Twist of Fate

  “And you think I am?”

  “It’s a possibility.”

  Hannah looked at him. “I think you’ve wasted your time.”

  “I rarely waste time. Coming to Seattle may prove to be a dead end but I won’t consider the trip a waste of time.”

  Hannah grinned in wry amusement. “Because I’m so good at entertaining out-of-town guests?”

  “Because of your connection with Gideon Cage. Any connection with Cage is worth checking out. I try to cover all bases.”

  “I’m crushed. Does this mean I don’t have to take you to the Waterfront and the Space Needle?”

  He smiled. “No obligation whatsoever. I would like to take you to dinner, however.”

  “So that you can ply me with wine and get me to talk about Gideon Cage? Why don’t we both save some time. Tell me what you want to know and I’ll tell you if I’m going to answer your questions.”

  “It’s not quite that simple.”

  “I was afraid of that.” Hannah curled her legs under her and winced as the still-healing knee protested the radical bend. Unobtrusively she tried to straighten out her left leg. “Mr. Ballantine, I’ll be honest, forthright, and straightforward with you. I do not wish to be involved in whatever is going on between you and Cage. I am not into the financial world. I’m a guidance counselor. I know absolutely nothing about Cage that would be useful to you.”

  “If you did know something useful,” he said, “would you tell me?”

  She eyed him through narrowed lashes. “Probably not. I told you, I don’t want to get involved.”

  “Because you saw how your brother got burned?”

  “I take it you know all about that?”

  Ballantine nodded. “It was a typical Cage & Associates operation. Appear on the scene like the Four Horsemen and send everyone into a panic with visions of a takeover. The resulting chaos drives up the price of the stock. Cage & Associates sell their stock at the top and back out, leaving a dazed and critically weakened victim behind in the dust.”

  “And you don’t operate like that?”

  Ballantine smiled his odd, crooked little smile. “I have no interest in your brother’s firm. The one I’m after is Cage. All I want to know at this point, Hannah, is whether you’re interested in a little revenge.”

  Hannah took a deep breath. “Revenge for what Cage did to my brother?”

  “For what he did to your brother and for what he did to you.”

  The breath she had just taken got caught in Hannah’s throat. “What do you think he did to me?” Stupid question. She sincerely hoped Ballantine wouldn’t answer it in the vernacular.

  “Cage is a strange man. Winning is so commonplace for him now that there are times when he finds ways to make a victory more interesting. In this case I think he found you an added fillip. I know he went with you on your recent trip to the Caribbean. What I don’t know is whether you realize that you were part of the victory celebration. And if you do realize it, I don’t know if you care about your role in things. Perhaps a brief affair with the man who nearly ruined your brother’s firm doesn’t strike you as risky. Perhaps you know exactly what you’re doing.”

  “Perhaps I do,” she muttered.

  “Then again,” Ballantine went on calmly, “there’s a chance you thought you could handle him. You may have let him get close because you believed you could use his interest in you as a form of retaliation. If that’s the case, I know it didn’t work. And if it didn’t work, you might be interested in another method of revenge.”

  “You don’t seem to have much faith in my womanly wiles.”

  Ballantine shrugged. “I have considerably more faith in Cage’s ability to use people. He’s a shark. Only another shark has a chance of taking him.”

  “Don’t tell me, let me guess. You think you’re the shark who can handle him.”

  “I’ve worked hard and long to get to a point where that’s a viable possibility.” The blue eyes were calm, utterly sure. “Are you interested in helping me or are you satisfied with what happened down in the Caribbean?”

  “You seem to know a lot about my activities lately. I’m not sure I like that. Did you have me followed, Mr. Ballantine?”

  “No. But I keep tabs on Cage. No one followed the two of you to Santa Inez Island. I thought I knew what was happening and saw no need to invade your privacy by having you tailed.”

  “Gracious of you.”

  He ignored that. “I do know that Cage came to Seattle when there was no need; that he saw you while he was here and that he left on the same plane to the Caribbean. I know he’s now back in Tucson.”

  “And you thought you’d come and see for yourself whether my heart was shattered or if I was lusting for revenge.”

  “Or whether you simply enjoyed a short liaison with a man to whom you found yourself attracted in spite of circumstances.” Ballantine was casual. “It happens.”

  “No accounting for a woman’s taste?”

  “Something like that.”

  Hannah glanced at the carton of books, remembering the night Gideon had packed it. When he had finished sealing it he had taken her into his arms and made slow love to her on the flowered rattan sofa. She hadn’t been thinking about her brother’s firm at the time. She hadn’t been thinking about the future. She hadn’t been thinking about anything except the deeply sensual reality of the moment.

  “I’ve already said it once, Hugh. But I’ll repeat it. I don’t want to get mixed up in the warfare going on between you and Gideon. Innocent bystanders might get torn to pieces.”

  Ballantine hesitated, but to her surprise he didn’t argue. “I understand. I can’t say I blame you. In your position I’d probably do the same.”

  “No, you wouldn’t,” she told him with a faint smile. “You’d start salivating at the prospect of sinking your teeth into Gideon. You hate him, don’t you?”

  “I see why you’re in guidance counseling. You seem to know what makes people tick.”

  “Sometimes I even offer actual guidance.”

  “Do people follow your advice?” he asked.

  “I have better luck with undergraduates than I do with members of the business world.”

  Ballantine tilted his head assessingly and then he gave her another of his small, twisted grins. “If you tried to give Gideon Cage guidance counseling I can understand why you might be feeling somewhat ineffective. There isn’t much that can alter his plans once he sets them in motion.”

  “But you’re going to try?”

  “The secret to handling Cage is not to alter his plans, but to let him get so far along in them that he can’t alter them either.”

  Hannah studied her visitor curiously. “You really think you can take him?”

  “Sooner or later.” Ballantine leaned back in the fan chair and glanced around the room again. This time he examined the wall of books behind her. “You are a woman of eclectic tastes I see. Does that come with the guidance counseling profession?”

  “It comes with having changed one’s mind too many times in college.”

  “I see a lot of anthro stuff.” He got to his feet and wandered over to study the spines of some books. “I was interested in anthropology once a long time ago. I thought the idea of taking off to the far corners of the world to record vanishing cultures was just about the most interesting idea I’d ever had. Used to imagine myself working for National Geographic. I could see myself dressed in bush clothes and wandering through places like New Guinea or Central Brazil searching for undiscovered tribes.”

  “I know the image.” Hannah felt a flicker of empathy. “I used to see myself dressed the same way. So I subscribed to Banana Republic and started ordering the right clothes, even though I knew I was never going to use them on any real fieldwork. Sometimes I get the feeling that nearly everyone has flirted with the idea of being an anthropologist.”

  Ballantine glanced at her. “I suppose we’re all fascinated by different cultures.”

&
nbsp; “They show us patterns of survival that have worked for some segment of the human race,” Hannah said. “The variety of those patterns is awesome. If we ever run into an alien race in space it may be anthropologists who will have to figure out how to go about making contact.”

  Ballantine came away from the row of books he’d been examining. “I accept your decision about not getting involved in the situation between Cage and myself. But since I’m here and I’ve come all this way, can I at least talk you into dinner?”

  The open, farm-boy charm was surprisingly effective, Hannah decided. “All right.”

  “We don’t have to go to the Waterfront or the Space Needle.”

  “How about one of the places on Broadway?”

  “I’m in your hands,” Ballantine told her.

  Hannah considered that. It was an interesting thought.

  GIDEON LOOKED DOWN at the short note that had just been placed on his desk by his administrative assistant. Then he glanced up at Steve Decker.

  “What the hell do you mean, Ballantine’s in Seattle?”

  “Just what I said, Gideon. My contact over at Ballantine Investments told me he left for Seattle this morning. Thought you’d like to know.”

  “The last word you gave me was that he was starting to move on the Surbrook deal.”

  Decker pushed his glasses up on his nose and frowned. “That was before you decided to disappear for the better part of a week. Things have been happening while you’ve been sunning yourself on a tropical beach. Did you think it would all stand still and wait for you to get back to Tucson?”

  Gideon crumpled the note. “Why Seattle?”

  “Beats me. But I can take a guess.”

  “So can I.” Gideon swung around in his chair to stare out the window at the Tucson skyline. In the distance the Santa Catalina mountains were deep purple shadows meeting the endless blue of the sky. The city sprawled across the high desert valley floor; the more expensive homes such as his own trickling up into the foothills. The vista was about as different from Santa Inez’s beaches as it was possible to get. Gideon had been back a week now, and the feeling that things had ended too quickly between himself and Hannah persisted. He couldn’t shake it and it was making him restless.

  “Won’t do him much good, though,” Decker said thoughtfully. “There’s no way Ballantine can use Accelerated Design against you, no matter how mad Nick Jessett is. Jessett hasn’t got time or resources to devote to anything except getting his firm back under control.”

  “I know.”

  Decker paused and then decided to be assertive. His wife was always telling him he should be more assertive with Gideon Cage. “And there’s no way Ballantine can use Jessett’s sister against you, either, is there?”

  Gideon didn’t move but he felt the tension in himself and was angry about it. “Hannah’s a guidance counselor who likes to dabble in anthropology. She’s hardly anyone’s idea of a financial consultant.”

  “Anthropology, huh?” Decker closed his eyes, remembering some early notes he had in his file on Hugh Ballantine. “I think Ballantine was once briefly interested in anthropology. Seems to me he was majoring in it.”

  “Decker, your computerized brain never ceases to amaze me.” Gideon swung around in his chair, planting his palms flat on the desk. “Go find out what you can on the status of Surbrook’s last round of negotiations with Ballantine. I want to know how high the bidding is going to go.”

  Decker eyed him. “You think Ballantine has enough cash to outbid us?”

  “I think the question is going to be how badly do we want Surbrook.”

  “I thought we’d already answered that one.”

  “I’ll talk to you later, Decker.”

  Decker knew when he’d pushed assertiveness as far as possible with Gideon. He nodded and withdrew.

  Gideon sat for a while staring at the framed air navigation chart of the Tucson area that was hung on the wall. There was no doubt as to why Ballantine was in Seattle. He knew about Hannah. What made him think he could use her? Hannah knew the situation. She wouldn’t allow herself to get drawn into the middle of the war. She wasn’t that naive.

  Then he remembered that her idea of deflecting a corporate shark was to challenge him to a game of cards. Ballantine might find her easy game.

  Gideon dug Hannah’s number out of his wallet. Then he picked up the phone and dialed it himself. No need to give Mary Ann another thrill. His secretary had been watching him with a smugly interested look ever since he’d come back from Santa Inez Island.

  There was no answer. Impatiently Gideon replaced the receiver and decided he’d try again when he got home from work. Hannah was probably out shopping.

  Three hours later he surfaced in his swimming pool, hauled himself out onto the rim, picked up a towel and padded over to the table where the phone rested. The sun was just beginning to set. Hannah should be home for the evening. He dialed.

  There was no answer.

  HANNAH FOUND Hugh Ballantine to be surprisingly good company. The man knew how to talk about something besides business and he didn’t seem to mind doing so. They dined in a cozy little restaurant on Broadway, in the heart of the Capital Hill district. Around them a variety of casually chic people ordered vouvray wine and discussed the various aspects of success and how to obtain it. Out on the sidewalk, upscale evening strollers sauntered along in couples. Some of the couples were composed of opposite sexes and some were made up of the same sex. All of them were interesting. The intent was to see and be seen by the other cruising boulevardiers. To that end a wide variety of trendy clothing had been purchased and a lot of money had been spent on hairstyling. The long days of summer were particularly conducive to the good-natured parade. Broadway had a certain beat all its own.

  “My aunt thought that the secret of the power of the women on Revelation Island had to do with the fact that they were seen as the sole intermediaries between humans and the gods. She mentions a certain ceremonial vessel that was used to contact the gods. The women had charge of the vessel and guarded it from all male eyes. Men had to go through a woman in order to ask for supernatural assistance. Lines of descent were reckoned through the females, too. Property was inherited that way. The women controlled the system of marriage. Aunt Elizabeth concluded that women held the ultimate power in the tribe, and that’s not at all customary as you know.” Hannah grinned as she reached for a roll. “Just ask any woman.”

  “And now you’ve got Nord’s original journals?”

  Hannah nodded, pleased with Hugh Ballantine’s obvious interest in the subject. “I’m going to use them to write a kind of history of her work. But I’m going to focus especially on the notes she made about the Amazons of Revelation Island. Of all the studies my aunt did, that one has always been the most controversial. I want to write the final, definitive verdict and since I’ve got her personal papers…”

  “You’ve got the inside track.” Ballantine smiled. “I understand. With that kind of data to draw on, you shouldn’t have any trouble getting your work published. Did you tell Cage your plans?”

  “I discussed them with him, yes.” Hannah took a bite out of her roll.

  “Sounds like the two of you got fairly close. Cage is good at that.”

  Hannah’s eyes narrowed. “I’m discussing the same subject with you and I hardly know you.”

  “True.” Ballantine looked apologetic. “Sorry. Sometimes I jump to conclusions.”

  “Have you spent your whole life hating him?”

  “No. I’ve only hated him since he destroyed my father.”

  “I see.”

  Ballantine still wore his half smile but there was no humor in his eyes. “Did he tell you about that?”

  “What happened between your father and him? Yes, briefly. He said your father betrayed him.”

  “Cage lied.”

  “Well, it makes no difference to me.”

  “Because you’re staying out of this? You may be right. Unfor
tunately, I don’t have any choice.”

  Hannah shook her head in exasperation. “I’ve heard that before. And it’s nonsense. You’ve got a choice. But you’ve already made it, just as Gideon has. I wish you both joy in your battles.”

  “Is that the truth? You really don’t care if I succeed in taking him or not?”

  “Nope.”

  Ballantine chuckled. “I almost believe you.”

  “Why almost?”

  “A part of me can’t help wondering how you felt when you went down to Vegas to beg Cage to lay off your brother’s firm.”

  Hannah looked at him with mocking admiration. “My goodness, the corporate spy business is certainly alive and well, isn’t it?”

  “Again, I wasn’t having you followed, I was just keeping tabs on Cage. When you showed up in Las Vegas we had to assume you were there to make a plea for your brother’s firm.”

  “Well, just to set the record straight, I didn’t exactly beg. Nor did I sacrifice myself on his bed.”

  “Good. Because neither would have worked with Gideon Cage. He would have let you beg or let you make the ultimate sacrifice and then gone ahead and done exactly as he wanted.”

  “What about you?” Hannah asked calmly. “What would you have done?”

  He had the grace to wince. “The same as Cage, I’m afraid.”

  “That’s what I figured.”

  “Let’s go back to discussing the Amazons of Revelation Island. I’m beginning to feel that I’m in the presence of one, anyway.”

  Hannah glanced past him at the woman who had just entered the restaurant. She smiled grimly. “No, my friend, you’re not. But I can introduce you to one.”

  Ballantine lifted an eyebrow in surprise. “An Amazon?”

  “Uh-huh.” Hannah kept smiling as Vicky Armitage spotted her and came forward down the row of tables. Energy and determination fairly sizzled in the air around her. Drake followed in her wake, looking faintly embarrassed. “Hannah! You’re back. How was the trip?” Vicky came to a halt by the table and smiled brilliantly at both Hannah and Hugh Ballantine.

  “I had to cut the trip a little short. But other than that I think you could say it was a very productive vacation. The knee is much better. Vicky, this is Hugh Ballantine. Vicky Armitage and her husband, Drake.”