Page 110 of Crocodile Tears

“No, he barely looked at them. He’s only interested in developing the Lytton Classic. It’s all more of the same for him.”

“Well, your vision is bold, and your father has no appetite for risk. He never did.”

“And like you said, you do…” Alex held his breath.

“Yes, but I think it’s only fair that the risk be shared, don’t you? I always think people work better when they have a little something at stake.” Tyler turned back towards him, stroking his jaw musingly.

“What did you have in mind, sir?”

“This: I’ll give you an initial investment to develop a full working prototype in one of my workshops. I’ll let you have my best people and tech, and you’ll have six months to complete it. You’ll lead the project, oversee the budget, and bring it in on time. I won’t share this project with any other investor, so if your intention was to pool a team of investors, then count me out; I want exclusive ownership – shared with you, of course.” He glanced at Alex sharply. “In six months’ time, if you can provide me with a viable AV that lives up to the promise of these designs, then I’ll pay you a handsome bonus and bring you into my company as a consultant to put it into production – we’ll take equal shares of the profits. However, if you can’t make your designs work, then we’ll call it quits – I’ll write off my investment, but retain the product and all the intellectual property.”

Alex stared at him uncertainly; this wasn’t what he’d anticipated. “I don’t know. I had thought we could go into a business partnership together, sir. That maybe if I set up a company then you could be a partner in it and invest in the designs that way,” he explained.

“You’d provide the designs while I stump up the money, and we’d build a new business together?” Tyler gave an amused grunt. “Sounds similar to what your grandfather and my father did after the Rising, only the other way around.”

“I hadn’t thought of it that way, but yes, I suppose so.”

“The difference is I already have a company – several, in fact – and I don’t want any more. This is my deal – take it or leave it.”

“Wouldn’t it be safer if you gave me a smaller investment, and I work up the concept in my spare time? Then you can decide whether to proceed from there?” Alex suggested.

“Safe? Is that how you want to play it?” Tyler snorted. “I’m disappointed in you. I thought you had more belief in your designs.”

“But I’d have to quit my job, turn my back on the family business, and if I can’t make it work then I’m left with nothing – and I’ll even lose my designs. Dad might not take me back.”

Tyler shrugged. “Like I said, it’s a risk for both of us. I stand to lose my investment, and you stand to lose your inheritance at Lytton AV. Listen…” He put his arm around Alex’s shoulder again and spoke to him in a low, rapid tone.

“I think you’re ready for this, but you’ve never known true hunger in your life. Everything has always been safe and comfortable for you. You’ve never taken risks – you’ve never had to. When your father offered me a job at Lytton AV all those years ago, I could have accepted. It was the safe option, the easy option. I had no money, no job, and no place to live, and he was offering me all those things. I turned him down, because I knew I had to be my own man. You’ll understand that because it’s how you feel, too. Tell him that. Tell him that you need to be who you are – you need to be this.” Tyler waved his hand at the designs.

Alex felt a wave of excitement. Tyler was right – this was who he was and what he wanted. He was tired of doing things his father’s way, of the grinding tedium of working at Lytton AV, and the feeling he was going nowhere.

However, he felt a pang of guilt when he thought of his father. Noah wouldn’t take his defection well, especially given it was George Tyler he was defecting to.

“You can be your own man, too, like me,” Tyler told him, squeezing his shoulder firmly. “But you have to make sacrifices, and you have to take risks, Alexander.”

“Alex.” He held out his hand, feeling reckless. “That’s what you should call me if we’re going to do business together.”

Tyler gave a delighted grin and gripped his hand, pumping it up and down.

“I’ll get the paperwork drawn up this afternoon. You know, I have a good feeling about this. A Lytton and a Tyler working together again,after all this time? It’s going to be bloody brilliant. We’ll make a great team, Alex.”

Chapter Nineteen

OCTOBER 2095

Josiah

Josiah dozed fitfully for a few hours, unable to relax knowing the IS was sleeping in his spare room. He usually slept in the nude but had worn a pair of boxer shorts and a tee-shirt to bed, because he didn’t like the idea of being naked with Alexander in the house.

He wasn’t used to the way his clothes felt under the duvet, and he hated how they scrunched up when he turned over.

He was tired – he hadn’t slept much the previous night, and while he could run on empty for a long time, he needed to be alert now the indie was living here. He couldn’t afford to make any mistakes.

He heard Alexander get up in the next-door room, walk the few paces to the en-suite, then silence. He rested his hand on the stun gun under his pillow. A few moments later, the toilet flushed and there were more footsteps as Alexander returned to bed. He relaxed and dozed off.

He was back in that street again, walking towards that red car, carrying those five cups of hot tea in their grey cardboard tray. He was humming happily, oblivious and unaware.

A scream rang out, blood splashed onto glass, and his arm jerked upwards. Five cups arced gracefully through the air as he started to run…

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