Chapter Twenty-three

Harry was grinning like a Cheshire cat as she waited for an audience with Guy Cole. He had wanted their meeting to be on his home ground, and he’d have it on home ground. An hour later, she was still waiting to be granted entrance into the great man’s office. If she had been angry before, she was pissed off now. This is the height of arrogance. She drew a deep calming breath. I can be patient; he’s about to get his, no doubt about it. And I’m going to relish every moment.

Cole’s secretary gave a cold look as Harriet Aristides stood up for possibly the hundredth time and scowled at her. Then her intercom buzzed and she looked at the tall, intimidating woman who was bristling with pent up anger. “Mr. Cole will see you now.”

“Damn straight he will,” Harry bit out as she stalked into the office and slammed the door behind her.

Cole gave her a look that was cynical and calculating. “Harriet,” he said in a condescending tone, “you decided to give in gracefully and come dance to my tune.”

“Dance to your tune, Cole? By the time I’ve finished with you, your lawyer is going to be working out how you can sidestep a long term in jail!”

Guy Cole had kept an eye on Harriet Aristides for years. She was good, very good. The one thing he didn’t knew about her was that she rarely said anything she couldn’t support. “Then, my dear, please enlighten me to your newfound knowledge.”

She pointedly ignored his motioning for her to sit. Instead, she towered over his desk, reminding him of a lion about to pounce. “One, you don’t call me my dear; two, I don’t sit with creeps like you; and three, read this and weep.” She threw a folder at him that contained copies of her evidence, enjoying the shock and disbelief on his face before she marched out of the office, sneering at the secretary. As Harry punched the button for the elevator, she heard Guy Cole shout for his secretary to contact his lawyer and then find Eric Lasser. The doors opened and she stepped into the car. The weight of the world she thought she had on her shoulders was miraculously falling away as she descended to the ground floor.

Harry knew that the documents in the folder she had given Cole would be the saving of her company. They would be the ones to obtain the approval for the testing and sale of their revolutionary new drug. There would be no licensing for the product the Cole Company had submitted. As the floors quickly passed by, she pondered Jacob’s words the night before. They implicated Eric Lasser and provided positive proof that he had been working for the Cole Company. Apparently heavy gambling debts and drinking problems had wiped out Eric’s resources, and he had felt he had no choice but to resort to stealing his friends’ work and selling it to the highest bidder. Eric’s contact had been a Cole employee named Randy Allerdice, Jacob’s father. Since Randy and Eric had met through Jacob, the young man was taking some of the blame onto himself.

Together she and Jacob had spent the night tracking down people who could verify the facts. When everything was confirmed, she seized the opportunity to arrange a meeting with Cole, discussing it with no one, not taking the chance of tipping her hand.

The details of her next move were racing through her mind when one made her heart somersault and stopped her in her tracks. Nicky trusted me to handle the situation. Nicky had known Eric for years and he was as close to family as one could get, without being a blood relative. “How could he be under suspicion?” could have been Nicky’s logical question, but instead she had put the information into Harry’s hands.

Harry’s thoughts dwelled on the image of Nicky. A kaleidoscope of their time together floated in her thoughts, from the first day to the last minutes. How I wish you had decided to come back here, Nicky. We could have shared some good memories.

The bell on the elevator sounded the ground floor and the doors swept open. Now we have a company that can move into the next decade under full steam. In the process, she would make a few very important people rich and famous, even if they didn’t want the accolades or the money. As Harry walked out of the Cole building, she could feel a tingle going up and down her spine and electricity coursing through her veins. There, before her, stood the vision of her heart’s desire, and it astounded her. With a brilliant smile, Nicky walked up to her, enclosed her with loving arms and whispered, “I’ve come home.”

“Excuse me, lady,” said the brusque voice of a passerby.

It shocked Harry out of her haze and she realized she was standing in the middle of the sidewalk, looking like a goof. For a fleeting moment, she looked around, half expecting Nicky to actually appear. She did not.

She arrived back at her building and walked quickly into her office. She pressed the intercom button and buzzed her PA. “Sally, I need a line to the base camp. Can you arrange that for me? Good. Let me know when it’s ready. Will you also call a meeting of the board and all the major department heads for one o’clock? Thank you.”

Half an hour later, Sally notified her that the call was ready

“Hello, Eden?”

“Harry, it’s great to hear your voice.”

“It is good to hear your voice, too. I want you all to know that everything has been taken care of and we are back in business.”

“Then you got Nicky’s message and spoke with Jacob.”

“Yes, thanks to Nicky. And, as far as I am concerned, nothing will happen to Jacob. I’m thankful he decided to step up when he did.”

“I’m glad to hear that, Harry. Jacob is a good man.”

“I agree with you, although we thought that about Eric, too. Is Nicky around?”

“Yes, I need to get her, can you hold on?”

“Sure, I’ll hold on.” Harry waited impatiently as the minutes ticked by. At last she heard the receiver being picked up.

“Harry, is that really you?” Nicky asked.

The sound of her voice made Harry feel weak in the knees. “Hi, Nicky. Yes, it really is me. How are you doing? Did your Mom tell you the news? When are you coming home? You haven’t been sick again, have you?”

Nicky laughed at the rapid-fire questions. “Slow down, Harry…fine, yes, soon, and no.”

It was Harry’s turn to laugh. “I’m sorry about all the questions. I’m just so happy to hear your voice.”

“And, I am so happy to hear yours, Harry, I’ve missed hearing it.”

“Nicky, I wanted to thank you for encouraging Jacob to come here and help us save the company. You did that you know…you saved our company. If it hadn’t been for you, I would be cleaning out my desk right now.”

“Harry, I didn’t do anything really,” she demurred.

Harry smiled at Nicky’s typically modest response. “Even if you think you did nothing, thank you for that nothing.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Nicky, when are you coming home? We need to talk face to face.”

“Soon…before you know it.”

“Soon” was too indefinite for Harry. “Really? When do you think that will be?”

“I have a few loose ends to tie up and then I’ll be on my way.”

“I’ll be counting down the days ’til then,” Harry said.

“So will I. Bye.”

“Bye.” Harry’s heart was singing as she hung up.

The private line in her office began to buzz. Picking it up, her smile was at the ready for the caller, for right now nothing could burst her happy bubble. At least that’s what she thought. “Uncle Harry, what a surprise. When did you get into town?”

Harriet’s face turned ashen as she hung up the phone in disbelief. Did I really hear what he said? No it can’t be!