Page 4 of Set In Stone

“Send the email to Justine. She can handle it,” I dismissed. “Anythingelse?”

“Yes. You should also know that PR called. They are still fielding questions about Mr. Charles Andrews. They’d like to know if you changed your mind about making astatement.”

“No, I have not. Stephen has been in touch with the DA and both agree that it should wait until after the trial. We don’t want a media spin to give the defense anedge.”

“I’ll tell them, Mr. Stone,” she said and turned to pick up the phone. Leaving her alone to talk to the Stone Enterprise public relations team, I headed into myoffice.

Once I reached my desk, I sat down and fired up the computer. I skimmed through the slew of emails that had come since last night and went over my schedule for the day. My morning and afternoon were jam-packed, as I was still paying for taking so much time off after Krystina’s accident. Resigning myself to the hefty workload, I got straight toit.

Clicking on the emails by order of priority, I shot off the responses needed to those working on building permits. Construction invoices were forwarded to Bryan, my accountant. Acquisitions were another beast entirely. Schmoozing over the owners of the potential properties I wanted to acquire required more time and finesse. I opened an email from John Benson, the owner of a derelict fifteen-story apartment building in Chicago, only to find that he decided to up the listprice.

Damn it! The greedy bastard is no different thanCanterwell.

I shook my head. I wanted that building badly. It was a great location with a lot of potential, but not for the increased price tag. The projected renovation would be costly if I wanted it to become something worthy of the Stone Enterprise name. I fired off a quick rejection reply, knowing that the stingy old man would come aroundeventually.

I made sure to copy Bryan in on my response, knowing that my accountant would be happy that I decided not to budge on my initial offer. I just had to play Benson’s game for a little while longer. He would come around, and when he did, I would be ready. A few cocktails and a couple of greased palms should be all that was needed to secure the dealnicely.

The next email was from Justine. The subject line was blank. Assuming that my sister was sending me something to do with The Stoneworks Foundation, I opened it. I was surprised to see that it was just a short note informing me about a date change for Charlie Andrews’ trial. It had been moved up. My eyes moved to the top of the email to see the recipients. She had copied in Stephen, mylawyer.

Good.

However, her email wasn’t sitting right with me. I frowned. It wasn’t because the trial date had been changed. These things happened. Not to mention, I had been putting pressure on Thomas Green, the District Attorney, to speed things up. What bothered me was the fact that the news came from Justine in an email. She normally came to see me personally or called when it came to matters with her ex-husband. But then again, Justine had been noticeably absent as oflate.

Since Krystina’s car accident, it was like she fell off the grid. If it weren’t for communications regarding Stoneworks, I wouldn’t have heard from her at all. I often wondered if she was harboring guilt over what happened. I made a mental note to call her later in the day. At the very least, we needed to talk before the trial and make sure we were on the same page. But I knew my sister, and I also knew that a phone call to her would not be a quick one. I fully expected her to be a bundle of nerves over the upcoming trial. She would be looking for a project to distract her and I just happened to have the perfect thing in mind forher.

My intercom buzzed and Laura’s voice came through theline.

“Mr. Stone, your eight o’clock ishere.”

I glanced down at the neatly typed schedule that Laura left on my desk. Samuel Faye, the security detail that Hale uncovered, was scheduled to meet me at eight. I wanted to go over a few things with him before he met withKrystina.

“Send him in, Laura,” Ireplied.

When Samuel Faye entered my office, I was surprised to see how different he looked in a suit. At our initial meeting, he wore frayed jeans and a tattered t-shirt. His hair was dusty and two days’ worth of stubble covered his face. Hale explained that Samuel had just come off work at a construction site, a temporary job he took on after leaving the Navy. Regardless of his unprofessional attire, Hale had given Samuel a strong reference and his military background spoke of his competence. But I recalled his handshake more than anything. It was firm.Sturdy.

Now, here he stood, dressed in a neatly pressed navy suit. Clean cut and polished. His dark hair was cut with precision and sharp intelligence marked his brown eyes. He looked younger than I remembered, a detail that shocked me somewhat since I’m normally more observant. I assessed him again and my eyes narrowed into slits. He cleaned up good. Too good, in fact. And this was the man I was going to put in charge of Krystina’s wellbeing. He would be everywhere she went, mirroring her daily activities, and watching her everymove.

Unease and jealousy swirled in my gut. I pressed my lips into a tight line and tried to shrug off my suspicion, as it was completely baseless. Hale was fond of Krystina and he knew me very well. He wouldn’t have chosen Samuel if he couldn’t betrusted.

Still, I didn’t stand as he approached my desk. I stayed where I was, eying him coolly, as he stretched his hand out to me. It was an arrogant power play, but a necessary one until he learned hisplace.

“Mr. Stone. It’s a good to see you again, sir,” Samuel greetedformally.

I leaned forward and returned his handshake. It was exactly as I remembered it. Strong. A lot could be said about a person through a handshake. I pushed the nagging worry aside and focused on that until I could get a better read on hischaracter.

“Have a seat Samuel,” I told him and motioned to one of the two chairs in front of my desk. He immediately sat, his back ramrod straight, posture assertive and perfectly correct. If I peered around the desk, I was confident that his heels would be together and his toes apart. Just like Hale, Samuel Faye was a military man, through andthrough.

“Please, sir, call meSam.”

“Sam, I know that Hale and I have already gone over the job expectations with you. However, I have a few other concerns that you should be aware of before your meeting with Krystina.” I paused and took in his attentive gaze while he waited for me to elaborate. Out of pure curiosity, I switched gears and asked, “Why did you accept this job,Sam?”

“I have the utmost respect for the Commander, sir,” he began, referring to Hale by his retired navy status. “Commander Fulton expected only the best from the men that served him. I know that to be true even after he retired. When he approached me with the opportunity, it was anhonor.”

“That’sit?”

He tossed me a knowingsmile.

“Well, the money you offered was kind of hard to turn downtoo.”

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