Gideon was still marveling that the general gave no indication he knew anything about Gideon’s reluctance to participate in the scheme. As far as Gideon could tell, he might never have spoken to Elizabeth at all. Perhaps he hadn’t.
But David was the one who was doing the calculations, and he answered the question. “It looks like a little over three-quarters of a million dollars,” he said, turning the paper around so the other two men could see his exact total.
Gideon suspected more than half that amount would be profit for Thornton, even after David’s commission.
Sterling didn’t even blink. Nodding, he said, “Not bad, and you can come back to me later, Thornton, if you obtain more rifles.”
Thornton frowned. “It’s getting harder to find them, General, and the war is driving up the price.”
“Which just means I’ll have to pay you more, doesn’t it?” the general said. “There’s no help for it, though. The need will go on as long as the fighting does.”
“Let’s hope it doesn’t go on much longer,” Gideon said. “Isn’t that why the United States got involved? Because we want to put an end to it?”
“Let’s hope you’re right, Bates,” the general said. “Too many good men have been lost already trying to put the Kaiser in his place. But it’s an ill wind that doesn’t blow someone some good, eh, Thornton?”
The general slapped Thornton on the back and, amazingly, Thornton smiled again. “That’s right, General. It’s our patriotic duty to support our soldiers.”
Thornton’s brand of patriotism made Gideon want to gag, but he reminded himself that the general had no intention of buying Thornton’s rifles. Or at least that’s what Gideon had decided would happen. The general had tricked Thornton into sinking his entire fortune into buying rifles, and if he didn’t sell them, he’d be ruined. Gideon hadn’t figured out how the general would profit from this or how he could stop Thornton from selling his rifles to someone else instead, but Gideon kept reminding himself that wasn’t his concern. The less he knew about it, the happier he would be.
“Calculate your commission,” the general was telling David, “and I’ll bring two bank drafts with me. Or three, if I need one for Bates, too.”
“I’ll pay Gideon out of my share,” David said. “He is only charging for drawing up the documents.”
“You’ll never get rich that way, Bates,” Thornton said with a malicious grin. Plainly, he thought Gideon a fool for not cashing in on this deal.
“I’m not interested in being rich.”
“I’ll never understand you people,” Thornton sneered.
“What people is that?” the general asked, his startlingly blue gaze darting between Gideon and Thornton.
“The old New York families,” Thornton explained, not bothering to hide his contempt. “The ones who call themselves Knickerbockers. They think they run the city, even though most of them don’t have two nickels to rub together anymore.”
“I’m sure the Astors and the Vanderbilts will be surprised to learn that,” the general said with a laugh. “And how would you know about them? Are you a Knickerbocker yourself, Thornton?”
“Only by marriage. My late wife was a cousin to Bates, here, and one of society’s four hundred, as she often reminded me.”
The words set Gideon’s teeth on edge. How dare he bring Marjorie into this? “I doubt she ever even spoke of it.”
Thornton’s sneer turned ugly. “Are you calling me a liar?”
“Of course he isn’t,” David said quickly, shooting Gideon a warning look. “And the general isn’t interested in family squabbles, I’m sure. General, I can’t thank you enough for coming today so we can get this all settled. I think the transaction will go very smoothly now. When can you be ready to close the deal?”
“The day after tomorrow, if that’s not too soon for Thornton,” the general said.
Thornton grinned with satisfaction. “Just tell me what time.”
They settled on one o’clock, and Thornton left after shaking hands all around. Gideon ignored his triumphant smirk. Then it was the general’s turn to shake their hands. As he clasped Gideon’s palm in a bone-crushing grip, he said, “There’s no shame in making money in business, son.”
What did he mean by that? “I like to make my money from honest labor.”
If the general was insulted, he gave no indication. In fact he seemed amused. “A very refreshing attitude in this day and age, Mr. Bates. You are a rarity, I’m afraid.”
He turned to David before Gideon could think of a suitable reply, and then he was gone. The man was such a presence, his sudden absence seemed to rob the room of oxygen for a moment.
“I can’t believe it’s really going to happen,” David said, almost giddy with his success. “Do you know how much I’ll earn from this? I might take Elizabeth around the whole world instead of just to Europe! Do you think she’d like to see the Orient, too?”
“I’m sure she would,” Gideon couldn’t resist saying.
? ? ?
Oscar Thornton could hardly believe his luck. That little chippie Betty Perkins or Elizabeth Miles or whatever her real name was had turned out to be his lucky charm in spite of everything. He wasn’t going to forgive her for the fifty thousand she and that son of a bitch brother or whoever he was had taken from him, of course, but he might not let Lester and Fletcher have her when he was finished with her. She’d be grateful, he was sure.
“We’ll go straight to the bank when we leave Vanderslice’s office,” he told Fletcher. The two of them were in a cab on their way to the final meeting with the general. “I want to deposit the bank draft right away.”
“Whatever you say, boss. I’ll get a cab and have it waiting. You don’t want to be standing around on the street with so much money in your pocket.”
Finally, Fletcher was showing some intelligence. He’d sent Lester, the smarter one, to watch the girl today. He only needed muscle to guard himself, but she might try to slip away now that the deal was going through. He couldn’t allow that. Victory wouldn’t be nearly so sweet without a little revenge.