by Nic Saint
No matter now, she thought. They were getting out of this place and then they’d be in the bosom of his family and safe. As they hobbled hand in hand down the deserted concrete corridors of Harlan’s dungeon, she felt a kinship with this man she’d never felt with anyone before. It was the shared adventure, she knew, but that was only part of it. She’d gone on adventures with other people before, and though they’d forged a bond, she’d never felt this close to anyone before.
She loved this man, she knew—loved him with all her heart, a feat of no small significance, for never before had she ever offered her heart to any man. And as she turned and saw his crooked grin meet her look of concern, something hitched inside her chest, and she knew it was love, an emotion mostly foreign to her until now.
Then his smile was replaced by a grimace of pain, and she gasped. “Are you in pain?”
“Nope,” he assured her. “Only when I laugh.”
“You better don’t laugh then,” she admonished, and then he did, and winced again.
“Each time we meet I seem to be in some sort of trouble,” he ruefully offered.
“That’s what you get from associating with a known agitator,” she grinned.
“Strange thing is? I kinda like it.”
“What’s not to like? Getting run over—getting beat up—all fun and games, right?”
“I like being with you,” he clarified.
“And I with you,” she admitted.
He arched an eyebrow. “Could this be love, Kelley?”
Her laughing eyes met his. “I think it must be, Will. And now can we please get the hell out of here? This place gives me the creeps.” Then a thought struck her.
He eyed her a little wearily. “What? I know that look.”
“You know? Now that we’re here, we might as well have a look-see.”
“God, Kelley, I don’t think that’s such a good idea. Harlan may have gone soft in the head, but his goons certainly haven’t.”
She shrugged. “This won’t take a minute. Just tell me where the server room is, and we can be on our way.”
This time, he was the one taking her by the hand and leading her along. “Don’t think the life of an anarchist agitator would suit me,” he muttered. “Altogether too much stress.”
Chapter 26
Harlan awoke from his coma when a strong smell assaulted his nostrils. “What—what—what?” he gibbered, shooting upright and feeling his heart palpitate wildly, thumping in his chest. Then his eyes focused, and the man in white came into view. “Crowley,” he exclaimed, recognizing in the white-clad figure his personal physician. He reached for his head, fearing it would come loose from its moorings, and clasped it firmly in both hands. “What happened?” he groaned.
“You were out for quite some time, H,” spoke Crowley, his bedside manner as always impeccable. “I had to use the old-fashioned smelling salts to snap you back to the present.”
“Who—who did this to me?” he grunted as he squeezed his eyes tightly shut, hoping it would drive out the shoots of pain splitting his head apart.
“The Thornton kid, I imagine.” The doctor dabbed at his face with a cotton ball drenched in some pungent liquid. “He broke your nose, I’m afraid. But not to worry. I’ve set it and given you something for the pain.”
“It’s not working,” Harlan lamented nasally.
“If I give you anything stronger, you will be out for hours more, and your sons have requested your presence at an urgent meeting.”
This had him look up. “My sons? They’re here?”
It rarely happened that his sons got involved with the business anymore. Ty had been the one handling some of the more hands-on stuff, but the others had gradually faded out, one now living in Alaska—married to a Thornton of all people—the others having moved out of state.
“They’re all here. And so is Mackie.”
“Mackie,” he murmured. “Thank God.”
For some reason, he had a feeling things were not going well. Ever since Ty had died, he’d come to rely more and more on the man.
“Shall I show them in?” the doctor suggested dispassionately.
Harlan sighed. He wasn’t feeling up to this. All things being the same, he’d rather have lain down again and slept some more. “Do you have to?”
“They’ve assured me time is of the essence, H.”
Harlan hung his grizzled head. “Show them in,” he intoned in a sepulchral voice.
Doctor Crowley nodded briefly and turned to the door. The moment he stepped out, Mackie stepped in, followed by two more men in whom he recognized Jerry and Jake. They were looking none too friendly.
“Hello boys,” he croaked, trying to put on a brave face.
Jerry, a dough-faced gloomy specimen with a combover, acknowledged the greeting with a curt nod, while Jake, sallow and scraggly and looking like a mangy monkey, muttered, “Dad.”
With a pang of regret, he once again reflected that Ty had been the only son who’d been fit to run the company the way it was supposed to be run: ruthlessly and dynamically. These two nincompoops had neither the brains nor the wherewithal to be his successors.
Mackie was the first to speak. “Before you accuse me of being out of line, I got the boys out here for a reason, boss.” The trusty enforcer looked ill at ease, which was unusual for the massive man. “There’s been a development.”
“Yes? What is it?” he barked, the headache fouling his mood even more than usual. “Speak, man. Speak.”
“I think you better see this for yourself, boss,” Mackie suggested, and offered him a smartphone.
He took it with a frown and stared at the display. On it, he saw a picture of a man covered in blood. He stared at it without comprehension. “What is this?”
Jerry, who’d taken a seat, eased his chair a little closer. The feet scraped on the tile floor, the sound scratching inside his skull like nails on a blackboard. “This is you, Dad.”
He blinked and tried to focus on the picture by holding the smartphone further away from his face. Then he saw that his son had spoken the truth. It was him, lying crumpled in a heap on the floor, his face a bloody mess. “Christ,” he muttered.
“Yeah, and that’s not all.” Mackie pressed a thick finger on the phone’s touch screen and swiped to the next picture. This time, Harlan had no trouble recognizing its subject. It was that bitch Kelley Casey, all naked and strapped to a bed. He shook his head, trying to fight a fuzziness that refused to lift.
“I don’t get it,” he muttered. “I never took any pictures.”
“No, I guess she did,” offered Mackie. “She and Will Thornton must have staged it before they escaped.”
Harlan’s eyes went wide. “Escaped? You mean they got away?”
“Yeah, after punching your lights out they managed to negotiate their getaway, boss.”
“But before doing so, this Kelley Casey, apparently some sort of computer expert, installed something on your server, Dad,” added Jake, giving him the disapproving look of a monkey who’s just bitten into a bad nut. “Some kind of hack or bug or—or virus—or—“
“Something that has these photos—neatly wrapped in a PowerPoint presentation—taking over all our computers in all our businesses across the globe,” interrupted Jerry, his doughy face expressing his rancor.
“What!” Harlan shot up, then slumped as thousands of needles dug into his brain.
“A hundred thousand employees have read with interest the story of how you tried to rape and torture this poor innocent girl and watched the pictures accompanying the sordid story. And trust me, there’s not a doubt in their mind that the story is true.” Jake had screwed up his face into a mask of disgust and disapproval. He’d never really agreed with Harlan’s methods, and neither had Jerry.
“And that’s not all, boss,” intoned Mackie apologetically. “She’s managed to send it to all our media contacts as well. So now this story is running on all the outlets.”
“Newspapers, mag
azines, websites, networks, you name it. Even CNN picked it up and so did plenty of others across the globe.” Jerry grimaced. “Mackie just got off the phone with the FBI. They’re very interested to know the extent of the story behind this… story. Their agents will be here any moment now, to take a closer look at the goings-on at HdM Enterprises.”
Harlan grasped his head and shook it desperately. “Oh, God.”
“Don’t think the man upstairs will help you, Dad,” commented Jake dryly.
“Yeah,” added Jerry with a scowl. “I think you just destroyed the whole company, this Kelley person the iceberg that will sink HdM.”
Harlan gestured wildly. “Send out a retraction! Right away! Tell them—tell them that Thornton is behind all this—that we’re being set up!”
“No one will believe us, boss,” spoke Mackie softly. “You know how those media vultures are. Once a rumor starts to spread, there’s no stopping it. It’s like wildfire.”
Harlan knew all too well how the media worked in this day and age of global coverage and the internet. He’d harnessed its power himself when he had spread a story about Roland Thornton having an affair with his sister Chloe. How eagerly the media pundits had picked up on it, even though it was a complete lie. To escape the slander, Chloe had been forced to move to Alaska.
As if he’d read his mind, Jake said, “Perhaps you can go to Alaska, Dad. Assume a different identity and disappear for a while. I think that’s the only way to save this company.”
“Yeah, Dad. We’ve asked the board of directors for an urgent meeting. I think it’s time you stepped back as chairman and CEO,” agreed Jerry.
As he looked into the faces of his two sons, Harlan realized they weren’t kidding. They were actually ousting him from his own company!
“You can’t do this,” he croaked. “I built HdM! I am HdM!”
Jerry regarded him with unrestrained censure. “About that. I think we should probably change the name, don’t you, Jake?”
“Yeah,” intoned Jake. “New name and new management. Make it clear that from here on out HdM has severed all connections with its previous owner. It’s the only way to save something from this wreck.”
They both got up and started to leave.
“I’ll take care of those FBI guys, Jer,” assured Jake. “Can you handle the board?”
“Sure thing.”
“But, boys!” pleaded Harlan. “Please reconsider. I’m still your father! You can’t do this to me!”
“You did this to yourself, Dad,” bit Jerry vehemently. “You took HdM on a long decline into debauchery, criminality, and downright sickening depravity.” He shook his head. “This ends today. You’re finished.”
“Mackie!” he said, turning to his friend. “You can’t let them get away with this.” He tapped his chest. “I own HdM!”
Mackie merely offered him a sad smile. “I’m sorry, boss. Looks like the boys are taking over.”
“You damn right the boys are taking over. From now on HdM is going legit.” And with these words, Jerry swept out the door.
“Are you coming, Mackie?” asked Jake, and with a sickening sense of despair, Harlan watched the trio leave the same way they’d come: without a word.
He slumped back into the pillow, his world crumbling before his very eyes. Was this really the end? Could it be? If the board ousted him as its chairman, they would effectively take his own company away from him, and he would be left with nothing.
Less than nothing, he thought ruefully. When the FBI was through with him, he’d be lucky if he didn’t have to face prison. He closed his eyes as his headache started thrumming in his brain again. Those damn Thorntons, he thought. Those fucking Thorntons had done this to him. Curse them and curse their offspring.
And as he descended into a confused slumber, the last thought that ran through his mind was that he would get back at them, if it was the last thing he did.
Chapter 27
Kelley stared at the man resting peacefully in the bed reflected in the dresser mirror as she checked her own look. After they’d fled HdM Tower—why did all these gazillionaires have to build a tower? she briefly wondered—Will had called Roland, who’d been sick with worry. He’d arranged for them to be picked up and brought to Long Island, to the Thornton Estate.
She’d only seen the outlines of the mansion as they’d arrived long after nightfall, but it had been impressive enough to send her tummy into a fluttering mess of apprehension. Was she really going to meet Will’s parents? She, the girl who’d always rallied and raged against the rich, meeting two of the most prominent of their ilk?
It all seemed so surreal to her. The moment she laid eyes on Will’s gray-haired father and mother, standing in the hallway the moment they arrived, she’d known they were just that: two concerned parents, worried about their son. They were simply people, she knew, their wealth and power paling in the face of this personal drama.
Will’s brother Scott had also been there, as had his wife Anna, and Roland’s wife Alicia. She’d briefly met the twins, Tom and Tony, and then she’d escorted Will up the stairs to his room, John Reid, the family’s concierge physician, a close second. After a thorough examination, the doc had reassured them all that Will would live. The wounds his left leg and foot had sustained were the worst, but there was no need to worry. He’d be back on his feet in next to no time.
Fay had held her hand as she looked down at her son, tears glistening in her eyes, until Will had grumbled, “Enough already with the pampering, Mom. I’m fine. Didn’t you hear John? I’m right as rain.”
“You don’t look right as rain,” Fay countered. “You look like you just got into a pileup on the Expressway.”
“Well, he did,” offered Jack with the hint of a smile.
Scott, who’d taken a seat next to the bed and was taking a sip from his brother’s cup of tea, said, “I think it’s great what you did to Harlan, bro. That’ll teach the SOB.”
“Don’t look at me. That was all Kelley.”
All eyes had turned to her at that point, and she’d blushed profusely. “Just… an idea I had,” she muttered uncomfortably.
“It’s the best thing I’ve ever heard,” offered Anna, giving her a charming grin.
“Yeah, finally someone had the balls to tear that guy a new one,” added Roland.
High praise coming from that man, Kelley knew. Especially considering he’d bullied her into a decline only the day before. He seemed to be cognizant of the fact, for he directed a curt nod in her direction, and a brief smile lit up his hard features.
She acknowledged the compliment with a nod of her own and watched with interest how Alicia wrapped her arm around his waist and drew him in for a kiss. She hadn’t thought the man capable of warmth or love yet here he stood, the epitome of familial bliss. How easily we misjudge, she thought ruefully.
“What’s going to happen now?” Tony wanted to know.
“Now we celebrate,” replied Jack. “From what I hear, Harlan’s being investigated by the feds. Won’t be long now before he’s kicked out of his own company. The board of directors will want to wash their hands of him before they go down with the ship.”
“Good riddance,” grunted Tom.
She watched the twins with interest. They looked a lot like Will, she thought: strong and robust, yet with more refined features. They could easily have been models, the both of them, with their classic good looks, dark, green eyes and tan faces.
“Chloe sends her love,” she heard Fay beside her say. “She’s sorry she couldn’t be here.”
“Chloe is—“ Anna began.
“Will’s sister,” she finished. “Yeah, I know.”
Will laughed. “Trust me. There’s nothing about this family that Kelley doesn’t know. She’s a walking encyclopedia on the rich and famous. Sometimes I think she knows more about us than I do.”
“That’s not true,” she muttered shyly, casting down her eyes.
“Well, young lady,” put in Jack
, as he gave her arm a tight squeeze, “you brought down HdM today, and for that I will be eternally grateful.”
“All of us,” added Anna, and Kelley could see the hurt briefly reflected in the woman’s eyes.
She now found the whole family drinking her in, all of them gazing at her with gratitude and a newfound respect, and her heart skipped a beat. “It was nothing,” she mumbled.
“You know?” spoke Fay. “You need to teach me some of those computer tricks of yours. My computer keeps on glitching, and God knows I’ve asked just about everybody and they can’t seem to get it to work like it should.”
“Sure. I’ll take a look at it now if you want.”
“Not now,” Fay laughed, and she loved the sound of the older woman’s voice. “You need to rest, honey. You’ve been through quite an ordeal tonight.” And to her surprise Will’s mother pressed a kiss on her cheek that felt both tender and loving.
She blinked as warmth spread through her chest. She now found the others smiling at her, and she understood that with one small gesture, Fay had accepted her into the family.
As they all filed out of the room, she was subjected to smiles, hugs, and kisses and Alicia, the last one to leave, whispered, “Welcome to the family, hon. Don’t wear him out.” Then, with a grin and a pointed look at Will, she left the room and softly closed the door.
Tension slid from her shoulders as she joined Will on the bed, gazing down at the man she loved with a tender smile. “You look tired,” she commented.
“About as tired as you look, I guess.”
He scooted over to make room for her in the bed, and after a moment’s hesitation, she slipped beneath the covers and snuggled up to him. “I have no idea what’s going on here, but I like your family very much, Will. They’re really nice.”
“What’s going on here is that they were extremely worried about us, and now that we’re home safe, they can all rest more easily.”