Chapter Forty-Nine #2
“You’re right. That was an accident and a tragedy I never wanted to happen.
But think of all the people who will get to live in safety and dignity when we rebuild.
They would have gone on being slowly poisoned by lead paint, asbestos, and black mold.
Who knows how many people those toxins have already killed? ”
“It’s murder.”
“You think I’m a murderer ? You’ve been to my home.
You’ve met my daughter. I’ve cared about equitable, quality housing solutions my entire career, this is my cause, my passion.
” Jonathan looked like he genuinely believed what he was saying.
“The tenants have long been on the side of private development taking over, they want us to step in and help them.”
“Because they don’t know you blew them up!” The force of her words jolted them both. Iris lowered her voice. “Those people died. They should be alive right now, it was wrong.”
“There’s a lot wrong. There’s always gonna be a lot wrong.
You have to pick your battles, try to do the most good that you can, and let the rest go.
” He moved his plate aside as if clearing an invisible chessboard.
“Here’s the reality. You tell the police about the existence of footage they already have, on an investigation that is already closed.
The articles are written. The public and the politics have moved on.
You have a positive ID on a pair of shoes, not a face.
That’s not enough for the DA to charge anyone, much less convict.
” He leaned forward urgently. “Nothing is gonna bring those two people back. And those injured will be taken care of by the Hendricks Victims Relief Fund, funded by me.”
Iris recoiled, his hypocrisy like acid in her stomach.
“Just like I’m taking care of your friends the Pattersons for free.
You go against me, you’ll make them homeless.
What do you think Kiara’s odds are of graduating high school from a shelter?
Do you think the streets are a nice place for Isaiah to come of age?
These are innocent people, and you’ll destroy whatever slim chance they had left. ”
But these words struck cold fear into her heart.
“Nothing will happen to me. No one will believe you, because it would be very costly for them to believe you. I’m too valuable to my friends to go down for this. There’s no upside for anyone.”
Iris had had enough. “You can’t abuse people and then position yourself as their savior.
You’re only saving them from people like you.
You rig and profit from the very system that keeps them trapped in shit housing like this.
They need new homes because you destroyed theirs.
You proved they were unsafe by murdering them.
And now you position yourself as their hero?
It’s a gross manipulation, a betrayal of trust, it’s evil .
How can you bear to have them thank you, knowing what you did to them? ”
Jonathan rolled his eyes. “Iris, grow up. We can’t get to a perfect system.
When someone’s stock goes up, another goes down.
But plenty of power players would crush the little guys and take all the chips without looking back.
I’m actually offsetting the damage of this imperfect system. I’m one of the good guys.”
“You are a homicidal profiteer.”
Jonathan spread his hands. “And I’m the best they’ve got.”
The plate with the leg of lamb landed on the table with a thud.
“Whoops, careful, hot plate,” said the waitress, as she quickly wiped up the bloodied juice that had splashed onto the table.
The smell of rosemary and charred fat filled the space between them, and Iris felt ill.
The excess of the food, the excess of his selfishness, all simmered in the searing truth that he was almost certainly right.
He would win. The game was rigged. Men like him would always win.
Jonathan leaned close again. “So that leaves you. What will happen to you if you go against me? You won’t work in New York again. Or LA. Or London, or Paris, or Dubai, because real estate is a small world, and nobody likes a rat. Or a slut.”
The last word confused her.
“In every negotiation, there’s a carrot and a stick. This is the stick.” Jonathan pulled out his iPhone. “Surveillance cameras are easily overlooked. I guess we both learned that the hard way.” He tapped the screen and handed her the phone. “Press Play.”
Iris took the phone, the screen was black save for a Play triangle, but she recognized the date as the day they arrived in the Hamptons.
The video had no sound, but she instantly recognized the outdoor shower at Jonathan’s Hamptons house, and her blood ran cold.
She watched as she and Gabe entered, giggling, looking over their shoulders.
Even once they were inside the shower stall, the angle of the camera gave them no cover.
Iris watched herself get undressed, her naked body exposed.
The footage showed every intimate act she and Gabe engaged in.
She even saw herself glance up, sickened to recall that she had fantasized about Jonathan at that very moment.
By the time the video had ended, her entire body was shaking.
Iris gritted her teeth. “You invited me to your house to film me?”
“No, but I have cameras everywhere. It’s not my fault you were blowing a guy outside my house in broad daylight.
The cameras also caught you kissing me on my beachfront.
And one of the hallway cameras caught you sneaking into the bathroom with Lindsay.
So all in all, it was a very busy weekend for you. ”
Iris felt like she couldn’t breathe.
“Again, as the father of a daughter, I hope no one else ever sees this footage. I wanted to earn your trust, Iris, but if you won’t let me, then I have no choice but to ensure it.
If this gets out, you will never work in this industry again.
But if you see the bigger picture, and you can put the greater good ahead of whatever combination of ego and na?veté is driving you to self-destruction, then all is forgiven.
I’ll know I can trust you as a member of the team. And you’ll never be alone again.”
Iris sat trembling, adrenaline coursing through a body that couldn’t move. She closed her eyes and tried to think straight. When she tried to think of herself, the shame was too searing to function. For now, she could only focus on someone else. “What about the Pattersons?”
“If you’re on my side, they can stay where they are now.”
“Their home has to be permanent, it has to be someplace that can’t be taken away. Give them the apartment, sell it to them for cheap or something, but Veronica has to own it.”
Jonathan stared at her, unblinking, but even his steady gaze couldn’t hide his surprise.
“You’re not really in a bargaining position, but you’ve got a soft heart, like me.
So I’ll do it, for you, as a show of good faith.
” He clapped his hands, startling her. “Sold! For one dollar. I’ll have my lawyer write up the contract, all right?
Does that mean you’ll stay in the Wolff pack? ”
Her mind was spinning but she couldn’t speak to answer.
“You know what? Don’t answer me now. Think it over. Your next move is very important. I want you to make a measured decision of your own accord.” Jonathan looked up past her head and beckoned for someone. “Esdras will take you home.”
Iris stood, pressing herself up from the table on legs that felt like lead.
Jonathan stood too, leaning in as if to kiss her cheek, and added, “But do not play with me, because it can get worse. Much worse.”
—
What happened after that was a blur. Iris was elsewhere, shut down, somewhere outside of herself.
Esdras was leading her out of the restaurant, but she couldn’t even feel his hand on her back.
She was numb. She felt like she was sleepwalking.
Her headspace was utterly at odds with the convivial spirit around her, she felt adrift, detached from herself and from the world.
She followed him with her head down like a child.
Her first step outdoors was into a cloud of cigarette smoke.
The smoker apologized, exhaling more through his nostrils like a dragon.
He waved his hand but only sent the cloud billowing around her.
Swirls of a familiar scent of a cigarette brand that Iris hadn’t smelled in decades—the sweet, toasted tobacco mixed with the acrid notes of burnt rubber, camphor, and ash—summoning the memory of a freckled hand rapping the blue box with an image of a Native American against the heel of his palm, that same smell clinging to his fingers…
Iris turned her head, squinting as the smoke stung her eyes, and she saw the bleary Christmas lights through the window behind her.
She stumbled, slamming her shin on the stair, the shock of pain bringing her into her body, and when Esdras’s rough hands lifted her up under her shoulders, it all came back.