moving much too slowly.
“Actually, there is, John. Would you ask my father if he remembers who ‘E’ is?”
“Excuse me, sir. Did you say just the letter ‘E’, sir? You mean like in Elizabeth?”
“Yes, just ‘E’. Let me know anything he tells you about it.”
“Well, sure, but if it’s all right with you, I’d like to wait until after he takes his medicine.”
“I‘ll leave the timing up to you, John. Just let me know what he says as soon as you can.”
“I’ll do just that, Mister Hampton.”
His mental list being completed, Adam finally relaxed. A memory of his mother flashed into his mind. He didn’t think of her often. His father had gone out of his way to assure that she had little contact or influence over his upbringing.
Adam finished his third drink and began to feel drowsy. The alcohol and the comforting heat from the fire had a relaxing effect. He needed to escape from all pressures that had found their way into his life. It took only a few more minutes for him to enter a deep sleep.
Chapter 26
“Who is this,” Marcia demanded. “Stop calling here! This isn’t funny any more.”
Once again there was no response, just silence until, in desperation, she finally hung up the phone. It was the seventh call within the past four hours. After the first two, Marcia let the calls go to the tape. She stayed close to the machine listening for the sound of a familiar voice, but there was none. The caller didn’t hang up until the machine beeped and made its request for a recorded message. The caller ID screen showed area codes from multiple locations, all within a twenty mile radius of Old Brooking. It was as though the caller was circling his prey. Marcia finally called Kane’s cell phone. He was in his room at the Belmonte watching TV. When she told him about the harassing calls, he told her to call 9-1-1.
“Look, I’m going to check out of this hotel and move in with you. I know you have tight security in your complex, but that wouldn’t stop a pro. This might just be some kids messing around. I did a lot of that when I was a kid. I can’t recall why I thought it was fun to annoy or even frighten other people, but, anyway I’ll feel a lot better if I’m there with you.”
“You may be right. It’s probably just somebody playing a joke.” As she thought more about it, her mind raced back to the day Adam gave her the Preston assignment. The day he joked about “punking” Kane.
“Why the sudden silence? What are you thinking?”
“I think I know who’s behind the calls. It wouldn’t surprise me if Adam is having someone do it. He’s got that sick kind of mind. Marcia told him about the plan Adam had to embarrass Kane by having an overtly homosexual man accost him in the men’s room at Hampton Industries.
“I see what you mean. It does sound like the kind of thing that his sick mind would dream up. Why can’t he get it in his head that it’s over? With all he has to do with the merger, how can he waste time on such petty nonsense? Now, I’m definitely coming over there. Go ahead and call 9-1-1 and I’ll be there in about thirty minutes. I’ll stop and pick up some wine on the way.”
“I’ll cook up some hors d’oeuvres to go with it. See you later.”
Marcia heard a “call waiting” click on the line while speaking to Kane. She ignored it,
The screen showed “Unknown Caller”. Marcia grabbed the phone and pressed the “TALK” button. She screamed into the phone, “Listen, you sick son of a bitch, I’m calling the police, you’d better stop calling here.”
There was no response. She pressed “END” and let the handset slip back into its cradle. She sat quietly for a few minutes, regaining her composure. She took a deep breath, picked up the phone and dialed 9-1-1.
Kane arrived at the gate exactly thirty minutes after their phone conversation.
“You’re amazing, Kane Masterson. A person could set their clocks by you,” she said as she buzzed him in. She met him at the door, took two bottles of wine from him, placed them on a table by the door and returned to give him a hug. The embrace was long and needful. When they separated, tears were streaming down her face. Kane cupped her face in his hands and wiped away her tears with his thumbs. Then he drew her face close to his and kissed her gently on the lips as he kicked the door closed.
Marcia suddenly remembered that she was warming up the oven.
“Hold that thought,” she said as she broke away and headed for the kitchen. “I’ll go shut the oven off.”
“That would probably be a good idea.”
Half an hour later they returned to the kitchen. Her kitchen had a cozy nook with a small table and two chairs. Marcia set up the glasses while Kane returned to his car to fetch his three suitcases. He returned to open the bottle of Riesling.
With all their needs sated, they moved to her living room to review where things stood. Marcia began, “I didn’t think it would be this hard. People resign from companies every day. I’m sure that they don’t go through this much shit. I don’t know whether to be afraid or angry.”
“Probably a bit of both is in order. That’s why I’m here. Did Adam give you any warning that he was going to behave like this?”
“Not directly, but when I called accounting today to tell them where to send my last paycheck and the
