Chapter 15
Colin lay in his bed, listening to Sojourn House’s quiet night sounds.
Somewhere above a toilet flushed. From the bedroom next to his, the child murmured in his sleep.
The floor creaked softly. Wind rustled the trees outside his window.
Colin felt as though he was hearing it all for the first time.
As though he had left for the dinner one person and came back another.
So much had happened. If someone had asked him earlier, he would have said nothing could top the experience he had known at the dinner table, revealing the secrets he had prepared over a hundred hard and lonely days.
And yet here he was, the words spoken in the car outside the academy’s entrance echoing through his dark room.
There was no room left over for anything else.
Through losing a twin, Mira had been brought to the same hollow experience that shaped him.
Despite the love her adopted family showed, despite everything.
The bond he had sensed that very first moment, when she had sat down beside him at the pool, the feeling so strong it seemed as though he had known her for years and years.
It all had a reason now. The logic that Colin normally prized as the paramount element in his world, it meant nothing in the face of this incredible fact.
Colin assumed he was too excited to sleep, too filled with a day crammed with incredible events. But it felt as though one moment he breathed in, and the next, the sun shone through his window.
Then he realized someone was knocking at his door. “Just a moment!”
He picked up the previous night’s shirt and trousers from his floor, pulled them on, fumbled with the buttons, then opened the door. Mrs. Fitzgerald stood in the doorway, tall and formidable. “You have a telephone call.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
She did not move. “It is almost nine o’clock, Mr. Eames. Is this the sort of behavior I am to expect from you?”
He dry scrubbed his face. “I don’t understand. Nine o’clock?”
She inspected him a moment longer, then wheeled about. “My office, sir. The instant your call is complete.”
An hour and a half later, Ethan pulled into the academy forecourt. Mira was seated up front. Ethan used the electric controls to slide open the rear door and greeted Colin with, “Did we get you in trouble, making you miss school?”
He climbed in, set his backpack holding the laptop on the floor by his feet, and was still looking for the door’s controls when it slid shut. “I start classes at UNCW next week. Everything is changing.”
“You can say that again. Hi, Colin.”
“Hi.”
“Did you sleep okay?”
“Until nine. I don’t think I’ve ever done that before.”
“Not me, baby. I could sleep all day.”
“Mira is our Energizer Bunny. She goes and goes, then collapses.”
Colin asked, “Don’t you have school?”
“Spring break. And no guard duty until three.” She reached back and poked his leg. “You cost me a sleep-in.”
“Ow.”
“I’ll give you ow.” She poked him again.
“Stop, Mira. No bruising the boy genius.”
And just like that, it was another easy day. They might be heading into a meeting that would decide his fate for years to come. But in that moment, it was Mira and her father and him. Together.
They drove downtown and entered the Murchinson Building’s parking garage.
Mira acted like a female balloon, bouncing about with them for an instant and then dancing away and then bouncing back again.
They took the parking elevator to the lobby, signed in, and took another elevator to the ninth floor.
Roland stood just inside the glass doors fronting the elevator lobby.
He shut his phone and smiled as he pushed the door open. “How’s my special girl?”
“Excited.”
“That makes two of us. Good morning, Colin. Ready for round two?”
They entered the nicest conference room Colin had ever seen.
One wall was floor-to-ceiling glass and overlooked the Cape Fear River.
Another was lined with bookshelves holding hundreds of books.
Half had two-tone leather bindings with gold lettering.
The others were a deep rich blue. Roland watched Colin walk over and trace his finger down the ribbed back of one.
“North Carolina statutes and case law. Federal is to your right. Are you interested in the law, Colin?”
“No.” He liked how Roland spoke the word. With weight and respect. The law. “But I love books.”
“Do you have a photographic memory?”
“Not exactly.”
“Were you tested?”
“Yes. I made mistakes.”
Roland told the others, “The proper term is eidetic. The tests are said to be awful. Right, Colin?”
“They were okay, I guess.” Colin pulled down a book at random. He loved the heft, the onionskin pages, the dense text.
“The subject is given a sheet of paper with computer-generated dots. The page is taken away, and a second sheet is given. How long were you allowed to study each, Colin?”
“Twenty seconds.”
“Then the subject is given a third sheet, this one blank. And told to list all the dots that were in the first page but not the second. In their proper places.”
Mira asked, “How do you know about this?”
“Eidetic is often connected to serious development problems. It’s been an issue in a couple of cases. And here comes Aaron.”
Colin fit the book back into place as a small man entered.
He was a head shorter than Mira and very skinny.
But from that very first instant, Colin discounted the man’s size.
He carried a quiet intensity with him, a focus as tight as a laser.
He shook Ethan’s hand, smiled at Mira, then looked at Colin and said, “This young man must be the purpose for our gathering.”
“None other.” Roland said to Colin, “Aaron handles all our clients within the entertainment industry.”
Aaron gestured to the chairs. “Why don’t we all find seats and let this young man explain what has everyone so excited.”
Colin talked for ninety-seven minutes straight.
At some point they brought him a water, which he drank, and then someone filled his glass, and he drank that also.
Describing the same concept, answering many of the same questions, did not change his feeling of being supercharged with the exposure of his dreams. And the pressure.
All they knew of course was the opportunity’s timeline. But that was enough.
Aaron asked far more probing questions. He insisted on seeing Colin’s algorithms and then ordered him to do a step-by-step overview of how his fake investments had worked.
Colin thought he had entered the meeting fully prepared, but Aaron’s questions had him searching files and restructuring things from memory.
Then he had to show how he had broken into the chat rooms, and where the current project’s rumors had first surfaced, then how they reached crescendo.
All the while, Aaron tracked the timeline of his fake acquisitions on Colin’s computer.
The only time he moved was to strip off his suit jacket and loosen his tie.
He was the stillest man Colin had ever met.
Finally, the diminutive attorney said, “All right, I’ve seen enough.”
Roland demanded, “Is this for real?”
“I can’t follow the math. Which actually is somewhat reassuring. But the pattern of trends he has outlined is nothing short of astonishing.”
Mira bounced in her chair. “This is just so totally wild.”
Ethan said, “You guys left me in your dust about an hour ago. And I’m thrilled to bits.”
Roland said, “So we are agreed? Aaron?”
“I’m in. Definitely.”
“Ethan?”
“Green light.”
Roland turned to Colin. Somber and official. And yet clearly pleased. “Here’s what we propose. We establish a limited partnership. We supply you with the capital. You instruct us on the investments. In return, you receive twenty percent of all profits.”
“Which is more than fair,” Aaron offered. “On the high side of the going rate. The financial risk is all ours.”
Colin looked from one to the other. “Capital?”
Aaron was the one to ask, “How many other potential investments have you targeted?”
“One more that might develop in a month or so. I’m watching six others. But ten thousand dollars, that can’t be spread on so many longs.”
“Hold on to your hat,” Mira said, bouncing again.
“We are going to make an initial investment of ninety-six thousand dollars,” Aaron said. “Thirty from each of us, and …”
“Three from me and three from Lucas,” Mira said.
Ethan said, “You sure about this?”
“Absolutely, Daddy. No way you’re doing this without us.” She smiled across the table. “Anybody got a feather? We could knock Colin into next week.”
Aaron went on, “We serve as legal conduits for several clients who do offshore investments. My aide’s name is Lucretia Vaughan. She’ll set up your accounts and handle the trades. Roland …”
“I’ll handle it.” To Colin, “There are some hoops we’ll need to jump through before we can form the LLC. I suppose someone at the academy serves as your legal guardian—”
“No.” He said it overloud. “Nobody there can know.”
There was a moment’s silence; then Ethan asked, “Why not, Colin?”
“It’s complicated. But this has to remain secret.”
Aaron looked at his partner. “Roland?”
The family lawyer studied the table in front of him for a long moment. Despite the silence, Colin found his sudden flame of fear subsiding. They were treating him as one of them. What he said mattered.
Roland looked up. “I can work this out.”
“Then it’s settled.” Aaron rose from the table. “Sorry, I’m late for my lunch.”
Colin asked, “When can I start?”
“The funds will be available to you this afternoon,” Roland said.
“We don’t need to wait for the paperwork,” Aaron said. “Your timing issue is clear enough.” He offered Colin his hand. “Young man, this has been remarkable. I look forward to hearing good news.”