Page 83 of Backwoods
“Will we be able to leave now?” Raven asked. “People are getting restless. They want to try to go home.”
“Your mark is gone,” Amiya said. She touched Raven’s face, brushed back strands of her hair. “Not just faded. Completely gone.”
“Really?” Tears shone in Raven’s eyes. She looked at Nick for confirmation. “You think I could cross over the bridge?”
“Why don’t we give it a try?” Nick said. “This fire will be burning all night. I’ve got to tend to it for a while, but you all don’t need to stay here in the meantime. You can go home. Someone needs to tell the field hands, too. Everyone needs to go.”
“Let’s be sure we can get out first,” Ossie said.
Nick got behind the wheel of his granddad’s pickup truck. Amiya squeezed in beside him. Raven, Ossie, and several of the others either packed into the cabin or climbed into the truck’s empty flatbed.
The key wasn’t in the ignition. Nick remembered that his granddad usually kept one tucked underneath the sun visor. He flipped down the weathered flap.
He discovered two items: a set of keys and a business-size manila envelope with his name on the front, inscribed in his grandfather’s careful handwriting.
People were packed in the truck, hot, sweaty, and eager to go, but Nick couldn’t delay. He tore open the envelope.
“What is it?” Amiya peered over his shoulder.
“My grandfather’s will.” Nick skimmed the legalese in the vehicle’s dim interior light. His heart pounded. “All of the property, everything, he left to me.”
“I’m sorry, Nick,” Amiya said.
“Yeah, me, too.” Nick blinked away a tear. He started the truck’s engine. “Let’s get all of you folks on your way. I think you’ve waited long enough to go home.”
They crossed over the bridge together.
61
One week later . . .
Nick closed the door to the meeting room.
Omar and Shango sat at the square conference table. Shango’s bodyguard, Wanda, stood behind her boss, massaging her scarred knuckles.
Nick strolled to the head of the table, a laptop case dangling from his shoulder. His movements were slowed a bit by the bandage covering his burn wound. But he didn’t take a chair.
“Thank all of you for coming here to the company headquarters this morning, on short notice,” Nick said. “We’re here to discuss the future of Legacy Nutrition.”
A frown crinkled Shango’s features. Omar stared at Nick, mouth agape; he was Nick’s business partner, but Nick hadn’t given him any clue about the purpose of this meeting.
“I’ll get to the point,” Nick said. “I’m done with Legacy Nutrition. All my shares, all of my patented formulations, belong to you guys now. I’m not selling them. I’mgivingthem to you, no strings attached.”
“What the hell’s the matter with you?” Omar asked. “We’re partners, man. You can’t drop out like that.”
“We’re on the same page there, brother,” Shango said, nodding toward Omar. He straightened his jacket. “You’re a major piece of this empire we’re building. You don’t get to decide when you’re out. I decide.”
“You don’t.” Nick placed the laptop case on the table. “All of my formulations are on the laptop’s hard drive in this bag. If you need help with them, I’m sure you can find another chemist willing to work for you at the right price.”
“You, and him”—Shango pointed from Nick to Omar—“owe me a significant amount of money.”
“I don’t owe you anything. There’s a letter in this bag stipulating the cancellation of my ownership in the company. I’m done here, folks.”
Nick turned on his heel and strolled across the room. Shango made an angry gesture toward Wanda and the bodyguard moved to block Nick’s path.
Her lips twisted into a menacing snarl. She raised one hand into a clenched fist that could have shattered his jaw.
Nick only stared at her. For a long moment, their gazes were locked.
