Page 98 of The List

THURSDAY, JUNE 22

11:16A.M.

CHRIS FINALLY PUT IN AN APPEARANCE AT THE MORNING SESSIONof the contract negotiations. He’d been delayed at the mill, where he spent nearly an hour giving the flash drive a final revision. His arrival at the Comfort Inn came just as UPIU concluded its contract negotiations. Amazingly, a consensus on all points had been reached with the paperworkers, the head of the company’s delegation proudly informing him that a preliminary agreement had been initialed. The quickness surprised him, particularly after Reed’s prediction from the other night, but a wink from Reed during a break signaled that he’d been more successful than anticipated.

“One down, two to go,” Chris told the CEO from his cell phone in the hall. They were both glad a third of the work was done.

He hung up and was starting back to the meeting room when the security guard stationed outside all week approached. He had his doubts about the man and wondered if he worked for De Florio. Certainly, at a minimum, he was reporting to him.

“Mr. De Florio dropped by earlier,” the guard said. “You weren’t here so he left this note for you.”

The man handed him a piece of paper. As the guard walked off he unfolded and read

WE’RE WAITING

YOU KNOW WHERE

He smiled.

That he did. Apparently, his partners finally got the message.

He deliberately loitered another half hour before leaving the Comfort Inn. Then, in one of the white Hickory Row cars, he drove himself directly to Dracula’s Place. His staff had told him the cottage’s nickname and he thought it more than appropriate. Not only as a reference to the unique architecture, but as a fitting description for its occupant. A steward opened the front door and escorted him to Lee’s private study.

He entered and the door was closed behind him.

Lee sat at a small writing desk. Hughes in front. Their faces conveyed that neither was in a good mood.

“And what brings you two down to the woods of middle Georgia?”

“You know damn well why we’re here,” Lee said.

He eased himself into a chair and decided to be coy. “Please, enlighten me?”

“We know about your health problems,” Hughes said. “And we read that confession in your computer. What are you trying to prove, Chris?”

He glared at Hughes. “I’m not trying to prove anything. On the contrary, I’m trying to disprove things.”

“What does that mean?”

“Thirty years ago, what were you, Larry? A half-assed salesman hocking brown paper bags to grocery store chains worrying about your next commission check. You lived in a three-bedroom cracker box and probably agonized every summer if you had enough saved to take a lousy two weeks off. What did you drive? A clunker with a hundred thousand miles on it? Look at you today. That suit must have cost $1,000. Those cuff links, that much and more. That diamond watch has to be worth at least twenty grand.What do you have, two mistresses? And how did you get down here today? The jet? You’ve come a long way.”

“You’re damn right I have.”

He turned to Lee. “And what were you, Hamilton? An assistant production manager at a paper mill. Salaried man, paid for forty hours and working sixty. Subject to being fired at the whim of management over nothing at all. Not unlike the hundreds who now work for you. All the country-club memberships, dinners at the governor’s mansion, and lunches with the mayor you now enjoy don’t go with that kind of job, do they?”

“What’s your point, Chris?”

“You know. You’ve both known for years. Ever since you decided to freeze me out. I guess you forgot who found the money that made this possible, and who managed it. If it’d been up to you two, we’d have been bankrupt twenty years ago. Through careful management we prospered, not from hobnobbing with bureaucrats and fattening the pockets of politicians.”

Lee said, “No one said your contribution wasn’t appreciated.”

“And no one said thank you either.”

“That what this is about? Pissed we outvote you?”

“You know what has to stop.”

Lee sat back and seemed to consider the words. “As I recall the whole Priority idea was yours in the first place.”