6. Reed #2
She ducks her head in a nod. “We’re doing everything we can, but you understand that this is an unusual situation, and we have to make sure we have covered all angles.”
I continue to press her. “What other angles can there be, other than us getting home? We’ve spoken to the cops and the lawyers, and everyone else out there, it feels like.”
She clears her throat. “There’s still the matter of us having not yet located the plane.”
I raise my eyebrows. “You can’t expect to keep us hostage here until that happens. After all, I assume there were search teams looking for us straight after the plane went down, yet you still didn’t find us. Why would you think things are different now?”
“No, no, not at all.” She’s newly flustered.
“We’d just been hoping with your descriptions of your journey to safety that it might help narrow things down.
We’re under a lot of pressure to locate the plane so we can learn exactly what happened to make it crash, and of course to find the bodies of those still missing so their families can lay them to rest.”
“I understand all of that, but you don’t need us here. If you have more questions, you can contact us by phone, or send someone to speak to us in person. My family have been through a lot—more than you could ever imagine—and we’re ready to go home.”
She gives a tight-lipped smile. “Of course, Mr. Riviera. We really are doing everything we can.” She clears her throat. “Now that you’re all looking and feeling—I hope—more like your old selves, I’d like to gather the four of you in the conference room.”
“Okay,” I say cautiously. “What’s this about?”
“Our lawyers would like to speak with you.”
It would probably be sensible to have lawyers of our own, but I can’t think about that right now. If it looks like the airline is trying to screw us, I won’t hesitate, but for the moment I’m willing to hear them out.
I tell the others, and together we go to the room allocated for us. A long table runs down the middle, identical chairs positioned around it. There are at least thirty chairs, but only three are filled with two men and one woman, all dressed in suits. They rise as we enter.
“Mr. Riviera.” One of the men shakes my hand, and then moves on to my sons and stepdaughter. “Cade. Darius. And this must be Miss Flores. I’m Brett Matthews. Take a seat, all of you. Can I get you anything before we get started?”
There’s already a jug of water on the table and small glasses set around it. We’d had our fill of coffee that had been brought to us while we were having our hair cut, so we all shake our heads.
The lawyer gives a smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “Let me first just say how well you’re all looking.”
“Thank you,” Laney mumbles.
Cade and Darius don’t respond. Cade already has his walls back up, defensive. I can tell by the twitching of the muscle in his jaw.
“We’ve all been talking,” the lawyer says, “and we’ve decided, considering the circumstances, that we’d like to make you an offer for any…inconveniences you may have sustained.”
Cade barks laughter. “Inconveniences? You’ve got to be shitting me? You mean almost dying?”
He clears his throat. “Well, yes. We’ve come up with a figure we believe will be agreeable to you all.”
“Let’s hear it,” I say.
He continues, “I’m sure, after everything you’ve been through, that a lengthy court battle where you’re made to relive what happened to you isn’t what any of you want.”
“Let’s hear it,” I repeat.
“We’d like to offer you all the sum of twelve-point-six million US dollars.”
I glance over at the others. Darius’s expression is unreadable. Laney’s jaw has dropped. Cade’s eyebrows lift.
“Between us?” Laney asks.
The lawyer shakes his head. “No. Each.”
Her mouth drops farther. “Holy shit.”
“Do we need to make a decision right away?” I say.
It’s a hell of a lot of money, but I don’t want to rush into anything. Cade glares at me, like he’s questioning what I’m doing.
“The offer will stand for twenty-four hours,” the lawyer replies.
“That’s enough time for us.”
I stand, and we shake hands again. “I’ll be in touch.”
We all leave the room.
Laney spins to me and grabs my arms. “Twelve million dollars? And we’re thinking about it?”
“I know it seems like a lot of money, but they’ll go higher if we push them.”
They’re fearful of us suing for damages and want to keep us quiet so we don’t destroy their reputations, though I imagine they’ve already taken one hell of a knock as it is, what with the amount of publicity that’s surrounded Darius Riviera’s disappearance.
They’ll want to settle higher rather than us going through court.
I don’t care about the money, but I don’t want to go through a court case either.
They can tie you up for months, and I don’t have the energy for that.
I don’t have the energy for much at all.
She shakes her head. “It is a lot of money. I don’t need any more than that. It’s enough to let me live more than comfortably. And he’s right about not wanting to make this a lengthy court case. I don’t want to take the stand and be grilled by lawyers about what happened, especially considering…”
She doesn’t need to finish. We all know what she means. Especially considering we haven’t told the full story. I know Laney doesn’t want the assault and rape to come out. It would kill her to be made to tell a whole courtroom about it.
“What about you, Cade? Darius?”
Darius shrugs. “It’s not like we’re desperate for the money. All I ever wanted was for us to be safe. I say we take it and put this all behind us.”
“Yeah, let’s take it,” Cade agrees. “It’s still a shit load of cash.”
“Okay. Let’s break the news to them, then. I’m sure they’ll be happy to hear it.”
Unsurprisingly, the airline lawyers are happy to hear the news.
“There’s one condition,” Reed adds.
I glance at him in surprise. We hadn’t discussed a condition.
“Laney gets her portion of the money right away. She needs it more than the rest of us.”
“I’m sure that can be arranged,” comes the reply, and the men shake on it.
They insist on buying us lunch to celebrate, though with the amount of money we’re about to get, we’re more than capable of paying for our own.
After we’ve eaten, we retire to our rooms. After the poor night’s sleep, I’m in need of a nap.
Just as I’m dozing off, the phone in my room rings. It’s Amanda Greer again.
“Mr. Riviera, I just got word that your new passports have come through, so we’ve arranged a flight for you back to Los Angeles first thing tomorrow morning. I thought you’d want to know right away.”
“That’s excellent news, thank you.”
Los Angeles isn’t home to us, but it’s home for Laney, and wherever she is, we’ll be.
“Can I ask you to do something for me before you go?” I ask Amanda.
“Of course. Name it.”
“We’re going to need a short term rental in Los Angeles—somewhere decent—and we all need cell phones, too.”
If Laney is going to insist on going back to the trailer, I want to know I can get in touch with her, and she can contact us.
“Consider it done,” Amanda replies.