Norton nods in agreement. He can’t help feeling pleased at this, and encouraged. ‘Absolutely,’ he says. ‘Fifty-first state and all that. Now if we could just do something about the weather.’
‘Yeah.’ Vaughan laughs. ‘That’d be something. But you know what? I remember Jack Kennedy once telling me that if you…’
He stops.
‘Paddy?’
Norton is staring across the lobby, the spike in his mood reversing rapidly. Standing at the entrance to the hotel, glancing around, is Gina Rafferty. Behind her, the revolving door is still in motion. Slowly, like a roulette wheel, it comes to rest.
She spots him.
Before he can do anything, she’s on her way over.
As she gets closer, Gina sees that the man beside Paddy Norton is elderly. He is small and slightly stooped. She’d prefer it if Norton were alone, but for the moment this’ll have to do. What she wanted was to take him by surprise, and she can see from the expression on his face that she has accomplished that.
‘My dear,’ Norton says as she arrives, ‘how lovely to see you.’
The smile is clearly forced. It doesn’t make it to his eyes. The elderly man is smiling, too – but his eyes are sparkling.
‘Mr Norton,’ Gina says, not smiling at all, ‘I need to talk to you.’
‘Paddy. Please. Call me Paddy.’
She has already decided on a policy. She’s going to remain calm and take this in stages.
‘Paddy,’ she says. ‘I need to talk to you.’
‘Yes, of course, but -’
‘I need to talk to you now.’
‘Fine, fine. But… how did you track me down?’
‘I’ve just been to Baggot Street. They told me you’d be here.’
‘I see.’
He doesn’t like this.
‘So, er…’
The elderly man, who is standing to Gina’s right, clears his throat. She turns to look at him. He extends a hand in her direction.
‘Jimmy Vaughan,’ he says. ‘Enchanted, I’m sure.’
Gina shakes his hand.
‘Er…’ She’s distracted now, not certain that she’s heard this right. Did he just say enchanted? ‘… Gina Rafferty.’
His hand is soft, like silk.
‘Er… Gina here,’ Norton says, addressing the old man, ‘she’s the sister of our, er…’ – this is an awkward way of phrasing it, and he isn’t comfortable – ‘… er… she’s the sister of our chief structural engineer, Noel Rafferty -’
‘Oh?’
‘- who, who died unfortunately, a couple of weeks ago, in a car accident.’
‘Oh my goodness,’ Vaughan says, turning back to Gina. ‘That’s dreadful. I’m very sorry to hear that. You have my deepest sympathies.’
He’s American.
‘Thank you.’
‘Gina, may I ask how old your brother was?’
‘Yes. He was forty-eight.’
‘Oh,that’s just terrible.’ He shakes his head. ‘You know, I had a brother who died, many years ago now, in Korea actually, but it’s not something you ever really get over, is it, the death of a sibling? I mean in the sense that it affects your identity, it… it redefines you in a way.’ He reaches across and pats her gently on the arm. ‘I hope I haven’t spoken out of turn.’
‘No, not at all,’ Gina says. ‘That’s very perceptive actually.’
She feels slightly snookered here. Who is this old guy? He has a courtly and at the same time quite commanding presence. She needs to refocus.
‘Paddy?’
She turns back to Norton, but he’s looking off to his right. In the next moment, he is joined by someone else, a tall silver-haired man in a grey suit.
‘Paddy,’ this man says, taking Norton by the arm, ‘come here, I need to ask you something…’
‘Er…’ Norton turns back to Gina and Vaughan. ‘I’ll just… er -’
‘Go,’ the old man says, ‘go. Allow me to have the pleasure of this charming young lady’s company for a few minutes.’ He beams at her.
Moving off with the other man, Norton glances over his shoulder. Gina can see that he’s extremely agitated. She isn’t sure what to do and considers just going after him. But then it occurs to her that maybe the reason he’s so agitated – in part, at least – is because he’s had to leave her alone with this old guy.
Gina turns back to Vaughan, who is still beaming at her. ‘Hi,’ she says, and smiles.
‘Hi.’
‘So. Tell me. Who are you?’
‘Who am I? Oh my.’ He breathes in sharply, as though the challenge of answering such a question by close of business today might be beyond him. ‘Well, for starters, I suppose, I’m the chairman of a private-equity firm called the Oberon Capital Group.’
Oberon?
Gina’s heard of it – usually in lists, along with other names such as Carlyle, Halliburton, Bechtel, Chipco. She can see the old man trying to gauge how impressed she is.
‘Wow.’
‘Yes, I have many interests, many lives, you might say. I advise governments. I broker deals.’
She nods along silently.
‘In the early eighties,’ he goes on, gazing into her eyes, ‘I was Deputy Director of the CIA. Before that, among other things, I was Assistant Treasury Secretary under Jack Kennedy.’
‘Really?’
‘Oh yes.’
This is bizarre. He is trying to impress her. He must be nearly eighty – though he does have, she has to admit it, a certain charisma.
‘Interesting times they were, I can tell you.’
‘I’m sure.’
There are questions she could ask him about this, but now is hardly the time.
‘So what are you doing here?’ she says. ‘How do you know Paddy?’
‘Oh, well, yes.’ He pokes a finger in her direction, as though he knows she’ll find this interesting. ‘Richmond Plaza. I have a sizeable stake in it…’ – turns out he’s right – ‘… and I’m just here, basically, to have a look.’
‘I see.’
‘We’re heading down there now, actually.’
Gina glances over at Norton, who is standing about thirty feet away, still listening to the man in the grey suit but staring directly at her.
‘I’ve been up it,’ she says, turning back to Vaughan. ‘Only once. But it’s certainly impressive. I know my brother was very proud to have worked on it.’
As she says this her voice cracks a little – which may, at some level, be deliberate. Or not. She can’t really tell. She’s nervous, and confused, but also aware of a certain element of gameplay here.
‘Listen,’ Vaughan says, ‘I don’t know if you’re free, but… would you care to join us?’
She seems to consider this for a moment. But given the circumstances there’s nothing really to consider.
‘Yes, Mr Vaughan. I would. Thank you.’
‘Mr? Oh come now, Gina,’ the old man says, tilting his head in Norton’s direction. ‘If he’s Paddy then I’m Jimmy. I insist.’
‘OK. Jimmy.’
‘Wonderful.’ He smiles again. ‘So, let’s go. There’s a car waiting outside.’
He extends an arm, which Gina takes.
‘Now, young lady,’ he says, ‘you must tell me all about yourself.’
‘Oh sure. Well, where to begin? I ran the State Department under FDR…’
Vaughan laughs at this, and as they start to move towards the exit, Gina glances over at Norton.
‘What’s the matter, Paddy? You’re not listening to me.’
‘I am, Ray, but come on, let’s go.’
‘Yeah, yeah,’ Sullivan says. ‘In a minute. Now take it easy, will you?’