CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE

Russell Denton sat in a high-backed green leather chair behind his formal, black lacquered desk, looking every inch the multimillionaire. He wore his habitual casual clothes. A melon-hued silk golf shirt, Egyptian-cotton khaki trousers, and bench-made loafers all looked like JCPenney to the untrained eye, but they were custom-tailored originals and very expensive. The deliberately staged picture was one of money and power. He gazed across the desk at Jennifer Lane seated on his left side and Blake on the right in matching leather club chairs.

Russell listened as Jennifer reported on the hearing. Losing the TRO motion had angered Russell, but his anger was directed at himself. He should never have hired this woman in the first place. She had been outmatched from the start. Instead of following his better instincts, he’d allowed Tyler to convince him that Annabelle James might return the HepZMax formula if they hired Jennifer. It had seemed like an acceptable tactical decision while Stuart Barnett was alive. Now, Russell very much regretted his choice.

In his left hand at this moment, Russell Denton held the premarket approval application for HepZMax that had been filed yesterday with the FDA by his biggest competitor. While he had sat in a conference room discussing tactics for the hearing, Roger Riley had been girding himself for the real battle. But Riley had also laid down his trump card. The man was a master strategist. Once he filed the FDA application, Denton Bio-Medical’s chances of quietly retrieving HepZMax died. Riley won twice.

Russell’s life was falling down around him. Two days ago, when he’d seen Blake on tape betraying him, the last of his illusions about his nephew had been shattered. Yesterday, he’d been in the presence of a madman and watched another man gunned down in cold blood. Today, he held in his hand the death of his company and everything he’d worked to build. He looked again at the FDA application. It might as well have been the signature on his own death warrant.

Russell looked up from the application toward Jennifer, then to Blake and back again. Jennifer’s love for Blake was almost a separate presence in the room. Russell felt like a voyeur. And he felt guilty. Jennifer deserved better than his nephew. She wasn’t Blake’s type. At the outset, Russell had tried to thwart Blake’s womanizing. He’d hired Jennifer, in part, because he’d believed Blake wouldn’t be interested in her. Something else he’d been wrong about.

As Jennifer described her morning in court, she was a different woman from the one who’d fainted yesterday in her office. What had happened? The fire in her eyes, the flair of her nostrils, her harsh tones, all suggested a strength he’d never seen her display before.

“What I’m telling you, Russell, is that I’ve decided to win this case,” Jennifer said. “Roger Riley is a jerk. Stuart was the only lawyer in town who could keep him in line. Now that falls to me. I will beat Roger Riley for you in court. We will win this case.”

Jennifer’s resolve was wonderful to behold. If she’d simply had that level of confidence at the beginning, Russell might have been able to stick with her. But not now. Every competitive advantage had been lost. Russell had no choice but to get rid of her.

He shook his head. “I’m sorry, Jennifer,” he told her. Better to come right out with bad news, like ripping off a scab. The faster you do the job, the briefer the pain. “I’m going to have to replace you.”

Both Jennifer and Blake looked shocked at his words. Blake was the first to protest out loud. “But Jennifer is the best lawyer for us here. We already decided that. She needs to stay on the case.”

“I can do this, Russell. Let me prove it to you.” Jennifer said, with more conviction than he’d ever heard from her before.

“I’d like to do that. But I can’t. Not now.”

“What do you mean?” Blake asked, the now familiar hidden anger bubbling up to the surface.

“Why?” Jennifer asked, simultaneously.

Russell threw the HepZMax application across the desk to his nephew. “Because Alabaster Medical has our HepZMax formula. They’ve filed a PMA. I’m sure they’re paying Riley’s legal fees. When we lost the motion for a temporary restraining order today, that gave them the green light. They’ll go ahead with their clinical trials. We’ll never recover.”

Blake glanced at the application and then handed it over to Jennifer. He pinched the base of his nose and creased his forehead. He was the picture of concern. Russell would have laughed if the matter were less serious.

“We need seasoned, hard-assed New York lawyers to get this job done and get it done quickly. We need some regulatory affairs folks in D.C. on our side. We need political clout.” Russell looked at Jennifer directly now, in a kindly way, but with firmness. “You can’t do any of that, Jennifer, and we both know it.”

Russell watched Jennifer start to object to his statements. She tried to do so, but could not. Stuart Barnett might have pulled off a miracle at this point, but he wasn’t here anymore. And Jennifer didn’t have the experience or the strength. She didn’t have the full support of her own firm, either. As much as she’d hate to admit it, Jennifer had to know Russell was right. She was the wrong woman for the job.

Blake continued to argue against Russell’s decision, and, although Russell remained respectfully silent, he tuned Blake out. He’d made up his mind before he’d called them into his office. As soon as he heard about the decision on the TRO and opened Alabaster Medical’s hand-delivered document minutes afterward, Russell knew that he had lost. Damage control was required now, and he had to do it quickly. He’d already placed the necessary calls.

When Blake finally stopped his futile arguing, Russell said, “Jennifer, I’ll let you know where to send our files.” He stood, his hand outstretched, and came around the desk to walk her to the door. “I’m sorry. This is a purely business decision. It’s not a personal one. I’ve truly come to respect you. We may be able to do business together again, sometime. I hope you and Blake will join me for dinner one day next week.”

Jennifer looked at him directly, anger still fresh, obvious. “Is that why you hired me? To get a date for Blake?”

In response, Russell laughed heartily. “I assure you, Blake has no problem getting dates.” Then a troubled expression clouded his face. “Or we might not be in the mess we’re in now.”

“What do you mean?” Jennifer asked.

Russell made another decision. It was time to do the right thing regarding Jennifer. He should have told her long ago. Russell’s list of regrets was growing longer. “Because if he hadn’t slept with Annabelle James,” Russell told her, still holding her hand, “she wouldn’t have come to hate him when he dumped her. And we’d still have our formula, as well as a chance to save my life.”

Jennifer pulled her hand away and stuffed it in her pocket. “Blake? Is that true?” she asked him, in the voice of a young girl who has been betrayed by her best friend.

Blake looked away, then back toward Jennifer. “Annabelle wasn’t what I thought she was. When I found out, I broke it off with her. That’s when she took the formula.”

Russell marveled at Blake’s ability to lie that smoothly. He was so convincing, Russell might have believed him, if he hadn’t known better. Russell continued, “But she blamed me. She thought Blake dumped her because I told him to do it. That’s why she took HepZMax. She wanted to hand me a death sentence.”

His own lies sounded as plausible as Blake’s. Maybe because Russell’s lies were almost true.

“Why?” Jennifer leaned against the door now, seeming to be unable to stand.

Blake said, “Don’t worry, Jennifer. I don’t have Hep Z and it’s not contracted like that anyway. It’s not like AIDS. You’re not in any personal danger.”

Russell looked at his nephew with real sadness, and with love. “But I do. That’s why I can’t waste any more time, Jennifer. I have to get HepZMax back and I have to do it my way. I’m sorry. I never meant for you and Stuart to get hurt.”

Jennifer looked at them both, all the loss and anguish she felt in full view. She opened the door and exited through it, her back ramrod straight. Blake followed. Russell stood watching them walk down the hall for a few seconds, until they turned the corner out of sight, then he returned to his desk and picked up the phone.