Corporate Ties (Silken Ties Book 1) (11 page)

He pulled to the curb and stopped the car abruptly in front of them, reaching over to throw open the door.

"Get in."

Olivia got in the back, letting Tyson take the passenger’s seat next to Brian. Olivia noticed Brian’s continued scanning of the rearview and side mirrors. A second later, one of his team pulled their car in behind him and in tandem they pulled into traffic and headed south to Brian's building. He drove into the underground parking garage, and Olivia watched as the car behind them blocked the driveway until they were inside the elevator.

"Is all this really necessary?" Tyson smirked.

"Obviously
I
think so. I'm Brian, Brian Shaw." He offered his hand and Tyson shook it.

"Tyson Grant."

"Since Olivia hired me, we’ve both been followed."

"Hired you? To do what? Assuming it's any of my business."

The elevator stopped and Brian led them into a small conference room and shut the door.

"I hired Brian to help find out what happened to my friend, and our colleague, Paul White. Paul went missing after I asked him to get me some extra information on Matasuki, the man and the company."

"I know Paul. He's in legal, right?"

"Yes. What I discovered in the Matasuki files is just the tip of the iceberg, we think. If I'm right, this man is willing to do anything to get what he wants and that includes murder. It appears that we’re not the only ones that believe this. He and his company have been investigated by the FBI, and probably Interpol as well, although no formal charges were ever filed. None of the deaths in question could be linked directly to Matasuki and all were ruled to be from natural causes," Olivia finished and sat back into her chair.

Brian pushed a file toward Tyson. "We find it interesting that all the bodies and therefore the tissue samples were quickly cremated. And then this happened last week."

Tyson stared at Brian and then Olivia before opening the file. Inside were copies of newspaper articles and a picture of a man Tyson recognized. The headline read:

“Takuri Yasimoto, found dead in his office”

The article went on to say:

“The fifty-eight year old pharmaceutical billionaire, who spearheaded research that spawned three new drugs just approved by the FDA, was found late last night, dead of an apparent heart attack. The company spokesman refused to confirm reports of rumored take over by behemoth Matasuki Corporation, but said the death would have no effect on two additional drugs in trials now expected to hit the market early next year. Yasimoto is survived by his widow, a son and a daughter."

"Oh Christ”. Tyson looked up from the file. “Yasimoto is, err, was Matasuki's biggest rival. The drugs just approved by the FDA made the ones Matasuki has in trials now, pretty much worthless."

"And now conveniently Yasimoto is dead. And guess who was in Tokyo at the time?" Brian reached over and flipped to the next picture.

Tyson looked down and then back up to Brian, the color starting to drain from his face.

"Her. She was at the Gala with Matasuki for a while."

"Yes, we lovingly call her 'the shadow' but her name is Kimiko and she's been with Matasuki since she was a teenager."

"Then why would Yasimoto not suspect her?" Tyson wondered. "How would she get close?"

Olivia chuckled. "Really? How better to get back at Matasuki than to bed his concubine?"

Tyson didn't quite know what to say. Thinking about it, he knew she was exactly right.

"So, now what?"

"You weren't promoted to CEO at your age without good reason, Tyson," Olivia continued, "All the evidence points to the fact that Matasuki doesn’t want to hire us, but plans, instead, to acquire us.  Think about it, as a byproduct of the presentation processes we introduce him to the inner workings of the corporation, to our essential personal. In the inducement phase, we lay out our financial viability, tout our current clients.”

Olivia saw the flare of understanding in Tyson’s eyes. “Dolby itself will inadvertently give Matasuki the tools he needs to assimilate Dolby.

Olivia looked between Brian and Tyson. “But we know what’s going to happen and that knowledge gives us the upper hand.  Tyson, I know you'll figure something out."

She was right, why was he asking for a solution? He thought for a moment, got up and began pacing back and forth. You could almost see the wheels turning in his mind. He circled the table several times. On the third circuit he began talking.

"We need to make Dolby undesirable. We can easily acquire temporary debt, it’ll be a marker, too much debt for the analysts. We can plant articles about losing contracts, and that our current contracts are expiring. Suddenly, the stock is overpriced. Buy out would be too expensive."

"Exactly,” Brian understood immediately. “Matasuki is out for the easy deal and may take a pass at Dolby under the circumstances you’ve just laid out. Let him move on. The next probable target for Matasuki, if they’re truly on a mission to acquire a company in your line, will be Stein. They're your direct competition.”

Olivia broke in. “We could just let that happen. No one would suspect anything, and you'll take over the market. Shed your debt, announce new contracts, your stock rises."

Olivia watched her boss. It was true; while Stein was fighting off a takeover, they would no longer be a player in their market, giving Dolby room to pick off some of Stein’s plum contracts. If Stein was acquired Tyson would no longer have to worry about them anymore, Dolby would have market control, at least for the time it took for a new competitor to rise up.

Brian continued. “Make millions for Dolby, have free reign in the market.”

Olivia could see Tyson warring with himself. Would blood will out over business? Either way, Matasuki had to be stopped.

She could see his eyes change once he’d made the decision. "Stein can't know. But somehow Matasuki needs to be stopped."

"Then we are in agreement. The question is: How do we go about defeating one of the globe’s richest and most influential CEO’s?"

There was silence while they thought. Olivia had already made up her mind. Whether or not she could get them to agree with her, was the question.

"I can get to him, just the way the 'shadow' got to Yasimoto."

"Whoa, Olivia, that's a terrible idea. I know you could get in, but then what?"

"I get him to relax, tell me everything. I record, get evidence, we take him down."

"It's too dangerous, Olivia. This isn't a game."

"Okay. When you have a better idea, Tyson, you let me know. Brian, can I talk to you for a minute, alone?"

She shot Tyson a dismissive glance, rose and without another word left the office, leaving the two men alone to gape at each other and shrug.

"Ideas?"

Tyson sighed and slumped back into his chair. "I'll think about it. You better go talk to her."

Olivia was pacing in the hall when Brian came out.

"I want to talk to Paul."

"Okay, but keep everything close to you. I'm still not sure about him."

She nodded, and Brian led her back to the elevator. "Down one floor. First door on the left." Olivia nodded again and stepped inside. Brian walked down the opposite hall and into the data gathering center. "Pull up my quarters. I want to see and hear what's going on down there."

Jimmie swiveled and clicked a few keys. "You want it on the big screen?"

"Yeah, good call."

They watched Olivia exit the elevator and stop at the door. She raised her fist, hesitating for just a moment before knocking on the door.

"Olivia!" Paul beamed, obviously happy to see her.

She pushed past him. "We need to talk."

Paul glanced down the hall and then shut the door.

"Brian told me what happened, but I know there's more to this. You need to tell me everything you know, before something very bad happens to Tyson and Dolby."

Paul sighed and eased down on the couch. He ran both his hands over his scalp and looked up at Olivia. "You might want to sit down.” She obliged him, slipping down into the chair opposite him.

"During my last year in the service as JAG officer, I was stationed in Okinawa. A successful prosecutor, I was at the top of my game. The Air Force had begun cracking down on sexual harassment and rape cases within the ranks. I was assigned to a high profile case involving a general officer charged with aggravated rape. One weekend, after winning an especially long drawn-out case, my entire team went out to celebrate. We got pretty wasted, and hooked up with some local party girls. I don't remember anything after we got to the hotel. Turns out my date was well under age, and was telling the authorities I had raped her. That's when I first met Isamu Matasuki, and his father. They assured me they could hush the entire thing up. All I had to do was to agree to pay back the favor at a future date. No worries, they said. I conned myself into believing, maybe they'd never need the favor. Years later, guess who the FBI is investigating? Matasuki contacted me, and called in the favor I owed him.”

He rubbed his hand nervously across his forehead. “I made sure I got the case, covered a few things up,” he brushed his hands together for effect, “payback complete, or so I thought. Look, they still have a file on me, and when I agreed to give
you
their files, they confronted me. We’re talking thugs in an empty parking lot. I wasn't about to go with them. If I had, I know I'd be dead right now."

"How did they find out you agreed to help me?"

"I think my office is bugged. And if that’s true, I’d bet they own someone else at Dolby. I'm sorry, Olivia. Please don't get involved with them."

Upstairs, Brian heard and recorded everything. "I knew there was something about this guy. Jimmie, pull up everything you have on Kimiko. Within five minutes Jimmie had pulled together, from the sources available to him, a profile on the ‘shadow’. With a few flicks of his fingers he transferred his finding to the viewing screen.

"There's not much on her."

"Any early pictures, ones from school, something like that?"

"No, but I can get some, her schools are listed. Yup, good thing they love their technology, things aren't always digitalized and this should be easily downloadable."

"There, there she is, enlarge it and print it out for me." Brian walked over to the printer and waited, impatiently thrumming his fingers on the gray plastic. As soon as it finished he snatched the sheet and stared at the image. "Pull up the images of her the night of the gala."

Jimmie's fingers flew over the keyboard and Matasuki’s ‘shadow’ appeared.

"She's had some work done. The mole on her cheek is no longer there. Print this one out too, and the rest of the info we have on her." After a few minutes, Brian gathered everything into a folder. He pulled out his phone, finding Olivia in his contacts he pressed the ‘call’ button and waited.

"It's me. Come out into the hall, I'm going to bring you what we have on our 'shadow' woman. I heard everything Paul told you and I have a hunch, of course don't let on I've been listening. Show Paul her pictures and see what he can tell you about her."

Olivia ended the call and put the phone back in her purse. "Brian was wondering how we were. He's not so sure about you. He's coming down with a file for us to look at. We know Matasuki has people around him and we need your help identifying them.  Whatever you can tell us about them, especially about the woman we call his 'shadow' could help us fight him, and may eventually help us take him down."

"Fine, if it wasn't for Brian, I don't know where I'd be right now."

Olivia went out and Brian met her in the hall. "Why don't you come back in with me? He's been really open, and you may have questions I didn't know to ask."

"All right."

They came back in to find Paul in the kitchen.

Paul looked up as they joined him. "She's quite an interrogator, my mouth was dry."

Brian smiled. "Want you to look through this file. If you know anything about her, we need to know it." He handed over the file and Paul opened it and set it on the counter. He read the information and then browsed through the photos. When he got to the last one, he froze. He picked it up, looking up at Olivia with a wild-eyed expression.

"What is it, Paul?"

"My God, it's her!"

"I don't understand," Brian said.

"This girl," he insisted shoving the photo toward Olivia. "Back then, the under-age girl; this is her."

"You were set up, Paul," Olivia insisted.

"She was an orphan; the Matasuki's took her in when she was a teenager. They probably drugged you. She facilitated your arrest, accused you of rape, and provided incriminating evidence.  Paul they made it all up. Why don't you tell Brian what happened?"

Brian listened as Paul retold the story he'd already heard.

"I agree with Olivia”, and added, “It was all set up in order to get you indebted to them. But let me ask you another question.  Whatever happened to the rape case you were prosecuting?”

Paul thought for a minute. “Well, at the time I didn’t think much of it, they took care of everything, the case was dropped and I went on with my life. His eyes narrowed.  “I was immediately transferred back to the states. Shit, this was all related.” Paul jumped up and began pacing. “The son-of-a-bitches set me up, came to my rescue insuring a future favor, while in the background, a rapist was released, one who was in a position to also grant favors. Damn it; why didn’t I see this before?” He looked back and forth from Olivia to Brian. “I have to wonder how many other times something like this has happened, how many men have been compromised by similar events."

Olivia shuffled through the pictures, pulling out the one from the Gala.

"And he's still using her for his dirty work isn't he? Remember what I overheard her say to Matasuki the night of the Gala?"

"It's done." Brian answered and sharply stood. "We think we know what she was talking about. Matasuki's rival, the one man who always seemed to be one step ahead of him in every way. Takuri Yasimoto was found dead late last week. An apparent heart attack."

Paul sat in shocked silence. Brian sat against the arm of the couch as he thought. Olivia gathered herself, she’d heard this scenario before, her mind wildly assimilating and processing the information.

She looked up at Brian. "This is different, Brian. He's never going to be able to take over Yasimoto's companies. Paul, you’ve probably investigated them before, what do you know about them?"

"Yasimoto’s corporation is family controlled.  The family owns fifty-one percent of the stock. His wife, although not the public face of the corporation, is listed as a senior executive officer, is a strong force within the corporation and very much hands-on. Make no mistake, she’s as much the CEO as he is, and they have two sons in training, ready to take over, when called upon. She'd never turn it over to anyone else, especially Matasuki."

"This might just be the link we need. If we can get Mrs. Yasimoto to agree to some very intricate pathology, we might finally have something on Matasuki."

"Even if we were able to link Kimiko to the crime, it may be nearly impossible to implicate Matasuki," Paul admitted.

"Still, it's more than we have right now. I think it's worth a shot," Brian decided.

"Tyson's waiting. We should fill him in."

"Okay, but I have to ask you something else. Paul, when you investigated Matasuki, what did you cover up, and did you hide the information somewhere you still have access to?"

Paul hesitated, drawing a deep breath. "Matasuki stock soared when it was announced three important new drugs had been approved by the FDA to move to the clinical testing phase. That would have been enough to move stock prices alone, but it was the nature of the drugs that was so noteworthy. They all dealt with blocking or reversing the effects of dementia in the elderly. A cured for Alzheimer’s – think about it. My investigation showed that Matasuki had cooked the research – they’d lied about the test results of some of the drugs. The results weren't nearly as promising as indicated. I also found the company had established a secondary, non-FDA approved testing site in the Philippines for human trials."

"You mean on drugs which aren't approved for testing anywhere?" Brian inquired.

Paul nodded. "And yes, I saved the information, but I won't give it up, not now."

Brian glanced to Olivia, who got up and stood by the door.

"Like I said, Paul, you can stay here as long as you need to."

"I have a cabin in the woods, upstate. I'll wait a few days and then make my way up there."

"Whatever you think is best. Here's my card, just in case you ever need anything."

"Thank you."

Brian and Olivia didn't talk much on the way back upstairs. They found Tyson staring out the window.

"Sorry to leave you here like that."

"It gave me time to think. Olivia's files on Matasuki are missing from her office. We reviewed the security tapes from the time she left the office until Monday morning when the theft was discovered. All we could see was maintenance in the hallway, nothing more. Olivia has the hard copies."

"I thought maybe you could tell us if they'd been doctored or with all your experience maybe you could see something we couldn't." She handed the security files to Brian.

"Good idea, I'll have a look right away."

"We should get back."

"I'll call a car." Brian looked at his watch. "Maybe you should have lunch, it's a good cover."

Olivia could see hesitation registering on Tyson's face.

"It's okay. I've got my tuna sandwich back at work. We can just say we were at lunch."

"No, I'm starving. Feel like Italian since we're close to Little Italy?"

She smiled. "I love Italian."

Brian felt the chemistry between them and it was making him uncomfortable. Jealousy? She really had gotten to him, hadn't she? The three of them walked out into the hall and Tyson started for the elevator.

"I'll be right there," Olivia said reaching into her purse, retrieving and handing the memory stick to Brian. "Check these out. Will I see you later?"

"If you want."

"Oh, I want," she said with a smile and a wink. She rushed to the elevator.

Once the door had closed, Olivia turned to Tyson. "Brian will keep us up to date. What did you think of him?"

"Very interesting work. Where did you meet him?"

"He lives in my building. I see him at the gym sometimes." Tyson gave an acknowledging nod and looked straight ahead. He felt pangs of jealousy, how crazy was that? He hardly knew her. She was his employee for Christ sakes.

At the restaurant they took their seats in a quiet corner spot and ordered.

Olivia smiled as she adjusted her napkin, recalling what Brian had said about keeping her skirt and trousers clean. When she looked up, Tyson was observing.

"I can be a messy pasta eater."

"Ah. He laid out his own napkin and then asked, “When is your first meeting with Matasuki?"

"Tomorrow at four. He's insisted it be at the hotel. Neutral ground, I guess."

Tyson frowned. "You'd think he'd want to tour a company who was going to be a big part of his new strategy."

"We're not going to be though, are we? It's not his real intent at all; at least that's what I believe." She smiled up at the waiter as the salads arrived.

Tyson could see how good she was with people. She made people feel relaxed and engaged just by the way she greeted them.  She held eye contact naturally, it was not forced. He was sure she could have any man she wanted, for an hour, a day, a night, a life time. Yet, she was alone; it had to be by choice.

"So, are you seeing anyone?"

Her eyes widened at the personal question after they'd just been talking about the seriousness of their situation with Matasuki. "Uh, I'm dating, but nothing serious," she offered as she took a bite. “You?”

"Sorry, it's really none of my business. I was just making conversation."

"You're also ducking the question."

He smiled. "No, I seem to be married to my work these days, and the only woman I'm really interested in isn't available."

"Really, I'm sorry. Someone out of town? Married to someone else?"

His gaze locked to hers. "No, she works for me." She slowed her chewing and swallowed.

"I guess you could fire her."

"I could, but she's the best executive we have right now."

"Business always wins out, doesn't it?"

"Why are you so driven, Olivia?"

"Why are you?"

He pushed his salad to the side. "My older brothers push me to succeed. I could have joined them, but I never wanted to just tag along behind them. I wanted to succeed at something I did on my own."

"And so now you have. You're one of the youngest CEO's in the country. You pulled Dolby into the twenty-first century. Pulled it from a bottom feeder right to the top of the market."

"And in doing so, I may have made Dolby the biggest target in our market. Now you're ducking the question."

The waiter came to retrieve the salads.

"Could we have some house red wine, please?"

"Of course," the waiter replied with a slight smile.

"I hope you don't mind, I saw you nursing red wine at the Gala."

"No, I don't mind."

He watched her and waited.

She sighed. "Okay, I guess were alike in wanting to accomplish something on our own. I didn't want to follow along either. I knew I would never be satisfied being someone’s trophy wife or little woman, even if I managed to have a career on the side. I want something substantial of my own. Eventually that means my own company, but I have a lot to learn before then." His eyes, so intent on her now, were mesmerizing. They made it difficult to concentrate. Luckily their wine arrived, breaking the mood and the waiter poured a taste for her. She took a sip, and with a subtle motion, ran it around her mouth before approving. "Very nice, thank you."

"You've probably always had people underestimate you. Makes you want to prove them wrong doesn't it?"

"Yes, but over the years I’ve found it can be an advantage to be underestimated."

Tyson smiled. He had to force himself not to reach over and touch her. Those luscious full lips of hers. Kissing her could cause a man to lose his senses.

The pasta arrived and Olivia smiled.

"I didn't realize how hungry I really was. This looks and smells wonderful."

Tyson took it as a sign she was finished talking about herself. Which was fine, he didn't like talking about himself either.

By the time they arrived back at Dolby he'd decided something.

"Come by my office around two tomorrow. We'll discuss strategy before you meet with Matasuki."

"All right. Do you want Jerrod to come to?"

"No, leave him out of this. Matasuki is
your
client."

"He's supposed to go with me tomorrow."

"I'll take care of him, you don't need him. He'd just try to take credit for your success anyway."

"I'll see you tomorrow then. Thank you for lunch, and believing in me. It means a lot."

"You have a meeting in five minutes. I didn't know if I should cancel or not," Tyson's secretary said as he reached his office.

"I'm here. I just have to make one call." He sat in his chair and pulled the card from his pocket. "Brian, Tyson Grant. I want you to do some work for me."

Isamu leaned back on the sofa and casually flipped through the file on Olivia Grayson. She was definitely a talented woman. He closed his eyes and envisioned her bound. The door opened and he reluctantly glanced over.

He made sure she saw the annoyance in his eyes as she carried in the tray.

"Your tea and favorite cakes."

She bowed and began to back away.

"You're here now. Pour the tea. Any news on funeral arrangements for Yasimoto?"

"Not yet." Head down, she poured his tea and handed it to him, choosing not to make eye contact. It was not her place to speak unless he asked her to. She wanted to please him, in any way he wished. She'd done everything he ever asked of her. For a simple gesture of affection, she would do it all again. Yet, she'd realized long ago, it wasn't her love he wanted, it was her devotion. Anymore, she wasn't even sure he was capable of love. Not in the traditional sense anyway.

"What of Paul White?"

"We believe he's being helped, but in a city so large..."

"He'll surface. Have you made the arrangements I asked for?"

"Yes, she will be here early tomorrow morning. Why this time, Isamu?"

He flashed a look and Kimiko immediately regretted the question, bowing her head."

"Leave me," he demanded.

"I'm leaving.  Can I get you anything before I go?" Linda asked.

"Actually, I'm going home too."

Linda pinned her chin back. "Are you sick?"

Olivia chuckled. "No, I just don't want to start anything else."

"Okay, just checking. This makes twice we’ve left together in the entire time I've been your assistant and they were both recently."