Cat on the Scent

            Archie rose, put his hands behind his back, and paced. “She’s bright. She’s beautiful. Once Teotan goes public she’d make a hell of a spokesperson. People tend to trust women more than they trust men.”

            Blair raised an eyebrow. “Exactly what do you mean by ”going public‘?“

            “Not public-issue stock, obviously. No, I meant when Teotan presents its plan to the county commission. Who better to present it than Sarah? She’s perfect.”

            “I never thought of that.” Vane-Tempest smiled.

            Blair poured him another cup of tea. “Do you want her in the corporation?”

            “Quite frankly, at first, I did not. I was offended when she suggested it and put out that she’d read my papers. She had access only to the papers at home, but still. However, once she explained her fears, I considered what I would do in her circumstances: the same thing.”

            “Having Sarah in Teotan at this late date…” Blair paused. “You would control the corporation after I’ve pumped in seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars. That’s—”

            “I understand.” And Vane-Tempest did. He was a businessman, after all. “You, Tommy, and I put in equal shares and Archie put in sweat equity. We have—I forget the exact term—right of survivorship, in essence, to Tommy’s share. We don’t need another partner. And she’ll be hell to live with.” He wiped his brow. “On the other hand, apart from being a spokesperson, she does have a way about her. Sarah could—how did Ridley put it one day? Could talk a dog off a meat wagon.” He smiled. “You people have such colorful expressions.”

            “You could put her in my place,” Archie soberly suggested. “She could cover my tracks.”

            “Your tracks are well covered, Archie.” Vane-Tempest spoke forcefully. “An investigator would have to go through two dummy corporations in Bermuda and there are no papers with your name on them. You’re paid in cash.”

            “Aileen told me my career was over.”

            “Aileen doesn’t have the facts,” Vane-Tempest flatly stated.

            “What I’ve done is immoral.” A flush covered Archie’s angular face.

            “Balls!” the Englishman exploded. “Spare me Aileen’s refined morality. You’ve made a sound business decision. You supply us with pertinent information, connect us with the proper people in Richmond, and serve your county. Our plan will save Albemarle millions of dollars.” He gestured expansively. “And why shouldn’t we be amply rewarded for our foresight?”

            “Buck up, Archie.” Blair agreed with Vane-Tempest, although he recognized Archie’s moral predicament. Still, Archie had known what he was getting into.

            Archie mulled this over. Their plan would save the county money. “It is a good plan, isn’t it?”

            “We have Tommy to thank for the first glimmer.” Blair missed the fun-loving Tommy. “If he hadn’t pushed me into flying lessons I’d have never studied the watershed from the air.”

            “Nor would we have applied ourselves to underground streams and rivers.” Vane-Tempest perked up; the tea was giving him a lift. “If one studies the land mass one can pick out those depressions, those possible water sources. The fact that no one had considered this is evidence of precisely how stupid elected officials are. Present company excluded, of course.” He nodded to Arch.

            “Some are dumb, others are on the gravy train.” Archie’s eyes glittered with anger. “No one can tell me that fortunes won’t be made with a reservoir, and those fortunes won’t necessarily be made here. Outsiders will bid on the job and, oh, how interesting that state process can get. I’ve watched this bullshit mumbo jumbo for years. All they do is waste money, siphon off a nice piece into their own pockets, and let the taxpayer pay through the nose.”

            “Right. Which is why our plan of wells to service the northwest corner of the county is brilliant.” Blair sat up straight. “The wells we have already dug are moving at eighty-eight gallons of water a minute. That’s extraordinary. With the underground water we’re tapping we can service Free Union, Boonesville, Earlysville, that whole northwestern corner all the way to the county line. The only expense will be for constructing cisterns or water towers, and that’s a hell of a lot cheaper than building a reservoir. The county buys the water from us at an attractive rate. If this works, which I know it will, we can do the same thing for the other sections of the county.”

            “But we’ll have more competition. Other people will copy us and start buying up the land.” Archie sat down again. “There’s talk about these wells being dug but so far as I know no one has figured out the purpose. But people will buy up land. Just wait.”

            “I’ll attend to that. There’s no reason we can’t absorb some of these entrepreneurs into an umbrella corporation or create limited partnerships for, say, the southeastern corner of the county. We can worry about that later.” On a roll, Vane-Tempest continued. “Your job, Arch, apart from keeping us informed of what’s cooking at the statehouse, is to introduce the idea of floating a bond to set up those water towers and cisterns.”