The Missing Heir(103)

                “Call me Kevin. Yes. My point is you may be in the market to sell.”

                Cole drew back. “Sell Aviation 58?” There wasn’t a chance in hell he’d sell his airline.

                “No,” said Kevin. “Coast Eagle Airlines.”

                Cole felt the ground shift beneath him; he dropped his arms to steady himself. The bustle of the downtown street went momentarily still and silent. “Sell Coast Eagle?”

                “To Cambridge Airlines.”

                Cole wasn’t sure he’d heard right. He was trying to save Coast Eagle for Zachary’s future.

                “I’m not in the market to sell,” he assured Kevin. “I won’t be in the market to sell.”

                “Perhaps not.” Kevin seemed to be watching Cole closely. “Though I’m not sure you’ve had an opportunity to think through the complexities of running two separate airlines.”

                “I’m not going to—” Cole caught himself.

                He hadn’t thought of it in those terms. But if he won the custody battle, who would run Coast Eagle? He wasn’t staying in Atlanta. He’d never planned to stay in Atlanta.

                Max had made it clear he was temporary as president, and he wasn’t the right fit anyway. Roth was absolutely not going to be in charge. Sidney was smart, but new to the VP post. Cole’s take was that he needed several years of mentoring before taking on more responsibility.

                “We have the corporate depth,” said Kevin. “And we have the expertise. You’d have the choice to remain as a minor shareholder, of course. I won’t lie to you, I think that would be a good investment. But we’d prefer to buy you out. Have you looked into Coast Eagle’s net worth?”

                Cole had not. Things had been moving ahead so quickly that he hadn’t focused any attention at all on what happened after the court case. And at the moment, he was a lot more worried about the possibility of losing than of winning.

                “You need to think about it,” Kevin told him softly. “I’m not being opportunistic, and I’d fully expect due diligence on your side. But my take is that you need to win this. And my take is that you’re going to fight with everything you’ve got. And when you win, I want to talk. Because I think you’re going to have to make a choice—Coast Eagle or Aviation 58.”

                He offered his card again. “Call me anytime.”

                This time, Cole took the card. Kevin Kent gave him a nod and walked away.

                Afterward, Cole stood still for a full five minutes.

                How could he possibly sell Coast Eagle? Then again, how on earth was he going to run it?

                “Mr. Henderson?”

                Cole gave himself a mental shake.

                This time the man who approached him was a reporter. “Frank Hast, Atlanta Weekly. How do you respond to the accusation that you’re using your half brother as a pawn to get your hands on the Henderson fortune?”

                Cole stared at the man, wondering what would happen if he simply slammed him into a wall.

                “I don’t,” he said instead and began walking away.

                The reporter paced alongside. “Then what do you say to reports that you’re using a relationship with Amber Welsley to undermine Roth Calvin?”