Kane and Abel Read online

  ‘Mr Rosnovski?’

  What can I do for you, Mr Kane?’ asked a very calm, lightly accented voice.

  William looked down at the written notes on the pad in front of him. He could hear his heart beating.

  ‘I’m a little concerned about your holdings in Lester’s Bank, Mr Rosnovski,’ he said, ‘and also about the strong position you’ve taken in one of the companies we represent. I thought perhaps the time had come for us to meet and discuss your intentions. There is also a personal matter I should like to make known to you.’ Word perfect.

  Another long silence. Had he been cut off?

  ‘There are no conditions on which I’d agree to hold a meeting with you Kane. I know enough about you already without wanting to hear your excuses for the way you treated Davis Leroy. My advice to you is to keep your eyes open night and day; that way you’ll discover soon enough what my intentions are, and they differ greatly from those you’ll find in the Book of Genesis. One day you’re going to want to jump out of the seventeenth-floor window of your bank, because you’ll be in so much trouble with your own board. Don’t ever forget, Kane, that I only need two per cent more of the bank’s stock to invoke Article Seven, and we both know the consequences of that, don’t we?’

  William didn’t respond.

  ‘Perhaps then you’ll finally appreciate how Davis Leroy felt, wondering what the bank might do about his future. Now you can sit and wonder what I’m going to do with yours once I’m in possession of eight per cent of Lester’s stock.’

  Rosnovski’s words chilled William, but he forced himself to respond calmly. ‘I can understand how you feel, Mr Rosnovski, but I still think it might be worthwhile for us to get together and talk about our differences. There are one or two things you clearly aren’t aware of.’

  ‘Like the way you swindled Henry Osborne out of five hundred thousand dollars, Mr Kane?’

  William was momentarily speechless, but once again he managed to control his temper.

  ‘No, Mr Rosnovski. What I wanted to discuss with you has nothing to do with Mr Osborne. It’s a personal matter, and involves only you. However, I can assure you that I have never swindled Henry Osborne out of one red cent.’

  ‘That’s not what he tells me. He says you were responsible for the death of your own mother, just so you wouldn’t have to honour your debt to him. After your treatment of Davis Leroy, I find that only too easy to believe.’

  William had never had to fight harder to control his emotions - who the hell did this man think he was? - and it took him several seconds to manage a reply. ‘May I suggest we clear this whole misunderstanding up by meeting at a neutral place of your choice, where no one would recognize us?’

  ‘There’s only one place where no one would recognize you, Mr Kane.’

  ‘Where’s that?’

  ‘Heaven,’ said Abel, and placed the phone back on the hook.

  45

  ‘GET ME Henry Osborne at once,’ Abel said to his secretary.

  He drummed his fingers on the desk while the girl took nearly fifteen minutes to find Congressman Osborne, who it turned out had been showing some of his constituents around the Capitol building.

  ‘What can I do for you, Abel?’

  ‘I thought you’d want to be the first to hear that Kane knows everything. So now the battle is out in the open.’

  ‘What do you mean, knows everything? Does he know I’m involved?’ Osborne asked anxiously.

  ‘He sure does. He also knows about my holdings in Lester’s Bank and Interstate Airways.’

  ‘How could he possibly know that? Only you and I know about it.’

  ‘You and I and Curtis Fenton,’ said Abel, interrupting him.

  ‘Right. But he’d never tell Kane.’

  ‘He must have. There’s no other way he could have found out. Don’t forget that Kane dealt directly with Fenton when I bought the Richmond Group from his bank. They must have maintained some sort of contact.’

  ‘Oh hell!’

  ‘You sound worried, Henry.’

  ‘If Kane knows everything, it’s a different ball game. I’m warning you, Abel, he’s not in the habit of losing.’

  ‘Nor am I,’ said Abel. ‘William Kane doesn’t frighten me, not while I have all the aces in my hand. So where do we stand with Parfitt?’

  ‘He’s come down to $600,000 so I could close the deal now, if you wanted me to.’

  ‘No, I can wait,’ said Abel. ‘There’s no hurry. Parfitt and Kane aren’t exactly bosom pals so he won’t be selling his two per cent to him. For the time being, we’ll allow Kane to wonder what we’re up to. After my phone conversation with him this morning, I can assure you that, to use a gentleman’s expression, he’s perspiring. But I’ll let you in on a secret, Henry: I’m not sweating, because I have no intention of making a move until I’m good and ready.’

  ‘Fine,’ said Osborne. ‘I’ll let you know if anything comes up that we should be worried about.’

  ‘You must get it into your head, Henry, that there’s nothing for us to worry about. We have your friend Mr Kane by the balls, and I now intend to squeeze them very slowly.’

  ‘I’ll enjoy watching that,’ said Osborne, sounding a little happier.

  ‘Sometimes I think you hate Kane more than I do.’

  Osborne laughed nervously. ‘Have a good trip to Europe.’

  Abel put the phone back on the hook and sat staring into space as he considered his next move, his fingers still tapping noisily on the desk. Then he picked up the phone again.

  ‘Get Mr Curtis Fenton at Continental Trust Bank.’ His fingers continued to tap. A few moments later the phone rang.

  ‘Fenton?’

  ‘Good morning, Mr Rosnovski. How are you?’

  ‘I want to close all my accounts with your bank.’

  There was no reply.

  ‘Did you hear me, Fenton?’

  ‘Yes,’ said the stupefied banker. ‘May I ask why, Mr Ros-novski?’

  ‘Because Judas never was my favourite apostle, Fenton, that’s why. As of this moment, you are no longer on the board of the Baron Group. You will shortly receive written confirmation of this conversation, and instructions about which bank my accounts should be transferred to.’

  ‘But I don’t understand, Mr Rosnovski. What have I done?’

  Abel hung up as his daughter walked into the office.

  ‘That didn’t sound very pleasant, Daddy.’

  ‘It wasn’t meant to be, but it’s nothing to concern yourself with, darling,’ said Abel, his tone changing immediately. ‘Did you manage to find all the clothes you’ll need for the trip?’

  ‘Yes, thank you, Daddy, but I’m not sure what they’re wearing in London and Paris. I just hope I’ve got it right. I don’t want to stick out like a sore thumb.’

  ‘You’ll stick out, all right, my darling - anyone would with your style. You’ll be the most beautiful thing Europe’s seen in years. They’ll know your clothes didn’t come out of a ration book. Those young men will be falling over themselves to get at you, but they’ll find me standing in their way.’ Florentyna laughed. ‘Now, let’s go and have some lunch and discuss what we’re going to do while we’re in London.’

  Ten days later, after Florentyna had spent a long weekend with her mother in Chicago, father and daughter flew from Idlewild to Heathrow. The flight took nearly fourteen hours, and when they arrived at Claridge’s, the only thing they wanted to do was have a long sleep.

  Abel was making the trip for three reasons: first, to confirm the sites of new Baron hotels in London, Paris and possibly Rome; second, to accompany Florentyna on her first visit to Europe before she went to Radcliffe to study modern languages; and third, and most important, to visit his castle in Poland and find out if there was even an outside chance of proving his ownership.

  London turned out to be a success for both of them. Abel’s advisors had found a site on Hyde Park Corner, and he instructed his solicitors to begin negotiations im