by Sarah Makela
Bernard toddled around the corner into the office. His face was red, and he shook his fists at Ian as the senator filled Ian in with what he could from the courtroom.
“You made me hang up on something important! You’ll pay for this.” Sparks of magic and power vibrated out from the gnome. “I’ll put pigeon droppings in your breakfast!” Bernard cursed a string of profanities, some in languages Ian didn’t know. Ian held his emotions in check and subtly stepped away. If he gave the gnome any fuel, Bernard would have deadly power over him. He placed a hand over his ear, pressing his other tighter against the phone, trying to pay attention to what the senator was saying. They knew someone in charge of the megacorporation was aware and involved in the corruption the company was known for, but they had no way of proving it yet.
“There are rumors about a side project. Something that would make the current fiasco seem like playground material. I don’t have details yet, but there’s a lot of money from the yearly budgets we cannot trace. Company meetings and trips without receipts, cargo requests of military grade equipment reported as lost in transit, and much more. There are people who have their signatures on documents they claim to have never seen or signed. Some people who haven’t worked for the company in years.”
“You’re kidding.” Ian couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He’d known his former employer was no good, but this... It was almost more than he could imagine.
The senator chuckled, but there was no humor in the sound. “What’s worse is money coming from sources they have marked as trade secrets, meetings around intellectual property and business licenses. MAX doesn’t provide licenses to the public, which makes it even more suspicious. When we try to question them about it, we get shut down about speculating on things not relative to the trial.”
“So, the executives are playing cloak and dagger games? Pushing the blame down and claiming they had no idea?” he asked.
“Exactly. And with MAX Home Security being such a large company with so much influence and power, other politicians are treading lightly, fearing the collapse of a global trillion-dollar company. ‘What’s a little corruption to spare ourselves another collapse?’ That’s the words going around. Anyway, the former president of the company is clearly outraged. With the company having been in his family, his children work there in various positions. The old man strongly believed his children should get no special treatment and needed to work their way up the chain, so to speak. One of them, Johann Li, reached out to my office to ask how he could help save the business from all this.”
Ian frowned. This had become more complicated than he ever dreamed. He knew there wasn’t a good side to MAX. They’d tried to kill him and Hannah, but what he really wanted to know was why Senator Kendall had called. Why share these details with him?
He had opened his mouth to say as much when he heard a door open. Hannah leaned against the doorframe leading to his bedroom, concern creasing her brows together. He held up a finger, then returned his focus to the senator, who was still talking.
Ian cleared his throat. “Excuse me for a moment, Senator, but what exactly is it you want me to do?”
Senator Kendall sighed. “I’m calling to warn you. You’ll be receiving a call soon. You’ll know what I meant then.” Without another word, there was a click, and then the dial tone beeped in Ian’s ear. He set the phone down, and once he did, Bernard screamed.
Looking down at the gnome, Ian frowned as Bernard let his temper tantrum go wild, rivaling any two-year-old. He grabbed his head and jumped around in frustration. “What did you DO?” He scrambled onto Ian’s chair and then reached for the phone, but Ian pushed it out of reach.
Frowning, Ian glanced over at Hannah. Her full lips were pursed.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“Looks like we’re getting another case, but...”
Bernard sighed with relief as he climbed onto the desk. His small hand reached for the phone. It rang almost on cue. Ian grabbed the back of Bernard’s lederhosen as he picked up the phone. Bernard screeched again, loud and long.
A headache formed behind Ian’s right eye at the sound. “Hello?” Ian shook Bernard and shot him a look. If he didn’t stop soon...
“Mr. Bradley, did I catch you at a bad time?” The man’s voice was vaguely familiar, but he couldn’t place it. Where had he heard it before?
Ian set Bernard on the floor, knowing he needed to pay attention. The gnome grabbed his leg and sank his teeth into Ian’s calf. Stars flashed before his eyes at the onslaught of pain. Tossing out his hand, Ian threw thin, charged wires that roped Bernard’s hands and ankles, hogtying him.
“What is this about?” Ian said, managing to keep his words from sounding too gritted and hostile. Bernard knew how to bring out the worst in him. He was curious about this, and he didn’t want to make a bad first impression.
“This is your business line, correct? Wouldn’t that signal my intent to hire you? My name is Johann Li. I’m from MAX Home Security, the leader in security. You’ve probably already heard of me.” He chuckled, arrogance and cockiness saturating his words.
That’s where he knew the voice. Damn it. If only Kendall had been clearer in his warning. “Yes, I was informed you might be interested. Frankly, there’s a conflict of interest here. After what we have experienced with MAX Home Security—”
“Excuse me, but I don’t see this conflict of interest. You have been instrumental in tearing down the corrupted section of this wonderful company. What my father helped build over the decades is more than a public front for thugs and criminal behavior.” Ian had known about the fanaticism in the upper echelons, but he hadn’t heard it for himself until now. “I want you to continue what you’ve done so far. Take your moral high horse, so I’ll simply let you ride it. Expose the idiots who think they can take advantage of this company. Find those responsible for this fiasco, and I’ll be more than grateful. My family deserves a purification of the company,” Johann said, practiced passion evident in his voice.
Wariness settled over Ian. Dealing with MAX Home Security again and, even worse, helping them out was not what he wanted. He didn’t want to publicly associate with a corporation that had been responsible for the deaths of good people standing up to MAX’s corruption. He didn’t care what this guy said. He knew there had to be more going on than met the eye.
He’d worked for them and knew what they were capable of. The last thing he wanted was for his magic to be discovered. Maybe this was all a ploy. He wasn’t sure, but he didn’t want to get trapped in a tight situation.
“Mr. Bradley?” Johann’s suave voice broke into his thoughts. “What is your answer?”
“I’m afraid we won’t be interested.” Hannah’s eyes went wide, and she opened her mouth to say something. He held up his hand. They weren’t going to take this. “If you need the name of someone else who would be qualified to...” The dial tone broke the silence from the other end of the line.
Johann obviously hadn’t liked his answer.
Blacklist Rogue © 2012, 2015 Sarah Mäkelä. All rights reserved.
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Savage Bytes © 2011, 2015 Sarah Mäkelä
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, business establishments, or people, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed by any means, electronic, mechanical, or otherwise, without expressed written permission from the author.
Editor: Katriena Knights
Cover Artist: Truenotdreams Design
ISBN-10: 1942873905
ISBN-13: 978-1-942873-90-7
