Flash

options here, do I?" she asked eventually.
    He shrugged. "You could fight me every inch of the way, but I don't advise it."
    "Fight you?" She looked briefly interested.
    He smiled faintly. "If you take a strong, vocal stand against me, you could probably stir up some trouble at Glow, especially among your relatives and longtime employees. But if you force my hand in that way, I will probably end up firing the very people you're supposed to protect."
    She studied him with her assessing eyes. "You play hardball, Mr. Sloan."
    "Only when I'm pushed into a corner."
    "I'm the one in the corner.
    He did not dispute that. It was true. He was betting that she was a savvy enough businesswoman to realize that she had been outmaneuvered, at least for the moment.
    She fixed him with a cool, warning look "I want to be kept in the loop. I don't care how small the issue, I want to know about it. I own forty-nine percent of Glow, and I have a right to know what is going on at all times."
    Jasper recognized a tactical retreat when he saw one. He relaxed slightly. He had won.
    "As far as it's practical to do so, I'll keep you informed."
    "I have a responsibility to the company."
    "I understand."
    "Do you?" She held his gaze. "There were eight Chantrys in my parents' generation. Uncle Rollie was the oldest. Seven of his brothers, sisters, and cousins, including my father, worked full-time for Glow for years. They have all retired on Glow pensions, and they depend on them."
    "I'm aware of that."
    Olivia did not pause. "At one time or another, nearly all of the kids in the family, including myself, had summer jobs at Glow."
    "I see."
    "Some of my cousins, Bolivar, for example, plan to work for Glow when they graduate from college. In addition, there are a great many people employed at Glow who have been there for many, many years. Loyal, hardworking people. I don't want them hurt."
    "I appreciate your concern. Like I said, I'll keep you in the loop. I'll consult with you whenever possible before I make major decisions that affect the future of Glow."
    "How do I know you mean that?"
    He smiled. "Guess you'll just have to trust me."

6
    « ^ »
    A t eight o'clock that evening Olivia found her younger brother Todd at his desk in the back office of the Lancaster campaign headquarters. Lately, she could count on finding him there, she reflected. He lived and breathed the campaign.
    The Lancaster team operated out of a storefront located on Second Avenue in the trendy section of downtown Seattle familiarly known as Belltown.
    Through the glass window that separated Todd's office from the main room Olivia could see the campaign volunteers gathered around their leader. Eleanor Lancaster was holding a staff meeting.
    "I hate to admit it," Olivia said, "but we're trapped. Sloan is in charge of Glow. At least for now."
    Todd regarded her with serious green eyes made even more somber by his choice of eyewear, a pair of round, gold-framed glasses. "I don't like the situation, Olivia."
    "No one does. But we've got to play the hand we've been dealt."
    The troubled look in Todd's gaze deepened. He had always had a serious, idealistic bent, Olivia reflected, even as a child. He was an academic at heart But underneath the studious, intellectual mien, there had been, until recently, a strong vein of humor that had nicely complemented the strength in his well-cut features.
    Unfortunately Todd had become depressingly more pedantic in the past few months. The change had started when he left his post in the political studies department of a local college to accept a position at the Allenby-Troy Institute.
    The institute was a small, prestigious, political policy think tank located on a pricey stretch of Lake Washington shoreline. Many of the papers it produced were published in influential magazines, journals, and newspapers around the country.
    No one admired Todd's intellectual abilities and his professional accomplishments more than Olivia, but privately, she wished he'd stayed in academia. He might very well have developed this same tendency toward pomposity there, she thought, but at least he wouldn't have fallen in love with a politician.
    Todd had been introduced to former state representative Eleanor Lancaster a few months ago when she had contacted the Allenby-Troy Institute. She had just resigned from her position in the state legislature to run for governor. She had sought the Institute's professional assistance in crafting a coherent political