Language Warning: E88 are racists. In case you hadn't noticed.
Forked Lightning - Chapter Four
Where was Thomas? Kayden didn't let her panic show as she faced Max and his lawyer across the table. She knew the advice, stay calm, agree to nothing, and try and look co-operative through this goddamn mediation, but it was much easier to follow it with Thomas there to counter Max's plays. The building might be neutral ground but the slur she'd heard Max's driver whisper as she walked into the meeting room had her off balance and angry. She knew she was making mistakes, but Kayden had known the man for years and he thought that of her? She'd never been able to bring herself to hit the Empire or him, for the sake of the friendships she'd made over the years. Didn't that count for anything? She shook her head to clear it, wondering why she wasn't thinking clearly. Thomas getting called away at the last minute was the last thing she needed.
What the hell was wrong with her lawyer? He'd seemed confident on the way in, but now he was stammering, a little uncertain, but ploughed ahead anyway.
"There may be some issues of finances," the man began, and Kayden stepped on his foot, hard. They weren't meant to mention the Trust Fund, not until they had the case before the courts. If Max was warned he would move it, and a problem he had corrected was hardly a smoking gun.
"My son has never complained about my standard of living," Max said, without even a glance at his lawyer or hers. Because you beat it out of him, you son of a bitch, she thought with venom, along with the ability to stand up for himself. His lawyer slid smoothly into the gap.
"If Mrs Anders has financial issues despite her substantial divorce settlement and alimony, that should indicate Mr Theodore Anders is better off with his father."
"But Theo wants to see his mother." That was her lawyer's defense. She tried not to gasp. What had Thomas landed her with here? She wasn't Theo's mother and they all knew it. Max's lawyer didn't even bother bringing it up.
"We have a signed waiver from Mr. Theodore Anders, disclaiming any desire to stay with Kayden Anders."
"Kayden Russell," she corrected him, sharply, as she looked the paper over. The document looked genuine, and Theo's signature was real but shaky. Whatever the hell they had done to him to make him sign that would come out in court. She'd make sure of it. Max smiled condescendingly.
"Of course. You don't want my name." A petty barb from Max, but it made her furious, and now she wondered what the hell was wrong with her? She should have better self-control, but she was on the verge of blowing up the room. "We'll consider the proper custody of Aster Anders later. Returning to Theo Anders..." Max let the comment trail off and Kayden fought the urge to dig her fingernails into her leg under the table. She'd ladder her tights and Max would use that as proof she was an unfit mother, somehow.
"Theo has seemed quite happy with me."
"And relieved to be back with his father," Max purred. After what she had learned from Thomas, Max would never let Theo out of his control, not unless he had the boy's will already written. If she had to sacrifice Theo to keep Aster...Kayden gripped her leg harder trying to clear her head. She wasn't sacrificing anything more to Max. He'd had years from her already. "Kayden, why don't you come home?"
"I have a home." Kayden locked her gaze on Max, his expression open and honest. He sighed, lowering his eyes in an entirely false gesture meant to put her at ease.
"Leave us," he ordered, and his lawyer obediently stood and left. Her lawyer looked to her. She nodded. He'd been useless and Thomas wasn't there. Once both were gone and the door firmly closed, Max leaned forward, focus entirely on her.
"Kayden, come back. Anyone can make a mistake." She knew that. She'd married him. Max didn't seem to guess her thoughts for once. "I know I kept you too close. If you came back to us, stood by my side again, I'd make sure you had independence, your own people who answered only to you. With my resources behind you, think of what you could do for the city." She nearly wavered. Max seemed so very sincere, but Max was so very good at that. With the Empire's power behind her, her crusade to improve the city could finally get somewhere. She knew exactly what the price would be though: Thomas dead, and once he was dead she had no leverage to force Max would keep his word. Max smiled at her gently, across the table.
"Be someone I could trust with my daughter and I'll stop fighting you for her," Max went on, voice like silk. "I want my daughter to have a mother who is happy, who is with her father, and to grow up in a city she can be proud of. I want her to be with her mother, and with me." It was heartfelt. Kayden faltered, unable to tell if he was lying anymore. She was sure he was, but that was only because it was Max. She might have misjudged him.
"If you accomplish enough, I would consider retirement, in say, a year to follow your lead." She couldn't tell if he was lying anymore, nearly reached out to agree, but the whisper she'd heard from Max's driver stopped her. One word, that her mind hadn't let her admit she had heard clearly, one word and her sense of self-preservation kicked in.
N-rfucker.
It was like a dash of cold water. The Empire would never follow her, not after what they thought she had done. It didn't matter what the truth was, they'd get her back and she'd be dead in a mistake or martyrdom long before a year. Worse, they'd ship her to Gesellschaft to have her brain scrubbed like Dorothy or Geoff, to turn her into a good little soldier or Max Anders' Stepford Wife. She had to get out.
After an offer like that, he'd never let her leave if she threw it back at him. Only the fact this was neutral ground kept her alive so far because being caught with his ex-wife's corpse would be damning. She pretended to think, looking at the table as she slid a hand into her pocket and thumbed the call button on her phone.
"Thomas," she said, and as Max began to draw breath she raised the phone into view. "You're with the PRT today, right?" She knew he wasn't but thankfully he caught on and the word 'yes' could be heard clearly. Max's eyes narrowed nearly imperceptably, but she knew him well enough to catch it. He was off-balance. Good. "Max has made an offer. I need to think about it." Kayden stood up, gathering her things, still talking. "I'll be making my own way back. And I need a better lawyer." If she were less attuned to him she would have missed Max's smirk. Bribery or corruption, she didn't really care. She walked to the door, listening to Thomas's concerned voice as she let the door close on Max, knowing he wasn't going to say anything that might be a plea in front of Thomas, or use his powers against her if there was a risk the PRT would be alerted.
"Meeting's over," she snapped at the lawyers in the lobby, making it out onto the street. A flick of light, a sun reflection off the roof of a nearby building and instinctively she stepped back under the stone porch of the meeting centre. A sniper, or she was just paranoid. She knew she wasn't. "Thomas?"
"What's wrong?" He'd picked up on her nervousness. She looked for the route out with least exposure.
"Have the car drive round to Space G and get the door open fast." She didn't waste time saying it might be nothing, or apologising. He was a CEO and PRT expert. Kidnap threats and violence should be something he was used to. She'd still be visible for a second, between the car and the porch, but if she was lucky she could beat the sniper.
"Look for a red car, not the standard one." He was all business. "Don't move until the door opens." She waited nervously, but it only took a few seconds for a small red sedan to pull into Spot G. The large black car she'd arrived in cruised passed, the row of pickup spaces, pulling into spot A, pickup and set down only, no waiting. The uniformed driver got out, walking round to open the door of the limo as her lawyer walked passed without speaking to her. The scruffy driver of the red car reached across, opened the back door from inside and pushed it open, looking straight at her. She moved, almost diving onto the backseat and slamming the door.
"Kayden, are you alright?" Thomas' voice echoed tinnily from the phone as she fumbled it, trying to secure her seatbelt at the same time.
"Got her, sir." The driver put his foot down, trained defensive driving reflexes on display. The earpiece under his baseball cap was just visible at this range.
"I think there was a sniper. The roof opposite." Kayden was too used to this drill. She'd given a few would-be CEO wife-nappers a shock in her time, but she wasn't bulletproof and she wasn't stupid.
"Car's bullet-proof, ma'am." Kayden was less reassured by the driver's words than the several buildings he'd already put between them and the rooftop. Finally he slowed down, smoothly slotting into the flow of traffic he'd been whipping the car through so quickly.
"The Town Records Building?" Thomas said, clearly concerned. "Kayden, wouldn't that look straight into the meeting room that-" She was about to say that the glass was all bullet-proof. Then she did the take, excused herself politely and hung up the phone. She'd wait until she was back at home before she could let rip about the double-dealing, two-faced, backstabbing, murderous, snake she'd once married.
#
In the expensive office, Calvert dropped the call and swore quietly. He didn't indulge in it often, but the cause was sufficient. He had made a mistake, and acknowledging that was the best way to ensure he did not repeat it. He'd shut the timeline where he accompanied Kayden a hair's breadth before his drained, imbecilic, self trapped him on that path. It had been far too close.
Still, it was not a total loss. Victor's identity was confirmed, and if Kaiser could use assassins so could Coil. He had a much better idea of Victor's power now, and that made it simpler to counter. Coil didn't have to kill the skills-thief, just take him off the field. Death was obviously preferred but an arrest was an option, or another legal challenge, something his healer wife could not fix in minutes, and with his Medhall position it would be something else to put pressure on Kaiser. Unlike Coil, Kaiser only had to slip once to lose.
The Empire had heavy hitters Coil could not match, but when it came to a war of Thinkers, Max Anders was virtually unarmed.
Thomas Calvert smiled and stepped back into the meeting room, reality safely split as his other self made excuses and left. He wasn't going to waste two realities on one discussion when he could just reschedule and start again as many times as he needed.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Walker, an urgent matter arose." He took the seat across the desk from the fund manager, inclining his head to just to right amount to acknowledge the inconvenience without apologising. The older man nodded.
"Understood. Nothing serious, I hope?"
"No, just a matter requiring my personal confirmation." The fund manager would take as he liked. "Shall we get back to business?"
"Yes. I was considering your offer while you took the call. It is intriguing." The fund manager turned his screen off and looked straight at Calvert. "And why would I sell Medhall shares?"
"I'm not suggesting a sale. An exchange for private industry shares. These are not on the open market."
"Citadel." The man didn't look interested, but if he wasn't Calvert would not still be in the room and they both knew it. "It has a steady income, but hardly Medhall's yield or profile."
"A company with 75% of its income in government contracts," Calvert said, smiling. "They pay on time, and you know the buyer won't go down."
"There's only so many Endbringer shelters to build."
"And they all need to be maintained." Calvert smiled. "Citadel has a twenty-year lock on the maintenance contracts for everything we've built, and sole rights to decommissioning. Regular guaranteed income." Safe incomes in these times were rare, and he could see the man taking the bait.
"And you're offering this for?"
"I'll give you a seven to one trade, your Medhall for my Citadel." The banker was thinking about it, he could see. The bait was set. Medhall shares were twice the value, but Citadel shares simply weren't for sale. He could buy back Medhall, but he'd never get a buy-in on a private government supplier so easily.
"Medhall has a higher earnings cover."
"Citadel has a secure income and a higher yield per share."
"An option?" the banker suggested, and Calvert held his hands out generously, too savvy to admit he actually wanted something. That would just push the price up.
"If you wanted an option for a month, guaranteeing you would close before month's end, I would go five to one."
"Three to one."
"Done." It was better than Calvert had expected, and better than paying cash. He'd been ready to go two-to-one to get the amount of Medhall shares he needed. It wasn't a threat to his control as long as he still owned the other holding companies through useful patsies.
"If you're planning to buy out Medhall, you'd tell me," the banker said, initialling figures on the base contract, and offering it across the table.
"Now why would you say something like that?" Calvert chided lightly, looking over the paperwork. "There are laws against insider trading." He checked the numbers again and signed. The banker paused, pen upraised, as Calvert pushed the paperwork back to him. "And if Citadel was, you now have a foot in Citadel." He smiled, and the banker grinned toothily and signed.
