Jonathan boarded the ship that evening, which was to set sail for Venezuela. He was escorted on deck early and took refuge in private quarters below. The captain assured Jonathan that he would keep him posted as the ship left harbor. FBI undercover officials were on board waiting to detain Manuel Lopes once the ship was a safe distance at sea.
Manny Lopes looked furtively around the cabin, stashing the goods into his
pillow.
Something wasn’t quite right, he could feel it in the air. Word had it that
Jonathan Hart was
taking this trip, a curiosity for most of the guys on board. They had never
seen Jonathan Hart and
most were in awe of his power. Everyone was working hard to make the ship look
its best.
“Mr. Jonathan Hart, big shot millionaire, “ Manny thought out loud.
“Everything comes
easy to you.” Manny pounded his fist into the pillow. He grinned. Manny had
decided that his
deck-hand days were over and that Jonathan Hart was going to be his ticket
out. He already had
his contacts ready to employ his new plan.
The ship was well off the coast of California by the next day. Jonathan spent
most of his
time lying low and studying some business proposals. Captain Daniels came to
see him before
dinner, looking worried.
“Jonathan, I just spoke with Inspector Cravins. It seems they cannot locate
Manuel
Lopes.”
“What do you mean? I thought he was a deck-hand in Section B. Hasn’t anyone
seen
him?”
“If they have, no one is talking, and frankly, we don’t want to stir up
suspicion by
questioning too many people. We’re going to do a thorough search of the ship
at dinner time. I’ll
give you a full report.”
Jonathan puffed out his lips. “Get me a blueprint of the ship’s layout.”
“Will do, sir.”
Kurt was wringing his hands, as he awaited Mrs. Hart’s entrance into the
small conference
room. Stanley had made good on his promise to have her listen to Kurt’s
research proposal. With
some luck, he made be able to get Hart Industries to loan him $5000.
Kurt scanned his materials again, making sure he had the correct slides in
the projector.
He wondered if he looked okay, smoothing out his tweed sport coat - an outfit
usually reserved
for graduation speeches. He wasn’t used to being in this arena. Suddenly, the
door opened.
Jennifer Hart strode into the room confidently. She was wearing a navy blue
skirt suit and
a soft pink blouse. He couldn’t remember exactly what she said because he was
so entranced with
her beautiful smile. He had seen pictures of her in the society pages from
time to time, but did not
realize how gorgeous she was in person. He was acutely aware of his sweaty
palms, as he shook
her hand and returned the smile.
“Stanley has told me a lot about you, Dr. Jameson. I’m very interested in
hearing about
your research,” she said, seating herself next to him. Stanley Freesen sat
opposite, winking at Kurt
and nodding his head.
Kurt cleared his throat. “Please, call me Kurt...and thank you, Mrs. Hart,
for your time. I
really appreciate your interest. I hope you’ll see value in this particular
project.”
Once Kurt slipped into his university jargon, the words flowed easily.
Jennifer listened
intently, jotting notes as he spoke. Kurt kept his focus on the slides, trying
to resist the urge to
gaze at the curve of her blouse or her shapely legs crossed near the edge of
the table. He was
impressed with her intelligent questions and was flattered that she had
obviously done her
homework before meeting with him.
When Kurt finished, Jennifer rose from her seat, taking her notebook. Kurt
shot a glance
at Stanley, wondering if her had been too heavy-handed in his presentation.
Suddenly, he felt very
foolish being there. What right, he asked himself, did he have asking Jonathan
Hart’s wife for a
loan?
Jennifer opened her leather folder and spoke. “Dr. Jameson...I mean, Kurt,”
she smiled.
Well, Kurt thought, it was worth just getting to see her.
“I believe you have a very significant research project, and I agree that
your findings will
have a big impact on current medical practice,” Jennifer continued.
Here it comes, he thought, but -
“And Hart Industries would be honored to fund your project to completion.”
She handed him a check for $20,000.
