“I had a thought about that, too. We’ll wire an apartment and take him there. He’ll always be on camera, and there’ll be a team next door, watching. We won’t be alone that way, and we’ll have a record of what happens.”
“Where would you do this?”
“I’ve got a girlfriend who’s going to Europe for three weeks. She has a nice place, and I think she’ll let us use it. It has a romantic look to it-soft furniture, lots of pillows.”
“If you can set it up properly, I’ll give you two teams,” Dino said.
Viv rewarded him with a broad smile.
Shelley Bach cut a swath through the new Ralph Lauren women’s store, across the street from the old Rhinelander mansion, which now housed the men’s store. Lauren’s designs fit her beautifully, and there was a new line just in. She picked half a dozen things and ordered them delivered to the Carlyle. The sales assistants couldn’t do enough for her.
Dink Brennan put on a suit, left the hotel, and took a cab the few blocks to his father’s office. He had thought of calling first, but he didn’t think he could pull this off on the phone. What he was going to do now needed to be done face-to-face.
He hadn’t been to his father’s offices for a couple of years, and the firm had moved to a new building on East Sixty-seventh Street since then. He found the name in the building’s directory and took the elevator to the top floor.
He was impressed with the decor in the new place-cool and modern, obviously designed by a top architect. He walked to the reception desk.
“Good morning. May I help you?” the young woman said.
“Yes, I’d like to see Marshall Brennan. My name is Dink Brennan.”
“Is he expecting you?”
“No, I thought I’d surprise him.”
“Surprise him?”
“I’m his son.”
The woman made the call, then hung up. “Someone will be right with you,” she said.
Dink took a seat, but only a moment passed before his father’s secretary appeared in the reception room. He stood up. “Hello, Anne,” he said. “Long time.”
She shook his hand. “You’re looking very well, Dink,” she said.
“I hope Dad will think so, too. Will he see me?”
“Of course. Follow me.”
Dink followed her down the long hall and into the lion’s den.
41
Marshall Brennan stood up as his son walked into his office, and Dink thought his face registered surprise.
Marshall came around the desk with his hand out. “Hello, Dink,” he said.
“Hello, Dad,” Dink replied, shaking his hand warmly. “It’s good to see you.” He followed his father to the sofa, and they both sat down.
“They told me at the farm that you had… checked yourself out.”
Dink smiled. “I thought I’d save them the paperwork. And by the way, thank you for the handsome briefcase. I’ll try and put it to good use.”
“I hope you will.”
“Dad, I have some things to say to you, and I hope you’ll hear me out before you start asking questions.”
“I do have a way of interrupting, don’t I?”
“Sometimes. First of all, I want to apologize for the way I’ve behaved for the past couple of years. I did some stupid things: I was smoking a lot of grass, gambling, and then I started selling the stuff. That’s over now. I was never addicted to anything, thank God. During my stay at the farm I had time to do a lot of thinking, and I want to get my life back on track.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” Marshall said, warily.
“I’m going back to Yale in the fall and finish my degree, and I should be able to graduate with my class next year.”
“You were a good student once,” Marshall said.
“And I will be again. I’m thinking about law school.”
Marshall nodded. “You might make a good lawyer.”
“We’ll see. I have to tell you about some recent events, too. You’ll remember Parker Mosely and my former girlfriend Carson Cullers.”
“Of course.”
“They’re both in rehab now, and it’s where they belong. Something went really wrong with Parker. He went to Carson and told her that I wanted her to meet Herb Fisher, then claim he tried to rape her and ruin his career. I want you to know that I knew nothing about all this until Herb came to see me at the farm. I’m sure he still thinks I was involved, but honestly, I wasn’t. Parker and Carson are lucky they aren’t in jail, and they could have dragged me down with them.”
Marshall said nothing.
“In any case, once they’re out of rehab they can resume their lives, and I hope it won’t be their old ones.”
“I hope so, too.”
“As you know, I now have access to my trust, so I won’t be needing financial help from you. You’ve done more than enough for me. I went online and looked at the statements, and I see that you’ve trebled the principal with your investing skills, and I’m grateful to you for that.”
“I would suggest that you continue to let me invest the bulk of your funds,” Marshall said.
“Thank you, I’d like that.”
“I’ll have Anne get the paperwork done for your new account.”
“Thank you.”
“Where are you staying?”
“I’ve got a room at the Lowell, on East Sixty-third. I haven’t thought beyond that.”
Marshall went to his desk and wrote down something, then took a key from a drawer and returned to the sofa. “The firm has a couple of apartments that we use to house out-of-town clients once in a while. If you like, you’re welcome to stay in one until you go back to Yale.” He handed Dink the address and key.
Dink accepted both. “Thank you, Dad, that’s very kind of you. I’ll move in tomorrow.”
“The house in East Hampton is still there, too. I don’t get out there as much as I used to, but the staff is still there. They’d be glad to see you whenever you like.”
“Thank you again, Dad. I’d enjoy that.”
“Have you spoken to Herb Fisher?”
“Not since he came to the farm. He was, understandably, angry.”
“You might go and see him,” Marshall said. “I think Herb is someone you’d profit from knowing, and anyway, you’ll need a lawyer.”
“I called his office, but he’s away this week.”
“Oh, that’s right, he went up to Mike Freeman’s new training facility.”
“Mike Freeman?”
“I’m sorry, he’s the CEO of a firm called Strategic Services. They’ve opened a new school for security people.”
“I’ll call him next week,” Dink said, then he got to his feet. “Thank you for seeing me, Dad. I’ll try to do a better job of living up to your expectations.”
Marshall, uncharacteristically, hugged his son. “Just live up to your own expectations, son.”
Dink signed the documents for his new investment account, said goodbye to Anne, and left.
ANNE CAME into Marshall’s office. “You seem to have a new son,” she said.
“It appears I do,” Marshall replied. “I hope it lasts.”
42
Herbie came out of a class on defense strategy and ran, head-on, into Mike Freeman.
“Hi there, Mike. I didn’t know you were coming up.”
“I’m giving some prospective clients a tour. Are you enjoying yourself?”
“Very much.”
“Well, cut your next class and come with me,” Mike said, “and you’ll learn a lot more. I’m giving these folks an overview of what we do.”
Herbie followed Mike and his party of half a dozen into a conference room, where they all sat down and Mike switched on a projector. “Gentlemen, this young man in camouflage is Herb Fisher, the corporate counsel for our new division, Strategic Defense.” Everybody waved, and Herbie waved back.
“Now, I’m going to give you an overview of our operations as a company, so you can see the breadth and depth of what we offer.” He put a chart on the screen. “As you can see, we have a number of subsidiaries: vehicle armoring, communication electronics, security and surveillance systems, computer security and software, and our latest subsidiary, Strategic Defense, which is devoted to the training of security personnel. As you have seen around our new site, we offer a number of kinds of training: personal defense, client defense, firearms, high-performance driving, client relations, emergency medical treatment, and penetration and rescue-more about which later.