by G H Edwards
“Claire, take a breath,” Allen said calmly. “We’re not trying to take the baby away from you or anything like that. In fact, we were thinking quite the opposite. You could still raise the baby, and we’d be there to help.”
“What are you going to do? Babysit for me?” Claire spat out.
There was silence in the room.
Allen leaned forward. “No, Claire. We would be involved. We would help in every way. I mean you live downstairs, so we could be very involved.”
Claire sat in silence for a moment. “So then why tell people I’m a surrogate? Why not just tell everyone that we’re all just friends?”
“Well, because he’s my child also,” Allen said.
“Oh, I see now,” Claire said, finally waking up. “You want to have the kid there to show everyone and prove how great you both are.”
“Claire, we would be there to raise the child with you,” Allen said, getting slightly frustrated. “I mean think of it—you could have everything you’ve ever wanted. And I could have a son.”
“A son?”
“Trust me. It’s a boy”
Claire paused for a moment. Suddenly, like a light switch, she knew how to get her plan back on track, “I just figured out what this is. This is about the only thing that’s important to you: your business.”
Sighing, Allen sat back down in his chair in frustration.
“Yeah, that’s right,” Claire went on. “You’re asking me to trust you and eventually give my child to you so he can run your business, but you won’t even tell me what your business really is.”
“Come on now, Claire. What’s this about?”
“You know what I’m talking about. Tell me about your real businesses.”
“You know I run Allen Corp., which owns the complexes. That’s not a secret.”
“You own a lot more than that, Terry. Apartment-complex owners don’t have access to people’s medical records. They don’t have access to surveillance cameras in random coffee shops.”
“Yeah so I do own a few other smaller businesses, but it’s not a big deal,” Terry said, sounding slightly arrogant. Sharon wiggled uncomfortably on the couch beside Claire.
“A few small ones? That’s it? Until you’re honest with me, I can’t agree to have my child near you.”
The comment cut Allen deeper than he wanted it to. When Claire had come to his office that day, he knew it was a huge problem, but like most problems, he knew there was an opportunity in it. His lack of an heir was constantly on his mind, and now here was a woman who could give him a child. He knew it was impossible to divorce Sharon and raise the child with Claire. It hadn’t taken much convincing to get Sharon on board with the surrogate idea; it was a fantastic fix to the problem. Every minute that passed after Claire had told him, Allen felt better and better about having the heir. By the time Claire had arrived at his apartment, he was more excited about it than he’d ever admit. He was starting to realize that more than anything he could ever own, having an heir was his ultimate dream. And in his head it was a foregone conclusion Claire would say yes, and he was already five steps past it. But now it seemed to be slipping away because of the very business that he wanted to pass down.
“Okay,” he said, “so I own more than just the complexes, but that’s not your problem. Your job now is to take care of yourself and that baby.”
“What else do you own?” Claire said sternly.
“Why do you care so much?”
“What else do you own?” she repeated.
He exhaled loudly. She was on to his business scope; he knew it. He’d been careless today and let her see more than she should have. But maybe it was for the best. It felt strange to even think of telling anyone about how much of the city he owned, but at the same time he wanted to tell someone. When he had taken the business from his father four years ago, he’d been handed every company in the entire city. It had been a chaotic system that he was surprised was still held together. His father had done a great job at many things—like buying up any remaining parts of the city, finishing the push to move people out of the countryside, and relocating the moochers outside of the city. But he hadn’t adapted to changes in technology or society very quickly. He didn’t anticipate the power of the Internet or even the threat that air travel caused. So when Allen took over, he made drastic changes by rebuilding and controlling the Internet, stopping air travel, and setting up an entire office dedicated to just monitoring Houston residents. He had brought in lots of new people and new technology to run the vastly different arms of his empire. He had put every second of his life into building the new Mega City Houston. He knew some people would have a problem with a single man owning everything and the tough decisions that came with it, but if they saw the full picture, he knew they would come around. He knew the city would have been overrun by drug-using homeless people if he and his family hadn’t stepped in and fixed the problems. He knew the city would have been bankrupted by many things, but his family had stepped in and fixed everything. His family had solved the issues before they became issues and ensured that Houston was the greatest mega city in the country. No government could ever get that done. Some of the solutions weren’t pretty, but it was all a means to an end, and people enjoyed the results. And he was proud of his family and proud of the city he ran and was tired of hiding it.
“Well, it would be easier to say what I don’t own,” Allen said with a smirk.
“So you own everything?”
“Well, no one can own everything. But as far as businesses go, yes, I do. I own everything in the city.” Allen felt a wave a pride upon making his statement.
“So you own all the grocery stores?”
“Yes.”
“All the buildings?”
“Yes.”
“Do you own all the news stations?”
“Yes.”
“Do you tell them what to report?”
“Not exactly. I just tell them what they shouldn’t report”
“So you control the news?”
“No. The news happens without me. There are stories all the time. It’s not all about me.”
“You control what people think they know,” Claire spat out angrily.
Sharon came to life on the couch. “Darling, I know it’s a lot to take in at once, but trust me, you’ll get used to it. Soon you’ll be able to help shape the future of the whole city. Any pet projects you like can be funded and built; you just have to ask Terry, and he’ll get it done.”
Claire shook her head in disgust. “You don’t think he has you on a short leash?” she spat at Sharon. “I know he’s had me watched at all times. He even planted my publicist to spy on me. Or did you just happen to have Heather’s phone number memorized when you called her today from your office, Terry?”
Allen silently cursed himself; he’d been sloppy today and was caught multiple times. He knew he had to change the subject. “Listen, Claire. There’s nothing wrong or illegal about any of this. It’s the same thing as one business buying another. It’s just that my family started buying up land and businesses in the beginning and kept going until we ended up owning everything in Houston. This was passed down to me, and I’m hoping I can pass it down to my son.”
Claire stood up and paced the large room.
“Like I said, Claire, nothing about anything I do is illegal.”
“But what if it was illegal. Who could I call and tell? Tell me, Terry…do you own the police also?”
“Claire, be reasonable. No one can own the police.”
“Oh, of course you don’t. But you want to hear something funny? An awful lot of people who live in this block are police officers. The commissioner just happens to live two floors down. So of course no one can actually own the police, but you can buy the police. I bet you could murder someone in the middle of the street and get away with it.”
“Claire you have a wild imagination.” Allen let out a fake laugh. He was seriously starting to consider Claire a majo
r liability. He hated to think he might have to do something with her and his unborn child. “Listen,” he continued calmly, trying to deescalated the situation, “life for everyone in this city would be incredibly difficult if it hadn’t been for my family. We bring balance and peace and helped grow the city bigger than ever.”
“So it’s a good thing for everyone that you own the whole city?” Claire asked.
“Well, yes. I can ensure that things are running the way they should be running.”
“Isn’t that why we elect a city government?”
“Claire, government is slow, corrupt, and weak in what it can get done, I’m not. I can do what’s needed and not have to worry about getting votes. I ensure the entire population has a roof over their head. I’m the invisible hand that makes all this work.”
“The invisible hand? The invisible hand that helps the homeless people, right? Oh, wait, there are no homeless people in Houston, because you pack them up and dump them in the countryside.”
Allen was silent and stared straight at Claire. He wondered how she knew that, he wondered how long she had been setting him up. Sharon turned toward him in stunned confusion.
Claire looked at Sharon. “I’m guessing you didn’t know that, did you? Yeah, your husband hires men to kidnap poor people and ship them out.”
“Things aren’t as easy as they seem, Claire,” Allen said in a stern voice. “Sometimes tough decisions have to be made. Drug addicts and thieves were costing this city big money. So I gave those people a second chance at life somewhere else. They reset their lives, and we have a clean city; everyone wins. In fact, I should be thanked for keeping this city safe.” Sharon’s expression changed to one of understanding as she nodded her approval. “I ensure that Houston doesn’t end up like New York.”
“Or Miami?” Claire asked, locking eyes with Allen.
“Claire, there are a lot of things you don’t understand,” Allen said in a mixture of anger and panic. Things had spun wildly out of control.
“You have the people of Houston trapped in the city!” Claire yelled. “You’ve convinced everyone that it would be insane to leave. You give them just enough freedom so they think they’re free. You control the media stations, and you can press any bullshit stories you want. You’ve created a mass delusion. And for what? To fill your ego!”
“No!” Allen yelled back, shooting to his feet, “Ninety-eight percent of people live in one of my apartments. Why? Because we were able to buy the places up and keep the prices down. I’m not trying to get rich off people’s backs. If I were, I would be charging much higher prices for everything. People can come and go as they please; no one’s making anyone stay. No one is making them live in the complexes. They could leave if they got off their asses and worked at it.”
“You pushed the people out of the rural areas and into the cities, didn’t you? Because you don’t care about money, you care about power.”
“Claire, people are free to move anywhere they want. No one is forced to live where they don’t want or move if they don’t want. This is a free city.”
“There used to be lots of free cities, Terry—that is, until your family bought up all the utilities and stores and gave people the choice of living like cavemen or moving to where you wanted them.”
Sharon perked up. “Claire, honey, the Billies are mostly criminals who choose to live in the country. And maybe you had it right—they are cavemen. They wouldn’t even know how to live in a city.”
Allen glanced at his wife while Claire watched in amusement. “You even have your own wife fooled!” She laughed. “Don’t believe everything you hear on TV,” Claire told Sharon, who looked lost.
“Claire, listen,” Allen said in a calmer demeanor, “you make it sound like I’m a villain, but I’m not. I’m a businessman. But even more than that, I’m a businessman who cares about people and how they live. My family got tired of watching the government drag its feet when it tried to help people. It wasted money, and its ideas were useless, so we stepped in and fixed the system.”
“Yes, you did ‘fix’ the system. You own the local government. If someone wants to move they have to go to you. If they want to open a business they have to go to you. And you make sure you actually own the businesses so the ‘owners’ can be under your thumb. That’s not helping people; that’s expanding your power.”
Allen heaved a sigh. “Okay, Claire. We’ve wasted enough time with your conspiracy theories.”
“Oh, I haven’t even gotten to the real reason I’m upset. I’m guessing you own the hospitals also, don’t you?”
Allen’s eyes darted about the room.
“Yes, you do,” Claire continued, stepping toward him and pointing her finger in his face. “I’m guessing you own the drug companies too. So then it would be easy to block the release of a cure for a disease if you wanted to, wouldn’t it?”
Allen took a deep breath. “Things aren’t as easy as they seem, Claire. Let’s go somewhere else and talk about this.”
“No” Claire nearly yelled, out of anger but also fear. “Tell me about the cure to gerivirus.”
Allen took a long breath, he knew this wouldn’t go well, “the cure for gerivirus had such horrible side effects that it couldn’t be released,” he lied. “I wanted to release it, but the lawyers and doctors and the government wouldn’t let me.”
Sharon looked at her husband wide-eyed. “There’s a cure for gerivirus?”
“It’s not that simple,” Allen said, beginning to sound desperate. “I’m still fighting to release it. But the Central won’t let me.”
“It’s your fault thousands of people are dying every year! It’s your fault my husband is dead! You could have stopped all of it!” Claire shrieked. “But instead of stopping it, I bet you stood next to your wife and watched as her parents died.” Claire paused for effect. “But why would you let all those people die? I’m guessing it’s the same reason you box up and ship out homeless people—to save a buck. Most people affected by geri are old, and I bet they cost a lot of money to care for. So what’s the Allen family fix? Kill off the old people and make birth control too expensive in order to bring the population up from the bottom.”
Things were spinning completely out of Allen’s control, and he knew he had to get in front of this. He thought about having her arrested, but he knew she would talk. He considered locking her in, but he thought that was a little too drastic. He knew he needed to talk her down; he needed to change the game.
“Claire, you’re right. Most of this was just passed to me from my father, and I’m appalled by it. There are bad things and I want to fix them; I really do. I think you’re a good person and maybe together we can right some wrongs. You can have the power to change anything you want. You can be my moral compass, and together we can give things back to people. Work with me and let’s fix everything together.”
There was silence between them as Sharon quietly sobbed on the couch next to her husband. Claire was obviously considering his request.
“I can’t think about this right now. Everything is happening too fast,” she said quietly, putting one hand on her belly. Panic shot through Allen when it looked like something could be wrong with the baby. “I need to go back to when things were simpler. I don’t belong here in this fancy block. I need to go back and think,” Claire said as she raced out of the apartment.
Allen was torn between consoling his wife and chasing down Claire. He knew he could repair things with Sharon later, but he needed to calm Claire down now before she did something rash and stupid. “Hey, everything is going to be okay. I can explain it all later,” he quickly told Sharon, “but I can’t let Claire run out of here right now. I’ll be right back.”
Allen burst into the hallway, hoping he could stop her before she took the only elevator. The doors were closed; looking up, he saw the numbers above were indicating the elevator was speeding towards the lobby. He mashed the button and waited impatiently. His mind was working quicker than eve
r—what the hell had happened? What if Claire told other people what she had found out tonight? Everything could be brought down. What if she did something to the baby? He needed to get control of this situation. Who could he call to stop her? He could of course call the police to track her down, but he knew she would scream, and since she was so famous now, everyone would listen to her. But that would also go to prove everything she had said about him tonight. Maybe he could call Heather to find her. But then he remembered that Claire knew Heather was a spy for him. He knew he had to handle this himself. He naturally thought of simply getting rid of the problem, but he had strong feelings against it. He felt an attachment to his unborn child that he had never felt about anything before. He was so close to having what he knew he truly wanted. Sure, it wasn’t an ideal situation, but with every passing minute he felt a small bit of joy rising at the idea of having a son by his side. An heir to pass everything down to one day—and it was all running away from him. He had to convince Claire of his side of things.
When the elevator finally arrived, he stepped into it, kicking himself for not having better answers ready. It wasn’t often someone surprised him, but Claire had, twice, and she had caught him flatfooted both times. He had to find a way to get her back on his side. He knew she was smart but too emotional. He also knew he could use her emotions to sell his plan to her, but first he had to find her and stop her before she ruined everything. And he was pretty sure he knew where she was going.
CHAPTER 62
As Allen sat in gridlock traffic, his mind raced through the argument. He knew his explanation about gerivirus was weak, but he hadn’t been ready for the question. His family had been keeping the cure out of the public for years, so he had gotten comfortable. What he was happy about was that Claire hadn’t brought up that his father, years beforehand, had brought gerivirus from Miami. His father, Arthur, saw that it was becoming too expensive to care for the aging population, who were dying extremely slowly in his hospitals. He watched on as his friend who ran Miami had been successful in eliminating the problem by using the new man-made virus. So he had bought it, released it, and it worked better than anyone could imagine. And Arthur used the money he saved to build bigger, nicer buildings for people to live in. He invested the money right back into making people’s lives better.