Chapter 48 #2
I opened my computer and set it to the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and the Financial Times as my tabs, but I had no intention of reading anything.
I would aimlessly scroll, but even that seemed unnecessary given my location in the coffee shop.
It would take someone spying directly on my computer, rather than over my shoulder, to see anything suspicious.
“Of course, Mr. Hunt will… with you.”
The line wasn’t perfect, as the woman cut out from the distance to the mic. I just had to hope Edwin would get much closer than the receptionist and that Morgan had the wherewithal to sit close enough to have Edwin’s voice picked up.
My hot chocolate came out, I grabbed it, and I prepared for some hopefully game-changing conversation.
But first, I had to actually wait for Edwin Hunt to come out.
And wait…
And wait…
I checked my watch. It was 8:45 a.m. This could not have been an accident. Edwin Hunt was not a late man, not in the times I’d seen him conduct business, but it was very obvious what he was doing now—he was fucking with Morgan’s time in the hope that it might cause trouble.
Fortunately for us, we hadn’t scheduled anything else. I had emails I could always answer, but I wasn’t doing that on my laptop so close to Hunt Industries.
Finally, at 8:51 a.m., I heard the voice I’d been waiting for.
“I was wondering when you’d come crawling back here.”
You fucking asshole. Still the same as always, huh.
“Hi Dad,” Morgan said.
The poor dude sounded so nervous he might vomit. I just prayed he stayed strong enough.
“Good to see you, Morgan,” Edwin said, although I can’t say it sounded especially warm or especially sincere. “Come in and let’s talk.”
I heard the sound of the door shutting and footsteps. I took a sip of my hot chocolate as the mic rustled against Morgan’s clothes.
“So tell me why you’re here,” Edwin said. “You’re the one who wanted this meeting. You’re taking up some valuable time of mine, so I hope it’s important.”
“I just wanted to talk to you about MCH,” Morgan said. “Dad, dad, before you get mad, can you just let me explain?”
A silence that followed left me nervously on edge.
I didn’t realize how anxious and excited this would make me feel, but it occurred to me how little control I had over everything that was happening right now.
It was a strange feeling to have been the one scouting Edwin’s game, only to now be relegated to the sidelines with no influence on what happened now.
“I love you and I have always appreciated what you’ve done for me,” Morgan said.
He truly did sound sincere. Breaking away from his father really wasn’t easy.
“But there’s something to be said for doing it on my own.
Chance had a point. He doesn’t have to rely on the Hunt family name. You didn’t either, did you?”
“No, but do you know how damn hard it was, boy?”
At least he didn’t say boy with the same sneer and condescension that marked it the last time I had heard those words from his lips.
“Do you know how hard it was to get this off the ground? I lost two marriages trying to make this thing work.”
My eyes went wide. I had never heard that about Edwin Hunt. There was an obvious age gap between him and Mrs. Hunt, but I had always just assumed he married late. Well, he married Melanie late, but not women late.
“I lost countless hours of sleep. I sometimes wonder how the hell I’m still alive. And do you think I want that for you? Do you think I want to see my only son suffer as I did?”
My only son. It shouldn’t have made me mad for where I knew I stood with Edwin, but goddamnit, that made my blood boil.
“No, Dad, but… even working here there’s struggle.”
“Of course there’s struggle, boy, but it’s a different kind of struggle.
You struggle here, and you still go home to a hefty paycheck and the security of knowing this building, this business, your employees will still be here tomorrow.
You struggle with your own firm, you’re out on the streets if you aren’t careful. ”
I was surprised to see Edwin sounding… I wouldn’t call it empathic, exactly, but perhaps logically fair was a good assessment. He wasn’t the emotional fireball we’d seen after getting Virtual Realty.
“I had to do so many things just to make sure Hunt Industries survived.”
Here we go.
“But you don’t have to do any of that.”
Damnit.
“You go with that boy, and you may succeed. I won’t lie to you, Morgan, now that you’re alone.”
I almost spit my hot chocolate out at that. It wasn’t a surprise in that it conformed to my expectations, but it was surprising to hear him admit that so bluntly. Edwin had just confessed to lying as long as I was around.
“You may do well. But who would you rather associate with, that boy or me?”
“Dad,” Morgan said, pleading. “I know you don’t like Chance. But Mom—”
“Melanie isn’t here right now, and you’re right, I don’t like Chance. I never wanted to adopt him and I think his attitude is too cavalier to succeed in business.”
God, how I wanted to take that hot chocolate, break into Edwin’s office, and throw the drink in his face. How I wanted to curbstomp that asshole straight into his desk. Fucking fuck.
“But it’s that very same stubbornness that made you succeed.”
“Maybe,” Edwin said dismissively. “But you’re not coming back, are you? Let’s get to the point, Morgan. No wasting time.”
“I don’t intend to,” Morgan said. “I want you to accept that. And I want you to leave us alone.”
“I am,” Edwin lied. So much for telling the truth, Mr. Hunt.
“I keep getting these phone calls, these stalkers, these people who are harassing me all the time,” Morgan said. It sounded like it took more courage to say that than for him to walk into the room. I owed Morgan a nice drink of whiskey when he got out. “I feel like you’re behind it. Please stop.”
A pause came.
“I know nothing of what you speak about.”
What made me sick was that was probably true. Edwin and money in general knew how to distance itself from borderline criminal activity.
“Well, if you hear anything about it, make it stop,” Morgan said. “You told me yourself. Business has no boundaries. Like with McLaughlin, right?”
“And with Burnson, exactly.”
Fucking bingo!
Finally, I had something that I was looking for. I just prayed Morgan was smart enough to keep pushing the question.
“Burnson?”
I all but clapped my hands in excitement. I had to physically restrain my activity so I didn’t jump out of my chair in celebration at Morgan’s good thinking.
“I told you this already, John Burnson fucked me out of a deal ten years ago. I waited and bided my time, and as soon as I could, I had the deal with the Taylors all set. Poor Burnson never even had a chance. Oh, the look on his face, how delightful.”
I smiled and almost mumbled “gotcha, asshole,” but decided that appearance would not look so great.
The question was, now what? Now what did I do with that information?
One idea that came to mind was threatening Edwin with it, but there wasn’t anything incriminating on there per se. It could have just been said that Burnson’s skills had faded so bad that he never had a shot at a deal with the Taylors.
But there were two people who might be able to do something with it, one of whom I wouldn’t mind seeing, the other whom might physically kick my ass out the building.
“I see,” Morgan said, bringing me back to the moment. “My point is, Dad, if you know of or become aware of anything that’s affecting Chance and me, please stop. Please. My life is already stressful enough.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” Edwin said. “In the meantime, boy, know that I think you’re making a huge mistake.
Chance can barely keep his own cock to himself and can’t ever say no to a woman.
That’s going to get him screwed big time.
It’s already going to hurt him with that one company in your portfolio. ”
I gulped. Granted, Morgan had encouraged me to sleep with Claire, but…
“What do you mean?” Morgan said.
I could tell Morgan was faking concern, which made me feel a little better, but still.
“That one young lady, Claire, I believe her name is. The minute Chance has a drink with her, he’s not going to keep his hands to himself. He couldn’t with Layla and he can’t with her.”
I had to steady my breathing. I was so fucking furious. My fists wanted to shatter his skull. I wanted to go apeshit and break his sternum so fucking bad.
“Maybe he will mature, but keep in mind you’re not in business with a man, but with a horny teenager.”
“OK, Dad, I get it, Chance isn’t that bad.”
“If you say so.”
I nearly ripped the headphones out in frustration. At least the conversation had ended and Morgan had now left.
Quickly, before Morgan exited the building, I made my way down the opposite side of where I’d come from, giving the appearance of an appointment further south of where I was. I would rendezvous back with Morgan at the apartment at a later time.
It was strange how things that I thought didn’t matter sure mattered like hell once Edwin said them.
A horny teenager. He was brutal, but unfortunately, he also wasn’t wrong.
I knew that continuing to see Claire was questionable in business, and I knew that seeing Layla as I had had fucked me over on the deal.
Except, had it? If Edwin and Craig had agreed to screw over John Burnson, then nothing I had done with Layla would have ever made a difference, would it? My show with Layla was nothing more than side theatrics meant to hurt me and Layla and bring amusement to Edwin and Craig.
If so, that made them even worse sickos than before.
It also made Layla even more innocent and guiltless than before. Funny how that all works out.
It took me a good two hours to get back to my apartment going the long way, which gave me plenty of time to stew on the idea. In the end, I came to two inescapable conclusions.
One, Edwin was not going to stop hunting us.
He knew how to maintain enough distance to have plausible deniability and let the harassment continue.
Morgan might get a little bit off the hook, but I was destined to bear the brunt of Edwin’s games for as long as I was around.
I just had to figure out how to win this damn battle.
Two, what Edwin had said in that meeting could be used to effectively strike at him, but even after all my deliberations, I only found two people who could do something with it.
One was, obviously, Layla. I felt she deserved to have it, if for no other reason than that it would help her push away from her uncle.
There was always the risk she was still working for her uncle and, by extension, Edwin, and if that happened, my life would truly be over, but I was alert now.
She wasn’t going to hurt me like she did before. She had nothing to gain from doing so.
The second person, though, was a major, major gamble.
If I went to this person with the evidence I had…
well, first, I even had to get an audience with them, which was no guarantee.
Then, if I did, I had to make sure I didn’t get thrown out on the spot.
And then, even if they listened to what I had just recorded, they had to have something they could work with.
But it seemed like it was worth it. If for no other reason than creating unnecessary hassle and drama in Edwin Hunt’s life, it seemed like it was a worthwhile endeavor. If it blew up in my face, well, I’d already decided I could handle a little bit of risk.
I would have to approach, with this recording, John Burnson.