Chapter 13
TRADING THREATS
Clay Skinner
The buzz from my secretary alerts me, and I switch the laptop to the waiting-room cam.
“Hailey Tarrant. Well, well. Good to see you.” I smile and keep the security cam open on my screen to study her a little longer.
She’s almost the same age as me, looks good, considering she’s probably had to struggle more than I have.
The surveillance images didn’t lie. The navy blouse is filled out well, and judging from the shape of her rear and legs in those dark jeans, she exercises.
She also has an unexpectedly bleak assurance, with a set to her mouth that says maybe she hopes to do a blitzkrieg attack on me.
Once she co-operates and hands over her phone, takes up the pen, I go around to the front of my desk to wait for her.
I lean back into the desk, pick up a tablet I can use to playact having some info at hand.
My secretary witnesses her signing the confidentiality agreement, and the girl is ushered down the hallway toward my door.
She’s smiling but warily, like she expects someone to bite.
I turn off the screen on the laptop.
That we have her signature is somehow exciting.
My phone buzzes and I read the text.
My wife is going to dinner with friends. That means she has a date with her latest boyfriend. I look forward to making her pay for that tomorrow. I’ll have her begging and on her knees while she sucks my cock.
I’m imagining that when the door opens. I do not move a single inch; instead, I let Hailey advance then halt mid-room, unsure of where to go. For a second, I imagine her on her knees instead of Isabella.
Dismissing that is difficult.
“Sit, please.” I indicate the deep armchair then stroll over and sit on the other side in the matching chair, after adjusting it so it faces her dead-on. “It’s been a while since school.”
“It has.” She nods. “You look…” Her mouth twitches into a brief smile. “Comfortable.”
“I’ve put on weight?” I palm my stomach, before reaching over and patting her knee. “I’m joking. Anyway, what can I do for you? Condolences, also, for your father. He was a good employee.”
“Mmm. Thank you. The six months has not been easy for me.”
I nod, waiting for her to cut to what’s important. From what she’s been doing, turning the power on, leafing through his papers, talking to neighbors, it’s likely she isn’t going away soon.
“Okay.” There is that determination surfacing.
Here it comes. With my hands draped on my knees, I wait for her to try hustling me. I know hustles. Being CEO, you need to.
“I was going to waffle, to circle this topic and see what you said but I sense you like directness.”
“I do.” So, a missile attack not a hustle? Fascinating.
“My father left me a note.” A slight film of sweat is shining on her forehead, despite the perfect temperature of my office. I smile. She heaves in a breath. “He said the institute is making stitched-together men from parts, and he called them frankenstructs.”
Shit. How the fuck did they miss this? I wait for her to spill more, if there is more. Fuck, though. We need to get that note and burn it.
“Go on.”
“He also said the institute might have him killed, and then he was killed.” Her swallow is obvious.
“Untrue. We would never do this. That is slander, Miss Tarrant. We don’t murder employees…” Much. “We also—”
“No? I’m guessing the forensic evidence has been disappeared, if there was any.
I’m also guessing you’ve made sure no one will talk to me, but I have an ace in the hole, Mr. Skinner.
You do not want me to reveal it. Tell the cops you’ve discovered the man who killed my father and I will help you avoid jail.
I promise this.” Then she has the fucking audacity to reach over and pat my knee.
I struggle not to glare and merely set my teeth on one another, hard. I clench my jaw. I pluck her hand off my knee and hold onto it.
“An ace? You have nothing.”
“You think? If I even request an inquiry as to the work you are doing, through the proper channels, you will be hurting. My father had friends high up in the industry. I will bet anything you’re aiming to make these frankenstructs.
If you haven’t already. Are you dealing in body parts illegally, Mr. Skinner? ”
Jesus H. Christ does this woman have any sense of self-preservation? She’s bluffing though. Proper channels? She has nothing.
Though she strives to pull away, I bring her hand to my mouth. I keep it there. When she tries again to dislodge my grip, twisting her wrist, I let her hurt herself.
Her gasp tells me when that is accomplished. “Did that burn? A pity. You are self-inflicting far more than a skin burn. Keep going with what you threatened me with, and you will discover, personally, exactly what was done to your father. Be careful.”
I release her, and she rips loose and rebounds into the back of the chair then leaps to her feet.
“Is that your only response? A fucking threat?”
“I answered your threat with my own, yes. The difference is mine is very achievable. Do not rock this boat. The investors in the institute will never let you go free or keep breathing. Back away, leave town, and we might negotiate a stipend for you, for the rest of your life.”
She stands there, red-faced and heaving her breasts at me for a while, before she curses me and storms out.
That went in a very bad direction. I don’t know what this ace is.
It may not exist. Should I get Gerard on the phone?
I consider that. The answer is no. Her threat is unsure, but I could be forced out if the backers see this as my fault.
Fixing my error should come first. My meaning whatever note the clean-up team left in her house.
Tasker needs to fire someone or someones.
She will need to be silenced, and we have her signature.
Am I truly ballsy enough to have her body claimed and used in the program?
I head over to the large wall-to-wall window and watch her pink Chevy pull out of the parking area with a roar and a spume of black smoke.
Fuck to the yes. I do have the balls. I would love to see her dead, sawn up, and put to good use after we stitch her into a new her, with some added bits. I can keep her on ice in cryonics until we’ve perfected that process.
The best-ever revenge just got an update.
I tap the screen and send a summons for Cannon.
He’ll need a few men who aren’t known. Track her, scare her, and give her one last chance to leave?
I must be going soft. I guess so? What if they bring her to me and let me interrogate her so I can get a gut feel for the truth in her answers? Not like it was here.
Not like today, when she could be insolent.
I scratch my chin. Then, if I must have her killed, she can go on one of those tourist adventures out to sea, where she will fall overboard and drown. Somewhere she can be quickly retrieved from, so we can cryonically freeze her. Solved, providing the scientists agree.
I poke the intercom. “Send in Cannon once he arrives, ASAP, Jane.”
Her reply is brisk. “Yes, sir.”
Today is going well, considering that nastiness.
The man arrives within five minutes and stands at parade rest in his suit and tie—a throwback to his military service, but it looks good, gives me a buzz. I nod approval.
“I need two men for a job where it would be best if they remove themselves from the country afterward and don’t come back. Might just be a scare, might be more.”
“Yes, sir. I have some individuals in mind. They came in with the last shipment. Your instructions?”
“Verbal only. Nothing in text. Go quiet with this. Equip one of them with a body cam so I can watch the footage and tell them to stay off any other cams.” He stares harder when I say this, as if it’s a given.
“Watch her from a distance to assess their approach. I’ll leave the exact method up to you, but it’s Hailey Tarrant.
Scare her, tell her to do what she was told to do, then we wait twenty-four hours, then I’ll escalate if she doesn’t react how I need her to. ”
“Sure. Will do. I don’t think I need more. She’s not going to be hard to find.”
“Go. A bonus for you at the end of this one.”
“Sir. Thank you.” He exits. Efficient, as always.
Escalate meaning kidnap her and bring her to me at a safe location. Then kill her if we still need to. That’s two chances for her. I’m definitely going soft on her. It’s because I really, really want to see her fucked up. Resisting my worst sadistic urges is better for me.