Free Watchdog by Laurien Berenson Page A

Usually I don’t hold it against him since I suffer from the same trait myself. But this time I had to argue.
    â€œWhat if somebody else gets hurt?”
    â€œNobody will. Trust me, Mel. Now that I know we need to be more careful, we will be.”
    It wasn’t much of a concession, but it was probably all I was going to get. “Speaking of Rattigan, does he have a key, too?”
    â€œOf course he has a key. He’s the owner.”
    â€œHave you talked to him about what happened today?”
    Frank’s gaze skittered away. “Not exactly.”
    â€œWhich means?”
    â€œI called his office, but he wasn’t in.”
    â€œYou didn’t leave a message?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œWhy not?”
    â€œJeez, give it a rest, will you? Can’t you ever just leave anything alone?”
    â€œYou want to be left alone?” I straightened my jacket on my shoulders and began to button it. “Be my guest. You were the one who brought me here. I thought you wanted my opinion. But since you don’t . . .”
    â€œAll right, look. The last time I saw Marcus, he and I had a bit of an argument, okay?”
    â€œAbout what?”
    â€œIt wasn’t a big deal,” Frank said vaguely.
    He was lying and we both knew it. I kept right on buttoning.
    â€œI guess he’s unhappy about the protests.”
    That was better. Now we were getting somewhere. “If you can believe what you read in the paper, people protest just about every time he builds something.”
    â€œWell, this time he seems to think it’s more hassle than the project is worth. He’s unhappy about the cost overruns, too.”
    â€œThat’s why you went to Aunt Peg when you needed more money. So he wouldn’t find out about it.”
    â€œShe told you about that?”
    I nodded. “She was pleased to see you involved in something worthwhile. She thinks you have a future in coffee bars.”
    â€œI do have a future here.” Frank slapped his hand down hard on the granite countertop. The hollow sound echoed in the empty room. “I’m doing everything I can think of to hold this project together. Marcus has handled enough construction to know that nothing ever proceeds without a hitch. If he’d just cut me some slack, I’m sure I could get everything back on track.”
    â€œAnd if he doesn’t?”
    â€œThen he terminates the project, and puts the building back on the market. Hell, in his tax bracket, he could probably just raze the place and take a loss. Either way, I’m out a bundle of money. I’d owe the bank and Aunt Peg both, and I wouldn’t have a thing to show for it.”
    I stared at him in dismay. I’d been afraid my brother might get in over his head, but things were much worse than I’d realized.
    â€œWhat about the long-term lease you said you had? That must give you some rights. Surely he can’t just sell the building out from under you.”
    â€œYeah, well ...” Frank flushed. “We haven’t exactly signed the papers yet.”
    â€œWhy not?” Now I was growing angry.
    â€œMarcus was having his lawyers draw them up. In the meantime, we went ahead and started the construction. He said I shouldn’t have to pay rent now, when I wasn’t making any income. The lease was for later, when the coffee bar was up and running.”
    An old expression flitted through my mind. Lie down with dogs, get up with fleas. Except that all the dogs I know would have treated my brother a whole lot better than Marcus Rattigan had.
    â€œYou need to sit down with Rattigan and find out exactly what his plans are. There’s no use in proceeding here until you know what he has in mind.”
    Frank nodded glumly.
    â€œAnd you have to tell him about what happened to Andy. He’s going to find out anyway. It’ll look a lot better if he hears it from you.”
    â€œI guess you’re