Perfect Partners

  Diana's eyes snapped to hers and then away again. “I don't know,” she whispered. “That's the worst part. I'm not sure if I'm right to be this frightened. But I have seen Daddy get very angry. He loses control, gets almost wild. Lately I've had the feeling he's closer to the edge than ever before.”

  Letty frowned. “How often has this happened?”

  “Not often, thank God. I think he beat my mother a few times. She lied about it. Told me she'd fallen or something, and God help me, I wanted to believe her. It was only when I got older that I realized Daddy had hit her. She never would admit it, though. Until the day she died, she denied it. I think she was trying to protect me from the truth.”

  “How often has he gotten violent since your mother's death?”

  “The worst time was fifteen years ago when he caught me in that barn with Joel.” Diana's breathing seemed labored. “I thought he was going to kill him. Daddy had a length of wood, and he kept swinging it, kept trying to crush Joel. If Joel hadn't been as quick and as strong as he was, I know Daddy would have killed him. I know it.”

  Letty shivered as her imagination painted a vivid picture of the scene in the barn. “Any other instances?”

  “Nothing I'm sure of. I think he punched one of his employees during an argument a few years ago, but it was hushed up. No one said anything about it, and the man left the yard soon afterward. I'm sure that wasn't the only time that sort of thing occurred.”

  “Diana…”

  Diana massaged her temples. “You have to understand, it isn't what's happened so far that has me frightened; it's what could happen. I know Daddy is getting worse. I can feel it.”

  “Are you telling me you think he'll come after Joel once he hears what's happening with Copeland Marine?”

  Diana got to her feet, her eyes tortured. “It's Keith I'm worried about. Don't you see? Daddy has spent three years telling me that he wishes he'd never encouraged me to marry Keith. He treats Keith like dirt. He ignores him half the time, and the other half of the time he taunts him. I'm terrified of what he'll do when he discovers Keith will be the one giving the orders around Copeland Marine.”

  “I see,” Letty whispered, absorbing the implications.

  “If Joel walked into Daddy's office and took charge directly, that would be one thing.” Diana moved to the dressing table and picked up a brush. She stared at it as if wondering what it was and then set it back down again. “Joel is tough. Strong. He could handle Daddy. But Keith is different.”

  “What you're really saying is that you don't think Keith can handle your father.”

  Diana's eyes widened in frustration. “He hasn't been able to handle him for the past three years. Why should he be able to do it now?”

  “I don't know. Why don't you ask him why he's so determined to take over Copeland Marine and save it?” Letty suggested softly.

  “I know why he wants to save it.” Diana snatched up a tissue and carefully blotted her eyes. “It was part of the deal. He married me because Daddy dangled the lure of Copeland Marine in front of him.”

  “Why did you marry him?”

  “Because Daddy handpicked him for me, and I thought that because Daddy approved of him, he was the one man in the world I could safely marry.”

  Letty took a deep breath. “I see. You were afraid to marry anyone else because of what your father might do?”

  “Yes. I thought I was playing it safe. But the joke was on me. I fell in love with Keith in spite of everything.”

  Letty thought about that. “I don't think Keith would have stuck around to be treated like dirt by your father for three years just because he hoped eventually to get his hands on the firm. Keith's very smart. That's obvious from the five-year plan he put together. He would have seen the writing on the wall back at the beginning and cut his losses, unless he had another reason for sticking around.”

  Diana stared at her. “What other reason could there have been?”

  “Well, it sure wasn't the prospect of taking over a failing company like Copeland Marine. Why on earth would he want that mess?” Letty smiled. “Has it occurred to you that Keith married you and has tolerated your father all this time simply because he loves you?”

  Diana wadded up the tissue in one hand. “It's not that simple. It's never that simple when you're Victor Copeland's daughter. God, I thought it would be all right when I married Keith. Now I'm more vulnerable than ever. Keith has been talking about having children, but I can't even bear the thought. A baby would be one more hostage for Daddy to use to control us.”

  Letty shivered. “Diana, has your father ever been violent with you? Ever hurt you?”

  She shook her head. “No. Not physically.” Her smile was grim and tremulous. “I was his little golden girl for years. And as long as I played that role, I got anything I wanted. But whenever I tried to do anything on my own or make my own decisions, he got so angry.”

  “And his anger frightened you?”

  Diana nodded. “I finally told him I didn't care if he cut me off without a cent. I was tired of being a bird in a gilded cage, as Joel used to call me. But after that scene in the barn I realized Daddy might do something a lot worse than just take away my inheritance if I made him too angry.”

  “So you've been living with what amounts to emotional blackmail for fifteen years?” Letty concluded, incredulous.

  Diana bit her lip and looked away. “In a sense. And, heaven help me, I've had to blackmail others in order to keep them safe. Every time Keith talked about leaving Echo Cove and starting over somewhere else, I told him I didn't want to leave. I told him I wanted him to stay at Copeland Marine. But the truth is, I was afraid of what Daddy would do if we defied him.”

  Letty got to her feet and walked over to Diana. “When Joel showed up again after all these years, you really did think he was going to rescue you, didn't you?”

  “I thought that if he closed down Copeland Marine once and for all, Keith and I would be free. We could go somewhere else. We'd have an excuse to leave town. Yes, I thought he was going to rescue me at last.” Diana burst into tears. “But it's turning out all wrong. Now Keith is in danger.”

  “Have you talked to Keith about this?” Letty asked.

  “I tried, but he won't listen. He says he can handle it.”

  Letty hesitated. “I'll talk to Joel. I'll make sure he takes the possibility of violence into account when he makes his plans. But I think that's all we can do. You saw Keith and Joel downstairs. They're really into this new plan. Neither of them is going to back off just because of some vague fears on our part.”

  “I know,” Diana said. “I feel like Cassandra. I'm trying to warn everyone, but no one will listen.”

  “What did you and Diana talk about when you left the table this evening?” Joel asked an hour later when he opened the door of Letty's apartment.

  “Her father.” Letty walked into the hall and let her coat slide from her shoulders. She tossed it over the back of the couch and sat down. “She's afraid of him, Joel.”

  “Bull. He's always given her everything she wanted.” He went into the kitchen and started opening cupboards. “She's not afraid of him; she's afraid of what things are going to be like when he's no longer in charge in Echo Cove.”

  Letty slid her feet out of her high heels. “No, that's not it. She's genuinely afraid of him. Afraid he might hurt Keith. She says she's been afraid of the potential violence in her father since that day he found you and her together in the barn.” Letty met Joel's eyes as he walked back into the living room carrying two snifters of brandy. “Did Copeland try to kill you that afternoon?”

  Joel shrugged. “If that teak board he was swinging had connected with my skull, he probably would have killed me, yeah.”

  “Oh, my God,” Letty whispered.

  “Hey, don't look so panicked. It was fifteen years ago, and you've got to remember he hated my guts for daring to touch his precious darling daughter. He doesn't hate Escott. Hell, Keith told me
this evening that Copeland actually introduced him to Diana. Encouraged the marriage.”

  Letty sighed. “I don't know, Joel. I'm starting to get really worried. I hope this is all going to work out.”

  Joel looked at her and smiled dangerously. “It better. It was all your idea, remember?”

  Letty's eyes widened. Joel was right. The entire plan to save Copeland Marine was going forward because she had pushed it from the beginning. “Oh, my God.”

  “Welcome to the real world, Madam Librarian. I warned you that you weren't sitting in your ivory tower back in Iowa any longer.”

  “Indiana,” she corrected automatically.

  But there was no real heat in her response. Her mind was too busily occupied with the potential ramifications of what was happening and with the realization that she would be responsible if disaster struck.

  That night it was Letty who found herself awake at two o'clock in the morning. She lay in bed, gazing up into the shadows and wondering if she was coming down with the flu. She felt somewhat nauseated.

  Joel scowled at the brief memo from Marketing that he found on his desk the next morning.

  TO: Joel Blackstone

  FROM: C. Manford

  RE: Ad campaign for Pack Up and Go camping equipment.

  Thought you ought to know that Ms. Thornquist has told us she does not like the male model used in the ads. She suggests we scrap the photos and shoot a new sequence featuring people who look like novices rather than experts.

  Okay to rework thrust of campaign?

  Joel swore softly. It irritated him to have to admit it, but Letty did have a point. She had hit on what was wrong with the entire campaign. The problem was that time was running out. The new line of camping gear would be in the stores in a few weeks. Decisions had to be made.

  “The hell with it,” Joel muttered. Letty's instincts on some things seemed to be better than his. He had been unsure of the beefcake campaign right from the start. He picked up a pen and scrawled a message to Manford telling him to go ahead and reshoot the photos using plenty of kids and moms.

  Letty was achieving one victory after another around the offices of Thornquist Gear, Joel reflected as he shoved the approval memo into his out-basket. Arthur Bigley was now one hundred percent loyal to her. The ad campaign was virtually under Letty's guidance. The manuals for the new tents were being rewritten. Copeland Marine was not going to be liquidated.

  It was enough to make a man shiver in his boots. One of these days, if he was not extremely careful, Joel told himself ruefully, he was going to wake up and discover that Letty was actually running things around here.

  Half an hour later Mrs. Sedgewick's voice droned on the intercom. “Ms. Thornquist to see you, sir.”

  Joel started to tell her to send Letty in, but before he could say anything, the door flew open and Letty burst into the room. Her eyes were very bright and she was laughing with delight. She waved a copy of the memo he had signed off on half an hour earlier.

  “Thank you, Mr. Blackstone. I knew you'd approve it. You did the right thing.” She hurriedly closed the door on Mrs. Sedgewick and then she dashed across the room.

  She leaned down and kissed Joel full on the mouth. “Do you know what I really like about you, Joel Blackstone?”

  “I'm good in bed?”

  “That's beside the point.” Her eyes gleamed happily. “What I really like about you is that you listen to me. Even when you're annoyed with me, you pay attention to what I have to say. I can't wait to get started on this new campaign.”

  She whirled around and raced back out of the office, shirttail flying.

  Joel smiled to himself and went back to work.

  At eleven-thirty Mrs. Sedgewick's voice on the intercom again interrupted his thoughts. “A Mr. Victor Copeland to see you, sir.”

  Adrenaline pumped into Joel's veins. He had been expecting this. He had known that sooner or later Copeland would approach him directly and try to make a deal. It was the only option left for him.

  This was it. After fifteen years, Joel knew he was about to deliver the coup de grace.

  “Send him in, Mrs. Sedgewick.”

  Victor Copeland strode into the office, looking oddly out of his element. Back in Echo Cove, he was a tin god. Here in Seattle, he was just one more aging fat man in a business suit. The flesh of his short, massive neck rolled over the edge of his too-tight collar. His jowly face was heavily lined with suppressed anger and an element of desperation. His small eyes gleamed malevolently.

  “Looks like you've done all right for yourself, Blackstone.” Victor scanned the office furnishings as he lowered himself into a chair. “Never would have thought you could get this far.”

  “I know what you thought of me, Copeland,” Joel said. “but that's ancient history, isn't it? Why are you here today?”

  Copeland narrowed his eyes. “I'll lay it on the line for you. I'll admit I made a mistake fifteen years ago. Should have let you marry my girl. You've got guts. You could have handled Copeland Marine.”

  “It's a little late to come to that conclusion, isn't it?”

  “Don't see why,” Victor said smoothly. “No reason we can't all take up right where we left off fifteen years ago.”

  Joel eyed him, barely concealing his amazement. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

  “Just what it sounds like. I'm ready to make a deal, Blackstone. You back off on the takeover of Copeland Marine and I'll let you have Diana.”

  “Jesus.” Joel could hardly believe what he was hearing. “You'll let me have her?”

  “Sure, why not? You always did want her, ain't that right? Couldn't keep your goddamn hands off of her.”

  “That was a long time ago, Copeland. Things have changed. In case you've forgotten, Diana is married to someone else at the moment.”

  Copeland snorted. “Escott's no problem. Diana can get a divorce. Fact is, I'll be glad to get rid of Escott. He's always hounding me, trying to get me to try something new, telling me we need to alter the contracts we've been usin' for years and get new suppliers. Damn fool. I made a mistake when I picked him out for Diana. I'll admit that.”

  “You've made a lot of mistakes over the years, haven't you, Copeland?” Joel smiled grimly. “But the biggest one you made was firing Dad because of what I'd done.”

  Copeland flinched, and then his face began turning purple. “It was your fault, you son of a bitch. If you hadn't touched my Diana, I never would have fired your pa.”

  All your fault. Joel tried to push aside the nightmare image of his father screaming silently through the window of the sinking car. All your fault.

  He breathed deeply, just as he did when he was running. It was going to be finished very soon, he reminded himself.

  “You had a right to go after me.” Joel sat forward, his hands flat on the desk. “But you had no right to punish Dad for what I'd done.”

  “Shit, that happened fifteen years ago. I was pissed off. Everyone in Echo Cove knows better than to get me pissed off. Everyone except you.”

  Joel shrugged. “I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that the management of Thornquist Gear has decided to give Copeland Marine another eighteen months to pull itself out of the red.”

  Relief appeared first in Copeland's eyes. It was followed by an expression of triumph. “I knew it. Knew you'd back off in the end. It was that little Thornquist gal, wasn't it? She wouldn't let you shut Copeland down because she knew what it would do to the town.”

  This was it. This was the moment he had been waiting for, Joel thought. He searched himself for some powerful sense of satisfaction, but all he seemed to be experiencing was a cold, distant curiosity. It was as if he were an observer rather than the one taking revenge.

  “Don't get too excited, Copeland. Your company has been given an eighteen-month extension, but you haven't.”

  “What the hell are you talking about? Nobody can run that company except me and you damn well know it. Copeland Marine is mine
.”

  “Not anymore. As of today, you are no longer president of Copeland Marine. In fact, as the owner of the controlling interest in the firm, I am ordering you not to set foot on Copeland Marine property unless and until I give approval.”

  Copeland's jaw dropped. “What are you tryin' to say, you bastard? You think you can run my company from here?”

  “No. I'm putting your son-in-law in charge. Escott assumes the reins officially this afternoon. You're out of the picture as of right now.”

  “Escott. That gutless pansy? You can't turn it over to him. Copeland Marine is my company! It's always been my company.” Copeland surged to his feet. His hands balled up into massive fists at his sides. “Nobody takes Copeland Marine away from me. You hear me, Blackstone? Nobody.”

  “I hear you.” Sensing the violence in Copeland, Joel stood up slowly. He realized he was hoping the man would take a swing.

  “Nobody.” Copeland swept his arm over the surface of Joel's desk, knocking the wire basket, calendar, lamp, and a sheaf of files onto the carpet. “You can't do this to me.”

  Joel smiled savagely. “What are you so upset about, Copeland? I'm only doing to you what you did to my father. I'm firing you. No big deal. You can always go look for another job, can't you?”

  “You goddamn bastard.” Copeland reached down and scooped up the fallen lamp. He started to swing it at Joel the same way he had once swung a length of solid teak.

  “Just like old times, isn't it, Copeland?” Joel taunted softly. “Come on. Let's see you try it. Give me the excuse I've been looking for to take you apart.”

  Copeland raised his huge arm. “Fucking bastard.”

  The office door opened.

  “Excuse me,” Philip Dixon said with astonishing calm. “Am I interrupting anything?” He looked from Joel to Copeland, a slight frown furrowing his elegant brow. “Hello, Copeland. Here to make a last-minute pitch to save Copeland Marine? Afraid there's not much point. Blackstone is quite correct when he says that the only realistic alternative is liquidation. I've consulted on any number of similar situations, and one has to face facts.”