Perfect Partners

if you don’t mind.”
    “I most certainly do mind,” Letty said. “Arthur works for me. I will speak to him if it’s necessary.”
    “I’m the one who put him into this position.”
    Letty smiled aloofly. “For which I am very grateful. He’s doing an excellent job.”
    Arthur sent her a grateful look.
    “That’s a matter of opinion,” Joel said.
    “It is indeed. And since Arthur works for me, my opinion is the only one that counts. Is that not so, Mr. Blackstone?”
    Joel was trapped. That knowledge did nothing for his bad temper. “You’ve been here only a short time, and there are still a few things you don’t yet know about running this firm, Ms. Thornquist.”
    “Quite probably, Mr. Blackstone.” Letty smiled sweetly. “Why don’t you come into my office and explain them to me?” She stood back and held open the door.
    Joel clenched his back teeth, clamping an iron grip on his raging temper. “I believe I’ll do just that, Ms. Thornquist.”
    He went past Arthur’s desk without looking down at him. He did not have to see his expression to sense his relief. Nor did he have to get a good look at his face to know that as far as Arthur was concerned, Letty had achieved the status of a minor deity in his eyes.
    Joel was well aware of the ramifications of that encounter. He had just lost his spy in Letty’s office. Win some, lose some, he reminded himself. A man had to pick and choose his battles. He had lost Bigley, but there was still a war to be fought.
    He stalked into Letty’s office and swung around to face her as she quietly closed the door. “What the hell did McBride, Hartley, and Jackson want?”
    “I’m sure you know exactly what they wanted.” Letty broke off, wincing slightly at the muffled sound of something large and heavy bouncing on the floor in the outer office. “The dictionary he keeps near his typewriter, no doubt.”
    “No doubt.” Joel shoved his fingers into the back pockets of his jeans. “What a klutz.”
    “You hired him.” Letty went around her desk and sat down.
    “A miscalculation on my part.”
    “If you mean because I won’t allow you to use him to monitor every little thing that takes place in this office, yes. But that’s not Arthur’s fault. He tried his best. I, however, have informed him that he now reports to me, not to you. In the end we all have to choose our loyalties, don’t we, Joel?”
    “A brilliant observation, Ms. Thornquist. While we’re on the subject, why don’t you tell me just whose side you’re on?”
    She sat back. “Joel, stop raging and tell me the truth about something here.”
    “What?”
    “Are you hell-bent on destroying Echo Cove or would it be enough for you if you could just bring down Victor Copeland?”
    He stared at her. “What are you talking about?”
    “Just answer me. I know you’re not particularly fond of your hometown, but does your need for revenge demand that you destroy it?”
    Joel was taken off guard by the question. He realized he had never bothered to separate his dislike for Echo Cove in general from his hatred of Victor Copeland in particular.
    “I don’t see that it makes much difference,” he muttered. He started pacing the floor, the restlessness building rapidly in his gut.
    “Look at it this way,” Letty said, suddenly gentle. “If Victor Copeland had not owned Copeland Marine, would you have gone to all this trouble to bring down the company?”
    That stopped him for a second. “No. But it’s a moot point. Copeland Marine is his. It always has been. And those three jerks who were just in here don’t deserve any pity, believe me.”
    “I believe you. But there are other people to consider.”
    “Such as?” he demanded.
    “What about Angie Taylor?”
    Joel stared at her. “The librarian? What about her?”
    “You don’t hate her, do you?”
    “Of course not. Mrs. Taylor was”—he shrugged—“nice to me.” More than nice, Joel realized. She had, without fuss or comment, provided a refuge for him during those dark days after his mother’s death. For the first time in a long while Joel remembered the hours he had spent buried in the Echo Cove Public Library.
    “A lot of innocent Angie Taylors are going to get hurt if you go through with your plans, Joel.”
    “Don’t get sentimental, Letty. This is business.” But Joel was beginning to feel uneasy. He had always liked Angie Taylor. And maybe one or two other people in town.
    “If Copeland Marine were not