Flash

studying a paragraph describing the way in which thread-fine fibers of light powered by very tiny batteries could be woven into wallpaper or fabric.
    Rose looked up, excitement bubbling in her face. "Oh, there you are, Mr. Sloan. I was just going to page you. Andy Andrews is on line one."
    Jasper frowned. "Andy Andrews?"
    "You know, the editor of
Hard Currency
," Rose said breathlessly. "It's a very influential business newsletter."
    "I'm familiar with it."
    Hard Currency
was a hot regional investment newsletter. It was faxed two or three times a week to a subscription list that included CEOs, board members, stockbrokers, and bond traders throughout the Northwest. Jasper occasionally found it useful, although in his opinion Andy Andrews frequently walked the fine line between breaking financial news and wild rumor.
    Unfortunately,
Hard Currency
was the first thing most local executives read when they arrived in their offices in the mornings.
    "Rollie had a subscription," Rose confided. "But he never got called for an interview."
    That was because in Rollie's day nothing even remotely resembling gossip of the kind that would be of interest to the business community had ever occurred at Glow, Jasper thought. Glow's image had always been on the staid side.
    But things had changed.
    He rapidly assessed the situation. Talking to journalists, especially Andrews, was not one of his favorite activities. In his previous career as a venture capitalist, it had been relatively simple to avoid the media.
    But he was operating in a different sphere now, one in which rumors were tools that had to be well managed. The wrong sort of speculation could be extremely damaging to a company in Glow's position.
    The fact that the editor of the region's most influential investment newsletter was on the phone meant that gossip was already swirling in the Northwest business community.
    "I'll take the call in my office, Rose. When I'm through, send Morrison in, will you?"
    "Yes, Mr. Sloan." Rose gave him an expectant look. "Does this mean that Glow will be featured in
Hard Currency
?"
    "Not if I can help it"
    Ignoring Rose's obvious disappointment, Jasper walked into the inner suite and closed the door. He reached across the desk to pick up the phone.
    "Sloan here." He lounged on the edge of the neat, polished surface.
    "Andy Andrews with
Hard Currency
." The voice was artificially warm and hearty, the voice of a journalist who made his living on the phone. "We met a year ago when I stopped by Sloan & Associates to get a quote from you regarding the Hatcher merger."
    "I remember. What can I do for you, Andrews?"
    "I'm putting together a short feature on the recent changes there at Glow. I'd like to ask you a few questions, if I may."
    "What questions?"
    "A lot of my readers have heard about you, of course. Sloan & Associates has backed some of the most successful young entrepreneurs in the region as well as a lot of expansions like the one at Glow. But it's my understanding that you don't generally get involved in the management of your clients' firms."
    "Glow is no longer one of my clients. I own it"
    "Fifty-one percent, according to my information."
    "Fifty-one percent is enough."
    "I'll cut to the chase. Why did you take control of the company?"
    "Glow is a change of direction for me," Jasper said evenly. "I've been looking for a situation that would allow me to take on the challenge of dealing with all aspects of a growing and diversified business."
    Andy cleared his throat. "There is some speculation that you took it over because the recent death of Glow's owner and CEO may have put the company in jeopardy."
    "That speculation is absolutely false."
    "The firm is, after all, at a very delicate point in its expansion process, isn't it? Is that why you felt you had to step in and take command at this juncture?"
    Time to squelch that rumor, Jasper thought. "Glow has always been a well-run company. In keeping with his usual far-sighted management philosophy, Rollie Chantry made appropriate provision for the present scenario."
    "Uh-huh." Andy did not sound convinced. "I'm told that forty-nine percent of the company is now owned by Rollie Chantry's niece, Olivia Chantry."
    "Right."
    "Ms. Chantry obviously represents the interests of the rest of the Chantry family. How would you describe your relationship with her?"
    "Close," Jasper said. "Very close."
    "That's not what I've heard," Andy said with the deliberately vague air of someone who's a