Free Redemption Mountain by Gerry FitzGerald Page B

that Charlie could return to with no set timetable.
    He wiped the sweat from his face with his balled-up T-shirt and looked down the hill toward the house. It was a comfortable house, a wonderful home. From a practical standpoint, it was too big now for only Ellen and him but not nearly as large as the one Ellen had her eye on.
    She came out the back door, a cordless phone in one hand, and in the other a tall glass of ice water. She made her way up the grassy slope. “It’s Scottie. He’s in his car somewhere.” Ellen smiled at Charlie as she handed him the phone and the glass.
    â€œThanks. Anything important?” he asked, gesturing to the phone.
    â€œSomething about business—you know Scottie.” Ellen sat on a nearby stump to eavesdrop while Charlie spoke to their son.
    â€œHi, Scott, how are you?”
    â€œI’m driving up to Nahant to look at some investment property on the water. You may want to get into this; I’ll let you know.” Scott was speaking quickly, as always. Charlie could picture his son speeding up Route 128 in the Porsche Carrera, the top down, his laptop open on the passenger seat. “Dad, real quick. What’s Duncan up to, do you know? Lots of buzz yesterday. OntAmex in another big tender. Word is it’s CES.”
    Charlie disliked it when his son treated him like another one of his many sources. Scott had squeezed him before for information about OntAmex, which under Duncan McCord’s stewardship had been a very active and aggressive force in the world of global acquisitions. Hundreds of millions of dollars could be made on the knowledge of OntAmex’s intentions. And Scott, Charlie continually had to remind himself, was not just some hack stockbroker looking for a hot tip. He was a stock analyst for a huge mutual fund manager, a frontline player in international investments.
    Charlie couldn’t confirm that OntAmex was going after Continental Electric Systems, but it was probably true. He recalled Duncan talking about CES two years ago. And now it fit the profile for an OntAmex takeover like a glove. Charlie changed the subject.
    â€œYes, Scott, I’m fine. How are you? Your mother wants to know when you’re getting married.” Ellen flashed Charlie a quick smile.
    â€œSorry, Dad, but I’ve got a call holding I have to take. Listen, just tell me if it’s CES, okay? Can you do that?”
    Charlie could see that his son was beyond making small talk on this call. “No, Scott, I can’t confirm that. I haven’t talked to Duncan in over a month.”
    â€œOkay, Dad. That’s all right.” Scott was unable to hide the irritation in his voice. They’d been over this ground before. “Say bye to Mom for me. I’ll let you know about this Nahant property. We may want to get you out of pharmaceuticals for a while and into this.”
    â€œOkay, let me know what you want to do. I’ll see you.” Charlie and his son clicked off at the same time.
    If Scott wanted to sell some stocks and buy real estate, it was fine with Charlie. His son had complete control of Charlie’s investment portfolio. In only a few years, Scott had transformed Charlie’s investments from a conservative collection of venerable blue chips and bonds into a diversified portfolio with a value of nearly $4 million. In the last year alone, Scott had increased Charlie’s holdings by 25 percent.
    The increased value of his investments seemed obscene to Charlie. To be able to make that much money without benefit of any constructive labor or even a creative idea worried him. Should it be that easy? Is there a payback coming down the road? And, most troubling to him, Is somebody else paying the tab so I can live on easy street? The economics at work in the creation of his wealth puzzled Charlie. He couldn’t help thinking about his old friend Cecil, who he knew was smarter than he was, had about as much education,