THIRTY SEVEN: The net tightens
The frantic phone call that Astrid had received from Margot Grimborn had been garbled and the woman had been hysterical so she had no option but to go over and speak to her. Practical and calm, Astrid didn't really like the First Minister's wife, a woman who hid behind her husband's office that Astrid knew was undeserved and stolen from the rightful holder and who affected airs and graces that she never deserved. Margot had always treated Astrid as if she had been something inferior, a fallen woman rescued by Eret and raised above her station while she had pushed her unattractive daughters forward, scheming to marry one to Fink.
Before she left, Astrid walked up to her room and rifled in her jewellery case, the plain wooden box that she had hung onto despite all attempts by her ostentatious ass of a husband to give her a more elaborate case. This had been given her by her fiancé, the wood inlaid with a delicate pattern and polished beautifully but not elaborate or ornate. It was one of the few things of his that she possessed and she treasured it more than anything. And for years, it had held a secret. Ruthlessly, she had poured the contents out onto the bed and shoved thousands of dollars of gold and gems aside for the folded pieces of paper, tapes and pictures that she had accrued over the years. She stared at them, certain now that this was her chance. She found her hands were trembling as she delicately picked each item up and arranged them in order, then ripped a sheet out of her notepad to explain what the contents were. Then she shoved the lot in her handbag and headed to the door, intending to buy an envelope in town. Carefully, she replaced her jewels and made sure she wore only pieces that Hiccup had given her before casting a look around the room.
Somehow, there was a sense of impending…something. And she needed to be ready to move the moment anything happened-because she had no idea how Eret would react. All she suspected was that Tallon Fury was going to make his move and that all Helheim would break loose.
oOo
She had returned from a frantic visit with the woman later that afternoon, her head splitting and irritated beyond words. Margot Grimborn had just been evicted from her home, her accounts frozen and Astrid had needed to lend her money for herself and her daughters to catch the ferry to Jaegerby and her family. The woman had been hysterical, splitting fury and wailing in a mass of self-pity, bewailing her misfortune and blaming everyone except the obvious candidate: Viggo himself. Somehow, as far as Astrid could make out, Viggo was arrested for treason by flying persistently to Icefell and for corruption by never ever having been elected as First Minister but preventing anyone challenging him for the position over the previous almost seventeen years.
And Tallon Fury had found out. When Viggo decided to attack him in court, the billionaire hadn't lain down and taken it and had fought back, efficiently destroying the opponent and ripping everything from him and his family. Margot was also jabbering that she hadn't been able to get hold of her sister-in-law Linda Grimborn or her nieces Kristin and Nina or even her brother-in-law Ryker Grimborn and for the first time, Astrid felt a thrill of fear. Somehow, Ryker Grimborn-who was a dangerous and violent man who she knew had killed men on behalf of her husband and who had prevented her escaping, restraining her on that ferry-had been removed. His family was gone as well and now his brother, the brutal First Minister was no more. So she had handed the money over to Margot without hesitation because she wanted the woman gone. It was the best for Berk and at least, in some small way, was revenge for how cruelly Stoick had his home and possessions stolen from him.
But not completely-because the man who had lied and stolen, who had shifted his immense debts onto a young man already condemned of a crime he had never committed and had lied to impoverish his father and family, was still free. And that man was Eret. Astrid's husband. The man who believed that he had conned Tallon Fury out of two expensive aircraft and who continued to rack up debts without any intent of ever servicing them. She glanced around as she pulled up the drive and parked before the front door, switching off the engine and staring at the nondescript black sedan and the two men in black suits sitting within. Taking a deep breath, she emerged, grabbed her purse and walked to the door. The men immediately got out and followed her, causing her to speed up and scrabble for the door. The nearest man grabbed her arm.
"Mrs Eretson?" the man said, his voice gravelly and harsh. She looked up and nodded, wrenching her arm free.
"Who are you?" she demanded, her voice edged with anxiety. Eret dealt with some very bad people and there was always the underlying fear that one day, they would come for her in payment of one of his multiple defaulted loans. The man inspected her like a nasty insect.
"Where is your husband?" he demanded. Astrid took a deep breath as he glared at her.
"Probably at the Casino, though he doesn't share his schedule with me!" she snapped. The man backed her up against the door and slapped an envelope against her chest.
"This is a High Court Order that demands payment of all his debts in full as of tomorrow evening," he growled. "We will take a copy of the paperwork up to the Casino as you suggest to ensure your husband cannot claim he hasn't received the papers. Please make sure he gets the documents." Then he wheeled away as the front door wrenched open and Fink jumped out, pulling Astrid back and balling his fists at the men.
"Leave my mother alone!" he shouted as they stared at him with undisguised scorn.
"How amusing-a little pup, whimpering in protection of his mother," the other man sneered. "Stay out of this, whelp. Unless you have several hundred million in your piggy bank!" Then they wheeled away and got into the car, speeding away down the long drive. Fink closed his arms around Astrid, feeling her tremble and hating how shaky she sounded.
"Are you okay, Mom?" he asked softly, feeling her lean against him. She nodded.
"I'm fine," she murmured, her hand tightening on the Court Papers. "Did you hear?" He nodded, and his face looked grim.
"Looks like Dad's luck has finally run out," he sighed, steering her back into the house. "I'll call Zeph and we can work out what to do. Because I think we all know that there is precisely no chance on Midgard that Dad can pay any of his debts back. We're about to lose everything."
oOo
"The papers were served this afternoon at the house and at the Casino," Fishlegs reported as Hiccup flipped the top off a can of beer and took a long slug. "A bit early for that?" The billionaire shook his head and stared through the window across the vista, the dark blue-green of the norse pines, the vegetation thick and jutting against the cloudless sky. It was a perfect day in Berk, warm and sunny as it was only for a few weeks in the height of summer-but in his mind, he saw that cold and damp day seven years earlier, when piles of grey snow were shovelled aside the grimy road as he walked to that pitiful hovel. His skin prickled with goosebumps as he once more was within Gothi's hut, staring at the sagging makeshift bed and its dying single occupant, the wreckage of a man who had done nothing but spend his life in the service of others. A man whose blind eyes had turned on him in the fading hours as his fever had climbed higher and his grip on life had progressively loosened.
"Tell Hiccup…it isn't his fault," Stoick had rasped, his voice barely above a whisper. He had tightened his hand around his father's limp paw, feeling the skin scorching with the raging infection that wracked his dying shape.
"I will," he managed, his voice thick.
"He was a decent, honourable man…" Stoick managed, licking his lips with a dry tongue. His unfocussed eyes ranged over the cobweb-strewn roof as he tried to frame his words. "He gave his friend every chance. And that Eret took advantage and stole everything. His life, the business, all our assets…but not her. Never her."
His throat thickened and he gripped his father's hand tighter, hating himself that he caused any pain to the dying man. But he was beyond misery, beyond anger at the news that the woman he loved had married the man who had destroyed him.
"I asked her to look after your memory," Stoick rasped, the words garbling as his breathing grew more erratic. "Please tell my boy I love him. No one could…have had a better son."
"I know he loved you," Hiccup had murmured softly, his eyes stinging with grief. "Rest. Please rest. We'll get you help…" But the dying man had smiled.
"…protect Berk…" he breathed. "Don't let them…"
"I promise," Hiccup had breathed as the man had slipped into unconsciousness once more.
Closing his eyes, Hiccup drained the bottle of beer and slammed the empty onto the table before the folded his arms and stared out once more.
"How did Eret take it?" he asked. Fishlegs inspected him carefully, his eyes narrowing.
"He threatened the Court Officers and swore he would be onto his lawyers to get the judgement overturned," he reported.
"Good luck with that," Hiccup murmured. "You wrote those contracts. They were absolutely watertight. The only way the judgement would have been overturned is if he had bothered to make the payments on time. Which Eret has failed to do. At all."
"It will be amusing to see what he tries as an argument…though he will be lucky to find anyone to take his case," Fishlegs murmured. "It's already been through the Archipelago High Court-and resoundingly been lost. And word is that he's not that good at paying his lawyers either…" The man had the grace to smile. "I rather enjoyed that case." Glancing back with a smile, Hiccup looked at his friend.
"I think, once this is all over, you will be in incredible demand for your skills as a counsellor and legislator!" he said, his eyes meeting Fishlegs's. The husky man walked to his side.
"I owe all to you, Ingen," he murmured, standing by his friend.
"It was all your own work, my friend," Hiccup murmured. "All I did was provide you with the opportunity that you should have been allowed anyway. And you have repaid me…more than I could possibly imagine." Fishlegs wrapped a tight hug around him.
"All I ask is that you remember the man who you are," he murmured. "The good man who saved our lives. The man who saved Fink and protected Zephyr. The man who cared for a bunch of useless smugglers…"
"…who saved my life," Hiccup reminded him. "I can only do what I can. And I will try to be the man you want me to be…but these people…what they did was so cruel…I'm not sure I can forget."
"No one asks you to forget," Fishlegs said, looking at the lean shape. There was a set to Tallon's expression that showed he was clinging very hard to the memories, a stubbornness that had almost certainly been the only thing that had kept him going throughout the time he was in Jotunheim. Fishlegs knew the man had been a prisoner there-as did the twins-but 'Ingen' had still not shared the details of sentence or his true name. Yet Fishlegs, with access to Tallon Fury's resources and the hints the man had dropped over almost seven years, had carefully and methodically worked it out. Facing him was the only man on Berk condemned of treason, the son of the former Mayor, Hiccup Haddock. And surreptitiously, Fishlegs had dug up everything he could about the man facing him, from his school records to the details of his trial. Everything he had read had made the placid and kindly man's blood boil more and more at the injustices meted out to a man who had done nothing but be decent, hardworking and loyal to his friends and family. Finally, he had understood why Ingen/Tallon/Hiccup had been so set on his vengeance and why he loathed Eret so much. And then he sighed.
"I just ask you to recall the man has left other victims." Tallon Fury looked up at Fishlegs's soft words, his emerald eyes briefly hinting at guilt.
"I know," he murmured. "But I can't see any way of sparing them. I have to finish him. He is the one who destroyed me and took everything."
"At least the children…" Fishlegs murmured as Tallon looked away.
"You can contact them, Fish, and offer them sanctuary," he said in a dead voice. "But they won't take it. Helheim, would I take anything from the man who was destroying my father?"
"The kids are smart," Fishlegs argued suddenly. "They know what their father is! They know how unreliable and untrustworthy he is! And given the chance to get away from him and live their lives, or stay with him, they'll escape."
"They won't leave their mother," Tallon murmured.
"You think she'll stay?" Fishlegs asked him, incredulously. "She has more reason to hate him than anyone-that much is obvious." He flinched.
"She's a beautiful and brave woman-but she chose him," he said, his voice sounding as if he was trying to convince himself.
"And she doesn't deserve him either," Fishlegs pressed. Tallon shook his head.
"Contact the children if you wish," he repeated, "but I doubt they will take your offer. Call me if Eret miraculously finds the money but otherwise…I'll be in the hanger. I need to tinker, to create something. I'm getting tired of destruction. But thankfully, after this last one, I'm done. Once Eret is taken down, I can leave this place forever."
oOo
"Can't you do anything?" Eret's demand was loud in the bar of the Casino, the neat shapes of the waiters giving their owner a wide berth as he raged. There were smashed and scattered glasses across the plush scarlet carpet from where he had taken out his tantrum on the stock of bespoke lead crystal tumblers and now he was chugging brandy from a bottle, sitting on a stool at the bar, idly crushing olives on the polished marble surface.
"Regrettably, I cannot overturn the judgement of the High Court," Johann Trayder told him smoothly, sipping his cognac and observing the man opposite him. Eret had always played fast and loose and had ridden his luck, supplemented by deception, treachery and deceit. Yet there had always been a soft underbelly to the man that had made him vulnerable: his fantasy that he was more than he was, a man who lived life large and treated the Casino as his personal bank rather than as a money-making enterprise. The fact he had long supported a string of mistresses, showered with expensive gifts, and had never stinted himself anything he desired meant that that the current predicament had been inevitable.
"Why not?" Eret asked petulantly. "I thought you were supposed to be the big I am, the Trade Minister! I thought you pretty much held the Archipelago in the palm of your hand!" The tone was scornful. Johan slammed his balloon down harder than he had intended, his voice growing ice cold and dark with menace.
"Because your stupidity and recklessness has exposed us all!" he snapped. Eret cocked an eyebrow.
"How so?" he scoffed. Johann leaned forward, his dark eyes narrowed with fury.
"Your determination to swindle your 'buddy', the billionaire Tallon Fury out of two of his top-of-the-range aircraft backfired, you numpty!" he hissed. Eret gave a twisted smile.
"Nice planes though," he commented.
"You never paid a penny towards them!" Johann spat. "Gods, I could not have believed someone who is businessman could be as stupid as you."
"I never needed to worry," Eret scoffed.
"I see that idiot Viggo supported you far more than he should," Johann condemned him. "He shielded you from minor debts when allowing the minnows to win and feel they were at least being given a hearing would have been much more politically astute."
"A friend doesn't allow his allies to be bothered by trivial matters like small claims," Eret scoffed.
"A politician would-if he had any intent of remaining in power," Johann told him. "However, you pestered Viggo like a whining schoolgirl until he helped you out with matters that any responsible businessman would have dealt with himself so that you never ever paid any debts. You seemed to believe that you were immune to the requirement to pay what you borrowed back-and he believed he was untouchable as well. So look how that worked out for him? He's in jail for corruption and you are bankrupt!"
"I still own…" Eret began but Johann grabbed his throat and glared into his eyes.
"You own nothing!" he spat. "You signed that contract with Tallon Fury that gave his debts precedence over all others."
"I was lied to and didn't understand what I was signing," Eret said automatically, tense at the proximity of Johann who he knew was a man who had killed without hesitation.
"Regrettably, you waived those rights-when Fury's agents delivered the aircraft," Johann told him. "Were you aware they wore bodycams and recorded the whole handover? You're there waiving the right to run it through your lawyers, refusing to take advice and signing everything away. You admit you got the documents ahead of time per contract and that you didn't bother to read them…but you signed them anyway and refused to wait. The court watched the whole thing and agreed you had waived all rights-and that the contract was legal. Every debt you have now is voided to Tallon Fury's. Including MINE!"
Eret jerked back, seeing murder in the man's eyes.
"I would never welsh on you, Johann!" he gabbled, feeling panic rise in his throat. "I know that you and Lord Drago are my best allies…"
"We're your only allies," Johann snapped. "And I want the dues on this Casino." His eyes narrowed and he leaned closer his voice dropping menacingly. "You know what I want."
Eret stared at the man and his body heaved with the ragged breaths. There was a tiny sliver of Eret that was a decent man-deeply buried under years of self-indulgence, selfishness and cruelty-that baulked at the price but the much larger part that sought self-preservation rationalised the sacrifice with sickening ease.
"Done," he said. "And the other things?"
"Lord Drago will welcome you if you choose to join him-in gratitude for all you have done for the cause," Johann promised. Then he fished in his pocket and handed over an envelope. "And this was the guarantee you sought." Eret gave a cruel smile and tapped the paper onto the bar.
"All good things come to an end," he murmured. "Time to pick my side-and divest myself of all ties to the past. From now on, it's all for me."
