Master of the Game

Master of the Game Page 16

It had begun casually six weeks earlier. In the middle of a hectic day, David received a message that Tim O'Neil, the friend of an important American diamond buyer, was in Klip-drift and asking if David would be good enough to welcome him and perhaps take him to dinner. David had no time to waste on tourists, but he did not want to offend his customer. He would have asked Kate to entertain the visitor, but she was on a tour of the company's plants in North America with Brad Rogers. I'm stuck, David decided. He called the hotel where O'Neil was staying and invited him to dinner that evening.

"My daughter is with me," O'Neil told him. "I hope you don't mind if I bring her along?"

David was in no mood to spend the evening with a child. "Not at all," he said politely. He would make sure the evening was a short one.

They met at the Grand Hotel, in the dining room. When David arrived, O'Neil and his daughter were already seated at the table. O'Neil was a handsome, gray-haired Irish-American in his early fifties. His daughter, Josephine, was the most beautiful woman David had ever seen. She was in her early thirties, with a stunning figure, soft blond hair and clear blue eyes. The breath went out of David at the sight of her.

"I - I'm sorry I'm late," he said. "Some last-minute business."

Josephine watched his reaction to her with amusement. "Sometimes that's the most exciting kind," she said innocently. "My father tells me you're a very important man, Mr. Black-well."

"Not really - and it's David."

She nodded. "That's a good name. It suggests great strength."

Before the dinner was over, David decided that Josephine O'Neil was much more than just a beautiful woman. She was intelligent, had a sense of humor and was skillful at making him feel at ease. David felt she was genuinely interested in him. She asked him questions about himself that no one had ever asked before. By the time the evening ended, he was already half in love with her.

"Where's your home?" David asked Tim O'Neil.

"San Francisco."

"Will you be going back soon?" He made it sound as casual as he could.

"Next week."

Josephine smiled at David. "If Klipdrift is as interesting as it promises to be, I might persuade Father to stay a little longer."

"I intend to make it as interesting as possible," David assured her. "How would you like to go down into a diamond mine?"

"We'd love it," Josephine answered. "Thank you."

At one time David had personally escorted important visitors down into the mines, but he had long since delegated that task to subordinates. Now he heard himself saying, "Would tomorrow morning be convenient?" He had half a dozen meetings scheduled for the morning, but they suddenly seemed unimportant.

He took the O'Neils down a rockshaft, twelve hundred feet below ground. The shaft was six feet wide and twenty feet long, divided into four compartments, one for pumping, two for hoisting the blue diamondiferous earth and one with a double-decked cage to carry the miners to and from work.

"I've always been curious about something," Josephine said. "Why are diamonds measured in carats?"

"The carat was named for the carob seed," David explained, "because of its consistency in weight. One carat equals two hundred milligrams, or one one-hundred-forty-second of an ounce."

Josephine said, "I'm absolutely fascinated, David."

And he wondered if she was referring only to the diamonds. Her nearness was intoxicating. Every time he looked at Josephine, David felt a fresh sense of excitement.

"You really should see something of the countryside," David told the O'Neils. "If you're free tomorrow, I'd be happy to take you around."

Before her father could say anything, Josephine replied, "That would be lovely."

David was with Josephine and her father every day after that, and each day David fell more deeply in love. He had never known anyone as bewitching.

When David arrived to pick up the O'Neils for dinner one evening and Tim O'Neil said, "I'm a bit tired tonight, David. Would you mind if I didn't go along?" David tried to hide his pleasure.

"No, sir. I understand."

Josephine gave David a mischievous smile. "I'll try to keep you entertained," she promised.

David took her to a restaurant in a hotel that had just opened. The room was crowded, but David was recognized and given a table immediately. A three-piece ensemble was playing American music.

David asked, "Would you like to dance?"

"I'd love to."

A moment later, Josephine was in his arms on the dance floor, and it was magic. David held her lovely body close to his, and he could feel her respond.

"Josephine, I'm in love with you."

She put a finger to his lips. "Please, David...don't..."

"Why?"

"Because I couldn't marry you."

"Do you love me?"

She smiled up at him, her blue eyes sparkling. "I'm crazy about you, my darling. Can't you tell?"

"Then why?"

"Because I could never live in Klipdrift. I'd go mad."

"You could give it a try."

"David, I'm tempted, but I know what would happen. If I married you and had to live here, I'd turn into a screaming shrew and we'd end up hating each other. I'd rather we said good-bye this way."

"I don't want to say good-bye."

She looked up into his face, and David felt her body melt into his. "David, is there any chance that you could live in San Francisco?"

It was an impossible idea. "What would I do there?"

"Let's have breakfast in the morning. I want you to talk to Father."

Tim O'Neil said, "Josephine has told me about your conversation last night. Looks like you two have a problem. But I might have a solution, if you're interested."

"I'm very interested, sir."

O'Neil picked up a brown-leather briefcase and removed some blueprints. "Do you know anything about frozen foods?"

"I'm afraid I don't."

"They first started freezing food in the United States in 1865. The problem was transporting it long distances without the food thawing out. We've got refrigerated railway cars, but no one's been able to come up with a way to refrigerate trucks." O'Neil tapped the blueprints. "Until now. I just received a patent on it. This is going to revolutionize the entire food industry, David."

David glanced at the blueprints. "I'm afraid these don't mean much to me, Mr. O'Neil."

"That doesn't matter. I'm not looking for a technical expert. I have plenty of those. What I'm looking for is financing and someone to run the business. This isn't some wild pipe dream. I've talked to the top food processors in the business. This is going to be big - bigger than you can imagine. I need someone like you."

"The company headquarters will be in San Francisco," Josephine added.

David sat there silent, digesting what he had just heard. "You say you've been given a patent on this?"

"That's right. I'm all set to move."

"Would you mind if I borrowed these blueprints and showed them to someone?"

"I have no objection at all."

The first thing David did was to check on Tim O'Neil. He learned that O'Neil had a solid reputation in San Francisco. He had been head of the science department at a Berkeley College there and was highly regarded. David knew nothing about the freezing of food, but he intended to find out.

"I'll be back in five days, darling. I want you and your father to wait for me."

"As long as you like. I'll miss you," Josephine said.

"I'll miss you, too." And he meant it more than she knew.

David took the train to Johannesburg and made an appointment to see Edward Broderick, the owner of the largest meatpacking plant in South Africa.

"I want your opinion on something." David handed him the blueprints. "I need to know if this can work."

"I don't know a damned thing about frozen foods or trucks, but I know people who do. If you come back this afternoon, I'll have a couple of experts here for you, David."

At four o'clock that afternoon David returned to the packing plant. He found that he was nervous, in a state of uncertainty, because he was not sure how he wanted the meeting to go. Two weeks earlier, he would have laughed if anyone had even suggested he would ever leave Kruger-Brent, Ltd. It was a part of him. He would have laughed even harder if they had told him he would have considered heading a little food company in San Francisco. It was insane, except for one thing: Josephine O'Neil.

There were two men in the room with Edward Broderick. "This is Dr. Crawford and Mr. Kaufman. David Blackwell."

They exchanged greetings. David asked, "Have you gentlemen had a chance to look at the blueprints?"

Dr. Crawford replied, "We certainly have, Mr. Blackwell. We've been over them thoroughly."

David took a deep breath. "And?"

"I understand that the United States Patent Office has granted a patent on this?"

"That's right."

"Well, Mr. Blackwell, whoever got that patent is going to be one very rich man."

David nodded slowly, filled with conflicting emotions.

"It's like all great inventions - it's so simple you wonder why someone didn't think of it sooner. This one can't miss."

David did not know how to react. He had half-hoped that the decision would be taken out of his hands. If Tim O'Neil's invention was useless, there was a chance of persuading Josephine to stay in South Africa. But what O'Neil had told him was true. It did work. Now David had to make his decision.

He thought of nothing else on the journey back to Klipdrift. If he accepted, it would mean leaving the company, starting up a new, untried business. He was an American, but America was a foreign country to him. He held an important position in one of the most powerful companies in the world. He loved his job. Jamie and Margaret McGregor had been very good to him. And then there was Kate. He had cared for her since she was a baby. He had watched her grow up from a stubborn, dirty-faced tomboy to a lovely young woman. Her life was a photo album in his mind. He turned the pages and there was Kate at four, eight, ten, fourteen, twenty-one - vulnerable, unpredictable...

By the time the train arrived at Klipdrift, David had made up his mind. He was not going to leave Kruger-Brent, Ltd.

He drove directly to the Grand Hotel and went up to the O'Neils' suite. Josephine opened the door for him.

"David!"

He took her in his arms and kissed her hungrily, feeling her warm body pressing against his.

"Oh, David, I've missed you so much. I don't ever want to be away from you again."

"You won't have to," David said slowly. "I'm going to San Francisco..."

David had waited with growing anxiety for Kate to return from the United States. Now that he had made his decision, he was eager to get started on his new life, impatient to marry Josephine.

And now Kate was back, and he was standing in front of her saying, "I'm getting married."

Kate heard the words through a roaring in her ears. She felt suddenly faint, and she gripped the edge of the desk for support. I want to die, she thought. Please let me die.

Somehow, from some deep wellspring of will, she managed a smile. "Tell me about her, David." She was proud of how calm her voice sounded. "Who is she?"

"Her name is Josephine O'Neil. She's been visiting here with her father. I know you two will be good friends, Kate. She's a fine woman."

"She must be, if you love her, David."

He hesitated. "There's one more thing, Kate. I'm going to be leaving the company."

The world was falling in on her. "Just because you're getting married, doesn't mean you have to - "

"It isn't that. Josephine's father is starting a new business in San Francisco. They need me."

"So - so you'll be living in San Francisco."

"Yes. Brad Rogers can handle my job easily, and we'll pick a top management team to back him up. Kate, I - I can't tell you what a difficult decision this was for me."

"Of course, David. You - you must love her very much. When do I get to meet the bride?"

David smiled, pleased at how well Kate was taking the news. "Tonight, if you're free for dinner."

"Yes, I'm free."

She would not let the tears come until she was alone.

The four of them had dinner at the McGregor mansion. The moment Kate saw Josephine, she blanched, Oh God! No wonder he's in love with her! She was dazzling. Just being in her presence made Kate feel awkward and ugly. And to make matters worse, Josephine was gracious and charming. And obviously very much in love with David. Bloody hell!

During dinner Tim O'Neil told Kate about the new company.

"It sounds very interesting," Kate said.

"I'm afraid it's no Kruger-Brent, Limited, Miss McGregor. We'll have to start small, but with David running it, we'll do all right."

"With David running it, you can't miss," Kate assured him.

The evening was an agony. In the same cataclysmic moment, she had lost the man she loved and the one person who was indispensable to Kruger-Brent, Ltd. She carried on a conversation and managed to get through the evening, but afterward she had no recollection of what she said or did. She only knew that every time David and Josephine looked at each other or touched, she wanted to kill herself.

On the way back to the hotel, Josephine said, "She's in love with you, David."

He smiled. "Kate? No. We're friends. We have been since she was a baby. She liked you a lot."

Josephine smiled. Men are so naive.

In David's office the following morning, Tim O'Neil and David sat facing each other. "I'll need about two months to get my affairs in order here," David said. "I've been thinking about the financing we'll need to begin with. If we go to one of the big companies, they'll swallow us up and give us a small share. It won't belong to us anymore. I think we should finance it ourselves. I figure it will cost eighty thousand dollars to get started. I've saved the equivalent of about forty thousand dollars. We'll need forty thousand more."

"I have ten thousand dollars," Tim O'Neil said. "And I have a brother who will loan me another five thousand."

"So, we're twenty-five thousand dollars short," David said. "We'll try to borrow that from a bank."

"We'll leave for San Francisco right away," O'Neil told David, "and get everything set up for you."

Josephine and her father left for the United States two days later. "Send them to Cape Town in the private railway car, David," Kate offered.

"That's very generous of you, Kate."

The morning Josephine left, David felt as though a piece of his life had been taken away. He could not wait to join her in San Francisco.

The next few weeks were taken up with a search for a management team to back up Brad Rogers. A list of possible candidates was carefully drawn up, and Kate and David and Brad spent hours discussing each one.

"...Taylor is a good technician, but he's weak on management."

"What about Simmons?"

"He's good, but he's not ready yet," Brad decided. "Give him another five years."

"Babcock?"

"Not a bad choice. Let's discuss him."

"What about Peterson?"

"Not enough of a company man," David said. "He's too concerned with himself." And even as he said it, he felt a pang of guilt because he was deserting Kate.

They continued on with the list of names. By the end of the month, they had narrowed the choice to four men to work with Brad Rogers. All of them were working abroad, and they were sent for so that they could be interviewed. The first two interviews went well. "I'd be satisfied with either one of them," Kate assured David and Brad.

On the morning the third interview was to take place, David walked into Kate's office, his face pale. "Is my job still open?"

Kate looked at his expression and stood up in alarm. "What is it, David?"

"I - I - " He sank into a chair. "Something has happened."

Kate was out from behind the desk and by his side in an instant. "Tell me!"

"I just got a letter from Tim O'Neil. He's sold the business."

"What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I said. He accepted an offer of two hundred thousand dollars and a royalty for his patent from the Three Star Meat Packing Company in Chicago." David's voice was filled with bitterness. "The company would like to hire me to manage it for them. He regrets any inconvenience to me, but he couldn't turn down that kind of money."

Kate looked at him intently. "And Josephine? What does she say? She must be furious with her father."

"There was a letter from her, too. We'll marry as soon as I come to San Francisco."

"And you're not going?"

"Of course I'm not going!" David exploded. "Before, I had something to offer. I could have built it into a great company. But they were in too much of a damned hurry for the money."

"David, you're not being fair when you say 'they.' Just be - "

"O'Neil would never have made that deal without Josephine's approval."

"I - I don't know what to say, David."

"There is nothing to say. Except that I almost made the biggest mistake of my life."

Kate walked over to the desk and picked up the list of candidates. Slowly, she began to tear it up.

In the weeks that followed, David plunged himself deeply into his work, trying to forget his bitterness and hurt. He received several letters from Josephine O'Neil, and he threw them all away, unread. But he could not get her out of his mind. Kate, deeply aware of David's pain, let him know she was there if he needed her.

Six months had passed since David received the letter from Tim O'Neil. During that time, Kate and David continued to work closely together, travel together and be alone together much of the time. Kate tried to please him in every way she could. She dressed for him, planned things he would enjoy and went out of her way to make his life as happy as possible. As far as she could tell, it was having no effect at all. And finally she lost her patience.

She and David were in Rio de Janeiro, checking on a new mineral find. They had had dinner at their hotel and were in Kate's room going over some figures late at night. Kate had changed to a comfortable kimono and slippers. When they finished, David stretched and said, "Well, that's it for tonight. I guess I'll go on to bed."

Kate said quietly, "Isn't it time you came out of mourning, David?"

He looked at her in surprise. "Mourning?"

"For Josephine O'Neil."

"She's out of my life."

"Then act like it."

"Just what would you like me to do, Kate?" he asked curtly.

Kate was angry now. Angry at David's blindness, angry about all the wasted time. "I'll tell you what I'd like you to do - kiss me."

"What?"

"Bloody hell, David! I'm your boss, damn it!" She moved close to him. "Kiss me." And she pressed her lips against his and put her arms around him. She felt him resist and start to draw back. And then slowly his arms circled her body, and he kissed her.

"Kate..."

She whispered against his lips. "I thought you'd never ask..."

They were married six weeks later. It was the biggest wedding Klipdrift had ever seen or would see again. It was held in the town's largest church and afterward there was a reception in the town hall and everyone was invited. There were mountains of food and uncounted cases of beer and whiskey and champagne, and musicians played and the festivities lasted until dawn. When the sun came up, Kate and David slipped away.

"I'll go home and finish packing," Kate said. "Pick me up in an hour."

In the pale dawn light, Kate entered the huge house alone and went upstairs to her bedroom. She walked over to a painting on the wall and pressed against the frame. The painting flew back, revealing a wall safe. She opened it and brought out a contract. It was for the purchase of the Three Star Meat Packing Company of Chicago by Kate McGregor. Next to it was a contract from the Three Star Meat Packing Company purchasing the rights to Tim O'Neil's freezing process for two hundred thousand dollars. Kate hesitated a moment, then returned the papers to the safe and locked it. David belonged to her now. He had always belonged to her. And to Kruger-Brent, Ltd. Together, they would build it into the biggest, most powerful company in the world.

Just as Jamie and Margaret McGregor would have wanted it.