Chapter Three

A HALF hour later, after leaving the dive shop and retrieving the sandals he’d forgotten at the beach, Adam finally made it back to his room. He was just about to change out of his bathing suit when his cell phone rang.

“Adam?”

“Hey, Karen.”

“Listen, I’m really sorry to bother you on vacation.” His sister sounded genuinely contrite.

“But…?”

She laughed. “You know I wouldn’t call you unless I thought you needed to know.”

“John Morgan from Entech called.”

“How did you know?” she asked.

“He called my cell first. I ignored it.”

“You’ve got balls, Addy.”

“Last time I checked.” He sighed and lay back on the bed with the phone wedged between his shoulder and ear.

“Right.” Things must be worse than he thought. She always laughed at his stupid comebacks. “He called Mom too.”

“He what?” He hopped off the bed and stalked over to the window. Outside, the sun had finally slipped below the horizon, illuminating the sky in brilliant reds and oranges.

“Apparently he called her this morning. She told him she wasn’t interested in selling her shares, but he sweet-talked her into calling a meeting with all of us.”

Deep breath. Of course the snake would call his mother—probably figured she was low-hanging fruit. With her shares and Roger’s, Entech would have a shot at buying out Prestco. Bad enough Roger had been putting pressure on their mother; now someone on the outside was at it.

“When?”

“The twenty-eighth.”

Today was January 31. That gave him a month to figure out how to counter Entech’s strategy. “I’ll hop a plane back to the States tomorrow and we can—”

“No fucking way.”

“But—”

“There’s nothing you can do here that’s going to make a damn bit of difference,” she said, her voice hard. “I didn’t spend the past two months trying to get you to take a vacation for you to fly back right after you land.”

“Mom’s already having a tough enough time with Roger pressuring her to sell. If I come back, I might be able to—”

“You’ll still have three weeks to prepare when you come home. Besides, I convinced Mom to fly up from Florida ahead of the meeting. She’ll stay with me and Kenny at the house. She comes on Tuesday. I’ll talk to her.”

Adam smiled. “Oh. You’re good.”

“Thank you.” He could almost imagine her grin.

“How’d you manage it?” His mother almost never traveled anywhere, let alone all the way to the Bay Area. After their father had died, she rarely went back. In fact, he couldn’t recall the last time his mother had come to visit.

“I have my ways.”

“Spill, woman.” She was up to something, and he wanted to be sure it wasn’t something he should be worrying about.

“I might have told her I needed a little help. You know, around the house. What with Kenny traveling more for his job and me needing to get things ready for the baby and all.”

His brain froze. “You’re… you’re….”

“We’re pregnant,” she said triumphantly. “Whatcha think, Uncle Addy?”

“Congratulations!” She and Ken had been trying for nearly five years.

Of course, if they managed to keep the company from being swallowed by Entech’s sharks, Adam would need to hire someone to help him manage the operation while she took time off, but that was a problem that didn’t worry him.

“Thank you. We’re thrilled.”

“Boy or girl?” he asked.

“We’re not going to find out ahead of time,” she said. “Kenny says it’s a girl. I told him it’s a boy. We’ve got about six months before we find out.”

“I’m so happy for you guys.”

“We’re pretty happy too,” she quipped. “We’d stopped with the treatments about six months before. Guess it was just meant to be.”

“You’ll be great parents.”

“I figure it’s about time the old house gets some new blood. Maybe I’ll convince Mom to move back.”

He smiled. “If anyone can do it, it’s you.”

“So I don’t need to worry that you’re going to show up on my doorstep tomorrow, right? You’re staying put?”

“I trust you to keep Mom away from Morgan and his crew.” She was a sharp businesswoman, and she’d keep their mother busy. Hell, their mother had probably fallen all over herself to hop the next plane west.

“Happy to hear it.” She laughed. “And if you show up here even an hour before your scheduled return flight….”

“I got it. I’ll stay, as long as you promise to keep me posted. You know I’ll be a hundred times more stressed if you don’t tell me what’s going on.”

“Deal. Now go have some fun for a change,” she added. “We need you clearheaded and ready to kick some Entech ass when you get back.”

“I’m counting on your help on that score.”

“I didn’t give up practicing law to let you have all the fun. Now go drink some fruity drink with an umbrella or something.”

“You got it,” he told her, but he had a feeling he was going to need something a little stronger.