“I wish I could have protected you both,” David told Margaret.
“That’s all past, David. We must think only of the future.”
And the future was Kruger-Brent, Ltd.
For the world, the year 1900 was a clean slate on which history was going to be written, a new era that promised peace and limitless hope for everyone. A new century had begun, and it brought with it a series of astonishing inventions that reshaped life around the globe. Steam and electric automobiles were replaced by the combustion engine. There were submarines and airplanes. The world population exploded to a billion and a half people. It was a time to grow and expand, and during the next six years, Margaret and David took full advantage of every opportunity.
During those years, Kate grew up with almost no supervision. Her mother was too busy running the company with David to pay much attention to her. She was a wild child, stubborn and opinionated and intractable. One afternoon when Margaret came home from a business meeting, she saw her fourteen-year-old daughter in the muddy yard in a fistfight with two boys. Margaret stared in horrified disbelief.
“Bloody hell!” she said under her breath. “That’s the girl who one day is going to run Kruger-Brent, Limited! God help us all!”
BOOK TWO
Kate and David
1906-1914
12
On a hot summer night in 1914, Kate McGregor was working alone in her office at the new Kruger-Brent, Ltd., headquarters building in Johannesburg when she heard the sound of approaching automobiles. She put down the papers she had been studying, walked over to the window and looked out. Two cars of police and a paddy wagon had come to a stop in front of the building. Kate watched, frowning, as half a dozen uniformed policemen leaped from the cars and hurried to cover the two entrances and exits to the building. It was late, and the streets were deserted. Kate caught a wavy reflection of herself in the window. She was a beautiful woman, with her father’s light-gray eyes and her mother’s full figure.
There was a knock at the office door and Kate called, “Come in.”
The door opened and two uniformed men entered. One wore the bars of a superintendent of police.
“What on earth is going on?” Kate demanded.
“I apologize for disturbing you at this late hour, Miss McGregor. I’m Superintendent Cominsky.”
“What’s the problem, Superintendent?”
“We’ve had a report that an escaped killer was seen entering this building a short time ago.”
There was a shocked look on Kate’s face. “Entering this building?”
“Yes, ma’am. He’s armed and dangerous.”
Kate said nervously, “Then I would very much appreciate it, Superintendent, if you would find him and get him out of here.”
“That’s exactly what we intend to do, Miss McGregor. You haven’t seen or heard anything suspicious, have you?”
“No. But I’m alone here, and there are a lot of places a person could hide. I’d like you to have your men search this place thoroughly.”
“We’ll get started immediately, ma’am.”
The superintendent turned and called to the men in the hallway, “Spread out. Start at the basement and work your way up to the roof.” He turned to Kate. “Are any of the offices locked?”
“I don’t believe so,” Kate said, “but if they are, I’ll open them for you.”
Superintendent Cominsky could see how nervous she was, and he did not blame her. She would be even more nervous if she knew how desperate the man was for whom they were looking. “We’ll find him,” the superintendent assured Kate.
Kate picked up the report she had been working on, but she was unable to concentrate. She could hear the police moving through the building, going from office to office. Would they find him? She shivered.
The policemen moved slowly, methodically searching every possible hiding place from the basement to the roof. Forty-five minutes later, Superintendent Cominsky returned to Kate’s office.
She looked at his face. “You didn’t find him.”
“Not yet, ma’am, but don’t worry—”
“I am worried, Superintendent. If there is an escaped killer in this building, I want you to find him.”