Page 28 of Fool’s Gold

Jack grunted. It only made sense if they thought someone at Five Star would give something away. Jack had no intention of giving anything away, and he was professional enough to know how to keep his mouth shut.

“In that case, what I said about ‘not the South’ stands. Give me anyplace else. Alaska, even. Arizona. Dubai.”

“I’m not sending you back to Dubai after the last time, Jack, don’t even think about it.”

“It’s not like I’d be going in under my own passport.”

“You seduced the foreign minister’s sonandhis daughter. And then you spirited them out of the country.”

“Okay, first of all, the son came on to me.”

Levi held up a hand. “The foreign minister was the one you were supposed to be protecting at the time.”

“Fair. But his kids needed protection from him.”

“Well, they certainly did after you seduced them! I’ve got a rock star with a daughter who’s being targeted by ‘fans,’ a prominent environmental activist getting threats from lobbyists, and a childless heiress getting subtle threats from people who are probably family trying to hurry their inheritance up.”

Jack sighed. He didn’t want to leave Matt quite yet. Even if the bigger threat came from corporate interests, he didn’t think they could discount the disgruntled flu survivors.

Then again, they couldn’t exactly keep Jack in Atlanta forever either. No one was going to pay for that.

“Throw me at the heiress.” He forced himself to grin. “Those family members sound like my cup of tea, actually. And maybe I can convince her to leave her money to an animal shelter or something.”

“That’s the spirit.” Levi laughed. “If the job is still available when the Taggart thing wraps up, that one’s yours. It’s in New York, which is your hometown, isn’t it?”

“Technically. I’m pretty sure that she and I never ran in the same social circles though. Keep me posted, okay?”

“Will do, Jack. As soon as I know anything, you’ll know it.” Levi hung up.

Jack stared at the wall for a long moment. He’d been quick to deny that he’d gotten attached, but was it the truth? He couldn’t honestly say it was. He’d never been attached before, so he didn’t have a great comparison sample, but the thought of walking away from Matt left him with a sharp pain somewhere in his chest.

He didn’t think he liked it.

He headed into the home office to check in with Matt, only to find him deep in a virtual discussion with Ellis Walmsley from the board.

“I’m telling you, Taggart, I’m not willing to have Besse become some flagship company for the rainbow flag people! You will tell the Legal Department to call up that magazine and tell them to pull that cover storyimmediately. That is not a request. It’s an order.”

Jack clenched his hands into fists. If Walmsley had been in the apartment, he’d probably have decked him. He didn’t need to know anything about the magazine in question.

Matt, though, just gave Walmsley a bland and boring smile. “Mr. Walmsley, any good publicity is beneficial to Besse right now. We’re in a position where people are willing to bomb our facility and murder innocent employees because of what previous executives did. Showcasinganythingwe do that’s on the side of good—even if it isn’t relevant to actual pharmaceutical development—shows us in a good light and helps to build public trust.

“Now, I’m willing to listen to the wisdom of the entire board on this subject. It’s entirely possible that I’m too close to the issue. That said, I would need to provide an explanation to the magazine as to why the article needed to be pulled. And that explanation could only put Besse in abadlight, which I’m sure we can all agree isn’t in anyone’s best interests.”

“I’ll have your head for this.” Walmsley’s voice trembled with emotion.

“Mmm. Again, this is something that the entire board would have to agree on. Which—well, you’re welcome to ask for. But firing me would definitely trigger my early termination option, which as a finance guy, I can tell you should be considered carefully before acting.”

Walmsley didn’t respond. He simply ended the call. Jack supposed it was enough of a response on its own.

Matt turned to face Jack and rolled his eyes. “I’m sorry you had to hear that.”

Jack snorted. “I’m sorryyouhad to hear that. Do board members threaten your life on the regular, or is Walmsley just special?”

Matt waved a hand. “He’s special all right. But he’s not really threatening my life, just my job. It’s a... well, it’s a thing in the corporate world, I guess. Recruiters are called headhunters, that kind of thing.”

“You sure about that?” Jack raised an eyebrow. “Only two kinds of people can afford contract killers like Lead Pipe Guy and the other one.” He explained about Farnsworth. “That means heads of state or corporate interests, and board members can’t be excluded.”

Matt looked away for a moment. Jack tried to take comfort in the fact that he wasn’t dismissing him out of hand.

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