Flash

held firm, isn't it?"
    "You can say that again. Chantry owned all of the stock"
    "What did he use for collateral?"
    "The company, itself, of course," Jasper said.
    "You did a contract that gave you controlling interest in the event things went sour and he was unable to repay the loan?"
    "Sort of."
    "What did you take?" Al asked with professional curiosity. "Fifteen or twenty percent ownership and a seat on the board of directors?"
    Al's assumption was a logical one, Jasper knew. A controlling interest and a voting seat on the board were common enough hedges for a venture capital firm seeking to secure its investment.
    "My arrangement with Glow was a little different than the ones we usually set up with Sloan & Associates clients," Jasper said. "Chantry needed a very large infusion of capital to carry out his plans. He also wanted to be sure that the future of the company would be protected in the event that something happened to him. He didn't want it sold off or merged."
    "What are you saying?"
    "Chantry did not want an investor, exactly. He wanted a silent partner. Someone who would care about Glow if he was no longer around."
    "Silent partner? This is getting downright weird. What's the bottom line here?"
    Jasper exhaled slowly. "The bottom line is that I now own fifty-one percent of Glow, Inc."
    There was a short, sharp pause on the other end while Al digested that. "Interesting," he said cautiously. "And just who, may I ask, owns the other forty-nine percent?"
    "Rollie told me that, although he employs any number of shade tree Chantry relatives, the only other person in the family who has a head for business is his niece. He said he intended to leave the forty-nine percent to her."
    "What's her name?"
    "Her last name is Chantry, too, but I'm not sure about her first name. I think it begins with an O. Ophelia or Olympia, maybe. It's in my personal files."
    Al chuckled. "Yeah, I'll just bet it is. Kirby told me just the other day that he's starting to worry about your obsession with files."
    Jasper decided to ignore that. He was still trying to recall the first name of his new junior partner. It snapped into his head with dazzling clarity. "Olivia. That was it. Olivia Chantry."
    "Why does that name sound familiar?" Al mused.
    "Rollie told me that she runs her own business there in Seattle. One of those event production companies."
    "You mean the kind of firm you hire to stage a large function like a fancy charity ball or a political fundraiser?"
    "Yes." Jasper rummaged around in a few more mental drawers and came up with another name. "Light Fantastic. I think that's the name of her company."
    "You're kidding?" Al whistled softly. "I'll be damned. It all comes back to me now."
    "What comes back to you?"
    "We are talking about Olivia Chantry of Light Fantastic, right?"
    "Yes." Jasper noticed that a small line was forming near the departure gate. "Why?"
    "If you weren't such a philistine when it comes to art, you'd know who your new partner is."
    "Rollie never said anything about her being an artist."
    "She's not," Al said patiently. "But she was married to one for a while. Logan Dane, no less. Even you must have heard of him."
    "Dane." Jasper watched the gate. It looked like the plane was loading early. He did not want to risk missing the flight. "Sure, I've heard of him. Who hasn't? He's dead, though, isn't he? Got killed in an accident in Europe or something a while back?"
    "Three years ago the man ran with the bulls in Pamplona," Al whispered reverently.
    "Probably drunk."
    "For God's sake, Sloan, is there no romance or passion in your soul? Didn't you ever read Hemingway? Running with the bulls is the ultimate challenge. Man against beast."
    "I take it the beast came out on top in Logan Dane's case?"
    "Yeah." Al's voice resumed its normal tenor. "Some say it was suicide. Legend has it that his wife, your new partner, was getting set to divorce him. Dane went a little mad at the prospect of losing his wife, his business manager, and his muse all at once and took off for Pamplona."
    "His wife was all of those things rolled into one?"
    "So they say."
    "Where did you get all that, Al?"
    "Don't you remember the article in
West Coast Neo
magazine last year?" Al asked.
    "Hell, no.
West Coast Neo
is one of those slick, glossy rags that caters to the arty-literati set, isn't it?"
    "Yep."
    "I don't have time to read that kind of stuff."
    "You know, Jasper, some day you really ought to try reading something besides