Deadline by James Anderson Read Free Book Online

Carpenter, his
ex-girlfriend. The last person he ever expected to hear from since
she broke off their relationship eight months ago.
    They had dated for over almost two
years. It was a passionate pairing of a power couple with wealthy
backgrounds. But the similarity ended there.
    Ashley’s parents were
multi-billionaires. Lawrence and his wife Amber Carpenter had made
their money in mining in northern Ontario and in Alberta. Now
Lawrence headed his own philanthropic foundation, which gave
millions every year to various charities, symphony orchestras,
theatres and art galleries. They were among the crème de la crème
of Canadian high society.
    Ashley was their only child. She had
been pampered, spoiled from birth, attended the finest private
schools and then Oxford University in Britain where she graduated
with an honors degree in Fine Art.
    Andrew was the son of Allan and
Patricia Chase. His father had been a prominent Bay Street
stockbroker. While worth millions, the Chases were not in the same
financial league as the Carpenters.
    Allan Chase insisted that Andrew go
through the public school system so he would learn to fend for
himself. While he never wanted for anything, Andrew learned early
on to work for his money.
    He worked in the mailroom of his
father’s company part-time while going to the University of
Toronto. He graduated with a Master’s degree in English.
    It was at university that the
journalism bug struck Andrew. He volunteered at the Varsity, the
campus newspaper, first as a reporter and then becoming its Editor
in his final year.
    Chase knew that newspapers were in his
blood. He wanted to pursue a career in that field, much to his
father’s chagrin. Allan Chase had aspirations for Andrew to join
the family stockbroker firm and one day to succeed him.
    But Andrew instead wangled a novice
reporter position at the Toronto Star.
    Over the next several years, he worked
himself through a variety of positions to become an assistant to
the publisher where he learned the ins and outs of running a large
metropolitan daily newspaper. Then fate dealt him a new
hand.
    Allan and Patricia Chase were killed
in a tragic plane crash while on vacation in Europe six years
ago.
    Suddenly Andrew’s world was turned
upside down. He inherited the family business and fortune. He still
wasn’t interested in the stock market so he sold the company for a
princely sum which, added to the millions he inherited, made him a
very wealthy man.
    His first inclination was to try and
buy a paper, but found himself shut out and shunned by the Toronto
publishing community. They viewed him as a usurper and
upstart.
    Andrew then got together a group of
minority investors and decided to start the Daily Express three
years ago.
    The paper initially got off to a
strong start as a new entry in the Toronto media market. It had
healthy sales, although still lagged behind the four other papers.
It would take some time to establish the paper in the
marketplace.
    But after several months, circulation
started dropping as the paper’s editorial team failed to
differentiate the content from the existing newspapers.
    Chase introduced an editorial shakeup
and brought in Braden Young 18 months ago from USA Today to spruce
up the ship. Young’s mandate was to set the paper sailing in a
different direction.
    So far it appeared to be working.
Circulation had been rising. Unfortunately, the advertising content
had not kept pace and the paper was continuing to lose
money.
    Chase knew he could carry it for a
couple of more years, but the paper needed a major infusion of cash
to put it on an even keel and stem the financial
bleeding.
    The paper occupied more and more of
his time so that there was little time to spend with Ashley and the
socializing she loved to do.
    While he was burning the midnight oil
many nights, Ashley soon found another lover to fill the empty
space in her life. She started dating a wealthy art gallery owner
and the couple became a fixture