“And what bothered you about that?” Golightly asked.

“According to him, his company was already clearing fifty million in profit annually. Do the math, Brian. That means a hundred and fifty million for investment, minimum.”

“So?”

“So, for fifty million they accomplish the same goals, without selling any ownership. For a hundred and fifty mil they could build an entire new company.”

This point seemed to arouse some interest. “You think he was hiding something?” Golightly asked.

Jack nodded. “I was sure of it.”

They focused on his lips and waited to hear what was being hidden. Come on, Jack, spill it, their eyes were saying.

Instead, Jack said, “I think I’d love a cup of coffee.”

The woman returned and filled three cups with coffee. The cups were fine china, boldly embossed with the large gold letters CG. Jack chose black and took his first deep sip; the coffee was watery and weak.

The accountant drank tea, no cream, no sweetener. He made loud slurping noises as he sipped.

Once they were settled, Blank decided it was time to shift control. He opened by asking, “If this is such an incredible opportunity, why aren’t your partners at Cauldron taking advantage of it?”

“May I be frank?”

“You better be.”

“Not a good fit, Mr. Blank. Cauldron never involves itself in unfriendly takeovers, for one thing.”

“Why not?”

“My partners regard it as unseemly. They’re pretty old-fashioned that way, and so are our clients. They don’t like getting their fingers dirty.”

By inference, the boys on the other side of the table had no compunction about wallowing in mud.

“If that rubs wrong, I meant no offense,” Jack added quickly, nodding contritely at the men across the table.

The apology was wasted-absolutely no offense had been taken.

“Are we the first firm you’ve approached?” Blank asked.

“Yes. But don’t think that means you’ll be the last.”

“Why us?”

Jack appeared to contemplate this question a moment. He took a long sip of coffee. “It happens that you share one or two common markets with this company, an essential quality in whoever I team with.”

“Why is that important?”

“I don’t intend to get into that yet.”

“That’s it?”

“No, there’s more, plenty more. The Capitol Group obviously brings a lot to the table-influence, marketing muscle, deep pockets, a track record for doing what it takes to win.” He quickly added, “And so do several other firms.”

Blank shared a wink with Golightly that Jack was obviously meant to catch. “Why don’t we go back to this big secret the CEO was supposed to be hiding?”

“All right. I did a little digging after our meeting. The more I dug, the more convinced I became the CEO was concealing something. I was right.”

“What kind of digging?”

“Later. Once we have a deal, I’ll lay it all out for you.”

Not if, but once-as if the option belonged to Wiley. Who did this guy think he was dealing with? The boys from CG exchanged a few more looks.

Blank planted his elbows on the table and bent far forward. “Look, we’re very busy people, Wiley. I think you better tell us what it is.”

“Sure.” Jack smiled, as if to say, Lousy timing, but if you insist. “The CEO is a chemical engineer. He and a few of his people spent years working on a new product. They called it Project Holy Grail. For reasons that will become evident, the past two years they threw everything they had into it. They worked around the clock. Weekends, no holidays, late nights, they nearly killed themselves.”

“But they found it?”

Jack nodded. “Unfortunately, it’s a new market for them. One I think will be very difficult for this company to break into. It happens to be one where CG is a dominant player.”

“Look, we’re all getting tired of the vagueness, Wiley. It’s about time you tell us what this product is,” Golightly prodded, tapping the table, clearly speaking for his friends.

“If you like.” Jack paused. He let the suspense build for a moment. “It’s a polymer coating. Paint it onto a combat vehicle, any vehicle really, and it pretends it’s thirty inches of armor.”

The three faces across the table displayed complete indifference. Blank shifted his rather broad rear forward in his chair. Big deal, his posture said. “Right now, the market’s full of crap like this, Wiley. If I had a dollar for every nutcase who claims to have invented a new lightweight armor, I’d own CG.”

“I didn’t say it was armor,” Jack patiently corrected him. “Here’s the important point. This polymer is also reactive. Do you understand what that means?”

Three collective shrugs.

“Embedded in this polymer are millions of, well, for simplicity’s sake, call them beads. Tiny little beads. The concept is unique and performs beautifully. They act like explosives. When a penetrating rod hits the polymer, these little beads explode outward. Do you understand the physics of this?”

“Why don’t we listen to you explain it,” Blank replied, giving the impression that he could write a textbook on the subject.

Jack leaned forward on his elbows and explained, “Every time we invent a new type of armor, or improve on an old form, the bad guys initiate a mad scramble for a way to defeat it. It’s a game, a long game without end. The most common way to attack modern armor is through designed stages. Sometimes the explosive strikes first, maybe softens or ruptures the armor, then a penetrating rod hits and punches through. Sometimes the rod isn’t designed to penetrate, but to turn the tables, to use the armor against itself. The idea is to inflict spalling, to cause the armor to lose its integrity, to break apart, then these big chunks of metal bounce around inside the vehicle. It’s a tanker’s worst nightmare.”

“And these beads prevent that?” Golightly asked. He specialized in defense industries; to his discomfort, though, his expertise was aviation systems, and this was way over his head.

“Exactly, Brian. Remember, these beads explode out, tens of thousands of them, simultaneously. The force merges, becomes collective, dynamic. It counters, in fact, it defeats any of these so-called penetrators. Best of all, there’s no inward force; thus, no spalling.”

“And you just paint it on?”

“It’s slightly more complicated than that. But yes, essentially. Two coats, applied in a sterile, high-pressure environment, ten hours to congeal, and voilà-the equivalent of thirty inches of steel coating.”

“And you could put this stuff on, say, a Humvee?”

“Sure. A Humvee, a tank, a Bradley Fighting Vehicle, your grandmother’s car. It’s surprisingly lightweight. Coat an entire Humvee, you add only fifteen pounds to the overall weight. Its adhesive quality is almost miraculous.”

“Has it been patented?” Golightly asked, the predictable question regarding all new developments.

Jack obviously anticipated it. “As research progressed, the company filed every time it made a breakthrough. It’s a complicated formula and a long chemical process. Years of work and progress, a lot of small breakthroughs that add up to a seismic invention. All told, we’re talking twenty-one U.S. and sixteen approved international patents.”

“But is the overall product patented?” Blank asked rudely, as if Jack had evaded the question.

“No, not yet.”

“Why not?”

Jack, hesitated then released a heavy breath as if to say, I shouldn’t have to explain this, but… Instead he said, “Patents are public domain, Mr. Blank. The instant they’re approved, they’re posted online. Lots of firms hire researchers who study every new patent. File the finished product and you announce to the world what you’ve got. The CEO played it smart. He found a watertight way to protect the confidentiality. The entire process is wrapped in ten tons of legal protection, but nobody knows it exists.”