Rotted Roots — Part 12: Adverse Parties
No one moved. Each breath was like sawing through steel tension with a handsaw. Only Ryder, adjusting his sleeves, seemed calm inside the Void.
“Why don’t you sit down so we can talk,” Ryder said to Freya. She looked between Servaes and Ryder before slowly returning to her seat. Servaes did not lower his gun.
“What can we help you with, Max?” asked Ethan.
“We’re somewhat busy,” Sarah noted.
“I don’t see why,” Freya said, her coolness starting to return to her posturing. “It’s just a matter of time before I own a majority share of your company.”
“Is it?” Ryder asked. Freya turned.
“Their company is in free-fall. My company has been buying up properties under their umbrella for months.”
“Including Vandalay Shipping?”
Freya cocked her head and smirked. “Yes, even including a tiny shipping company your brother and sister have a stake in.”
“That’s funny,” said Ryder. “Because Vandalay Shipping was just bought this morning by a representative from the Doyle Firm.”
“That’s not a surprise. Investors ride stocks and try to turn a profit all the time. So who was it that bought the business?”
“Me.”
“Why would you want it?” asked Freya. “You already get a share of the profits Ryder Industries makes.”
“That’s true. But I gave up any rights I had to being a member of the board when I cut ties. I had no say in company business. All I got beforehand was a few hundred thousand a year. Which, incidentally, I spent most of to buy Vandalay.”
“What does this all mean?” asked Servaes, who still hadn’t moved.
“It means that Miss Ironside’s hostile takeover is kaput.”
“You’re wrong about that.”
“Check the figures on your fancy watch there.”
Freya started pressing buttons and scrolling through things on her screen.
“You too, Ethan. Use that phone she gave you.”
Ethan checked as well. His smile grew larger as Freya’s morphed.
“Right now, Miss Ironside, you — or, at least, WorldTree Technologies — own forty-eight percent of my family’s company. My siblings, who still are in charge of Ryder Industries as it’s currently — and tenuously — assembled, own forty-eight percent. And I, the new owner of Vandalay Shipping, that tiny little company you scoffed at a few minutes ago, own two percent. Add it all up, and as of right now the four of us are the new owners.”
Freya, hand shaking almost imperceptibly, closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. When she removed her hand, she was smiling. “Well, it’s better than being on the outside looking in.”
“Seems like you may have a conflict of interest,” Sarah pointed out. “Being on the board of two major international corporations.”
“Do you think I would have done all of this only to have the government come down on me for something like that?” asked Freya. There was a sore nerve in her voice. “Our companies don’t cross over into the same sectors. I’m safe.”
“Your man isn’t,” said Servaes. Ellis turned and pointed his own gun at Way, who was still eating silently next to Freya.
“Are we really going to keep up with this?” She rolled her eyes. “You have nothing. From what my friends in the state department told me, all the security cameras in the city were knocked out by the electromagnetic pulses emitted by the bombs.”
“Handy you should know that.”
“I have friends everywhere. I know just as much as you do. And what I know is that there hasn’t been any evidence to link my bodyguard — “
“He’s your bodyguard now. I thought he was just another employee?”
“To the crime. So please lower your weapons and leave him be.”
“Ryder?” Servaes was standing behind Ryder’s seat. Some of the other agents had begun to turn their weapons on Way. He remained passive in his seat. “Tell her. We saw him. We fought him.”
Ryder looked at Freya. Her gaze met his. There was something in her eyes that Ryder didn’t like. Curiosity. Anticipation. Excitement. Everyone remained as they were.
“Let him go.”
“What?” Servaes was incredulous. His shoulders stiffened as he focused his aim back on Way.
“There’s more going on here than I think any of us know.” Ryder leaned forward. “Getting a stake in Ryder industries is just the start of what she wants. And something tells me we take Way down, she gets exactly what she wants.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Something tells me she’s the kind of person who would sacrifice a queen to get a checkmate.”
“I was always more of a Chinese checkers kind of person myself,” Freya quipped. “Having to see all the spheres on the board line up in order to make a major move was more interesting than pushing a few plastic pieces around.”
Servaes refused to lower his weapon. “I’m not letting him walk out of this room.”
“You’re going to have to,” said Ryder. He spun his seat around and looked up at Servaes. “You kill him, she takes the advantage. She’s got us nearly lined up now. Don’t give her the path to her endgame.”
Way was now looking at Servaes. The stocky villain raised his eyebrow, as if goading him into trying. His palms were on the glass table. His breathing was controlled.
Servaes’ knuckles were white and his hand ached with tension.
“You do it and you’re no good to anyone going forward,” Ryder said, a tremor in his own voice. Servaes gripped his hand and exhaled. “You’re no good to Saturday.”
Servaes lowered his gun. Ellis and the others slowly followed suit. Everyone began to relax. Sarah patted Ethan’s hand, his index finger coming to a rest — it had been nervously tapping during the standoff. Freya flashed her toothy, unnatural smile. Way winked at Servaes.
Freya clapped her hands. “Fantastic. We’re all still alive. Now if Mister Ryder’s guests can vacate the premises, I believe we should commence our first board meeting. Ethan, Sarah, if you could have your guards wait outside, I’ll have Mister Way do the same.”
Servaes stormed towards the exit. Ryder grabbed his arm as he was about to leave. “Meet me back at my office later,” he whispered.
“Why should I?” hissed Servaes.
“So we can figure out how to get them both.” Servaes looked over Ryder’s shoulder at the woman who had orchestrated the madness of the past several weeks. She seemed calm and determined despite almost witnessing a murder in front of her. She continued to check her smart watch as their security filed out. Way watched them both talking as he exited through the far door.
“Fine. Just don’t take all the fun from me.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it.”
Servaes walked out beside Ellis, the two of them whispering between one another. Way stood by one exit, his hands folded in front of him stiffly. Ethan and Sarah’s men stood by the other door. Ryder returned to his seat in between the figureheads of two major conglomerates. The four figures of power took in their new dynamic.
“So,” said Freya. “Let’s get started.”
TO BE CONCLUDED NEXT WEEK…
Part 2: https://medium.com/the-assortment/rotted-roots-part-2-a-meeting-is-set-1c879ad163ee#.m5ejkesx1
Part 3: https://medium.com/the-assortment/rotted-roots-part-3-contact-is-lost-3a684d5ce7c9#.ooxxuts1f
Part 5: https://medium.com/the-assortment/rotted-roots-part-5-blood-and-bruises-6c28eb9dd94b
Part 6: https://medium.com/the-assortment/rotted-roots-part-6-family-reunions-f029c00e8b66
Part 7: https://medium.com/the-assortment/rotted-roots-part-7-the-fallout-from-addictions-473b4ecefefb
Part 8: https://medium.com/the-assortment/rotted-roots-part-8-jump-ball-ac5af15e8915
Part 9: https://medium.com/the-assortment/rotted-roots-part-9-where-theres-a-will-427d6a8d07fe
Part 10: https://medium.com/the-assortment/rotted-roots-part-10-the-calm-before-9ae58356ab48
Part 11: https://medium.com/the-assortment/rotted-roots-part-11-screaming-into-the-void-c8ffcd456eb
