Page 15

Chapter Fifteen

S eth refrained from touching his cheek where the impression of Jetta’s lips remained. He told himself to not get his hopes up that her feelings were warming toward him. An incoming text was the distraction he needed. “I’d better get this, as it might be work.”

She stood. “I’ll clear.”

Seth checked the incoming text from Brogan.

Hope you don’t mind, but I mentioned your quest to Fallon since Topher Robotics is in the news with rumors of a hostile takeover.

Seth furrowed his brow. His colleague had been adamant about not being interested in clearing Ainsley’s name, but having the veteran investigative reporter’s assistance would provide invaluable guidance.

What did he say?

He’s intrigued, wants a full report on what you’re doing and what happened 15years ago. Stop by his office when you’re in.

If Fallon assigned a story to Brogan, it might give the investigation the juice it needed to progress at a faster clip. While he was texting Brogan, Seth decided to see if Brogan’s girlfriend was available, as he could see the mess the intruder and the crime scene techs left behind.

Hey, is Melender up or sleeping?

Up. She’s off for the next few days. Why?

Someone broke into the Ainsley home this morning and messed some stuff up. She’s okay, but the intruder got away. Jetta could use some help cleaning up.

I’ll ask her to text you if she’s free.

Brogan sent a winking face emoji, which Seth ignored by replying only with a thumbs up emoji. Jetta had taken Bingley out to the backyard, so Seth finished his unsweetened iced tea while he waited for Brogan to get back to him. His phone dinged with a text from Brogan saying Melender would be on her way in fifteen minutes. He sent another thumbs up emoji.

“I hope you don’t mind, but I asked Brogan’s girlfriend, Melender, to help get the house cleaned up,” he told Jetta when she and Bingley returned to the kitchen. “She works for Squeaky Clean, so she’s really good.”

Jetta frowned. “I suppose Mom can pay for the help, but I wish you would have asked before hiring someone.”

Seth realized his mistake. “Oh, I should have explained. She’s not coming as an employee of Squeaky Clean but as a friend.”

“But I don’t even know her.”

“That doesn’t matter to Melender. She has an interesting story to tell about her own journey to justice.”

A knock at the door tugged his attention away from Jetta. Bingley barked and raced for the door.

“I’ll get it.” Seth could see Jetta was a little spooked by the earlier intruder.

Melender Harman stood on the porch with a plastic caddy of cleaning supplies. “Hey, Seth.”

“Melender, thanks for coming.” Seth gestured her inside. “Come on in. Jetta’s in the kitchen.”

Melender stepped inside, Bingley shoving his nose into her side. “Who’s this beautiful boy?”

“This is Bingley.” Seth led the way back to the kitchen, where Jetta was wiping the counters. “Jetta, this is Melender. Melender, Jetta’s working on getting the house ready to sell since Mom needs to move to one-level living.”

Melender raised the caddy. “Jetta, I have two things to tell you. One, I’m bossy as all get out when it comes to cleaning, and two, I’m so sorry this happened to you.”

“Thanks.” Jetta wrung out the sponge and put it back on the sink. “I wasn’t too happy when Seth told me you were coming, but now I can see we’ll get along fine.”

Seth hid a smile as the two woman began planning how they would clean the house. Good, Jetta could use a friend and help in tackling the mess inside. He said a quick prayer of thanks that Melender came over.

“I’ll leave you two alone.” Then he remembered Brogan’s text. “I forgot to tell you that Brogan texted me our boss wants to hear about your dad’s case since Topher Robotics is in the news.”

“The hostile takeover?”

At his nod, Jetta continued, “Do you think Brogan might be assigned to look into it?” The hope in her eyes made him want to promise her the moon, but he tempered his reaction.

“Maybe, but we should work on the invoices ourselves. Perhaps Mr. Warner will find something too. I’ve got to cover a ribbon cutting at three. I’ll let you know as soon as I’ve talked to Fallon.”

Seth left, his heart aching for all the burdens Jetta was carrying. At lease he’d been able to ease her physical work with Melender onsite. His thoughts turned to his meeting with Fallon. He prayed for a good outcome because he would need all the help he could get to convince his boss to open an official investigation into Topher Robotics.

* * *

“Any other business?” Ryan Topher eyed his siblings over the rim of his coffee cup.

Yasmine, the company’s chief operating officer, cleared her throat. “Daniel Pluris in communications fielded a call from a local reporter, Brogan Gilmore, asking for an interview with you.”

Ryan replaced his cup carefully on its matching saucer, relieved his hand had stayed steady and not betrayed the roiling emotions inside. “What would the interview be about?”

She consulted her iPad. “A profile of Topher Robotics was all Gilmore told him.”

“Hmm.” Ryan regarded his sister. “What do you think?”

“I think we could use all the positive PR we could get.” She leaned across the small conference table in Ryan’s office. “We could feed Gilmore hints about the wearable AI your team is developing.”

“It could work in our favor with our shareholders too,” Gene, their chief financial officer, chimed in. “We barely won the vote this time. I doubt Todd Griffin and Mari Rawls will give up now that they smell vulnerability. They’ll try again with another attempt at a hostile takeover from Maxwell Technology.”

“I agree.” Ryan, along with their father, had rallied the long-time shareholders into banding with the family and repulsing the initial takeover bid, but the margin had been slim. One misstep, and they could easily lose a second vote. “Who is Gilmore?”

“He’s with The Northern Virginia Herald , hardly a hard-hitting news outlet, but it does have a decent circulation online and a print run of 300,000 readers.” Yasmine’s tone dismissed the paper as inconsequential, but Ryan knew the power of the local press shouldn’t be discounted so easily. “An interview with Ryan would be a coup for any reporter, let alone one of his stature. We should be able to manipulate him to say what we want and get a nice puff piece out of it.”

“Don’t be so sure.” Gene crossed his arms, his lips set in a smug line Ryan recognized all too well. The middle child, Gene constantly needled their younger sister as if needing to prove his seniority again and again. “A few months ago, he broke that case involving the wrongly convicted woman, Melender Harman, and he was a former investigative reporter with some big-name newspapers.”

Yasmine raised a single eyebrow. “You should have dug a little deeper, brother. Gilmore had a spectacular fall from grace for fudging sources. Yes, his stories about that ex-con got picked up by the Associated Press and sent around the country, but he’s still near the bottom of the journalistic heap.”

Ryan rolled his eyes at the interplay of one-upmanship between the two of them. As the elder brother, he tried to stay well out of their petty squabbles. But he agreed with Yasmine’s assessment of the reporter. “The bottom line is that Gilmore, having gotten a taste of the big times again with the Harman story, is probably eager for another feather in his cap.”

“Exactly.” Yasmine shot Gene a triumphant glance, which he ignored. “But to be safe, I could invite him here for a background interview, strictly off the record, and get a feel for the story’s direction. Then if we’re satisfied he’ll report what we want, we’ll give him access to you, Ryan.”

Gene opened his mouth, but Ryan cut him off before he could muddy the waters. “That’s an excellent idea. Set it up for this week if you can.”

“Will do.” She made a notation on her tablet, then stood. “I’ve got an appointment, so if you’ll excuse me…”

“Who is he this time?” Gene’s casual question stopped their sister halfway across the room.

She spun around, fire dancing in her eyes. “If you must know, dear brother, it’s with my gynecologist, a follow up appointment to discuss the results of the biopsy I had a few weeks ago.”

Her news pulled Ryan to his feet. For all their arguments, the three of them were a tight-knit bunch. “Are you okay?”

“Why didn’t you say something?” Gene also popped to his feet.

She waved them off. “It’s a small mass on my left ovary. It’s not cancer, but we need to discuss whether or not it should be removed.” She offered a saucy grin. “I didn’t tell you two because I knew there would be an opportunity to spring it on you and wanted to enjoy your reactions when you found out. It was so worth it.”

When the door closed behind her, Gene gathered his notebook, preferring paper and pen to technology for meetings. “She’ll be the death of me.”

Ryan leaned against his desk. “Me too.”

“How’s Dad doing?”

“I think the close vote shook him.” Ryan winced at the memory of Peter’s fury and his caustic words about how his children were ruining Topher Robotics. “But we’re very close to announcing the new wearable AI device.”

“The sooner the better,” Gene said. “Some of the shareholders who voted with us only did so because of loyalty to Dad. They’ll jump ship if we can’t prove we’re growing the company as fast as they’d like.”

“Don’t worry. I’ve got it under control.” Ryan returned to his desk as Gene exited his office. He would do whatever it took to ensure the company his father built stayed in the family’s hands. While his father railed about preserving his legacy, Ryan had more practical matters to think about if Maxwell Technology succeeded in its bid for control. For one thing, he didn’t care for another company to take credit for the technology his team was developing. On the other hand, he wasn’t sure their books could withstand close scrutiny such a takeover would unleash. No, much better to use this reporter to burnish the reputation of Topher Robotics. After all, it wouldn’t be the first time he manipulated the press to make a potential problem disappear.