Secrets Of The Outback

“The only thing that saved you was your résumé,” he reminded her.

“And the fact that I topped my law class, along with winning the University Medal.” She would never have been so self-congratulatory with anyone else, but it was part of the routine with Skinner.

“Such revelations! And so many people to speak for you! Wonderful recommendations.” He shook his head. “Generally speaking, our young males are the outright winners.”

“Were,” Jewel emphasized. “But if you look at the results, Blair, they’ve finally been overtaken.”

“Not exactly,” he said silkily, “but no sooner do we train them than they mooch off and get married. I hope you’re not going to do that, Eugenie,” he said as though contemplating a crime.

“Not for a good while,” Jewel assured him. “I’m a touch nervous about marriage. I have a friend who was married for an hour.”

Skinner, divorced himself, almost giggled. “I take that to mean they were doing it for a stunt. I just love our Monday mornings, Eugenie. Even the run-ins. You seem to be one of the few courageous enough to speak your mind.” Skinner leaned back. “Sit down, Eugenie.” He paused, his expression reflective. “I simply can’t bring myself to call you Jewel like the rest of the office. It’s an over-decoration and you don’t need it.”

“That’s okay. Eugenie is fine. And I get a kick out of your French pronunciation. Besides, I haven’t heard it in a long, long time.”

“So who started calling you Jewel?” Skinner actually looked interested.

“My father,” Jewel announced casually, although any mention of her father made her feel lonely and sick inside.

“I understand he was killed?” Skinner stared at her.

Slammed his car into a power pole. “You’ve already read my file, Blair,” Jewel pointed out too sharply.

“My dear, please don’t take offense.” Unexpectedly he backed off. “I have indeed studied your file. Smart and ambitious as you are, with an ability to write excellent briefs, you’re still extremely lucky to be here. I have to hand it to you, Eugenie. For a little girl from the bush with absolutely no connections, you’ve turned yourself into a real achiever. A young lawyer with a future. Not easy.”

“But I have you on my side, Blair, rooting for me, showing me the way to professionalism, self-improvement, correct dress and behavior. As only someone born to life among the gentry can.”

He laughed. “Watch it!” His smooth cosmopolitan voice was mellow. “Snob, aren’t I?”

“Sincerely, yes.”

“For which you must be grateful.” Skinner began to hunt through the files on his splendid partner’s desk. “Don’t imagine for one minute that my influence hasn’t helped you impress the clients. No one who works here can afford to look like a loser—” He broke off. “Ah, here it is.” He withdrew a thick file from the pack. “Remember the Quinn Corp. thing? We handled their takeover of Omega Enterprises?”

“The Copeland Connellan subsidiary?” Jewel asked. “I should. I put a lot of research into that. Around two-hundred pages.”

“I wouldn’t have let you do it if I didn’t have confidence in you,” Skinner said a little testily. “However…things don’t appear to be working out. In fact, they’re going bad.”

“Really?” Jewel was surprised. “I would’ve thought it was airtight.”

“Except some of Omega’s top people didn’t fully appreciate that their jobs were on the line. They’re suing.”

“You mean Copeland Connellan canned them after the buyout?” Jewel sat back, frowning.

Skinner nodded. “Exactly. Their argument was that Omega’s top guns turned out to be duds.”

“With their salaries, the Omega people can’t have been pleased.”

“Don’t worry about them,” Skinner, never a man to dwell on the misfortunes of others, said equably. “They’re all millionaires. Copeland Connellan has a way of clearing out duds. Anyway, it looks like litigation—which, as we represent Copeland Connellan, we will win. Not saying it won’t be tricky. So let’s get started. Can’t have our biggest client saying they’re not getting our immediate attention. Then we’ve got Kussler Consolidated versus the ATA Group. Pull your chair up here. I’ll be shoveling a lot of work onto your desk, so don’t go making too many outside plans.” He glanced up at her. “By the way, Keefe Connellan will be coming in this afternoon on an unrelated matter. He’s accompanying Lady Copeland, which is somewhat surprising given the situation with Travis. I’d like to be able to tell him we’re already onto the Omega thing at the same time— Haven’t met Keefe, have you?” Skinner asked out of the blue.

“I haven’t had that great honor,” Jewel said, wondering if Skinner was doing his usual job of trying to confuse her.

“Of course you haven’t.” Skinner stared at her thoughtfully.

“Then, why ask?”

Skinner suddenly turned on a charming smile. “A clever young lady like you might find a way to contrive it.”

Jewel had no idea what he was getting at, and merely shook her head.

“I thought every woman wanted to marry a millionaire,” he murmured.

“Finding a millionaire would be the easy part. Marrying him and living happily ever after would be a lot harder,” Jewel answered dryly.

“You could do it, I’m sure.” Skinner narrowed his eyes as though thinking deeply. “Anyway, Keefe rarely comes in. He’s a very busy man. Quite brilliant. Extraordinarily responsible.”

“So they say.” Jewel nodded her head with mock solemnity. According to everyone in the know, Keefe Connellan was guaranteed to become the future executive chairman of Copeland Connellan.

“It’s in the genes, of course,” Skinner said, as though no one in his family had ever been accused of being an idiot. “My family’s always mixed with theirs, socially and in business. There was no finer man than Keefe’s grandfather, Sir Stafford Connellan. Compared to him, Julius Copeland was a very dodgy character.”

“Who knew how to forge an empire,” Jewel pointed out. Everyone had heard the saga of Julius Copeland and his great achievements, despite the dodgy bits.

Skinner widened his gray-blue eyes. “You don’t hold any brief for the Copelands, do you.”

“Blair, I don’t know any of them. As you’ve frequently pointed out, I was a girl from the Deep North, and before that the bush. I don’t mix in your…distinguished circles.”

“Nooo…but you could,” he said thoughtfully. “You’ve got what it takes. I’m absolutely sure there’s an interesting story in your background. Something very unusual.”

He made it sound as though she’d been switched at birth. “Sorry, Blair. Nothing to discover. I had a very ordinary childhood. My father was an overseer on one of the Copeland cattle stations, if you want to make something of that.”

Skinner looked like a man who’d missed out on important information. “Really? This is news.”

“Considering that Sir Julius left a legacy of nearly five-hundred thousand hectares in Outback Queensland, it’s not so unusual. My father died when I was six, going on seven. My mother and I went to live with my aunt almost immediately after. My father’s early death left my mother a very sad woman. There wasn’t much money and she wasn’t always able to work. My aunt half-supported me until I could support myself. As you know, I won a scholarship to a very good girls’ school. And I worked my way through university.”

“From whence you graduated with top honors.” He inclined his head in a gesture of exaggerated respect. “I have to say I’m surprised to hear there was any connection to the Copelands. You kept that from me.”

“I didn’t know you well enough then. You’re not onto something here, Blair. Don’t get excited. My father was an employee. A fairly lowly one at that. No real connection at all.”

“So where did you get your brains?” Skinner asked, his tone suggesting her family had to be a bunch of morons.

“My father and mother helped out,” she countered, her voice dry. “In addition, my aunt isn’t exactly stupid.”

“Which leaves me with one question—who do you look like?” Skinner asked. “Is your mother beautiful?”

“She is to me,” Jewel said quietly, remembering her mother before grief and depression overtook her.

“Does she have that golden hair, the black brows and sapphire eyes?”

“Blair, this interest is bizarre,” Jewel said. “Not to mention inappropriate. No, my mother doesn’t have my coloring. I believe I resemble my grandmother, Eugenie.” Though she’d never actually seen a photograph of her grandmother.

Skinner brooded a while. “I know you’re considered a warm, attractive young woman, an excellent mixer, everyone seems to like you—and that’s not always the case, believe me—but you tend to keep things to yourself.”

“Perhaps I picked that up from you,” Jewel said smoothly, making him laugh.

“It might seem strange, but when I met you I wondered where I’d seen you before.”

“Maybe we met in another life?” Jewel suggested flippantly. “Otherwise our paths would never have crossed. I lived and worked over a thousand miles away.”

“True,” Skinner said, almost wryly. “All the same, something about you seems familiar. Anyway, if you’re very good and handle all the work I give you—for which you know I’ll get the credit—I’ll take you along to a function or two. Lady Copeland doesn’t do as much entertaining as she used to, but Travis loves to splash out. Since his divorce, his beautiful daughter, Amelia, acts as hostess for him. Leaves Travis free to pursue…other interests. He loves the ladies, does Travis. Makes no secret of it. The Connellans are far more private. So much tragedy there.”

Jewel looked up, liking Skinner a little better for the soft note in his voice. “Keefe Connellan’s father was killed in a mining accident, wasn’t he?”

“He wouldn’t have been,” Skinner answered somber, “except that he was a hero. He went back to save some of the men trapped underground. Freed quite a few, but in the end he was trapped himself. It was a tragedy. None of us really got over it.”

“How terrible.” Jewel bowed her head, thinking events like that could never be forgotten.

“Rebecca—that’s Earle’s widow—was very nearly destroyed, but she had her son to think of. She and Lady Connellan, Keefe’s grandmother, held the fort until Keefe came of age. Splendid young man. It’s an open secret that he has his troubles with Travis—just as everyone knows Travis is trying to land Keefe for a son-in-law. A marriage of dynasties, so to speak.”

“It usually works that way.” Jewel shrugged. “It’s a tough life. I’ve seen photographs of Amelia Copeland and Keefe Connellan in the papers. Both very glamorous people.” Connellan was every woman’s dream. A young Sean Connery.

“My dear, you could brush her aside,” Skinner surprised her by saying. “She is beautiful, as you say, but there’s not a lot of sparkle. I like sparkle in a woman. So, I fancy, does Keefe. There’s nothing doing so far, despite Travis’s best efforts. When I take you to one of their parties, I’ll go with you to pick out your dress. Or I’ll send you off to a friend of mine. She’ll know exactly what’s required.”

Jewel stared at him, a little dazed. “Blair, I’m overcome.”

“That’s nice.” He smirked. “There are perks to being one of my protégées, my dear. Of course, it’s not my intention to marry again,” he reassured her, quite unnecessarily. Christy, one of her colleagues, had always thought Blair was borderline gay. “It’s glorious to be free. Now, enough of the chitchat. We must get down to business. I’m expecting Keefe at three, although if something important crops up, he might have to cancel. He has a law degree, did you know? Brilliant legal skills he puts to good use, as well as being a mining engineer. At thirty-two he has more presence than most of the big names in the state. And I believe he intends to take over the whole group eventually. He’s developed a reputation as a man with a mission. That mission, so far as I can see, is to get rid of Travis Copeland.”

“Sounds like you’re a bit in awe of him, Blair,” Jewel slipped in gently. Blair Skinner rarely spoke so highly of anyone.

“I consider it an honor to call Keefe my friend,” Skinner admitted with a modest smile. “I like to think my maturity and experience has left its mark. I hope so. By the same token I often partner Travis at golf. He’s an excellent player. So’s Amelia. She could give most of the men a run for their money. Do you play yourself?”

“Nope.” Jewel smiled. “Never had the time. Nor the money for expensive clubs. Tennis is my game.”

“Don’t be ashamed of tennis. If you’re good enough, I’ll give you a game. I can see you now!”

“Another Anna Kournikova?” Jewel asked blithely.

“Women’s tennis was in the doldrums before her,” Skinner said in a brisk voice. “I’m with Cash and McEnroe. The best woman player can’t match a man. Couldn’t come close. Now, you’ve got your legal pad, haven’t you?”

“Open, ready and waiting,” Jewel said and held up her pen. She didn’t bother to tell him about her cupboard full of tennis trophies. That could wait.

ALMOST TWO HOURS LATER, Jewel made it back to her office, so small that some days she thought she’d faint from claustrophobia. She was about to enter, when Anthea, one of the receptionists, all but bolted down the corridor to speak to her.

“Jewel!”

“Hi, Anthea, anything up?” Jewel turned.

“I wanted to catch you.” Anthea spoke a little breathlessly. “They don’t have an appointment or anything, but two teenage boys are out front asking for you.”

“Are they respectable?” Jewel grinned. “No shaved heads or outrageous tattoos?”

Anthea laughed. “No, they’re just kids. Nice-looking, actually. They say they know you.”

“Names please, Anthea,” Jewel said patiently, desperately wanting to get on with her workload.

“Harry and Josh Hungerford.”

“Good Lord,” Jewel said. “I have to keep reminding myself that kids grow up. Show them through, Anthea. I grew up in Hungerford country. I can spare them a few minutes, though we’ll all be knocking heads just trying to fit in my office.”

A few minutes later she was shaking hands with two young men she could easily identify, even if they’d both outgrown her by many inches. “This is a wonderful surprise.” She smiled at them warmly, as pleased to see them as they apparently were to see her. “Take a seat. Tell me what’s going on in your lives. How’s your mother? I hope you’ve got some good news.”

“Well, no, Jewel,” Harry, the older boy said, his deep voice cracking. “We couldn’t think of anyone else to come to. We know you’re a big-time lawyer now. We need help.”

“Is something wrong?” Jewel looked from one to the other. “I don’t know if I can do anything myself—” She indicated with her arm the stack of files: franchising, floats, syndicates, whatever. “But I can certainly point you in the right direction.”

“No,” said Josh, staring at her with his bright blue eyes. “We want you. You know about our life, Jewel. You know the people in it. You’re one of us. From our town. We trust you.”

“Well, that’s sweet of you, Josh.” Jewel was touched by his words. “Suppose you tell me what this is all about. I take it you’re here independent of your mother and stepfather?” George Everett, never an attractive man. Jewel had always felt uncomfortable with him.

Both nodded. “Mum has betrayed us, Jewel,” Harry said, turning his face away. “Ever since she married Everett, our lives have changed.”

Jewel acknowledged that with a sympathetic grimace. “He hasn’t been unkind to you, has he?” she demanded with sharp concern. “Abusive in any way?” It didn’t seem possible with Sheila, their mother, around. Sheila adored her boys.

“He’s never hit us or anything,” Harry said, thrusting a hand through his short chestnut-colored hair. “He wouldn’t dare. Not these days.” Both boys topped six feet and had strapping country physiques.

“It’s still abuse, the way he talks,” Josh insisted. “He’s still the same smart-mouthed, oily character, and he’s getting colder and colder.” He paused uncertainly. “It’s financial, the reason we’re here.”

“Tell me,” Jewel invited, instinctively pulling a legal pad forward. “I know your maternal grandfather Fletcher left you both a great deal of land just outside town. River frontage. I know it was held in trust by your mother. I know it was very valuable land then, which means it’s far more valuable now. I know that after your mother remarried, she and your stepfather bought several thousand hectares of adjoining land.”

“Nowhere near as valuable.” Harry’s voice was so tight it was distorted. “Ours has the river frontage.”

Josh picked up the story. “Some time after you left town to come down to Brisbane, Mum gave herself and Everett a lease on our land.”

“And listen to this—” Harry burst out loudly. “It was for fifty years. A dollar a year. Everett began working it, then they started borrowing big money using our property as security.”

“Finally they mortgaged our property when they got into debt,” Josh said.

“I don’t believe it!” Jewel had seen a lot of fraud and deceit in her business, but she was shocked. “Your mother would never allow such a thing.”

Harry shrugged, his expression unhappy. “Mum’s not the same person you knew, Jewel. She’s changed.”

“She’s like a puppet.” Josh closed his eyes tight, then opened them. “Everett pulls the strings.”

“So, where are you two living?” Jewel asked, beginning to feel protective. She had known the Hungerford boys since they were toddlers.

“Not in the house. We’ve left. We’ve fixed up the workers’ cottage. We live there now.”

“And you came all this way to see me?”

Josh folded his arms, suggesting he wasn’t leaving until she helped them. “Yeah.”

“But there are good solicitors in Cairns and Townsville.” Jewel named two of the major cities in the far north of the state.

“Sorry, we trust you, Jewel,” Harry said. “Not them. We talked it over. We rang your mum. You’d never betray us. Everett knows all the legal guys up north. He can get around anyone, he’s so smarmy, the asshole. He got the bank to lend him nearly a million dollars, remember? The thing is, Jewel, we don’t have a future anymore,” Harry said, his eyes holding hers. “Grandpa left us that land to work. The Hungerfords have always been on the land. It’s our life. His legacy was our future.”

“That’s always the way I saw it,” Jewel said. “You realize your mother has committed a breach of trust? She held that land in trust for you, her two sons. She had no legal right to mortgage the property. In doing so, she and your stepfather could be said to have squandered your inheritance, which must be worth several million. You’re in a position to start legal proceedings. When do you gain direct control, or is that some way off?” She addressed Harry, but Josh spoke.

“Just over a year. When I turn eighteen and Harry turns twenty. Our birthdays are only a month apart.” Josh sounded as if they could barely survive until then.

“For that matter, the bank has acted improperly. They knew perfectly well the land was held in trust for you boys. We all knew. The whole district. Your grandfather was a highly respected and influential man.”

“One of Copeland Connellan’s top mining engineers in the north,” Josh said proudly, his eyes wandering to Jewel’s wall of plaques, tributes, degrees. “I saw on the board outside that this firm handles Copeland Connellan’s legal affairs.”

“That’s right, Josh.” Jewel nodded.

Josh leaned toward her. “Mum always said you were really going to make something of yourself. You’re a corporate lawyer, right?”

Jewel nodded again. “Corporate and commercial. I had to work hard to earn it. What about you? I take it you finished your schooling Josh?” Both boys were very bright.

“End of last year,” Josh confirmed.

“And you, Harry? What are you doing?”

“Nothing,” Harry said glumly.

“But surely your mother wants you to go on to university or agricultural college?”

Both boys sat silent for a moment, looking exceedingly upset. “We’re not talking to Mum,” Josh said eventually. “We can’t talk to Mum. It’s impossible to see her without Everett. He doesn’t let her out of his sight. That’s his tactic.”

“That’s hard!” Jewel frowned. “You were all so close. How are you supporting yourselves? Where’s the money coming from?” she asked.

“Grandpa left us some money, as well,” Harry said. “I got mine when I turned eighteen. I’m taking care of Josh. We’re in this together.”

“It sounds like you’ve been worrying yourselves sick.” Both boys looked as if they’d been carrying a weight of grief on their shoulders.

“It’s terrible to know we’ve lost Mum.” Harry swallowed. “It’s…it’s like she’s joined some sect. And it’s terrible to know what she’s done to us. Are you going to help us, Jewel?”

Jewel settled back in her chair, pondering the fact that she was already loaded down with work. “I should speak to your mother,” she said.

“You’ll never get to her.” Josh punched one hand into the other. “It’s always the two of them. Everett’s always alongside. I suppose a legal battle would cost a lot of money?”

“I’m afraid so, Josh. And from what you tell me, it would be very bitter. Are you absolutely certain you’d want to work the land if you won the case? Your stepfather and mother own and work the adjoining land.”

“It’s not as though we could even sell.” Harry let loose with his anger and frustration. “It’s not ours. We’re in limbo. Going nowhere. Everett thinks he has it all over us. A couple of hick kids. You have to help us, Jewel. We can’t deal with all these problems. You don’t know how it feels.”

“Oh, I think I do, Harry, and my heart aches for you. Let me talk to my boss about it.” Jewel started to drum her fingers on the desk.

“What does that mean?” Josh clenched his jaw, obviously anticipating obstacles.

“I’m free to take on cases, Josh, but my boss is the senior partner in the firm. I’d have to discuss it with him.”

“But you can help us?”

“You can be helped. Understand that. I’d like to be the one. Where are you staying?”

“With a friend,” Josh replied. “You wouldn’t know him. We boarded with him at school. He’s a good bloke. His parents are graziers on the Darling Downs. They have an apartment for when they come to town. Dex lives there—it’s close to the university. Dex is a real bright guy. He’s studying medicine.”

“Listen, why don’t I take you both out tonight?” Jewel suggested. “I’ll have spoken to my boss by then. We can really catch up. You like Italian? Thai? Indian? Chinese? Don’t for the love of God say McDonald’s.”

“Italian is great.” Harry grinned, looking as though he wanted to embrace her. “That’s very nice of you, Jewel.”

“Hey, aren’t you guys forgetting how nice your mother always was to me?” Jewel answered quickly, shaking her head as she considered what the boys had told her.

“You wouldn’t know her now, Jewel,” Josh said again, bitterness in his tanned face. “Everett has taken her over. She’s his now, the stinkin’ fraud.”

AFTER THE BOYS HAD GONE, Jewel got feverishly down to work, refreshing her memory of the Omega deal by speed-reading through the file. At the end, she still came to the conclusion, as had Skinner, that the deal was airtight. Omega ex-executives would be ill-advised to go to litigation, but it seemed that was their intent. Bad advice from their lawyers, who would nevertheless line their pockets. It wasn’t until after lunch that she had the opportunity to speak to Skinner about the Hungerford boys’ situation. She expected—and received—an irritated-sounding response.

“I would’ve thought you had one hell of a job on your hands already,” he said when she was finished.

“I can’t walk away from this, Blair. I feel indebted to these boys. To their mother. She was very kind to me when I was a girl. She was directly responsible for a number of fund-raisers to send me off to university. Mr. Hungerford was alive at the time, and the boys were just kids. Really nice kids.”

“Then, she’s well and truly let them down, hasn’t she. If what you tell me is true,” Skinner said, his eyes narrowed. “Have you taken the time to check?”