Rotted Roots — Part 6: Family Reunions
“I’m here to see Ethan and Sarah Ryder.”
The receptionist on the fifty-second floor of the Ryder Building eyed the bruised and disheveled man in front of her, who winced as he leaned against her desk and placed his bandaged hand by the mail basket. “Name?”
“They’re expecting me.”
“Maria,” the intercom on her phone buzzed. “Let him through. He actually called ahead this time.” With some reluctance, the receptionist stood up.
“Follow me.”
They walked — Ryder limped — down a long hallway of glass walls. The higher floors of the building — above the twentieth — had been an expansion overseen by Ryder’s siblings after the death of their father. The lower floors retained the grandiose style of turn-of-the-century architecture, complete with resplendent murals on the ceilings. The higher levels were all glass and steel, an aberration growing from the foundation of the past. The two of them stopped by a large conference room.
“Right in there.”
“Thanks,” smiled Ryder through gritted teeth. The receptionist walked away. Ryder pushed the glass door open.
In the room was an enormous table carved into a triangular shape. One end narrowed to a side that barely matched the width of Ryder’s torso. At the other end, along a wide base that could easily fit five people along it, were two seats occupied by the heads of Ryder Industries.
“Max,” said Sarah, her pale hands interweaving in front of her chest. “It’s been too long.”
“Hello, Sarah. Hello, Ethan.”
The man to Sarah’s right was barely recognizable to Ryder. He had a pointed nose and thin lips that curled up unnaturally, like a lizard’s. His skin tone was even paler than it had originally been. Whichever doctor they had gotten for the plastic surgeries must have been the best. It was almost impossible to tell that the face looking back at Ryder hadn’t always belonged to his brother. Despite all of the changes though, the screaming blue eyes remained the same.
“It’s been too long, Max.”
“Don’t call me that.” Ryder took the creaky seat at the other end of the table, easing himself into it as his midsection whimpered.
“Should we call a doctor for you?”
“Nope. I’m fine.” He felt his knuckles split open again. The three siblings, inheritors of an empire, sat on opposite ends in silence.
“Did you hear about mother?” asked Sarah.
“I did. Guess her black heart couldn’t keep the sludge she called blood pumping in her body anymore.”
“That same sludge is inside you.”
“You know that’s not true, Sarah,” said Ethan with the artificial smile on his face. “He pumps so much alcohol into him it’s a miracle he’s still upright.”
“That’s true.” She clicked her tongue. “She was so broken after you changed your name. They were both so proud of Maximus.”
“That’s why I changed it.”
“You were the heir father always wanted,” she continued. Ryder’s body tensed up despite the pain. Mordecai Ryder had been the third child in his family. He had always said his third child would be the one to lead Ryder Industries upon his death. It was just too bad Ryder wanted no part of what his father had started. His siblings did though. “Such a shame the way you turned out.”
“I didn’t come here to talk about mom and dad.”
“Why did you come here?” asked Ethan.
“We were wondering that all this morning,” said Sarah. “Why, after so many months of silence between us, would Max reach out? He’s not working a case that’s jostling with our interests.”
“And what interests are those again?”
Ethan smiled. “Max. Please. This room is a faraday cage. No reception to the outside world. And with the scramblers we have installed, all technology is rendered useless.”
“We call it the Void,” smiled Sarah.
“I’m sure you’re both very proud of that.” Ryder straightened up against the table. “A few weeks ago you hired someone for your R&D division.”
“No we didn’t.”
“Don’t lie.”
“Max, we lie about almost everything. We’re not lying about this.” Ethan looked to his sister. “Have we had to hire anyone recently?”
“We did hire a few janitors not too long ago. Apparently our last ones got addicted to this new drug called Atlas — supposed to make you quite strong.”
“But also causes the heart to give out,” Ethan added. “The body can’t handle that much strain.”
“Fine, so they were janitors. Where are they?”
“What do you mean?”
“One of them is missing. A man. Goes by the name of Nigel Fleming.”
Ethan and Sarah continued to look at one another in perplexed curiosity. Ryder couldn’t tell if Ethan was smiling because he thought Ryder was joking with them or because his mouth could no longer frown.
“If we were missing a janitor, don’t you think we’d be bothered by the grime?”
“If you were, you’d wash your hands.”
“Are you sure we can’t get a doctor to come look at you?” cooed Sarah. “We’re worried you may have finally taken one too many hits to your head.”
“And it didn’t even knock any sense into you,” sniped Ethan. “A shame.”
Ryder stood up quickly. The blood rushed back to his head and made him woozy. He had to place his palms on the wood in front of him to steady himself. “I know he’s here. Where do you have him?”
“Max — “
“I said don’t call me that!”
“Don’t get testy with us, Ryder,” said Sarah. “We brought some of your friends to play in case you were feeling rambunctious.” She nodded to a point over Ryder’s shoulder. As he turned Ryder saw, through the glass wall to his right, three hulking security guards standing by the door. Three more were on the other end of the hall, where Ethan and Sarah had come from.
“We know they don’t keep you occupied that much, but we brought them along to try and keep you calm regardless.”
“Just answer my questions.”
“We have. We don’t know anyone by the name of Nigel Fleming. We haven’t hired anyone of importance in the past few weeks. And we know where all of our staff is at the present time.”
“Keeping tabs on them?”
“You can never be too careful when it comes to our secrets.”
Ethan rose from his seat. “I think we’re done here. We have more pressing concerns than your questions, Max.” The guards opened the door.
“I can leave on my own, thanks.” He walked towards the open door.
“Max,” said Sarah. There was sharpness to her voice. Ryder stopped. “You come here again without our permission and we’ll have you killed. And no one will question it.”
Ryder replied, “I went to her funeral. It was raining quite hard. Even bought myself a bottle of thirty year McKenna for it. Figured I’d celebrate in style.” He left before his brother and sister could reply.
The guards escorted him all the way to the exit. While Ryder rode down the elevator surrounded by huge men, he knew he had to visit someone else today. He hoped she had a good riddle to distract his mind from the latest mire he was in.
TO BE CONTINUED 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
