He came out of his trance to hear Hunt teasing Kieran. “You should give her a bonus. She saved you from the trouble of finding a replacement.”
Kip made a face. “Boss, you’re sure you want me?”
Kieran looked up at the ceiling and blew out a breath. “Hunt, evaluate him. He may have lost brain cells choking.”
“You really want the new branch up and running by September fifteenth?”
Hunt reached across the table and covered the remnants in Kip’s glass with his palm. “Now you can tell him.”
“Like I said, we close by the thirtieth. Soft opening September fifteenth, full opening October first,” Kieran said.
Kip paled. “That’s eight days away.”
“Ian told me you couldn’t count,” Kieran deadpanned.
Kyle, Bruce and Rich joined the table in the company of Chantal. “Hello, Kip. Gentlemen, thank you for joining us tonight. I’m Chantal.”
“Pleasure to meet you. I’m Kieran Chase,” he introduced himself.
Chantal smiled. “I hope we’ve met your needs so far tonight.”
“So far so good,” he replied.
Harper, carrying a wine bucket, and the wine steward approached. The steward showed the bottle of champagne to Hunt, and after a nod, the bottle was opened. Once the six had their glasses and took their first sip, she took their orders. They ordered specials from the menu: red snapper served with shrimp creole, long grain rice and crispy okra; Veal Chantal, veal served in a wild mushroom sauce with risotto; and frog legs.
Across the room, one of the men at the other table raised his hand and snapped at Harper. She raised one finger signaling she was on her way.
Kip reached for her hand. “You don’t deserve to be treated like that.”
“Thank you. You’re kind. Unfortunately, it comes with the town. I’m sure they’re here for the preseason Saints game,” she said and headed to their table.
Kip split his attention between the table and Harper. “Boss, why the rush?” His eyes now bored into Kieran.
Hunt ran his hand through his blond hair streaked with touches of gray. “Tell them.”
“Tell us what?” Kip felt his heart speed up again.
Kieran reached into his pocket and removed a small transmitter that would prevent any listening devices from being effective and covered his mouth, so no one near could read his lips. “We are financing the purchase by selling off some more shares from Chase Care. The markets don’t like uncertainty associated with an owner’s illness. Apple lost billions when the world found out about Steve Jobs’ cancer. The pricing of our shares will be valued depending on the CEO of Chase Care’s—my—standing.
“After we close the deal, I’m flying to San Diego. I have testicular cancer. Hunt and the DC urology team think it’s very early. My bloodwork is good, and so are my scans. Mac Novak will remove the testicle and dissect some lymph nodes. Depending on what they find, we go from there.
“My dad will step in as temporary CEO of Chase Care. But I don’t want my health to tank the price. After the purchase goes through, Ian and I expect a five percent drop. I can’t delay treatment, and I want control over the release of information.”
Kip blunted the reaction he wanted to give; instead he smiled. “I guess it will make HALO jumps less painful.” The high altitude, low opening parachute jump could be quite painful to a man’s genitals when the parachute deployed. His eyes conveyed support. “Boss, you got this.” He tapped his heart and pointed.
Kieran nodded. “You’ve got it too. And on a happy note, Monique is due in February.”
“Another wonderful gift to celebrate,” Hunt said.
The six sat in a comfortable silence. Kip’s brain was spinning, but he resisted opening his phone to start making lists.
Kieran held out his hands in an apologetic manner. “I would not have chosen to do things this way. I know I don’t have to ask you to help, Kip. Owen and Barry are joining us for dessert, and then we can visit your new home. If it doesn’t meet your needs, we can find one you like.”
Kieran opened his arms to the group. “The big positive is Kip and Troy already identified a viable operator pool from within our ranks, which allowed him to design five more Eagle’s Talon teams. Tomorrow morning, ads will be running with the big staffing agencies, the separation offices for military on terminal leave, as well as to those within our company identified as wanting to transfer from their current location. Now you can ask if they would like to transfer here. Kip, your work in San Diego paid off. All those interviews and training assignments were for here.
“We will help. And, Kip, I do meanwe,” Kieran said.
“Boss, one question. Did Troy and Julian know what was going on?”
