Free Sweet Mystery by Lynn Emery Page A

sneer.
    “That’s enough.” Henry sat back in his
chair.
    “Forget it, errand boy.” Darcy abandoned his
control. “You’ll only get to be third banana, if you’re lucky.”
    “You wish. I’ve proven my worth ten times
over. What have you done lately, sweet boy?” Marius spoke in a
taunting voice.
    “Why, you–”
    Darcy crossed the room with two long steps
and would have slapped Marius had Henry not been faster.
    “I said that’s enough!” cried Henry, shoving
the younger man back.
    “I’m sick of his insults!” Darcy pointed a
finger at his cousin.
    Henry knocked his hand down. “The Joves have
always stood together to benefit this family. Bickering will only
bring you down. Remember that!”
    “Yes, Darcy. Try to control yourself.” Marius
straightened his silk tie. He wore a smirk.
    “Wipe that arrogant grin off your face, boy!”
Henry snapped at Marius.
    “But I–”
    Henry cut him off. “Shut up! I spent years
creating profitable businesses, despite what Vincent Dalcour did to
me.” He wore a bitter expression. “I lost more than money to that
man. Your childish fighting makes me sick.”
    “You’re right, of course, Grandfather. Sorry,
Marius.” Darcy nodded to his cousin, who gazed at him with a look
of suspicion.
    Henry stared at Marius hard. “I expect
whoever takes over as CEO to have guts and brains, and to be able
to keep this family together, Marius – not tear it apart by being
arrogant and unbending.”
    Marius blinked as though his grandfather had
hit him with an admonishing blow. “Sorry,” he mumbled to no one in
particular. If the apology was meant for Darcy, it was hard to tell
since Marius did not look at him.
    “Well, on to business,” said Darcy, seemingly
undisturbed by his attitude. “Simon seems to at least have Rae
listening to his proposal. Of course, she’d be more open to
recreational use with careful planning.”
    Henry nodded. “Good. I feel confident in
Simon’s ability to handle such a delicate negotiation.”
    “I could have done just as well. Rae doesn’t
even know me.” Marius sounded a touch petulant that he had been
vetoed as the one to approach Rae.
    “Marius, this required careful handling.”
Darcy smiled at him.
    “You have a way of irritating people,
Marius.” Henry was blunt. “You’re too impatient to have your own
way. You can’t skip right into bullying people to get what you
want. A good businessman understands hard ball is a last
resort.”
    “Yessir.” Marius bristled, but said no
more.
    “And be sure you have leverage to force them
into a corner,” Darcy added.
    “Exactly,” Henry said, “which we don’t have
with Dalcour. She has nothing to lose by holding onto that land.
She could sell it later to someone else or directly to
Pantheon.”
    “But we have the advantage of being able to
get tax breaks for them from the parish and state government. I’ve
let them know that,” Darcy bragged.
    “So? We’d still need to offer that, even if
they dealt directly with her.” Henry’s words deflated his
grandson’s puffed-up posture. “No, we must rely on Simon to reason
with her.”
    “And when Simon finds out Pantheon plans to
build a waste-treatment plant, not a company making underwear?”
Marius glanced from Darcy to Henry.
    Henry stood up. “Won’t matter. He’ll have the
recreation center.”
    “What?” Darcy yelped. “Grandfather, I told
Ellis we’d have all that land!”
    “Simon will never stand for it. Besides, if
he pulls off a sale with the Dalcours, he deserves to be dealt with
fairly. Your plan requires diggin’ up my woods north of Glaises
Creek. I won’t have it.” Henry stood up.
    Darcy faced him. “But Grandfather, be
reasonable. Simon won’t have much choice. Who would want to camp so
close to a treatment plant with the truck traffic and odor?” he
asked.
    “You’ll get assurances from Pantheon that it
won’t happen,” Henry said. “Simon is a smart young man who has done
right