The Aspen Account Read Online Free PDF Page A

works pretty light hours these days.”
    “What does he do when he’s not here?”
    Diamond stopped and turned to look at him. “The mountains got some good snow earlier this week, so he’s probably out heli-skiing today.”
    “He heli-skis ?” Michael didn’t try to conceal his astonishment. “But he must be, what, seventy?”
    “I know—crazy, isn’t it?” Diamond said. “But then, Mr. Seaton isn’t your average seventy-year-old. His helicopter flies him to the summits of the most remote mountains. There are no other people around, and he and his friends are free to ski down fresh, untouched powder.” As they stood in the middle of the executive hallway, he leaned in toward Michael, then tensed for just a beat, as if realizing that he was revealing more about the billionaire than was prudent. “He also has a mansion in Aspen, where he spends most of his time. Since it’s three hours into the mountains, he often just stays there for the entire week.”
    “It’s good to be king,” Michael said. “But . . . who’s in charge of running things if he’s gone so much?”
    Diamond nodded toward an office a few doors down. “Mr. Seaton has twin sons: Lance and Lucas. They both finished their MBAs at Harvard Business School four years ago, and Mr. Seaton has been priming them for the top executive jobs ever since. As copresidents, they’re mostly responsible for X-Tronic’s day-to-day operations, but they also play the role of CEO when Mr. Seaton is unavailable.”
    Suddenly, a wave of shouting exploded from a nearby doorway. Neither of them could make out what was being said, but it was clear that an argument had just erupted. Diamond tried to get Michael to move back the other direction, but Michael easily sidestepped him to get a better view of the office. He could see two men arguing. One, obviously enraged, was flailing his arms in a way that suggested physical threat. The other man stood with arms crossed, shaking his head from side to side.
    “Come on, we should go,” Diamond said forcefully, putting his hand on Michael’s shoulder.
    “Those are the twins?”
    “Right.” He patted Michael’s shoulder with his palm, all but shooing him away from the office.
    “They’re not identical.”
    “I never said they were. Come on. We’re leaving.”
    Michael ignored him for a few seconds, eyes riveted on the two brothers. Finally, the one who had been waving his arms and shouting looked over and saw him gaping at them. Taking two quick steps to the window, the man stabbed a button on the wall and stared at him as the glass fogged with translucent white crystals. Though Michael could no longer see inside the office, he could still hear the argument raging on.
    Diamond stepped in front of him. “They are obviously discussing a sensitive matter. Now, please , come with me back to the audit room.”
    Michael forced a weak smile and nodded, and they turned and walked back the way they had come.
    “Well, I’ll let you get set up,” said Diamond. “The stacks of papers over there are the last things Kurt was working on earlier this week.” He started away, then turned in the doorway. “Oh! When do you expect the rest of your people?”
    “There will be two more staff coming out tomorrow. They’ll be here four weeks. I believe Falcon is planning to come out next week to review some of the workpapers.”
    Diamond nodded. “Well, just let me know if you need anything.” And he left.
    Michael pulled out his laptop, plugged it into the network connection, and booted it up. He looked around the silent room, and an eerie feeling sank in as he faced the reality that he was his dead friend’s successor. He looked over at the stack of papers that had occupied his friend’s thoughts only a day before his death. Perhaps he was even sitting in Kurt’s chair.
    Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, he opened an e-mail from Falcon. It had all the files for X-Tronic that the IT department had taken