Echoes of Titanic (49 page)

Finally, Cole came to an old, industrial-looking building and stopped, pulling out a key card and sliding it through a scanner at the door. With a buzz it popped open and then they were inside, moving across a bare lobby toward a freight elevator on the far wall.

Kelsey was quiet as they rode it upward, counting five floors before it came to a stop. Cole slid the cage door open and they stepped into a long, dingy hallway.

“Where are we?” she asked.

Again, he scanned his key at a door, and then he swung it open as he replied, “Home sweet home.”

Kelsey sucked in a deep breath. This was where Cole lived now? Stepping into the broad, open space, she could barely believe her eyes. It was huge and beautiful, the wood floors gleaming, the furniture spare and modern, the
whole space warm and welcoming. He closed the door behind them and then led the way to the kitchen area, where he put the bag down on the table and then went about retrieving plates and silverware and napkins.

“I can't believe you live in a Tribeca loft, Cole. This is amazing.” She had no idea his business was doing so well. The only people their age who owned a loft in Tribeca were movie stars or sports figures.

He shrugged, grabbing two glasses from the cabinet and filling them with water from a recessed spout in the door of his stainless steel fridge.

“Technically, you're off a little. We crossed Chambers a few blocks ago. This is the upper limit of the Financial District. Trust me. I couldn't afford a place this big in Tribeca. No way.”

She smiled at his typical modesty. “So what happened to the old apartment on Twenty-Ninth?”

He shrugged. “I got tired of having roommates. I cashed in every single investment I had, bought some tools, and used the rest as a down payment on the cheapest loft I could find in a decent neighborhood. Most people seem to think the Financial District is too boring to live in, but I really like the quiet. And with this much space, if I ever get married, at least my kids will have plenty of room to toddle around in.”

She swallowed hard, the pain of his casual remark like a knife to her heart.

“You renovated yourself?” she asked once she found her voice.

“It's a work in progress,” he replied modestly. “I still have a long way to go. But, yeah, I did the renovating with a lot of help from my friends. And don't forget that my dad owns a home supply store in the 'burbs. I get most of my materials at cost.”

“Well, it's really awesome.”

“Thanks, Kels. The bathroom is around there, if you want to get yourself cleaned up before we eat.”

Thanking him, she went where he indicated, once again impressed by the space. The half bath was all beige-and-brown tile, with modern fixtures and bright, recessed lighting. Gazing at herself in the mirror, she was shocked to see how truly awful she looked. Between the raccoonlike mascara smudges and the splotchy cheeks, she had her work cut out for her. Unfortunately, though she usually carried a small makeup repair kit in her purse, all she could find in there now was some lip gloss and an old tube of mascara. At least it would feel good to wash her face.

A few minutes later, she returned to the kitchen looking a bit better,
though her eyes were still swollen and she was in a subdued mood. She was surprised to see that Cole was already at the table eating his meal, a laptop open in front of him. He glanced up as she came in the room and said, “Make yourself at home. I already said a blessing.”

“Okay. Thanks.” Kelsey took a seat at the table across from him.

“Sorry if I'm being rude. It's just that I'm super hungry, but I had a thought and I wanted to look into it right away.”

Glad for the apology, she said a quick, silent prayer of her own and then nibbled on a piece of bacon as he explained what he was doing.

“Remember the report I gave you last night and the three scenarios I outlined for you at the bottom? Plan one was to do nothing and hope the stockholders vote in your favor, two was to orchestrate a friendly merger, and three was to buy up enough shares to regain control of the company and stop the hostile takeover.”

“Right.”

“Well, considering that option one isn't likely to happen, we need to focus on options two and three right now—and three will only work if we can find those bonds. In either two or three, we need to take a look at your stockholders. We have to figure out who might be willing to side with you in scenario two or sell to you in scenario three.”

“Okay, go for it,” she said, still feeling somewhat shell-shocked but knowing there was no more time for matters of the heart. They were in the midst of a crisis, and they needed to return their focus back where it belonged.

“Two questions first,” he said. “I assume you have voting power for the four percent owned by current employees?”

“Yes. All employee stock options include terms that grant voting rights to the company for as long as they are employed.”

“And how about the five percent Gloria owned before she died? Until her estate is settled, do you control those shares as well?”

She nodded, taking a bite of her bagel and trying not to think how good it felt to have someone else take charge of the situation for a while.

“Well, then, if you combine that with the shares owned by you, your father, your grandfather, and your brother, it comes to thirty-nine percent. Add Walter's four percent, and you're up to forty-three.”

She sat back, wiping her mouth with a napkin. “Which means I need just eight percent more to gain control and prevent the takeover.”

“Exactly. So whether you go with scenario two or three, I think our next
move should be to look at this list of the remaining stockholders and try to figure out where that eight percent might come from.”

Cole moved around to her side of the table and sat next to her, laptop in front of them, so they could view the screen together. For the next half hour, they hashed out various possibilities for who might be swayed to vote her way. In the end, they decided to let Walter work on the six percent owned by retired employees of the company and to ask Jonah to do the same with the four percent owned by more distant relatives of the Tate family. That left two categories of ownership for Kelsey to work on herself: banks and trusts, which held twenty-seven percent, and private investors, with the last twenty percent. The biggest opposition in this situation were the banks and trusts, who weren't likely to be swayed. Thus, they agreed she would focus on the private investors. God willing, between long-standing relationships she and her father had established in the industry and general goodwill toward B & T, she might be able to convince enough of them to vote her way so that when added to the votes secured by Walter and Jonah, they could gain control in the end.

Before she started making the many phone calls this was going to take, she decided to contact Lou, just to let him know about scenario two—a friendly merger—and get the specifics of his offer. He sounded thrilled to hear from her.

“From what I understand,” Lou said, “Queen's Fleet offered twenty-two million, right? So how about we say twenty-five?”

She hated to haggle with a man who had been so good to her, but twenty-five was ridiculous. She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. Lou was a good guy, but he was also a savvy negotiator—and not someone she'd ever want to go up against in a financial fight. Though it was a risky move, she decided to tell him to take it or leave it. They both knew Pamela's offer had been absurdly low.

“Sorry, Lou. It's thirty-one or not at all. I'm going to have to go to the mat for this with the stockholders, so it needs to be an attractive offer.”

“What do you mean? Even if I came in at twenty-three, my offer still beats theirs.”

“You know as well as I do that any stockholder selling less than their full amount of shares will go with the lower offer if it means Queen's Fleet will be at the helm from here on out. I'm sorry, Lou, but I think they will see that as a much safer long-term investment.”

“Okay, okay. I understand where you're coming from.”

“Are we agreed on thirty-one? Like I told you, I'm working on several different scenarios, so if you can't make this work, no problem. I'll just move on to the next approach.”

He was silent for a moment, and then she heard him let out a soft chuckle. “Half of me wants to yell at you right now, and the other half couldn't be more proud.”

She grinned. “Are we in business or what?”

“I'll go thirty,” he replied, “but not thirty-one, and here's why. Unlike Queen's Fleet, I will not be cleaning house. In fact, a large part of what I'm buying are the very people they would be letting go. When I made that original offer, it included getting Gloria Poole as a part of the package. Now that she's gone, I'm sorry, Kelsey, but the value drops for me, regardless of any of these other current factors that are also dragging things down.”

Kelsey thought his words made sense, but she asked him to hold so as not to lose the upper hand. Pressing the mute button on the phone, she bounced Lou's offer off of Cole, and he agreed that $30 million seemed fair, given Lou's logic.

Back on the line with him again, she agreed to his price. They arranged to get together later in the day to go over specifics and present their plan to the board, if she was able to convene a meeting that quickly. At the very least, they should be able to sit down with Walter this afternoon over at B & T and crunch some numbers together.

Before they hung up, Kelsey reminded Lou she was pursuing one other option, and there was a slight chance it might pan out.

“If it does, that's the option I'll be going with,” she said. “No offense, but it's the more favorable outcome for me and my family.” She didn't elaborate beyond that and he didn't ask, but he probably knew it had to do with the securing of enough funding to buy out a majority herself. What he didn't know was that the only way she could acquire that much cash that fast was to find the missing bonds.

April 14, 1912

J
OCELYN

J
ocelyn walked out into the corridor, closing the door behind her with a mixture of guilt and relief. Guilt that she hadn't shared the whole truth. Relief that Adele hadn't figured it out anyway.

Jocelyn knew she was going about this wrong, that her first outing with Tad should be a far more public affair. But before she decided whether or not to let the world know about their feelings for each other—and possibly alienate her dear cousin in the process—she wanted to share one stolen hour together tonight, just the two of them. There would be time tomorrow to make the bigger decision of when and how to break this news with others.

She made her way to the aft stairwell and began climbing the steps. When she reached the B deck, where they were to meet, she saw Tad already waiting for her. Unable to hold in her smile, she was beaming as she went up to him and he took her hand in his.

“Tad,” she said softly.

“You came,” he replied, also smiling, his eyes holding hers. Then slowly he lifted her hand to his lips.

Pleased but surprised, she could feel heat rise to her face. She looked around, realizing that this part of the ship was completely devoid of others at the moment.

“I didn't realize we would be quite so alone here,” she said. “I think it
would be more proper for us to be among passengers on the promenade deck.”

“I agree,” Tad replied, “but only after you allow me to kiss you.”

Eyes wide, she nodded, tilting her face upward. He leaned toward her and lightly touched his lips to hers in a chaste kiss, her first. Afterward, she gazed into his eyes, unable to understand how Adele could be so immune to his charms.

“That's better,” he said with a grin. “Shall we take our walk?”

Holding hands, they stepped into the chill air outside on the promenade deck. It was much colder now than it had been on any other night of the trip, but at least she had someone to keep her warm.

As they gazed up at the stars on this perfectly clear night, Tad put an arm around her shoulders and sighed contentedly.

“This is the happiest night of my life,” he said. “There's only one thing that keeps my joy from being complete.”

Jocelyn nodded sadly. “The fact that we can't yet reveal our relationship openly?”

“No, that will happen in time. I'm bothered by the fact that your father left me out of the bond deal he made on Wednesday morning. That really hurt. I thought he respected my opinion, but his actions show me that he doesn't.” He hung his head and looked away.

“Oh, Tad, I am sure it wasn't like that. He had a change of heart, is all. It had nothing to do with you personally.”

“You're probably right. I'll try not to worry about it.” He pulled her closer. “It has made me rethink my position, however. Your father is a wise man, and I am starting to believe that he may have been right and I was wrong. Do you know where the bonds are so that I could inspect them? I'm thinking perhaps I should reconsider my investment.”