Page 52 of Wired Fear

Terence set his cup down on the table. “I hope you will support me in taking the company in a different direction. There’s a board meeting in an hour.”

“And how glad I am that I wasn’t at that last meeting,” Grace said.

Terence closed his mouth on the impulse to apologize.

He’d killed one of her sons, his wife, one of her grandsons and a niece—and this morning they’d had the news of Akane’s death, too. She had no more living family from that son. How could he ever apologize?

“It didn’t have to go down that way,” Terence said instead.

“I agree with you about that.” Grace set down her cup, but her age-spotted hands still held it tightly as if seeking warmth. “You surprised all of us that day, Terence, by showing that you have what it takes to lead. However, I want you to know…you won’t be leading this family alone.” She reached in the capacious pocket of her hibiscus-patterned muumuu and withdrew a cell phone. She tapped the screen and held the phone up for Terence to see.

An oddly angled video began to play, and Terence jerked in shock as he recognized himself, seated at the head of the plastic-covered conference table.Someone had videoed the whole massacre!Emma was supposed to have collected all the cell phones, but clearly one had been missed.

Aunty Grace turned the video off when it reached the point where Terence drew his pistol. “You’ll forgive me if I don’t play the section where you murder my family. I’ve already seen it too many times.”

Terence blew out a shaky breath. “I’m truly sorry, Aunty Grace.” If it made him weak to apologize, if it made her angrier to hear his feeble words—there was nothing more to lose, at this point.She had a video of him committing murder!

“I’ve had long enough to think about this situation from all angles. To consider your track record, and to think about how you set up that meeting and what you did there. I concluded that you did what you did because you could not see Akane take the lead in the family. Sad as it is for me to admit, you are not the only one who knew that Akane’s leadership would ultimately be the end of us, and my son would always have backed him. If you hadn’t taken steps, I would have.” Grace set the phone down. “I accept that you didn’t want to kill my son and his family. That you took no pleasure in it. That you may not want to lead Chang Enterprises, even now—but that you are the best person to do so. I accept all of that.” She raised her eyes to meet his, and they were so dark he couldn’t see a pupil in their obsidian depths. “But hear this, nephew. I accept, but I will never forget. This video is stored in the Cloud and will be sent to the police if you ever cross me. I will be your silent partner in every major Chang Enterprises decision going forward.” She took a sip of tea, and her hands were perfectly steady. “Do we understand each other?”

“We do.” Terence picked up his teacup and lifted it in toast, hoping that his hand didn’t shake either. “I will benefit greatly from your wisdom, Aunty.”

Terence lookedaround the long koa table in the conference room at the downtown warehouse of Chang Enterprises, Inc. All of the remaining family members had gathered for the first board meeting since his hostile takeover.

“I don’t see any plastic on the floor,” his cousin Leo Chang said. “That’s the only reason I came all the way into the room.” A nervous titter from the rest of the group met this sally.

“Those ugly days are behind us,” Terence said. “I hope everyone is with me, going forward, now that we’ve cleared out the negative elements.”

“And you’re not the negative element?” Penny Chang, his PR manager cousin, was a known Akane sympathizer. “You seem like one to me, what with the mass murder of family members and all.”

Another edgy titter. Emma, stationed by the exit, picked up a shotgun leaning against the wall and racked it with a harsh sound. She’d been elected peacekeeper for the day and was dressed like a dominatrix in black leather and high-heeled boots.

“I never wanted things to go down the way they did,” Terence said. “But you all know what Akane was. The transition after Byron has been rough, but believe me when I tell you, I am the lesser of two evils.”

“And if that was all you were, Terence…” Aunty Grace spoke up. “But I think you are much more than the lesser of evils.”

There were several ways that statement could be interpreted.

Terence held his breath. His hand slid down and his fingers curled around the grip of a pistol taped to the table’s underside. He’d walked in with the rest of the family and ostentatiously surrendered his phone and weapons, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t taken out some insurance beforehand.

“You are much more than a lesser choice of any kind. You are smart, college-educated, and a successful businessman in your own right. You are what we need to take this company and this family out of the shadows, the back alleys, the corner drug deals—and bring us into the light.” Grace looked around the table, her dark eyes boring into each person. “I look forward to a day when the Changs not only own the Big Island, we run it—from legitimate positions of power as elected county officials, on advisory boards, and as majority shareholders in growing businesses. I look forward to a day when we can stop hiding, ashamed that we run gambling and whores and make meth. We’re better than that! And with Terence leading us, we can do more and be more.” She took a sip of water. “No one lost more than I did at that last board meeting. And if I can get past the death of my son and his family to see the bigger picture, you can too. Besides, I’ll be right beside Terence, making sure he does this right.” Aunty Grace smacked a hand down on the table emphatically, and everyone jumped.

A loud murmur that definitely had a positive tone filled the room as the family processed this.

Terence inclined his head to Grace. “I will do all that I can to earn your confidence. Now, if each of you will direct your attention to the agenda? It’s been updated since our last meeting, and we have a number of items to go over.”

Aunty Grace’s clout had steamrolled the last of the resistance. Terence and the family got down to new business.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Sophie woke to the hairy warmth and rumbling snores of Ginger and Tank, taking up half of the bed. She rolled over to look out through the sliding glass doors at dawn coming up across the smooth glass of early morning Hilo Bay. Birds were waking in the banyan tree outside, and the last of the coqui frog chorus was dying down as morning lit the sky. She pillowed her cheek on her hands, gratitude and well-being filling her.

She was sleeping without blackout drapes. The depression was better, at least temporarily. And she was going to have a baby, a child of her own to love.

She’d returned late in the evening yesterday from her appointment with Dr. Wilson to find the dogs in her apartment, and a note from Jake:“Took them out for a walk and they’ve been fed. Please call me as soon as you’re ready to talk.”

Sophie had already decided that she wasn’t going to be ready to talk until she knew the baby’s paternity; whatever conclusion they might come to before that might be changed by that news.

Maybe it was time to call the clinic instead of just waiting for an email.

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