The Turning Read Online Free PDF Page B

Barry’s daughter, Edlyn, entered the room. She walked behind her father’s desk and leaned against the bookshelves. To her left stretched an array of six computer screens, all streaming data from various markets. Trent had the impression she perched there a lot.
    Barry Mundrose said, “But Trent’s not your first name, is it.”
    “No, sir. Middle. My first name is Standish.”
    “Pretty awful thing to hang around a kid’s neck, Standish.”
    Trent saw no need to respond. The important point of this exchange was that Mundrose had found him of sufficient interest to do some research of his own.
    “Okay, Trent. Let’s talk about what’s not there in your report. The concept big enough to justify my going against the grain. You have one, don’t you?”
    “Yes, sir. I do.”
    “So why didn’t you include it?”
    “Because a concept on paper is just words. I want to
show
them.”
    “You want to knock their socks off.”
    “Exactly, sir.”
    “But you’ll tell me.”
    “If you order me to,” Trent replied. His gaze on the daughter. Another silent appeal. “But I’d rather have the chance to wow you as well.”
    “I don’t like being blindsided.”
    Edlyn said, “He’s not doing that. He’s asking for the chance to prep. Give it to you in Technicolor display.”
    Mundrose swiveled around. As he cocked his chin, Trent had a glimpse of the man Mundrose had been before seventy-three years ate away at his vigor.
    Barry Mundrose had inherited a played-out gold mine in the northern reaches of Alberta, Canada. When the price of gold skyrocketed, Mundrose reopened the mine and pulled out another sixty thousand ounces. He had taken these profits and bought two near-defunct oil companies, whose only assets were a series of almost-dry wells. But shale-oil refining and rising prices had made the fields hugely profitable. Barry Mundrose was now Canada’s largest independent oil and gas producer, and its fourth largest gold miner. His son ran those operations from their Calgary offices, while Edlyn handled the other side of the business—the one where Barry Mundrose sank most of his time and money these days. Entertainment and advertising and telecommunications. Only Rupert Murdoch and the Bertelsmann family of Germany ran larger organizations, and Mundrose had vowed to overtake them both.
    Trent was determined to help make that happen.
    “All right, Trent,” Mundrose said. It was decided. “You’ve got two days.”
    Edlyn protested, “That’s not enough.”
    “It’s fine,” Trent assured them. “Thank you, sir.”
    “You can have the desk.”
    Trent felt his eyes burn. Which was absurd. “You won’t regret this.”
    “We’ll see.”
    Trent took that as his dismissal, and rose to his feet. Edlyn slid down from the ledge and followed him across the carpeted expanse. He was almost at the door when Mundrose called, “How many surgeries did you have as a kid?”
    Trent stared back to the man behind the desk. “Nine, sir. The same as you.”
    Barry Mundrose’s smile shone across the distance. “We all need a reason to fight for what we want, right?”
    “Exactly, sir.” Trent waited until Edlyn shut the door to say, “Thank you. For everything.”
    She crossed her arms and waited. Behind him, Trent heard one of the secretaries speaking on the phone, while the receptionist ushered the next set of guests into the conference room. But Edlyn remained intently focused on him. Trent loved how she did that, giving him the green-eyed stare, cold as a leopard. Waiting for him to say the words that had drawn her out this far.
    He said it with all the force he could muster. “I owe you.”
    She did not acknowledge him in any way. Edlyn simply turned and walked back inside her father’s office.
    Only when the door clicked shut did Trent realize he had been holding his breath.
    OUTSIDE CLEVELAND
     
    John Jacobs pulled into the parking lot and turned off his motor. He stared at the gates, and decided this was