Not even the dry, terse tone of the report could conceal the drama in it. One thing was clear. Someone was methodically attempting to damage or destroy Roffe and Sons.
Someone in the highest echelon of the company. On the last page was a marginal note in her father’s neat, precise handwriting. “Additional pressure on me to let the company go public? Trap the bastard.”
She remembered now how worried Sam had been, and his sudden secrecy. He had not known whom to trust.
Elizabeth looked at the front page of the report again. “No COPIES.”
Elizabeth was sure the report had been done by an outside investigative agency. So in all probability no one had been aware of this report but Sam. And now herself. The guilty person had no idea he was under suspicion. Had Sam known who he was? Had Sam confronted him before his accident? Elizabeth had no way of knowing. All she knew was that there was a traitor.
Someone in the highest echelon of the company.
No one else would have the opportunity or the ability to carry out so much destruction on so many different levels. Was that why Sam had refused to let the company go public? Was he trying to find the guilty person first? Once the company was sold, it would be impossible to conduct a secret investigation, with every move being reported to a group of strangers.
Elizabeth thought about the board meeting, and how they had urged her to sell. All of them.
Elizabeth suddenly felt very alone in the house. The loud ringing of the telephone made her jump. She walked over to it and picked it up. “Hello?”
“Liz? It’s Rhys. I just received your message.”
She was glad to hear his voice, but she suddenly remembered why she had called him. To tell him that she was going to sign the papers, let the company be sold. In a few short hours everything had completely changed. Elizabeth glanced out into the hallway, at the portrait of old Samuel. He had founded this company and had fought for it. Elizabeth’s father had built it up, helped turn it into a giant, had lived for it, dedicated himself to it.
“Rhys,” Elizabeth said, “I’d like to have a board meeting Tuesday. Two o’clock. Would you please arrange for everyone to be there?”
“Tuesday at two o’clock,” Rhys agreed. “Anything else?”
She hesitated. “No. That’s all. Thank you.”
Elizabeth slowly replaced the receiver. She was going to fight them.
She was high on a mountain with her father, climbing at his side. Don’t look down, Sam kept saying, and Elizabeth disobeyed, and there was nothing below but thousands of feet of empty space. There was a loud rumble of thunder, and a bolt of lightning came hurtling toward them. It hit Sam’s rope and set it on fire, and Sam started falling through space. Elizabeth watched her father’s body tumble end over end, and she began to scream, but her screams were drowned out by the roar of the thunder.
Elizabeth awakened suddenly, her nightgown drenched with perspiration, her heart pounding wildly. There was a loud clap of thunder, and she looked toward the window and saw that it was pouring outside. The wind was driving the rain into the bedroom through the open French doors. Quickly, Elizabeth got out of bed, crossed over to the doors and pushed them tightly shut. She looked out at the storm clouds that filled the sky, and at the lightning flashes across the horizon, but she was not seeing them.
She was thinking about her dream.
In the morning the storm had passed over the island, leaving only a light drizzle. Elizabeth hoped that the weather would not delay Alec’s arrival.
After reading the report she desperately needed someone to talk to. In the meantime she decided it would be a good idea to put it away in a secure place. There was a safe up in the tower room. She would keep it there. Elizabeth bathed, put on a pair of old slacks and a sweater, and went down into the library to get the report.
It was gone.