Fast Track. Fern Michaels
“Annie, you are a genius. An absolute genius,” Kathryn chortled.
Nikki started to laugh and couldn’t stop. Finally, she asked, “Can you just see all those political types, all those D.C. social climbers, going berserk wondering if the new owners will be on their side? Priceless. Kathryn’s right, Annie, you are a genius. I’m going to call Jack right now and tell him to start the rumor. Remember now, mum’s the word where Charles is concerned. At least for now.” She doubled over laughing again as she punched in the numbers to Jack Emery’s cell phone.
Chapter 5
Jack Emery looked at the king-size sirloin on his plate and prepared to dig in when his cell phone buzzed. He sawed away, the phone crooked between his ear and shoulder. He stopped what he was doing when he heard Nikki’s voice on the other end of the phone. His heart kicked up a beat when he whispered, “Hi.”
“I’m in a rush, but I do want to talk to you, but later this evening, okay? Listen, Jack, I want you to do something for us. Us. Spread the rumor if you can, somehow, some way, that the Post is being sold. Right now the buyer or buyers prefer to remain anonymous, that kind of thing. Can you pull it off, Jack?”
Jack almost blacked out. His lady love wanted him to do something for her. He didn’t stop to think, he just said yes, then he said, “I thought it was going to be something tough like reaching for the moon or the stars.” His voice dropped to a mere whisper. “Actually, Robinson is sitting across from me and Harry right now. We’re at a new watering hole by the World Bank, named the Fast Track. He and his sidekick Joe Espinosa are with a private dick they hired, Tick Fields. Don’t know if you know him or not. Mark Lane, my old buddy from the FBI, called me earlier to tell me Ted and Espinosa hired him but wouldn’t tell him why. Mark does work for Tick from time to time. So, something is up. Can we talk later?”
“After nine will be good. Tell Harry that Yoko will call him at the same time. I love you, Jack, and don’t you forget it.”
He didn’t mean to say the words, preferring to save them for a more intimate time, but they just bubbled up and out of his mouth. “Will you marry me?”
The indrawn breath on the other end of the phone sent a shiver of fear up Jack’s spine. Then he heard the words he’d dreamed of all his life. “Damn straight.”
Stunned at Nikki’s response, Jack snapped the cell shut and stared at Harry. His head bobbed up and down. Harry frowned at the sappy look on his friend’s face. “Did you just win the lottery or something?”
Jack blinked. Then blinked again. “Or something. She said yes, Harry. Nik said yes. I want you to be my best man. Will you do it?”
Harry grinned from ear to ear. “As long as I don’t have to dude up in one of those monkey suits. And if you pay me. And if you promise to get out of this spy game shit. Yeah, yeah, I can’t let you take that walk down the aisle all by yourself. Someone will have to prop you up. Just like that, she said yes?”
“Yeah, do you believe it?”
Harry waved his fork in the air, and said, “Since meeting you, Jack, I believe anything.” He waved again to someone he knew. Harry knew everyone. Or, as he put it, everyone worth knowing.
“Hey, she called you. Since she didn’t know you were going to propose, she must have called for something else. What?”
Jack shook his head to clear his thoughts. He leaned in closer to Harry and told him what Nikki wanted him to do. “You got a clear shot right now, Jack. They’re having coffee, and it looks like they’re waiting for the check. Go for it. Make me proud, Jack.”
Jack, a wicked gleam in his eye, slid his chair back and walked across a narrow aisle to the booth where Ted and his friends were sipping coffee. “Well, if it isn’t Dumb and Dumber. Who’s your friend, Ted? Ah, let me guess, Dumbest, right? Listen, I just stopped over to offer my condolences. You guys,” he said, pointing to Joe Espinosa and Ted, “will look good in the unemployment line. You sending out your résumés?”
The trio gaped at Jack. Ted finally found his tongue. “What the hell are you talking about, Emery?”
Jack playfully waved his finger. “Well, I guess if the courthouse was being sold, I’d play it cool, too. Then again, the peons are always the last to know. Guess that’s why Maggie bailed, huh? How come you didn’t see the handwriting on the wall like she did?”
There was an edge to Ted’s voice when he said, “I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”
“The Post, Teddie. It’s being sold. New people coming in. New broom sweeps clean. How come you don’t know that?”
Espinosa looked sick at what Jack was saying. He really didn’t have a beef with Jack other than that Ted hated him. “Where’d you hear that? Who’s doing the buying?”
Jack raised his voice several decibels so the other diners could hear him. “It’s all over town. I heard it at lunchtime. Some big conglomerate is what I heard, but then I heard it was just some wealthy family in upstate New York. What I heard was it’s almost a done deal. The negotiations were and are top secret and have been going on behind closed doors for the past two months. Hey, don’t thank me, just too glad to help. You want anyone to lick the envelopes for your résumés, give me a call.”
“What the hell did you tell those schmucks? They look green around the gills,” Harry said when Jack returned to their table. “Ah, they’re leaving. Wow, you really stirred them up. They’re tripping over their feet to get out of here.”
Jack told him what he’d said verbatim. Harry burst out laughing. “How long before it hits the media?”
“Let me finish this steak, and I’ll call Channel 5 and ask if it’s true. That should get the ball rolling. So…by eleven, I’d say this whole town will be in an uproar. Including the powers that be at the Post. The denials will be front-page material for weeks. It will be the lead story on every news channel from here on in. I’m not sure what the girls hope to gain by this. Guess we’ll have to wait until we talk to them later. This steak is delicious. If this place can keep it up, you’re right, they have a gold mine.”
Harry looked at his watch. “Chop-chop, Jack. If I have to drop you off in Georgetown and get back to my own digs, you’re going to have to chew a lot faster than you are right now. Otherwise, we’re going to miss our phone calls. No time for coffee, either.”
Jack gobbled the rest of his food, paid the check, and the two men somehow managed to leave the packed room. A line of people waiting to be seated stretched all the way outside and halfway down the block.
As Harry fired up the Ducati, he mumbled and muttered about never going to the Fast Track again except on off-hours. Jack didn’t bother to respond as the wind slapped him in the face. He shifted into a neutral zone and thought about Nikki’s response to his proposal. God, he was going to get married. He was going to promise to love, honor, and obey forever more. How it would ever work was beyond him. Somehow. Some way. Because love would conquer all.
The two reporters and the private detective were on foot. They walked in silence until Joe Espinosa spoke, “If Emery is right, it explains Sullivan’s pissy attitude of late. Plus, he asked you to clear Maggie’s stuff out of the apartment. That can only mean someone important is coming to call. How come we’re the last to know?”
“I don’t believe it,” Ted said. “Emery just wanted to rile us up. And we played right into his hands.”
Espinosa jammed his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “To what end, Ted? Think about it. Why would he do something like that? He was too damn gleeful. What do you think, Tick?”
The skinny, stringy-looking detective looked from one reporter to the other before he spoke. “He sounded like he was telling the truth to me. At least the way he heard it. Buyouts are always like this. No one knows till it hits you in the face.” Ever the businessman, he said,