“What’s the decision?” I asked.
“When Larry found out the truth, he was devastated. He swore he would correct it. And in a sense, he tried. But we weren’t interested in corrections. I gave him three options. Be part of our campaign, give up the entire company, or die in retribution for his father’s crimes.”
“Which did he choose?”
“He couldn’t. He dallied.”
“Is that why you killed him?” I asked Voltaire.
He did not flinch from my gaze. “Yes,” he replied. “He could not give up the factory, nor could he join us as he couldn’t bear having so much blood on his hands. In the end, he was his father’s son. Are you your brother’s keeper?”
“I don’t know what you mean by that.”
“You’re the owner of Chao Toufa. You understand what we were subjected to. Join our cause.”
“How?”
“Do you like my sister, Beauvoir?”
Beauvoir looked at me. “Of course,” I answered. “I owe her my life.”
“Marry her then. Join my family. Run Chao Toufa with her by your side,” Voltaire said.
“What? D-does she agree? I mean, she’s much younger than me. Shouldn’t she marry someone she loves?”
“She’s taken a liking to you,” Voltaire said.
I looked to Beauvoir who said, “Come stay with us in Kauai. You’re going to love it there.”
“Do you object?” Voltaire asked.
“Of course I don’t object,” I answered.
“Then it’s settled.”
“Wait a second,” I stopped him. “I married once. And I failed. I think too highly of her to subject her to me.”
Voltaire laughed. “If she can deal with any of us, I’m sure she can deal with you. You two will live a life of comfort. Make no mistake as I want to be transparent in this. I will run the day-to-day business of Chao Toufa. But as long as that is amenable to you—”
“I don’t fear death, but you mentioned the middle option of giving up the company,” I said.
“Sell all the assets and give it to a charity of my designation.”
“Just to be clear, that charity will fund your future operations?”
“Exactly.”
Larry was given these exact same options, but he couldn’t choose. Voltaire was right. Larry could not abandon his father’s legacy, but he couldn’t accept it either. Who could in their right mind? But if he were to join Voltaire, he would have been part of more murder which would have been against who he was.
“When you came for Larry, did he fight you?” I asked Voltaire.
“No,” he said. “He accepted it.” I could see it in my head, a million thoughts warring inside him. All this time, I thought I knew Larry, but I hadn’t really known anything. “I warned him earlier.”
“With the bombings?”
Voltaire stared grimly at me. “It’s a cycle. Nobody ever leaves except through death.”
“The cycle can be broken,” I said.
“Nobody breaks it. No one can let go.”
I thought of Linda, our whole marriage poisoned by my past. Then I looked at Beauvoir. Living a life of decadent luxury seemed beyond a fantasy.
“Voltaire!” one of his brothers shouted. “Voltaire! The news!”
“What about it?”
“Turn it on.”
There was a television in the lobby. A woman in a bikini was saying, “—am one of the producers for the show and our network was hijacked by a cyber terrorist group during our broadcast of the GEAs that simulated the murders. We’re here to assure our fans that what you saw was just a fake. All the actors and actresses are still alive, though there were some explosives that went off. Fortunately, no one was harmed and the police were able to capture several of the perpetrators. In fact, we have Mr. James Leyton here with us to assure his fans.”
An exact duplicate of James Leyton came on screen and I could not tell him apart from the real one with his beard and robe. “As you can see, I am fine. I appreciate all the letters and messages of concern. The cyber terrorists who thought they could fake my death are in for a surprise. We will not be scared. We will not be terrorized by threats. We will find you and shower Godly vengeance down on your heads.”
As Leyton went on, commentators speculated that this had all been part of a publicity stunt to promote Leyton’s new book, Resurrected. Voltaire pursed his lips. “They just don’t get it.”
“H-how?”
“Image facilitation,” Voltaire replied. “People won’t even be able to tell the difference.”
“But—”
He lifted his hand to me. “This is my concern to take care of. Is your decision settled?”
I looked back at Beauvoir and the memory of the lust that consumed me during my cricket attack came back to me. I would have loved to have held her in my arms and lose myself in her. At the same time, I thought about Larry.
“I’ll sell all the assets and donate them to your charity,” I said.
Voltaire, who was about to leave, stopped. “You can’t be serious.”
“I am. Though I have two conditions.”
“What conditions?”
“I want Larry to have a proper funeral.”
“The dead don’t care about funeral rites,” Voltaire said.
“I do.”
He glowered at me. “What’s the second?”
“Rebecca Lian used to work here. Leave her alone.”
“You care about this Rebecca enough to refuse me?”
“I’ve never seen a more beautiful woman than your sister in my life,” I said truthfully and looked to her, then back at Voltaire. “But you killed Larry. Larry was the only family I had. And to put it bluntly, I would rather die than join you.”
Voltaire grunted, clearly irritated. He assessed me with his eyes, his fingers rolling his chopsticks between them. He was deciding whether he should kill me or let me go. I was ready for anything. I would have accepted anything. “I can’t fault you for that. I’ll have Russ Brand draw up the papers. We’ll need your signature.”
“Of course.”
We got into the limousine while Voltaire made some calls. We headed down through the hills. On the freeway, traffic was in full force and everything was at a standstill. It might as well have been a car lot as there were thousands of cars going nowhere. The projectors turned on and formed a visual image of Russ. Next to him was Plath.
“All the papers are ready,” Russ said as the screen flashed with a digital contract that I could confirm with my fingerprints. There were bruises all over his face. “You sure about this?” he asked.
I nodded. It started raining outside. I saw the naked joggers again, protesting the madness of L.A. gun fire, risking death and worse. For what? I didn’t know.
“Nick. Think about this again,” Russ pleaded. “If you join Voltaire, you can live a wealthy life. You’ll have a beautiful wife and live a life of luxury, never wanting for anything. Kauai is beautiful year-round. Believe me, you’ll experience things you’ve never even—“”
I took off my shoes and my pants.
“What are you doing?” Russ asked, terrified that if I sold everything off, he’d have no company to run anymore.
I slipped my shirt off, unloosened the chest plate of my armor, and removed the helmet.
“Have you lost your mind?” Russ asked.
I went to Beauvoir, kissed her hand. I was about to say something to Voltaire, but stopped, realizing there was no point as he was engrossed in planning his retaliation.
I dropped my underpants. Put my fingers on the scan, approving the complete liquidation of the company. Opened the door. The rain was coming down heavy and traffic was an automobile quagmire. The herd of naked Americans was halfway by, banging cars as they passed. I got out and ran next to them, completely nude. It was the first time in my life I felt free.