Company Ink

by J. A. Cipriano

  Now, one way or another, Henry Aaron ‘Presley’ was going down.

  21

  The line I’d written, No one but me can see what I write with the pen, was still legible but had faded about halfway to gone. I needed to come up with something else soon, but for now, I had to get things organized around here, so we weren’t vulnerable to another attack. We had to do it right this time, with real materials. It was going to take more time than I wanted, but it had to be done.

  Everyone seemed to be settling down and relaxing, so I went over to Ronnie, who was sitting alone on one of the couches and looking a little overwhelmed.

  “Crazy, right?” I said as I sat down next to her with an apologetic smile. “I know this is a lot to take in, and I’m sorry you ended up in the middle of it.”

  “Yeah, it is a lot,” she said, but she smiled anyway. “I’m still alive thanks to you. And I guess … you really do have magic.”

  I nodded slowly. “And some asshole’s trying to take it away from me,” I said as I tried to decide what to do about Ronnie. I hadn’t exactly meant to bring her here, and the best thing to do was probably to take her back to her old life, away from this mess we were in right now. But if this Henry Aaron guy knew that Ronnie was with me, which he likely did, considering he’d possessed that poor slob in the casino and Ronnie had been standing right there, she might not be safe.

  “Listen, maybe you should stay here with us for a while,” I said slowly, considering my words. After all, I still didn’t want anyone to stay with me against their will. “I won’t force you to. Like, I’m not into kidnapping or anything. But I’m just worried that if you leave, this guy might recognize you. Maybe even hurt you.”

  “Are you kidding?” At first, I thought she meant there was no way in hell she’d stick around here after having a bunch of goons try to kill her, but then she gave me an excited smile. “This is the most fun I’ve had in, like, ever! I’d really like to stay … that is if you don’t mind,” she said as she looked away and blushed a little. “And if your friends don’t mind.”

  “I’m sure they won’t,” I said, relieved that for now, I wouldn’t have to figure out how to make sure Ronnie would be safe somewhere else. Once this was over, it might be a different story, but for the moment the logistics would be a little simpler. “And speaking of my friends, I never did get the chance to introduce you properly. How about we do that now?”

  “I’d like that,” she said. And before I could make another move, she leaned in and kissed me full on the mouth. She tasted awesome, all sweet and silky. “Thank you for saving my life,” she whispered as she drew back. “I hope you’ll let me make it up to you later.”

  “I would like that a lot,” I said as I forced my appetites to stand down for the time being. “Trust me.”

  “I believe you.” She nodded to my crotch, and I shrugged because what else could I do?

  A few minutes later, everyone had gathered together in the general area of the couches. As I introduced Ronnie around, she smiled and nodded at each of them, and I was happy to see that no one seemed jealous or upset about her staying.

  “All right,” I said when I’d finished the introductions. “We have a problem, and his name is Henry Aaron, also known as Presley. He’s the one who was behind this attack.”

  “So, that’s his real name?” Gail said as her eyes narrowed angrily. “How’d you find out?”

  “With that important phone call I mentioned. I called Agent Smith. She doesn’t know much more about the guy other than his name so that lead’s pretty much a bust,” I said as I paced a few steps, trying to think on the spot. “We’re going to find him. But in the meantime, we have to make sure nothing like this happens again.”

  “Yeah, and how are we gonna do that?” Marty said as he put a protective arm around Lisa, who was sitting next to him. “This guy has some kind of magic eraser that works against your pen, right? So, anything you do, he’d just going to undo it.”

  I shook my head. “He does, but he can’t undo everything,” I said as I mentally reviewed all that had happened since I found out about Presley. I wanted to make sure I hadn’t missed any possible loopholes in my theory. “Okay, so as far as I can tell, his pen can’t affect real things, and that includes real things that are modified with the pen. He hasn’t been able to erase any mods, just the stuff that was fully created by the pen. And there’s also a way I can sneak a few things past him.”

  “You mean like the explosions that went off back there?” Cami said, catching on fast as she waved at the gaping holes in the dirt walls where the soldiers had busted through. Of course, she’d catch on. She was a rocket scientist, after all. “I was wondering how that happened. None of us had any bombs or grenades or anything.”

  “Exactly like that,” I said, nodding agreement. “It doesn’t work with spoken commands, unfortunately. He can negate those right away. But if I write something down, it takes him a few seconds to catch up. So as long as I write something that happens immediately, he can’t undo it.”

  Miss Montgomery looked around the amphitheater. “So, if this guy can erase pen constructs, how did you manage to get the shower rooms and the couches to stay here?”

  “I blocked him temporarily,” I said, showing them the paper with the faded writing about no one being able to spy on me using the pen. “But it’s not going to last long, so I have to think of something else. Meanwhile, we need to turn this place into something real, something he can’t erase from existence and screw us over again.”

  Marty stared at me. “Uh, dude, that sounds kind of impossible,” he said. “Even if we could somehow actually build a secret base, we’re under the Medallion here. Remember? I think they might get a little suspicious if we start bringing in bulldozers and jackhammers and shit.”

  “That’s right. They will,” I said as I flicked my wrist, brought my pen into my hand and wrote something. “But they can’t stop us since I now have a meeting with the owner of the Medallion, so I can buy the place.”

  “Damn! That is an awesome idea,” Marty laughed.

  I grinned. “So now, we can not only rebuild the base, but we can stay in the suites for nothing while the work’s being done,” I explained. “I’m thinking we’ll just take over the fifth floor. That’s where all the business suites and conference rooms are, and we’re gonna need the space. At least one room will be a temporary lab.”

  Cami arched an eyebrow. “Okay, so what am I building?”

  “The most kick-ass combat suit you can come up with,” I told her. “Because once we find this guy, I’m taking the fight straight to him, so if my pen doesn’t work against him, the suit will.”

  Cami’s eyes practically lit up, and she clapped her hands together. “I have about a million cool ideas already.”

  Amy waved a hand in the air to get my attention. “This all sounds great, but what about money?” she said, darting a nervous glance around the room. “I mean, we’re going to need serious funds, real cash, to accomplish all this, right? And I thought we were kinda running low.”

  “Good point and I think I’ve got that covered too,” I said as I smiled at her. “Actually, you do.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “I do?”

  “Absolutely,” I said, going for the pen again. “See, I just racked up a few million while I was out, and it’s been deposited in the account. So now you’re going to use that seed money and turn millions into billions.”

  I wrote out, Amy is an extremely talented day trader who always picks the right stocks for the biggest returns.

  As I finished writing, Amy winced a little and put a hand to her head as the information she needed poured into her brain, and then she smiled. “Yes, that’s exactly what I’m going to do,” she said with a grin. “Just get me to a computer.”

  I nodded. “That’s on the list of immediate needs. And Skye, you’re going to use your hacker skills to help Amy out.”

  “What hacker skills?” she said as I wrote a fe
w more words, and then a look of surprise spread on her face as the command I’d written took effect. “Oh. Those hacker skills,” she said with a sly smile.

  “Okay, so let’s get this ball rolling,” I said as I headed across the amphitheater to go upstairs, so I could buy this place outright.

  22

  I’d set up the meeting with the hotel casino’s owner to take place in one of the fifth-floor conference rooms, about an hour from when I’d written it. I waited a few extra minutes, making sure that he arrived first before I walked in like I owned the place. Which I was about to.

  The guy sitting at the far end of the high-gloss table gave off a seriously distracted vibe despite his expensive silk suit and the leather briefcase on the table. He pulled off his rimless glasses and massaged his eyes for a moment before glancing down at his watch, an expensive looking gold Rolex.

  Though he didn’t seem terribly interested in me, the woman seated to his right, a blonde in her late twenties with perfect posture, a figure so fantastic it was like she was into poured into a power suit, and blue eyes assessed me sharply, and her tiny smile said she liked what she saw.

  “Hey, there,” I said as I closed the door and strode across the room wearing the best suit my suit could conjure up. “Thanks for coming to this meeting.”

  Business Dude cleared his throat, took his glasses off again and buffed them on his shirt before slipping them back on.

  “Yes, well, I’m still not exactly sure why I’m here,” he said in a tone of mild annoyance. “But Shelley assures me that this meeting is in my appointment book and that you want to buy my casino. Whoever you are.”

  “Roger Stevens. I’m sure that’s in your appointment book, at least,” I said as I helped myself to the chair across from Shelley. “And you are?”

  The man spluttered. “How could you possibly not know who I am?”

  “Peter Loman, CEO of Loman Withholdings and Development,” Shelley said smoothly, extending a slim hand across the table toward me. “And I’m Shelley Vayne, executive assistant.”

  “Nice to meet you.” I took her hand and held it a little too long, giving her a dazzling smile. “Well, enough with the small talk. Let’s get down to business.”

  Peter’s lip curled slightly. “I would if we had any business to get down to,” he said. “I only came here to find out why on Earth I agreed to this meeting because the Medallion is simply not for sale.”

  “Sure, it is. Everything’s for sale, for the right price,” I said as I spread my hands out. “So, name it.”

  His brow went up. “Excuse me?”

  “Name your price,” I said, more interested in Shelley’s reaction than Peter’s. At least she seemed impressed. “Whatever it is, I’ll pay it.”

  Peter blinked a few times, and then an unpleasant smile spread on his face. “All right. I’ll play your game, entertain your little fantasy,” he said as he gave Shelley a can-you-believe-this-guy look. “Let me guess. You won big at the tables, and now you think you’re so rich, you can buy your own casino. Right?” He shook his head slowly. “People like you, you have no idea what real wealth is like.”

  “Uh-huh. People like me,” I said. “Well, Peter, you have no idea what I’m like. And you still haven’t named your price yet. So, how about a number?”

  “Oh, I’ll give you a number,” he said as the ugly smile came back. “Eight hundred million.”

  I shrugged. “Done.”

  That got a smile from Shelley and a flustered look from Peter. But he recovered with a blink and leaned closer to me. “I changed my mind. One billion dollars.”

  He was expecting me to look shocked, so I did … for a few seconds. Then I grinned. “No problem. Where do I sign?”

  “You’re insane. You can’t possibly afford that much,” Peter said looking at me curiously. “And that’s almost twice what this dump is worth.”

  “Try me,” I said, looking straight at him. “Look, I’ll pay any price you’re asking, and I’ll give you whatever you want. Anything at all.”

  “Oh, really,” Peter said wistfully as he snapped one of the catches on his briefcase. “How about you head over to the hospital and wake up my daughter?” He snarled the words, and then his face paled, and his settled into an angry frown. “But you can’t give me that, can you?”

  He shoved the chair back violently from the table and headed out of the room at a fast pace.

  I watched him go, suddenly feeling like a real jerk. I wasn’t quite sure what all that was about, but it was obviously something bad. Even still, I kind of wanted to help him even if he didn’t wind up selling me the place. After all, I could move, could find another casino or whatever. This was just easier.

  Whatever he was going through obviously wasn’t easy, and given that I’d lost my parents, I understood loss all too well. If his daughter was in a coma, well, I wanted to help him if I could.

  Before I could ask any questions, Shelley explained. “His daughter, Vera has been in a coma for two years. There was a bad car accident, and …” She trailed off, shaking her head. “This morning, her doctors asked him to consider pulling the plug.”

  Okay, I was definitely a jerk. I couldn’t have known about this when I set up the meeting, but still. “I am so sorry,” I said, looking at the still-open door where Peter had rushed out, probably to find a bathroom and throw up. I know I would have. “Listen, I … do you have a piece of paper handy?”

  Shelley frowned slightly, then pulled a piece of paper from her pad and slid it across the table to me. “Can I ask why you need it?”

  “I just have to make a note about something.” I held my breath as I grabbed my pen, hoping this would actually work. I already knew the pen couldn’t magically cure cancer, but it could make treatments work. And people in comas waking up was a real possibility that could happen.

  I hesitated and then wrote, Vera Loman’s medical treatment works, and she wakes up from her coma.

  The sentence didn’t disappear.

  I smiled as I folded the paper and stuck it in my pocket.

  “Thanks,” I said as I nodded to her. “You’re a lifesaver.”

  “You’re welcome,” she said slowly, eyeing me with suspicion and interest. “What did you write down?”

  “Hopefully, a miracle,” I said with a shrug.

  She opened her mouth to ask a question, but just then Peter strode back in without looking at either of us. Clearly, he had decided I needed another stern talking to. It was fine. He was upset, and if he wanted to vent at me, well, that was fine.

  “Let me put this in very simple terms, Mr. Stevens,” he snapped as he reached the head of the table and started closing his briefcase. “The Medallion is not for sale under any circumstances, and especially not to you. This meeting is not only the biggest waste of my time I’ve ever experienced, but I have half a mind to call the police—”

  “I know you won’t sell, and it’s fine,” I said in a calm tone as I stood. “Don’t worry about it. And seriously, I am truly sorry about your daughter.” I thought about offering a handshake but decided he was way too upset for pleasantries. “But listen, I think you’re going to get some good news about her soon.” I smiled. “I have a good feeling about it.”

  He looked at me with blazing eyes, and I really thought he was going to take a swing at me. But just then, the buzz of a phone sounded from his pocket. His rage melted into confusion as he pulled it out, glanced at the screen, stared at me for a second, and then answered the call. “Hello?”

  During the pause that followed, I could hear an excited voice on the other end of the line. I couldn’t make out what it was saying, but the look on Peter’s face told me anyway. His mouth quivered open, a tear gathered and fell from his eye. He let out a hoarse sob before he clapped a hand over his mouth and turned away, walking a few shaky paces toward the back of the room.

  “She’s really awake?” he rasped. “She spoke?”

  My own heart gave a little twist. At that moment
, I didn’t care about buying the casino anymore. I’d find another way to make this work. Being able to do something like this for a complete stranger was just as awesome as having a secret base.

  Shelley stared at me like I’d grown a second head. “Did you …?”

  “Yes, of course. I’ll be there in ten minutes. No, make it five,” Peter said breathlessly before I could answer Shelley’s non-question. He turned back, putting his phone away with a trembling hand as he moved toward the table like a man in a dream. “You knew,” he said to me. “How? Did you make this happen somehow? I mean, you said anything.”

  I wasn’t sure what to tell him. Definitely not anything that sounded like I have a magic pen. Finally, I settled on, “I have a few connections. But really, I’m just damned glad she’s going to be okay.” I smiled. “After all, what good is having connections if you can’t help someone out once in a while?”

  Instead of responding, Peter stepped around the table and grabbed me in a bear hug.

  The surprise only lasted a few seconds, and then I kind of patted his back, since he’d mostly pinned my arms to my sides.

  “Hey, man, go see your daughter,” I said. “Sorry I roped you into this meeting.”

  He stepped back and fixed his shining eyes on me. “To hell with it. You can have the casino,” he said as he smoothed his suit and ran a hand through his hair, trying to get himself back under control. “I’ve got more of them. And I’d pay a hell of a lot more than one lousy casino for this.”

  It was my turn for jaw-dropping shock. “Are you sure?” I said. “Believe me, I wasn’t trying to convince you to sell—”

  “Sell? No, you can have it. After all, you gave me what I’d asked for.” Peter pushed his briefcase slightly back on the table. “Shelley will draw up the transfer of ownership papers for you. It’ll take a few days for everything to go through, but as far as I’m concerned, the Medallion is yours.” He seized my hand in both of his and shook it once. “Thank you,” he whispered as fresh tears formed in his eyes. “I have no idea what you did or how you did it, and I don’t care. Just … thank you.”