Chapter 13

Emma arrived home from her lunch with Owen Flynn twenty minutes ago and is walking down the stairs when her cell phone rings in her pocket. It's Neal calling her and she swipes to answer it.

"Hey." She says answering the phone.

"I was just thinking about tonight." Neal tells her.

"Oh, yeah? What were you thinking?" She asks him as she steps into her kitchen and over to her kitchen table.

"How do you feel about surprises?" He asks her.

"Tonight? Pretty good." She responds as she focuses on the laptop on the table.

"Great, then I won't say anymore. I'll pick you up at six." He tells her.

"How should I dress?" She asks him.

"Surprise me." He tells her before she hears him hang up.

Emma places the phone on the table and turns up the volume on her laptop. The news she is streaming finally is discussing financial news.

"In other financial news, Wall Street is buzzing with rumors that Allcom Cellular is now a front-runner for an exclusive contract with innovate chip maker AUCORP. August Booth, the notoriously cagey C.E.O and founder has promised a webcam announcement to address those rumors." The female reports says in the video.

Her cell phone rings and she looks down to see its Owen Flynn calling her. Right on time, she thinks with a smile.

"Hello?" She says answering the phone.

"Emma, Owen Flynn. Listen, that little bird that whispered Allcom, it wouldn't happen to be the gentleman I saw you hugging outside of the café earlier?" He asks her.

"I am not saying that it was and I'm not saying that it wasn't, but I will say is that I trust that little bird enough to double my position." She says bating him.

"That's all I need to know." He says as she hears him hang up the phone.

She has got him right where she wants him. She turns her focus back to the news report streaming on her laptop.

"… A fortune 500 company with August being named one of the richest men in the world. He's known for a brazen attitude and a take-no-prisoners leadership style, and AUCORP and Booth continue to push the boundaries of cellular technology. We take you know, live, to August Booth and that announcement as promised." The reporter says.

Emma leans forward resting her elbows on the table as she watches the video closely. This is going to be good and she wishes she could see Flynn's face when everything he has built up goes down in flames. Emma rolls her eyes when August's live stream in on the screen. He is being is usual August self. No wonder he does not have a lot of friends.

"Greetings, Earthlings, August Booth here with what was supposed to be a surprise announcement about the future of AUCORP, but someone somewhere has a big mouth. I can now confirm that all the Allcom rumors came from a woefully misguided employee. Allcom is dead to me and will not be receiving the contract. Instead, I've decided to offer our humble services to Allcom's soon to be chief competitor, Unitech." August says in the video.

The video cuts back to the reporter and the graph next to her head shows Allcom's stock plummeting fast. All is going according to plan, Emma thinks to herself.

"Expect Unitech to open huge tomorrow, and for those of you who bet big on Allcom Cellular, get ready to cover some equally heavy losses. In related tech news, the next generation…." The reporter says in the video.

She turns down the volume on the laptop and grabs a burner phone from a drawer in her living room. She has one more thing to do for her revenge plan with Owen to be complete. She goes to the kitchen table and pulls out reports she took from Flynn's computer. She grabs the burner phone and dials.

"Hello, this is Valerie calling from Bill Harmon's office. I'm afraid I've got some bad news regarding a major stock loss today and its immediate effect on your portfolio. Please call the office as soon as you can." She says before hanging up the phone.

One major investor down, a handful more to call.

\*****/

Albert Spencer arrives at the Mills Manor and is escorted to the sun room where Regina is waiting.

"I have the information you requested about Emma Swan." He says showing her a photo of Emma on an equestrian team at the University of Barcelona.

"What is this? A big I told you so?" She asks him.

"It was going to be until I printed out a roster of active board members of the New York Landmark Preservation Society. This is a role call from February." Albert says handing her the sheet of paper.

"And there's Emma, just like she said." Regina states.

"And there's Will Scarlett." Albert says pointing at Will's name a few above Emma's

"Belle's husband?" Regina asks.

"You remember the rumor that Will was sleeping with a young lady this spring?" Albert asks her.

Regina nods.

"Well here is another roll call from March and neither are present. Coincidence?" He asks her.

Regina smiles at him. This is the perfect thing to ruin Emma, to get her out of their lives especially her son's life.

\*****/

Owen Flynn sits at his desk in his office in the city. It has been one hell of a day and it is long from over. He plays with his pair of dice on the desk as Valerie walks into the office.

"It's leaked." She tells him with a grim face. "All our investors are pulling out. We're finished." She pauses for a moment before asking him, "How do you want to deal with what's happening downstairs?"

"Who's downstairs?" he asks her.

"Everyone." She replies.

Owen realizes he has to face all of his employees and explain to them what happened. This is going to be a long day.

\*****/

Killian sits at a table at the Stowaway writing down the bar's inventory as Henry shouts it to him from the bar.

"Ten well whiskey, and then, uh, we got eight gin, twelve rum." Henry tells his brother.

There is a knock on the door.

"We're closed." Killian shouts.

"It's August!" August shouts back.

Killian groans and turns around to let August in. August strolls into the bar like he owns the place.

"What's up, August?" Killian asks him as he walks towards the bar.

"What's up is, you never return my calls." August tells him.

"I've been a little busy." Killian replies.

August looks around the Stowaway and scoffs. "Doesn't look like it." August turns and sees Henry leaning against the bar. "Ah, hey, sport."

"You're the guy who bought the boat." Henry says pointing his finger at August.

"Proud new papa." August quips with a smile.

"You know he only sold it to you to pay off the lien on my dad's bar?" Henry asks him.

"No. I did not know that." He responds.

"Yeah. So you being around right now probably isn't the best thing for him." He tells him.

"I get that a lot." August responds.

"Still closed, August." Killian tells him when he walks back into the room from the stock room.

"Yeah, I know. Hey, so… what's say you and I hit up a little party I caught wind of tonight?" August suggests.

"I'm sorry, Gilligan. We're done hanging out." Killian tells him.

"What if I said I'd give you your boat back at the end of the season?" August offers.

Killian and Henry both look up at him in shock.

"What's he talking about?" Henry asks.

"Whoa, wait, wait, wait. You're, you're saying that if I pretend to be your friend, you'll give me my boat back, free and clear?" Killian asks trying to clarify what August just offered.

"Well, see, it'd be better if you didn't have to pretend, but, uh, that's the gist, um, plus, all the cool parties." August tells them.

"Oh, he's in." Henry says answering before his brother can.

"Henry." Killian says.

"What? That's a hell of a deal. Come on, and if anyone could use a night off, it's you. I got it handled here." Henry bargains with his brother.

Killian sighs. "He's got it handled." August adds.

"Yeah." Henry says with enthusiasm.

Killian moves from behind the bar and goes to grab his jacket from a chair near the bar. He starts to walk out the door and August moves to follow him.

\*****/

Violet and Adam are walking to the Mills Manor from the beach. They are wet and still in their bathing suits with towels thrown across their shoulders. Violet opens the door to the parlor and Adam follows her into the house.

"How come we never go to your house?" Violet asks him.

He does not answer and instead grabs her ass playfully.

"Adam, stop!" she shouts as she turns around to swat his hand away. "You're all sticky and sandy."

"So let's go rinse off." He suggests. He pulls her closer and runs his hand down her side resting it on her ass.

Violet sighs. "We're supposed to be on a break, remember?" She reminds him.

"And whose bad idea was that?" He asks her. He leans down to kiss her neck when her mother's voice calls from upstairs.

"Violet, is that you?" Regina shouts from upstairs.

"Adam, go." She whispers. "Go. Go. Please go." She practically pushes him out of the door.

He puts his hands up in surrender. "Okay. Okay."

Violet backs away slowly and turns and runs out of the room. "What is it, mom?" she shouts as she moves through the house.

Before Adam leaves, Violet's cellphone beeps in her bag which she left on the table of the parlor. He turns and walks towards the table and goes through her purse until he finds her phone. That kid Henry is texting Violet. Adam types a response to Henry as Violet before placing the phone back into her purse and walking out of Mills Manor.