Perfect Partners

uninterested,” she informed him stiffly. “But to be perfectly blunt, I find it vastly overrated. In short, sleeping with the boss is not going to get you anywhere in your career, Mr. Blackstone. I just thought you ought to know.”
    “Thanks for the tip. I’ll keep that in mind.”
    “You do that.” Letty felt better now. Stronger. She was definitely not going to cry. “I think you should also know that things are going to be run a little differently around here.”
    “Is that right?”
    “Yes.” She straightened her shoulders and freed herself from his grasp. She walked back to the desk and picked up the printout she had brought with her. “From now on, I want to be kept in the loop. And for starters, you can tell me why Thornquist Gear owns fifty-one percent of a failing company called Copeland Marine Industries.”

6

    C hrist, he really hated this town. He had not realized just how much until tonight.
    He had left Echo Cove fifteen years ago. Today was the first time he had been back. From what he could tell this afternoon during the drive through the small downtown section, little had changed.
    Echo Cove was still Victor Copeland’s personal kingdom by the sea.
    Joel concentrated on knotting his tie as he listened to the wind in the trees outside the motel room window. He could hear Letty moving about in the room next door. She was probably putting on one of her staid little business suits, the kind with the patented automatic wrinkling device built right in.
    It was her fault he was in this damn motel room dressing for dinner with Victor Copeland tonight. The fuse on the firecracker that was Letty had been lit. Joel knew he was going to have to work very hard to make certain it did not explode in his hands. Joel grimaced as he recalled the scene in his office.
    “Why does Thornquist Gear own fifty-one percent of a company called Copeland Marine Industries?” she’d wanted to know.
    He had been expecting the question. It was inevitable the deal would eventually surface and equally inevitable that Letty would be curious about it. Her curiosity, it seemed, knew few boundaries.
    The problem with Letty’s inevitable question was that Joel had not been expecting it that morning two days ago. She had hurled it at him after all that other garbage about not giving orders to her secretary and not thinking he could use sex to control her.
    His brain had still been working on the interesting notion of manipulating Letty with passion when she had dropped the little bomb about Copeland Marine.
    Joel had scrambled for his prepared answer: “Copeland Marine is a small company that specializes in boat outfitting and repair. They handle marine engines, deck layout, custom work. That kind of thing. They have a yard out on the coast in Echo Cove.”
    “So why do we own a controlling interest?”
    Joel had picked his words carefully. “The company has been sliding into financial hot water for some time. A year ago they approached Thornquist about a possible buyout. They needed an infusion of cash and in exchange were willing to sell us fifty-one percent of the company.”
    “And we went for the deal? Just like that? But Copeland Marine has nothing to do with camping gear or sporting goods.”
    “Charlie didn’t see it that way,” Joel had explained carefully. “You know your great-uncle. He was a sucker for anything that had to do with fishing. He did the deal over my objections. It was one of the few times in the past ten years that he overrode me.” Lies, all lies. Charlie had known nothing and cared less. He had simply signed whatever Joel told him to sign.
    Letty scowled. “But Copeland is still in trouble, according to the figures in this file.”
    “Unfortunately, yes. In fact, they’re worse off than they were a year ago when they came to us.”
    “So what are we going to do?”
    “Only one thing we can do under the circumstances. We’re going to have to take over Copeland Marine and liquidate the assets.”
    “Liquidate? That’s pretty drastic, isn’t it? I’ve read some articles on this type of maneuver. A lot of people will be put out of work.”
    “That’s the way it goes,” Joel said coolly. “Business is business.”
    “Does Copeland Marine know we’re planning to move in and liquidate their assets?”
    “No. Copeland hasn’t been told yet. When the time is right I’ll let them know what’s happening.”
    Joel had been planning to handle that detail personally. He wanted