“So you met her at the hospital.”

“I said that.”

“And talked with her.”

“Yes, Ron, I talked with her.”

“And…”

“And nothing.” Emily tried not to bristle. “We were both there because of Henrietta. It was only natural that we talk, and it was a long day and we were both hungry, so we had dinner.”

He straightened, his eyes narrowing. “Dinner. And when were you going to tell me about that?”

Never, and as soon as she thought it, Emily recognized how odd that was for her. She and Ron were good friends. Beyond just their professional bond, they socialized as often as Ron could convince her to. She’d even told him a little bit about Pam, and that was something she never shared. But she hadn’t planned on telling him about Derian. What could she say? Nothing she wanted to put into words, not only because words might not do justice to exactly how unique the evening had been, but perhaps—like the fear of reducing the brilliance of a sunrise to the ordinary in a photograph—she didn’t want to put words to the experience lest she fail in her description and tarnish the memory.

“It must’ve been a very interesting dinner,” Ron said at length.

Emily blinked. “It was pleasant, and like I said, she was very gracious.”

“If you say so. I just hope she’s not too gracious when she comes in and boots Ms. Interloper Agnelli out from behind Henrietta’s desk.”

Emily’s heart plummeted. “I don’t think that’s anything we should wait for.”


*


At eight thirty a.m. Vonnie appeared in Emily’s doorway, arms folded over her chest and thunder in her eyes. “Ms. Agnelli wants all of the senior staff in the conference room now, please.”

She spoke so stiffly her face barely moved with her words.

Emily recognized rage and hurried to her side. Keeping her voice low, she said, “Don’t worry. Whatever’s going on, we’ll handle it until Henrietta returns.”

“I’m not taking orders from her,” Vonnie said through clenched teeth. “I swear, I’ll quit first.”

Emily grasped her arm. “You most certainly will not. None of us can get along without you, and I need you to help me sit on Henrietta when she comes back to work. It’s going to take both of us to get her to slow down without realizing she is.”

Vonnie’s lips curved for an instant and she let out a long breath. “If I didn’t love this place and most everybody in it, I swear…”

“I know, I know. It’s horrible right now, but we’ll get through it.”

“We sure don’t need any help from some outsider to handle things.” Vonnie glanced over her shoulder and huffed. “She’s asking for all sorts of confidential papers.”

“Do you know her?”

Vonnie shook her head. “No, but she got a call from Mr. Winfield. I couldn’t hear what she was saying before she shut the door, but they sounded chummy.”

Emily hadn’t expected Henrietta’s brother to take an active role in the agency, certainly not so soon. She wasn’t at all sure that was a good sign. “I’m sure someone will fill us in soon.”

“Well, you’d best be going. The way she shoots out orders, if you’re late you might not get through the day.”

“As soon as this is done, I’m going over to the hospital. No matter what she has to say.”

“Good enough. I was planning to go by on my lunch hour.”

“We should probably take turns or something.”

“That will work,” Vonnie said. “In the meantime, I’ll do a little more digging on our guest.”

“Don’t worry. Maybe this won’t be as bad as we think.”

She heard Vonnie’s snort of disbelief as she hurried down the hall to the meeting. Like the library, this room retained its classic features, with tall, narrow windows framed with glossy dark woodwork, ornate ceiling moldings and antique light fixtures, and a long narrow oak table with a dozen chairs around it. Donatella Agnelli stood at one end, her back straight, her dark eyes sliding from one individual to the next, assessing in an unsmiling way. Ron and the other acquiring agents sat on one side, with a seat for her open next to Donatella, while Mark Ramsey from business, Brian Rood from marketing, and several interns occupied the other side of the table.

Donatella’s gaze landed on one of the interns. “Who are you?”

The thin young man in the open-collared plaid shirt and khaki Dockers jumped to attention in his seat. “Aloysius Benson. I’m an intern in—”

“Out.” She pointed toward the door with one long finger, the manicured nail sculpted in bloody red. “Is there anyone else in here not of managerial level?”

The other intern shot up and hastened to catch up to Aloysius.

Mark cleared his throat. “We like to have the interns present for these discussions. It helps them learn the workings of—”

“You can save that for the ad in PW. Their role is to get coffee, pull files, and pick up laundry if necessary. Let’s not pretend otherwise.”

Mark’s neck turned purple, and Emily could actually hear his teeth grinding.

“As of today,” Donatella said briskly, “I will be assuming the duties of the CEO. Division heads will report directly to me on all projects. I would like a summary of all ongoing by the end of the day. Who handles contract negotiations?”

Emily glanced at the other agents. “Each acquiring agent handles their own, after discussion with—”

“That accounts for the backlog.” Donatella’s full, scarlet-hued lips thinned. “From this point forward, all contracts in process will be referred to me for review. I will decide which ones are offered and the terms.”

“I’m sorry,” Emily said calmly, “but do you also intend to discuss terms with the authors? Or just—”

“If you have a manuscript you think might have value, bring it to me. I’ll decide who we sign and take over from there.” She waved a hand. “If you want to be the one making the happy phone call, be my guest.”

“Excuse me,” Emily said, proud that her fury didn’t result in a scream. “I’m afraid I don’t understand how you’re going to determine terms when the agents are the ones making the recommendations based on our knowledge of—”

“As we’re all getting to know each other,” Donna said icily, her smile as sharp as a razor blade, “I’ll explain myself. This time. Winfield’s bottom line is barely acceptable, and it’s not difficult to discern why. My cursory review reveals an alarming percentage of titles with slim to no profit margin. The only way to turn this poor performance record around is to be more selective in the works that we take on. While I appreciate that the acquiring agents may have a certain fondness for some works that won’t, shall we say, pay for themselves, we are not a charitable organization. We want books that are guaranteed to sell. I can assure you, I’m quite capable of determining what those might be.”

Ron raised his hand.

Donatella eyed him with an arrowed brow. “Yes, Mister—?”

“Elliott. Ron.” He gave her his best guileless, I-never-make-trouble look. “So what I’m hearing is our expertise as acquisition agents is not going to play a role in deciding which authors we sign. What do you expect us to do, then?”

“I’m sure you’re quite adept at wallowing through the slush pile. Get rid of the flotsam and jetsam. We only want the pearls.” She lasered in on Mark. “I’d like to see the budget projections for the rest of the year in my inbox by eight tomorrow morning. That will be all for now.”

She swiveled on a needle-thin, six-inch heel and shot out the door, sucking most of the air in the room out with her.

Finally Mark sputtered to life. “Who the hell—can she do this?”

Every head swiveled in Emily’s direction, some faces outraged, some shocked.

“I don’t know,” she said for at least the hundredth time that morning, “but I’m going to find out.”

Chapter Twelve

Derian’s phone rang as she was reaching for her wallet to pay the Lindy’s bill. They’d managed to work their way through multiple refills of coffee and a second round of toast while staying away from the incendiary topics of Winfield Enterprises, Derian’s relationships or lack thereof, and Aud’s career. Derian checked the readout and her breath caught. “It’s the hospital.”

“I’ve got this,” Aud said, grabbing the bill from Dere’s other hand. “Go ahead—get that.”

“Winfield,” Derian said.

“This is Dr. Carter Armstrong. I’m one of the cardiothoracic surgeons consulting on Henrietta Winfield. I understand you’re her medical surrogate.”

“That’s right. I’m her niece.” Derian tamped down the suffocating swell of anxiety. “Is something wrong?”

“Your aunt’s coronary arteries are extremely fragile, with substantial blockages in all three major tributaries. Unfortunately, the obstructions occur at multiple levels, making stenting impractical.”

“What does that mean in terms of treatment?” Derian wondered why it took doctors and lawyers so many words to say the simplest things. Did they want to make communications difficult or was it just safer to be incomprehensible?

“She needs surgery, and my recommendation is to proceed immediately.”

“Has something changed?”

“No, she’s medically stable, but another insult could irrevocably damage substantial portions of the cardiac muscle, endangering her long-term prognosis.”

Derian rose and started for the door, vaguely aware that Aud was following her. “I’m on my way. Is she awake?”

“Enough that she appears to understand what I’ve told her, but I don’t believe she’s capable of signing a surgical consent form.”

Derian stepped into the street and waved for a cab. “When do you plan on operating?”

“As soon as you say I can.”

“I want to see her first.”

“The OR will be ready in forty minutes. I’d prefer not to wait.”