Page 2 of Stranded with the Billionaire
Sterling stashed away her single suitcase. She grabbed the pre-flight checklist for the flight attendants and started to look busy. She was in the middle of checking the fire extinguishers when the pilot Richard Merriweather came on board.
“Good evening,” Richard smiled at her. He was a distinguished looking man in his mid-fifties.
“Good evening,” Sterling echoed the greeting. She shook his hand and introduced herself. “Sara Hawkins.”
“Pleased to meet you Ms. Hawkins. Richard Merriweather. Weather looks good today,” He stowed a small bag away. It appeared the pilot travelled very light.
“Indeed,” Sterling smiled as he made his way past her to the cockpit to start his own pre-flight checks.
First hurdle done. Sterling continued with the list. Anything she didn’t quite understand she put a checkmark beside. She wasn’t about to admit her ignorance. It was only a six hour flight so no meals were required to be served. All she had to do was fake it until they were well on their way.
Footsteps came up the steps. Sterling turned to have a look and there was Jake Ramesly, immaculate in a suit, coat draped over his arm, laptop case in hand. For a moment, Sterling could feel her heart flutter in her chest.
That was silly. She’d never been nervous around any of the celebrities that she’d chased down for a story before. Jake Ramesly wasn’t even all that famous compared to his cousins. Sterling had every intention of changing that come tomorrow when she wrote her next article.
“Richard. Good to see you again,” Jake greeted the pilot with a nod. He turned to Sterling. “Nice to meet you.”
“Sara Hawkins,” Sterling held out a hand to greet him.
“Ms. Hawkins,” Jake said briefly before he handed her his coat.
Sterling blinked. She’d meant to shake his hand, not do coat service. However, she pasted a smile on her face as he went to take his seat. She was invisible, just part of the help to Mr. High and Mighty Ramesly. That was fine. It would suit her purposes not to have him pay any attention to her.
She put his coat and single luggage case away, ignoring the Sandalwood smell. Just because he was tall, dark, and smelled good, didn’t mean that she was going to give him any mercy. Sterling had a job to do.
Jake settled himself with his laptop and phone out, ignoring Sterling and Richard as they went about their duties. His phone rang and he put it on speaker while he continued typing. “Jake Ramesly.”
Sterling couldn’t believe her luck. She tried to be inconspicuous as she listened in on the conversation.
“They’ve arrested Michael,” a voice said from the cellphone.
Jake stopped typing. “What do you mean they’ve arrested Michael?”
“The FBI. They’ve searched Michael’s house, seized his boat and have taken him into custody,” came the reply. “Ann is beside herself. What are we going to do?”
“Get him a really good team of lawyers,” Jake was grim. “Dillon, how’s Dad?”
“He won’t talk to me,” Dillon responded.
“Why?” Jake asked.
“I don’t know. I asked to see him and it came back that he didn’t want to talk to me. Hopefully when you get here, he’ll talk to you,” Dillon was frustrated. “How did this even happen? What possible reason could they have to become involved with drug smugglers? We run billion dollar businesses, not illegal activities. None of this makes any sense.”
Jake grimaced. “You said Michael had arranged a family meeting?”
“Yes. Michael had proof that money was being laundered out of Ramesly Pharmaceuticals. Have you checked the western division accounting? I’ve got a team of auditors looking over Ramesly Insurance eastern division right now and they’ve uncovered some disturbing things. It is possible money has been laundered through our company as well.”
“Slow down,” Jake advised. “We don’t know that for certain until a complete audit is made.”
“I’m worried the FBI is going to ask for our financial records before we’ve even fully scratched the surface. There are over thirty years of records to go through,” Dillon sighed. “I’m concerned about what we could be left open to in this investigation.”
“We did nothing wrong Dillon,” Jake said reasonably. “We can’t be charged for not knowing what Uncle David and possibly our dad was up to.”
Dillon had a short laugh. “We are the heads of this company. We are open to liability and thus charges if the FBI deems it necessary. That’s part of the job. At the very least, we should have been apprised by accounting of discrepancies. I’m pretty sure ignorance isn’t an acceptable defence.”
Jake knew that Dillon had a habit of imagining the worst. It was a strength when Dillon prepared properly for the worst and everything in between. It was also his weakness when Dillon was paralyzed by his fears. Dillon’s first marriage had been something of a disaster, resulting in the anxieties he now bore. Jake was waiting to see how his second marriage went, however it appeared that Dillon was happier with his new wife Kelly.
Dillon deserved some happiness after all he’d been through in Jake’s opinion.
