I nod. “What a mess for Nate. How’s he doing?”
Jim shakes his head. He may be the head of a private security firm, but he’s in this business because Nate is his best friend. Nate’s wife went missing while we were in Vegas a few months ago and was just found murdered.
“Do they know anything?” I ask.
“The FBI is working with the Las Vegas and San Francisco police, but nothing much yet.”
I scrub my hands over my face. “I really liked Cecelia. She was smart and funny and had a great way of getting people to be generous. I gave a quarter of my earnings last year to the Lancaster Foundation. Corrine was working a lot with Cecelia; I was going to ask her to come with me.”
“Nate would like that. It’s a small group, relatively speaking.”
“Relative to what?”
“They’re expecting maybe two hundred guests. If we opened it to the public, we might see two hundred thousand trying to pay their respects. She was beloved by so many. Nate’s getting mail and condolence cards by the sack, and the letters are overwhelming. It’s taking both his and Cecelia’s assistant to go through each note and catalog them. He’s heard from two presidents, the British royal family, and tons of strangers. He’s also had a few threats and multiple marriage proposals.”
“That’s just gross,” I say.
“Her parents are distraught,” Jim adds. “This is the second child they’ve buried in the last three years.”
“That’s awful. Please let me know if there’s anything I can do.”
Jim leaves, and I finalize my prep for my meeting with the investors. Mason is a dynamo when it comes to numbers, and I will need to be ready with my A-game.
As I look everything over one last time, Corrine appears with the proposals in hand, my overcoat, and a cup of coffee.
“You need to leave if you’re going to be on time,” she says. “Your car is waiting downstairs. Ben is driving. Would you like Brian to come up and walk out with you?”
I shake my head. “Are you going to be okay alone?”
Corrine seems startled by my comment. “I’m not alone. I’m surrounded by people working. I’ll be just fine. You’re scheduled to return calls when you’re back, and I have the foundation work and a project with marketing. I’ll be working all afternoon and most likely into the evening.”
“I should be back at two thirty. If you leave, make sure someone from Jim’s team drives and escorts you wherever you go.”
“It’s not necessary,” Corrine says again.
“But it is. Promise me you won’t go anywhere alone.”
Corrine holds up her hands. “Okay, fine.”
“Before I forget, Cecelia Lancaster’s service is next week.”
“Yes. I have it on your calendar. I figured you’d attend.”
“Would you like to join me?”
I feel like I’m asking her on a date. What is it with me? Jeez.
“It’s invite only,” she reminds me.
“Yes, but you knew her well, and we can go together.”
It’s absolutely reasonable for her to attend with me. It wouldn’t raise any suspicions. She worked with Cecelia.
“I’d love that.” She puts her hand on my back and pushes me softly to the door. “Now go knock Mason Sullivan on his ass with your proposal. Go get us some money for your phenomenal idea.”
I walk out of my office feeling like a million bucks. Corrine’s incredibly dedicated to my company. That Sanders ass may be a hero to many in this town, but I’m glad Corrine’s rid of him. She can do much better than some dumb jock who can’t see how great she is.
After a short drive, we arrive across town at Quince. They rarely do a lunch seating, but Mason knows the chef, and this gives us the chance to eat alone. When I walk in, he’s waiting with Cynthia Hathaway, a salesperson from his office. This is my time to shine.
Unfortunately, I’m not even halfway through my presentation when Cynthia gets a call.
“I’m sorry,” she says. “I need to take this.” She steps aside and mostly listens for a moment before she returns. “I have a mini emergency I need to attend to. Jackson, Mason has gone through your numbers, and we think you’re too conservative in some of your startup costs. We’re seeing much higher numbers from some of your competitors. We like your approach—translucent solar film panels that attach to windows are a brilliant idea. This is a no-brainer for us. We’ll offer you twenty-five million and bring up our stake to twenty percent in the new venture.”
I’m stunned. It’s ten million dollars more than what I was asking, for only two more percent.
“We’ll send over the contract.” She stands and kisses me on the cheek. “Now that I’m leaving, you and Mason can gossip without me about your poker club.”
“Club?” Mason acts offended.
Cynthia waves as she rushes off.
“Her sister-in-law is having a baby, but she’s right; we think you’re not evaluating your needs with enough inflation to cover the rising staffing costs,” Mason explains. “Franklin Technologies is struggling right now because they thought their name alone would get them great candidates. Unfortunately, living here in the Bay Area is prohibitively expensive. We don’t want you to have the same challenges, so as Cynthia said, we’re upping our bid. And we’ll reserve the option for a second round with an additional twenty-five million for an additional ten percent of the company. How does that sound?”
“I think we have a deal. Send over the contracts, and we’ll make this work.”
“Great. Let’s enjoy our lunch.”
Like magic, our plates arrive and are placed in front of us.
“I heard you had an exciting morning,” Mason says.
“Not my favorite way to lose productivity, but it does make the highlight reel.”
“What happened?”
“A messenger delivered a box for my admin—”
“Corrine?”
“Yes, I brought it upstairs and thought nothing of it. When she opened it, it smelled of shit. She took it downstairs to open it without offending our senses. And, trust me, it was pretty bad. Our security guard is a former Army explosive expert—trained by Jim and Clear Security, of course—”
“Absolutely.”
“He recognized that because it was fertilizer, it could be a bomb.”
“Corrine is lucky it wasn’t.”
“No kidding. She was halfway out the door when the security guard insisted that she put it down. He called the police department, and the bomb squad came. It was complete chaos. They cleared the building and the rest of the block.”
“What a mess.”
I shrug. “We lost the morning.”
“Who sent it?”
“There was a message in the box that told her to keep her hands off her ex-boyfriend.”
Mason sits back, looking shocked. “Was she messing with her ex?”
I shake my head. “I know I’m not known to be the most sensitive guy out there, but this asshole broke up with her on the news.”
“The news?”
“Yeah, he’s the quarterback of the Goldminers.”