Read Online Any Minute by Meyer Joyce Bedford Deborah - Free Book Online Page A

appearance, the gentleman snapped to attention with military precision. “You recognize me, don’t you? Yes, I was there.” His gaze popped right, to his left, to his right again, hoping no one would overhear. “But maybe now’s not the best time to tell everybody about it.”
    “Mom!” Mitchell called. “This man is our friend. I saw him at the Cubs game. He was keeping score. He was watching me and Dad!” Sarah kept getting phone calls and taking them; otherwise, they would have been long gone. She certainly wasn’t paying any attention to what he was saying right now; she just looked frustrated that she had a plan, and for some reason it kept being thwarted.
    The fellow raised his bristly eyebrows and clamped his mouth shut tighter than a varmint trap.
    Mitchell was unsettled now, but for completely different reasons than his mom. He fished inside his pocket. He had almost a dollar in there if you counted all the dimes he’d made carrying groceries for Mrs. Fogelman down the street. “If I had time and I was lost, you could show me the ‘L’ stop. Here’s all the money I got.”
    “That’s not why I’m here, Mitchell.”
    The little boy held out a sweaty palm with every coin to his name in it. “Here. Take it.”
    “
Mitchell
,” his mom said, interrupting her latest cell-phone call and anticipating his move. “You may
not
do that.”
    “How come you know my name?” Mitchell whispered, marveling and somewhat confused. “Until now, my mom never said it in front of you.”
    His mom took his hand and pulled him after her. “Come away from him now.
Please
.”
    “But, Mom.”
    “I said
now
!”
    For the entire length of the block, Mitchell couldn’t stop craning his neck, peering behind him.

Chapter Six
     
    T om Roscoe had just crumpled a cup and pitched it inside the wastebasket when Lauren Davis appeared beside him. “Tom,” she said. “We have to talk.”
    He noted the dark concern in her eyes. “What about?”
    “I’ve made a decision, and I need to speak with you right away.”
    Tom led her to his office and closed the door. He braided his fingers atop his desk and waited. Lauren seemed nervous. She wasn’t saying anything yet. Finally he could stand the silence no longer. He blurted, “I didn’t think you needed reminding. It’s your duty to present strong numbers for us. That’s why I hired you.” Tom was a bit nervous himself. He figured Lauren was getting squeamish about the proposal he wanted her to offer Nielsen. Tom was willing to do anything in an attempt to punish his old clients for their defection.
    “Which I will do.” Lauren leaned forward in the massive leather armchair, matching Roscoe’s predatory body language limb for limb. “I’ll put together the strongest portfolio possible and present it to a prospective client,” she said in her measured voice. “But I won’t help you manipulate those prices. It’s revenge.”
    “What?”
    “I’ll only do my job by honorable means.”
    “Honorable means?” Roscoe asked. “Will you let the Nielsens decide what’s honorable or not? They’re the ones who broke the contract. They’re the ones who pulled out first.”
    She said, “I’m afraid I have to turn it down. I’m sorry.”
    “What?”
    “Don’t look so stricken, Mr. Roscoe. I’m sure you can find someone else who will do this for you. It doesn’t have to be me.”
    Tom wasn’t one to mince words. He had one goal and one alone—to keep this company going. He wanted to continue to live his life in the manner to which he was accustomed. He wanted to leave an inheritance for his sons that would allow them to do the same.
    He wanted them to have dugout seats in the club section at Wrigley Field. He wanted them to be able to live in Lincoln Park and play golf at the country club and send their children to the finest schools. He wanted to give them everything he’d struggled through the years to build. He wanted them never to have to live as he had,