Waiting for Cary Grant Read Free

on her. She felt torn between gratitude and irritation.
    And she felt something else. They’d been too close for any physical secrets. Harlan Michaels’ heart had pounded fast against her back.
    She’d felt his fear.

Chapter Four
    “I had a girlfriend who went to school here. That relationship didn’t work out too well. I was miserable. Thank God for the other women who helped me through it.” Harlan smiled.
    He’s such a pig, Lana thought.
    “Lana, I’m on your side,” Harlan said.
    “I don’t have a side. Is this war?” She glared at him.
    “Could be,” he said.
    “What does that mean?” She asked.
    “Lana, it looks like we’re going to have to get along. I’m not the bad guy. Why do you work here? Are you training to be a school mistress. Head matron? What do they call it?” He asked.
    “Oh, please.” She brushed back her hair. Was she starting to seem sexless? “I think the term is principal, Harlan. Forget about mistress.”
    “Why do you have such an aversion to men?”
    “To men? Did you ever think it might be personal?”
    For once, Harlan Michaels was speechless.
    “I don’t want Kathy exploited for a lawsuit. She’s been through enough trauma for a lifetime. And she’s only eleven,” Lana said.
    “Lana, we both want to help Kathy.” He offered his most flattering smile.
    “Don’t speak to me in that patronizing tone.” She replied.
    “I’m not patronizing you. I’m fighting for Kathy too.”
    “What’s this case about? Besides money for you?” Lana asked.
    “Safety Tire’s a parasite. We’re all the hosts. We’re all getting sick.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Multipiece wheels should have been off the road years ago. Safety Tire knew about the explosive separations in the seventies. Tire repair workers have been decapitated by the force of wheel parts separating out during servicing.”
    She winced. “I remember seeing something about it on the Internet. I thought the National Highway Traffic Safety Association dropped their investigation of Safety Tire’s multipiece wheels. They didn’t order a recall.”
    “And that means nothing’s wrong?”
    “Well, I’m not that naive.”
    “That’s good, Lana. They conservatively calculated the cost of a recall at one hundred fifty million dollars. A huge amount of money even for a corporation like Safety Tire. But the National Highway Traffic Safety Association had already realized that the accidents were only beginning. The rate of failure seems to be a function of the age of the wheel, maintenance, and to some extent, chance. Catastrophic wheel failures increase with the erosion of parts over time.
    The locking ring that holds the rim base and wheel corrodes and causes an explosive separation. It’s completely unpredictable when it will happen.
    So the National Highway Traffic Safety Association notified the company that shamelessly calls itself Safety Tire that the multipiece wheel investigation has become a top priority. And it’s an election year.
    So Safety Tire Executives start to sweat. Even a consumer notification program will cost several million dollars. Their stock’s inflated.”
    “So they didn’t do anything?” Lana asked.
    “They did something. Just not the right thing. At the time, their European suppliers were paying substantial kickbacks. Safety Tire had been funneling the money through European bank accounts to avoid American taxes.
    This bastion of patriotism suddenly feels an urge to contribute to the reelection campaign of a politician. Overnight, money empties out of the European bank accounts.
    The head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Association’s investigation, an eminent engineer from M.I.T., is immediately transferred to an obscure position in the midwest. He’s replaced by someone who doesn’t know anything about product defects. The investigation closes without a consumer notification or recall.”
    “And they got away with it?”
    “Not completely. Irregularities