CHAPTER 14
C HAPTER 14
S oon as Curtis left the conference room, Dana declared, “Nothing about that entire episode is what I expected.”
“That makes two of us.” Rae fought against a wave of unease. “Was I wrong, agreeing to the sale?”
“Absolutely not.” Very firm. The senior attorney serving as adviser. “You are being forced into finding a purchaser, and fast. The gentleman in question has offered you above top-market estimate, but only if we proceed immediately.”
“It means so much, hearing you use the plural there,” Rae said.
“And I, for one, am delighted to be a part of this.” Dana rose from her chair. “Let me show you out.”
As they passed through the law firm’s lobby area, the secretary-receptionist handed Dana a cluster of yellow message slips, three of which were rimmed in red, indicating matters of some urgency. Dana jammed the papers into her jacket pocket. She entered the elevator and stared at her reflection. “May I give you my take on this?”
“Dana, of course.”
The elevator pinged. They exited into the lobby, crossed the marble-tiled foyer, and entered the afternoon sunlight. Dana stepped to one side as a trio of chattering office workers left for the day. When they were alone, Dana said, “This might have started as a property sale. Curtis might have had a former federal agent check out your sock drawer. All because of . . . What is the estate called?”
“Cape Fortune. It’s an old legend of pirates.” Rae stopped when Dana waved the air.
Dana watched the limo driver open her door, rise, straighten her jacket, and wait expectantly. “I’m glad this is happening to you.”
“Okay, now you’ve lost me.”
“The very first time you spoke up in class, I thought to myself, this lady is made for great things. When you turned down my firm’s offer so you could return Down East, I feared you had made a terrible mistake. Now . . .”
“Dana, what?”
“I stand ready to serve as your number two in any capacity you may feel necessary. Night or day.” She offered Rae a butterfly’s embrace. “Have a good trip home.”
Rae did not walk to the waiting limo so much as float. She drew out her phone and pretended to scroll through messages. When the driver settled behind the wheel, she asked, “Just hold it here a second, please.”
“Certainly, ma’am.”
Rae could not say exactly why she remained stationary. Only that it felt right to digest what had just happened before she began moving into whatever came next.
She was still seated there when Curtis emerged.
Whatever he had experienced inside the empty office, it resulted in a seismic change. He stopped on the top stair next to Dana and swayed slightly. The man was clearly buffeted by unseen winds. What was equally interesting was how neither person spoke. Or moved. They remained standing there, watching her.
Rae told the driver, “We can go now.”
As they pulled away, Curtis offered her an oddly formal farewell. He lifted his right arm and held it stiffly in a ninety-degree angle.
Dana remained there beside him. Motionless.
Rae was tempted to swing in her seat and track them as long as possible. But that did not feel appropriate. The two of them had acted like high-level diplomats, offering their honored guest a professional farewell. Rae watched the driver swing them into eastbound traffic and wondered at why it left her so unsettled. Even frightened. As if they could see farther ahead, around the next bend, to the dangers and shoals and threats that awaited them all.