9

A SMALL PORT IN ALASKA

Ever since getting kicked off the USS Cantor by the arrival of the Navy fleet and the American Frontier team, Sean had been restless. He hated not being in the center of the action. But as “nonessential personnel,” he’d been given the boot. Thankfully, both Dr. Shapiros had been allowed to stay, and Elizabeth was still sending info Sean’s way.

Now, though, seeing his brother’s grim visage flashed across a TV screen didn’t help Sean’s frustration. Sean admired his elder sibling and wished Will well, but he was also a little jealous. He never spoke of it, except occasionally to his mother when he was at a low point in his life. So seeing Will’s face on CNN and Fox News as speculation swirled around him becoming the next CEO of American Frontier only made Sean seethe all over again.

The lives and work of all three Worthington siblings were converging on one central event. Will and Sarah were both now in the middle of the fray. But Sean, once again, was on the outside looking in.

Though people saw Will as a natural leader, Sean was sure they saw him as just the party boy. Someone interesting to the tabloids but not to be taken as a serious player. Although Sean had billions of dollars at his disposal, he largely made his way through the world on his own, almost in the shadows in between parties and media blitzes while Will stayed in the spotlight.

So when did I know I couldn’t compete with my brother? he asked himself.

He knew the answer instantly. When I was 11. When I sneaked out of that Worthington social affair and nobody noticed I was missing.

Later, he hadn’t been sure whether to smirk or roll his eyes at the predictability of it. Nobody much asked his opinion anyway, at least inside his family. Any conversation centered on Will, the perfect one, and their entertaining little sister. So what did it matter that he wasn’t there?

When that reality hit, Sean had decided he preferred to spend as much time as possible at his friends’ houses. There, at least, he was noticed and mostly understood. Since then his close-knit group of friends had become more his family than his actual family. There, among that group, he felt he truly belonged.

Yet Sean had still been the dutiful son, carving out a massive, entrepreneurial role for himself inside Worthington Shares. He’d placed big bets on nearly 100 start-ups in more than a dozen industries in the past several years. A few, thankfully, were poised to break out in big ways now that IPOs were back in vogue, and both Wall Street and Silicon Valley were willing to roll the dice on big plays again.

The secret of a successful equity fund, even one as massive as Worthington Shares, was the diversity of the portfolio of companies it had invested in. At one end, the stable end, were the shares in big, established, blue-chip companies like American Frontier. Will managed that aspect. It fit his traditional, non-risking personality all the way. But the real value—where big money was won and lost—was in the risky side of the business, where bets were placed on start-ups that had the potential to explode in value or crash big-time.

Sean had taken to that end of Worthington Shares like a duck to water. He loved the risk, the daring, the adrenaline rush he got from watching something that he’d identified begin its inexorable march toward an IPO or a big sale to a much larger company. And he craved the intermingling with others, gathering new people he grew to call his friends . . . part of his network. People who were loyal to him and could count on him too.

Sean already had three big wins in just the last five years, which was really all he needed to justify 100 failures in even a broad portfolio of start-ups. These three instances alone now delivered nearly a billion dollars in value. All of the other start-ups Sean managed could collapse or disappear altogether and it wouldn’t matter. His end of the Worthington Shares business was an unmitigated success by any measure, even if that success was never good enough for his father.

This left him more than enough time to indulge all of his other many hobbies and pursuits. He’d sailed around the world with a group of friends and had been to the top of several of the largest summits. He had plans to compete in amateur bobsledding in Switzerland. Lately he’d set his goal to zip-line at some of the most amazing and beautiful spots in the world. Already he’d zip-lined over the Great Wall of China in Simatai—a rush at a speed of nearly 100 mph—and in Labadee, Haiti, over a cove of sky-blue water. Now he was debating whether to do Gravity Canyon in New Zealand or Icy Strait Point in Alaska next.

Sean was also somewhat notorious for his single lifestyle, even though he was always seen in the midst of a growing circle. He’d been constantly photographed in the company of well-known actresses and supermodels, but there were the occasional wild rumors about why he was still single into his midthirties. Sean tried to ignore all the tabloid talk that swirled about the Worthingtons, especially him: “Keep an eye on Sean Worthington. Under that charming smile, could there be a devilish interior? A playboy who doesn’t care about the consequences?”

When he’d seen the headlines of that tabloid at a newsstand, complete with a rakish picture of himself on the cover, he’d flipped the newsstand guy a 100-dollar bill, then flung the entire stash of tabloids into the nearby trash bin without even reading the story. “Inquiring minds want to know . . . right,” he’d scoffed as he poured the remainder of his morning coffee over the papers.

As far as Sean was concerned, his personal preferences were his own business and not anyone else’s. But every so often, he did think about ending the speculation and unasked questions. Someday he’d find the right woman to marry, settle down, and have kids.

Dr. Elizabeth Shapiro flashed into his mind.

Having a wonderful, brilliant daughter-in-law would certainly make his mom happy. He caught her glancing at him every once in a while with a wistful eye and knew what that look meant. She loved Laura and being a grandmother to Will’s kids. She’d even hinted that she wished Sean would find the same kind of happiness that Will and Laura seemed to share. Then again, Sean hadn’t met anyone even remotely close to Laura. Not that he wanted someone exactly like her, but he admired her. A strong woman in her own right, she was perfect for Will. Made him lighten up. Put things in perspective when he got too intense. When Laura was around, Will was a much better human being.

And that was what Sean wanted out of a lasting relationship.

But even more, he wished for an end to the restlessness he continually felt in his heart. He didn’t know why, but it was always there. As if a piece of him was missing somehow, and he couldn’t be whole without it.

Now, however, he was on a mission. What he couldn’t tell just yet was whether he’d be in a position to help or hurt his brother when all was said and done. It depended on a variety of circumstances and factors. But one thing Sean knew. This was his moment too, and he wanted to make the most of it.

Among his many hobbies, Sean was on the board of directors of a half dozen big environmental groups. As a wealthy donor, he could sit on almost any nonprofit board of his choosing. His favorite, though, was Green Justice. American Frontier officials and shareholders disliked Green Justice a great deal, which was all the incentive Sean needed to donate money and sit on its global board.

He was the only card-carrying member of the business community on the Green Justice board. Most of Green Justice’s operations were funded on shoestring budgets by its individual members. They avoided corporate donations. But Sean had long ago earned his bona fides as a stalwart individual donor to progressive causes. So his annual gift to Green Justice to fund its core operations was welcomed.

Sean pulled his mobile from his vest pocket and scrolled to the Bs in his hundreds of social contacts. He was looking for one name in particular—Kirk Baldwin, a crusty, bald-headed fellow traveler who’d been the head of research for Green Justice for nearly 20 years now. Sean hadn’t spoken to him in a while, but it wouldn’t matter. His comrade-in-arms would jump at the chance he was about to afford him.

“Amigo!” he almost yelled into the phone once he’d dialed the contact. “How’s the battle?”

“Same as ever,” his friend answered in a raspy voice. “And I’ll bet you’re busy right about now, huh?”

“Yeah, well, my brother certainly is,” Sean said. “I’m just sitting on the sidelines, biding my time.”

“Let me guess. You want in the game?”

“I do. How’d you know?”

“I know you way too well, dude,” Kirk said. “You go where the action is. And the action, as we all know, is in the Arctic.”

“That’s the understatement of the century.” Sean didn’t mention that he’d already been there, in the middle of the action, right when it had happened. He’d save that information for a later date.

Kirk paused. “You know we’re coming after American Frontier with everything we have, right? You do know that?”

“I certainly hope so. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“So, if you’re calling on your brother’s behalf to see if you can slow us down, get us to—”

“I’m most definitely not calling on Will’s behalf, or American Frontier’s, for that matter,” Sean said much too loudly. “I would never do that. You know me, Kirk. I don’t operate like that. Ever. Not even for my brother.”

“I know.” His friend chuckled. “Just had to put it out there. Worthington Shares is their biggest shareholder, after all. The entire financial community knows it, if not the rest of the world.”

Sean rolled his eyes, even though Kirk couldn’t see it. “Have I ever done anything that would make you think I’d try to get in the way of what you all do, just because my family’s fund owns significant shares of the company? Have I?”

A slight pause, then, “No, you haven’t. And it’s what I’ve always liked about you, even if I don’t completely understand you or your motivations. So, what’s on your mind?”

“I have a proposition,” Sean said.

“Which is?”

“How’d you like a new ship for the Green Justice fleet?”

“What sort?”

“The kind that can sail into the Arctic. With me aboard.”