Heritage (The Slendervale Series Book 2)

by Sean Mannette

  A rusted chain link fence stretched through the vibrant, green trees as far as Adam could see. Any other day he might have appreciated the reprieve from the Tower as he had in the past, but today he was too exhausted. Behind the chain link fence was a small, squat cinderblock building that had obviously fallen into disrepair. Ivy clung to the sides of the building, partially obscuring old and faded graffiti. It was the usual assortment of genitalia, illegible blocky gang signs, and an array of rather unusual figures. Some were violent, others demonic, but all were painted with no small talent and were equally unsettling. The building’s windows had been smashed to bits, and from what Adam could see of the inside, it was just as derelict as the exterior.

  Lily made a throaty sound. Adam glanced over. She was examining the structure, much as he was.

  “Who’s Billy?” She asked out loud, laughing eyes staring at a section of wall desecrated with faded red spray paint. The graffiti portrayed a comparison between two phallic doodles, each labeled with an arrow. One specimen, which dwarfed the other in both size and detail, was labeled ‘Billy’s dick.’ Adam let out a single chuckle.

  The sound of turning gravel brought both of them back to the task at hand, as a similar black town car approached down the gravel drive.

  “What’s the asking?” Adam inquired, wondering how a shithole, as Lily had called it, could have ever gotten onto Francis' radar. Lily named a figure smugly, her eyes still intent on the building in front of them. Adam choked.

  “You can’t be serious!” It was ludicrous. The property was well off main roads, away from the metropolitan heart of the city, and was practically falling down. Lily nodded, eyes still roaming the building.

  “They don’t seem especially motivated to sell. That’s why Francis sent us instead of your friendly neighborhood agent.” She finally turned her gaze from the unhappy structure, glancing at the car opposite them. “I think we’re up.” Without another word she opened the car’s door, and stepped out onto the gravel.

  There had to be some connection between this Lily, overturning rocks in the boonies with her designer pumps, and the Lily Adam had met yesterday, who slurred her way around sexual innuendos at noon. Adam shook his head as he slid over the leather seat to follow her. He couldn’t allow himself to underestimate her. He had to take her down.

  Adam took his place next to Lily as a nondescript man in the classic chauffeur’s uniform shuffled quickly across the uneven terrain and opened the rear door of the car. Lily made the same noise in her throat, approving, as a man emerged. Adam could only gawk.

  Brown hair was gelled near black into a short, spiky pattern over his head. The suit fit a wide, muscled form so well it was clearly tailor made. A set of arrogant brown eyes took in the competition over a diamond-hard jaw. The man looked like something out of a fashion magazine.

  He strode over in a few long steps, Adam noting with displeasure that he stood almost a full head and shoulders taller than him.

  “Jake Beauregard.” He announced himself as though it were a royal title, and the hand that gripped Adam’s was firm and soft at the same time. “From McMannon-Smith-Gillman.” Adam almost jumped at the name. Jake’s eyes roamed over Lily as he moved to shake her hand.

  “Pleasure.” Lily drew out the word. “Lily Leitch, and Adam Church. De La Poer.” Jake nodded, more to himself than the two of them, before sweeping a large hand across the view.

  “Well, I’d offer to show you folks around, but there’s not much more than you see here.” His eyes snapped back to Lily. “Besides, I wouldn’t want you to get all dirty.” Adam clenched his jaw.

  While Jake went on about previous owners he treated himself to the vision of Jake, face down on the ground beneath them. Maggots writhed in a macabre dance as they nested in the pits where his eyes once were. They spilled forth in a torrent from bloated, black lips as Jake, still living, tried to speak.

  “What were you thinking?” Jake asked, eyes intent upon Adam, snapping him out of his daydream.

  “Oh, uh, nothing.” Adam stumbled over his words, guiltily. Jake smirked.

  “Be serious. The shopping center may have been a failure, but that was funding issues for the original owners.” Jake dropped his voice conspiratorially. “Black Monday.” He was referring to a crash in the stock market that had happened some four years earlier. Adam could certainly understand that; it had been the end of one of his many endeavors himself.

  “Irregardless,” Jake continued, oblivious to his verbal faux pas. “It’s a wide parcel, in a great location.” Adam frowned.

  “Great location?” He studied the trees around them dramatically. “I can see what you mean. It would be perfect for a hunting lodge.” He cast a sidelong glance at Lily, who didn’t seem amused by any stretch. Lily took that as an invitation to take the reins.

  “Adam,” she addressed Jake, keeping her head level with his chest, but staring up at him with wide eyes. “Is here to assist, but I’ll be making the final offer. I think we can do better than nothing, but you must admit that my colleague has a point.”

  Adam scowled. He would have to work a little harder to drive this into an early grave. Personally, he couldn’t quite see what interest, if any, Francis would have here.

  “Imminent domain.” Jake was smug. Adam wanted to slap the look right off his well-groomed face. “If the powers that be thought it necessary to connect Slendervale more directly to the interstate, there would be no way to do it without this parcel.” Lily scoffed.

  “Of course. State governments always build the straightest roads they can. They wouldn’t want all their friends in the private sector to pocket more of the taxpayers’ money than necessary.” Her words dripped with heavy sarcasm, but her tone was still playful. Jake tipped his head to her.

  “Cups River runs nearly parallel at this stretch, and south of us is some protected species of stork or other. If they want to build it, they’ll build it here.” Adam saw his opportunity.

  “What’s the matter? Gill doesn’t have enough friends in the state senate to push a road through?” He tried to keep his mocking tone as subtle as possible. If Lily were able to demonstrate to Francis that he had intentionally sabotaged the deal, it would backfire painfully.

  Jake chafed at that, noticeably. Lily stared daggers at Adam.

  “More to the point, Jake,” the pitch Lily adopted might have been a full octave higher. “There are undisclosed incidents. Francis is willing to purchase the lot, but only for a fair price, reflective of such a… Violent past.” Jake shook his head.

  “In Slendervale, that law only applies to incidents within the last six years, and only then to residential properties.” He gestured to the sad mound of concrete. “This is, for the time being, zoned commercially.” Lily bit her lip thoughtfully.

  “I’d be able to go as high as twenty percent below asking.” Adam stared at her wide eyed. Perhaps he shouldn’t have tried to sabotage the deal after all. If she was going to go that high, Adam had no doubt in his mind that Francis would reprimand her. Jake looked as shocked as Adam, albeit for different reasons.

  “Twenty is unacceptable. Split the difference. I could meet you at ten.”

  Adam glanced back at Lily like he was watching a tennis match. He might be mistaken, but she almost looked worried. No wonder, he thought to himself smugly, this deal was beginning to look about as attractive as the building itself.

  “Thank you for showing us the property, Jake.” Lily said dismissively after a few breaths in worrisome thought. “I’ll let you know by this afternoon if we intend to go forward.”

  The three said their farewells to one another, Jake and Lily lingering for longer than was strictly necessary, before they boarded the cars the had come in and departed.

  “That was a shitshow.” Adam confided as soon as the doors were closed around them. Lily scowled at him, an expression that brought back the memory of her distorted, ghostly face the night before.

  “No thanks to you! What was that?�
� Adam shrugged.

  “Trying to bully him down. It’ll never sell at that ridiculous price.” A strong defensive stance was all well and good, but the only thing that would really distract her was to attack. “What were you thinking with minus twenty as your starting offer? You didn’t really buy that shit about the highway, did you?” Lily was silent, looking at Adam with a furrowed brow. She was calculating something. Adam couldn’t let her finish. “Even if they did come in at that price, we wouldn’t make a cent. It’s lucky he didn’t take your offer. I would have.”

  “Adam, shut up.” Lily snapped. She was pensive, staring out the window as the signs of civilization grew with each second that passed. Closing her eyes, she drew in a deep breath.

  “Francis sent us. He is acquiring it personally.” Adam cocked his head, sensing that what she was about to say might be more important than knocking her down a few pegs.

  “Alisha’s taking the day. Francis always uses the fund as pretense when he’s looking at property. It helps shelf some of the risk. Well,” she amended, “not always.” Lily glanced up sharply at Adam, her eyes bright and measuring. It was a foreign look for Adam to see; he was so used to them being slightly unfocused and foggy.

  “What do you know about Three Roads Coven?”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  “What?”

  “What do you know about Three Roads Coven?” Lily repeated, more slowly this time, as though she were speaking to a child. Adam did not take kindly to her tone.

  “Three Roads? They’re some kind of nonprofit. Francis was CEO there before he owned the Tower. Historical Preservation?” Adam guessed, the wheels moving slowly. “They want that hunk of junk? They’re some kind of historical society.” Adam couldn’t find a relevant use of the name.

  “They’re witches, Adam.” Lily sighed, exasperated. She regarded Adam with a cynical gaze, somewhere between pitying and paranoid.

  Adam scoffed. He knew Lily would find some way to rebut his assault, but this was a half baked attempt at best.

  “Of course! Witches. Like MacBeth. And what would a witch be without her mound of cinderblock?” A hearty chuckle wrapped his words. Maybe the day wasn’t destined to be miserable after all. “After all,” he could hardly contain his laughter at this point, “graffiti is the source of their powers.” Adam nearly laughed himself to tears at his own bad joke.

  “Okay!” She snapped. “I’m serious. You’re in Slendervale, Adam. Start acting like you have a clue.” She was a good actress, Adam had to give her credit for that. “It's part of our history here. You read about the Salem Witch Trials in school right? Right?”

  Adam wiped the pantomime of a tear from his cheek.

  “Yeah. I think I only got a sixty-six point six on that test though.” He permitted himself another giggle. He couldn’t help being playful this far away from the menacing dark heart of the Tower.

  “This is where the rest of them ran. They settled here, in Slendervale.” She paused for several moments, either waiting for Adam to be struck dumb by this knowledge or for him to make another joke. Adam couldn’t be certain which. After he declined to comment, she met his eyes. “Has Francis told you about the Red Dragon?”

  Adam stopped laughing for a moment. Francis had, he recalled, and had been pretty serious about it himself. It seemed ridiculous. Francis was logical, ambitious, and secular. The idea that he put stock into any of this garbage just felt so out of character. Still, powerful people were always weirdos. Adam had witnessed the red string of the Kabbalah Centre start to take hold among some of LA’s elite, the beginning of a new wave in a very old trend.

  “You can’t be serious.”

  “What have I been saying?” Lily slapped the tops of her thighs impatiently. “Francis wants the property for himself. Not for a business. Just like he wants the Red Dragon.”

  Adam was silent for a moment pondering. He still had a lot to learn from Francis, that much was true, but would a loony like that really make the best mentor? Hardly. Still, if they were talking about an obsession coming from the top, it would be dangerous to try to fight the trend. Adam groaned internally. After all this, he would still have to worry that Lily was pulling his leg.

  “You’ve been at the Tower for a week now. Adam, you’re not blind. Think about what you’ve seen!” Her words were a desperate plea. A plea for him to believe.

  Adam couldn’t. At least now he knew why she had abandoned him the night before. This crazy trap of hers was not as half-baked as Adam had thought at first. He chided himself. Every time he had underestimated her, she had managed to thwart him. Now she was downright taking advantage of him; of the stress brought on by the disappearance of his wife, and of the pressure of the new executive position he suddenly found himself in. He watched her skeptically. Was it possible that she had drugged him?

  That was an uncomfortable line of thought. She could have slipped something into his drink at almost any point the day before. Some kind of hallucinogen, or anti-anti-anxiety medication. Well, if she was playing hardball, Adam could play too.

  “He told me all about the Red Dragon.” Adam was suddenly serious, grave even. Privately, he congratulated himself on his performance. “I didn’t think you knew. He sent Alisha and me to tag team it and, I guess,” now was the time to twist the knife, “I didn’t know he trusted you with things of that nature.”

  He could see the expression on Lily’s face shift from confused to defensive. His ploy had worked. If he could get her with her back against the wall, she wouldn’t have time to wonder at his sudden change of heart.

  The car pulled up to the Tower, and Lily and Adam got out.

  “Why don’t you go tell Francis what happened,” Adam stated in low, even tones. “I’ll see if I can dig up any dirt on Gillman. He’s mixed up in this business on both ends.” A sudden inspiration struck Adam. “He might be after the same thing.”

  Lily frowned, unsettled by the thought. Adam gloated internally. Let her think he was caught in her little web, and she would never see him coming.

  Adam watched Lily go. He took a moment, although he would never admit it consciously in his grieving mind, to appreciate the subtle sway of her hips as she entered the Tower. It called to mind other instances; the sensual way she danced without music after a few drinks, and the way her voice grew musky when they were close. He balled up those feelings and crushed them deep down inside himself. Smiling with smug satisfaction, he got back in the town car. He couldn’t wait to ruin that bitch.

  “Heritage Group.” Adam called to the driver from the backseat, who was startled to see him there.

  “Heritage Group.” Adam repeated. “And step on it.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  The loathsome sight of Gillman’s office building filled Adam with dread. He had connected the dots, and they all led here. Adam had repeated it to himself so many times and was so worn down that he actually believed it. He knew that now it was time to set things right. He was going to find his wife, win Francis’ favor, and bring Lily down with one move.

  As Adam stepped out of the car onto the rough Slendervale sidewalk, he wondered at his lack of plan. Eventually he settled for simply doing what he did best: improvise.

  He got off the elevator on Gillman’s floor to the sight of a comely young woman greeting him. She seemed vaguely familiar to Adam, but he couldn’t recall from where exactly. He strode past her, looking for the frog-faced executive through veritable tunnel vision.

  “Sir, can I help you?!” Adam’s head turned to stare back at her as he walked, his attention drawn by the unnaturally distant sound of her voice. She looked to be repeating herself desperately, but with each repetition she sounded further away. His head swiveled back around.

  It felt good to be doing something, for once. The bright future Adam felt drawn so magnetically toward was pushing back the fears that had been dominating his mind, and even beginning to strip away the dull, exhausting fog that had been slowly consuming him.


  The door to Gillman’s office was, surprisingly, ajar. Adam saw his hand swing the door wide, a smile breaking across his face. Gillman rose halfway out of his chair, turned startled eyes his way. Adam took secret delight in the stricken expression, wishing he could savor it forever.

  “Mr. Church!” Gillman searched the face of his intruder for any sign that might portend the reason for the assault.

  “Sir, I’m so sorry, he just came right in–” The girl behind him stuttered, her voice blunted as though she were speaking underwater. Adam’s eyes stuck to Gillman, something akin to joy welling up in his chest.

  He was so close.

  Gillman said something unintelligible past Adam before settling slowly back into his chair. Adam heard the dull thumping of the secretary’s footsteps fade and vanish behind him.

  “Sit,” Gillman gestured to the chair in front of him.

  “I think I’ll stand.” Adam said evenly, his voice resonating throughout the office. His legs carried him around the desk to stand directly over Gillman.

  “So?” Gillman was shaking. “What’s this all supposed to be? First the dagger, now my trust? Francis is trying to strip me of everything, then. Or did he send you here...” The words began to run together toward the end.

  Adam shook his head slowly, silently, staring directly into Gillman’s beady eyes. He had to fight down an indignant laugh as hot anger prickled up his neck.

  “So? State your business! I’ll not back down. Tomorrow night, it’s–”

  “I want my wife.” Adam could see the guilt scribbled plainly on Gillman’s face as he said the words. God, he had never hated anyone so much in his life. Even the way he struggled for words was infuriating. Adam felt his body relax into the adrenaline, like a runner’s high.