by James Hudson
George made it up to the 44th floor. He assumed that Jason would probably fly into the building about somewhere. George sat on the window sill. The sky was grey and gloomy. Thunderclouds were slowly moving toward the City of London. Something terrible was about to happen.
George pulled out the cell phone that Dan Coleman had given him an hour ago. He hesitated. He had a choice to call the police, ask to evacuate people from the skyscraper, send armed forces to Walter Schmidt, rescue his family. But George wanted to believe that everything will be fine without revealing the scandal. And George pressed ‘Call Walter Schmidt.’ He had a lot of questions he had to clear up.
“Hello!”
“It’s me, George Hartley.”
“Wow!” Walter Schmidt exclaimed. “I’m kind of busy right now. I’m counting the money your girl delivered me.”
“And then?”
“According to the plan, the jet is taking off in half an hour. By the way, should I show the money to your family? You sold them for 100 grand.”
“I don’t care,” George twitched.
“I’ve always admired you, Hartley,” Walter Schmidt grinned. “But this is too crazy even for me. 50 grand for your wife’s head? And another 50 thousand for your son’s life?”
“Shut up!” George barked.
“What?” Walter Schmidt became cheerful. “I bet to sell your family as slaves would be more profitable. You gave me 100 grand. Do you expect ten or twenty percent profit? If you make 150 grand in total, that’ll be good. But you son’s heart costs one million—”
“Shut the fuck up!” George roared.
“Ha, ha! Oh… your girl has just left my office.”
“Left?” George was stunned.
“Yeah. The jet is getting off in fifteen minutes. Actually, I’m gonna short the stock market right now—”
“Wait! I wanted that girl to see my family!” George cried out.
“What?” Walter Schmidt laughed. “Why?”
“Didn’t she tell you? To take the last picture!”
“Ha, ha, ha! What for? I wouldn’t let her approach the jet anyway. I know you, Hartley. You’re a cunning son of a bitch!”
George couldn’t believe what he heard. Where’s Sarah? She couldn’t just leave the place without attempting to get closer to the jet.
“Oh, man!” Walter Schmidt exclaimed. “You’ve deceived me again! Forgery! You delivered me counterfeit cash!”
“Can’t be true!” George barked. “You’re lying!”
“No, man. The bank refused to accept the notes! Maybe you should call your girl and ask her. Actually, I thought I could use your money to have more leverage… So, this is disappointing—”
“I’ll call you back!”
“Well, I won’t postpone the flight,” Walter Schmidt grinned.
George hung up and immediately called Sarah. But her cell phone was switched off. At the moment, Dan Coleman called him.
“Yeah! What’s up?” George shouted.
“Sarah’s just called me,” Dan Coleman said sadly. “She’s at the airport. I can’t find the words to say… This bitch is leaving the country! She betrayed us. She brought Walter Schmidt counterfeit money. The real money is in her pocket.”
“And she… failed to see Jason?”
“Even worse, George. She didn’t sleep with Jason. She lied about the note on the table. She didn’t even visit his place! Jason told her that he had to get up early, and she… she’s gone! He didn’t give up the idea of suicide.”
“So… she sold my family… for 100 grand?” George asked quietly. “And she’d been telling that she loved me just to steal 100 grand?”
“I don’t know, George,” Dan Coleman said dispiritedly. “She’d failed so many times before. I think that she’s just afraid for her life. She probably thinks that we won’t forgive her this time.”
“Now what… Wait?”
“Yeah… It’s over,” Dan Coleman said.
“Can’t you send your armed guys to stop him?”
“George, do you really want to save them? I bet you’d never venture their lives if you really loved them. You would make a desperate decision, go there unarmed and choke Walter Schmidt to death. But your wife and son are like hamsters for you... You care about your own life.”
George sighed. “Well, I’ve never seen them. I mean, I don’t remember them at all. They are strangers to me. And I’m gonna save them as strangers. Sometimes, I doubt that my family actually exists. Are they not your agents, Coleman?”
“No, George,” Dan Coleman replied. “This is neither a speculation nor a joke. You don’t trust people at all, do you? By the way, Katie, the future reporter, was released.”
“I don’t fucking care about her! Tell me, Dan… Will you sell the market if I die in a few seconds? If I tell you that the jet is flying into the skyscraper, will you hit the sell button? You’ll definitely hear the terrible explosion. It’s so easy, huh? You can get your money back in a second!”
“No, George… I won’t,” Dan Coleman said seriously. “We all did that, man. We made money out of nothing.”
“Well, Sarah will probably buy a new motorcycle! 100 grand is good money for her. What about you?”
“No, George. Never.”
“OK, here’s the deal, Dan,” George said quickly. “I have a death wish. Recently I bought a toy shop in the center of London. I don’t want this place to be closed. It’s called the ‘Corner of Happiness.’ Promise that you’ll take care of it.”
“OK, George. I promise,” Dan Coleman said seriously.
“And another wish, Dan. I still want you to make money out of my death. So, if you hear an explosion in a few minutes, sell the market. Please! And give the money away to charity. Give it to children who will come to the toy shop.”
Dan Coleman grinned. “Man, this is just insane… I’ve never thought you’d ask me to speculate on your death. You’re a real capitalist, man!”
George laughed. “You’re right! I’ll call you back, Dan. I’ve remembered something important.”
George hung up and called Walter Schmidt.
“Yes, my friend! The jet is arriving in seven minutes.”
“Walter, tell me, what happened to Emma Robinson? I mean, I know she was poisoned. But why was she disabled? Why was she sitting in a wheelchair?”
Walter Schmidt chuckled. “Man, you ask me why did you make her disabled? Are you nuts? How can’t you remember that episode?”
“Tell me, right now!” George hissed. “I forgot.”
“All right. Emma Robinson told me why she actually hated you. She despised you, although she always reckoned you were a smart guy. But the episode with a helicopter—”
“What episode?”
“You loved her. But you didn’t marry her.”
“Yeah. I remember that. My mother recommended me to build a career instead.”
“Right. Emma was a strong, smart woman. And she wasn’t just a stupid secretary in your company. And you hated the fact she’d never obeyed you. And you wanted to subjugate her.
You bastard caused a helicopter accident. She was in the helicopter. Your guys sent her to sleep. And the helicopter crashed in the woods. She wasn’t killed but her legs… well, she couldn’t walk after that.
So, you reached the goal. The disabled woman became your main deputy. I bet she knew how to hack the Twitter of the American President, didn’t she? But yeah… probably she was afraid of you. She kept your secrets. Man, are you… crying?”
George didn’t respond. Tears were flowing down his cheeks.
“Jet is arriving. Man! Come on… tell me how to hack Twitter? What people promised you to—”
“Shut up!”
“Whom did you call—”
George hung up and quickly called Dan Coleman. “Dan, I can see the jet. It’s approaching…”
“I’m so sorry, George… I hope you’ll get to Paradise.”
“Be ready to hit the sell button…”
/> The jet was flying straight at him. George felt that his pulse was accelerating. He jumped on the window sill and pressed against the glass. He started gasping. Sweat appeared on his forehead.
When the jet was only 150 feet away from him, it suddenly made an unbelievable sharp turn and avoided the collision.
Epilogue
Two days later
“Man, we found your family!” Dan Coleman exclaimed. “They’re safe! We persuaded your wife to meet you.”
“Thanks,” George sighed with relief. “Will she stab me? Actually, I deserve it.”
“Stop talking bullshit! Everything is great, man! Just relax!”
“I can’t. I feel endlessly guilty.”
“Man, the terrorist attack failed! Everyone is alive!”
“Did Walter Schmidt manage to escape?”
“Yeah… Walter Schmidt left the country. He’s bankrupt,” Dan Coleman said. “As I know, he’s gone somewhere in the Middle East. So, where are you, George?”
“In the cemetery. We’re burying a very good man. Please write down the address.”
Twenty minutes later
The black Porsche Cayenne stopped in front of the entrance to the cemetery. The passenger door opened, and there appeared a thin woman about forty. She looked gorgeous. She wore a long brown coat and leopard print shoes.
George raised his eyes to hers. She suddenly smiled and approached him.
A second later, George lowered his head and fell to his knees.
“Amy, please forgive me!”
“Oh, come on… I don’t blame you, George. You changed my life. Everything is as it should be.” She stroked his head tenderly. George shuddered, and tears started streaming down his face.
“I must tell you… I had to lie to… When we were flying in that jet, I told our son Tim that Jason’s his father. Tim had never seen you… So, he believed me… Then we noticed the skyscraper. Tim ran into the cabin to Jason, crying, ‘Daddy! Daddy! You saved us from those villains! I got a present for you!’ That was enough… Jason was shocked. He swerved aside. He has a tender heart.”
George was listening to her, hardly breathing.
“Jason is not a terrorist,” Amy went on. “He suffered a lot. But I think that Tim… melted his heart. They are big friends now. Tim adores him.”
George nodded. “Of course, I don’t blame you, Amy.”
“Jason told me about that girl Lana,” Amy said. “He forgave you. No hard feelings, George… Who are those kids, by the way?” Amy pointed at the crowd of children 80 feet away from them.
“They came to see one great man to his final journey,” George said quietly. “He was a friend of mine. His name was Jack Morgan. He died of cancer. He was a salesman at the toy shop. He had no relatives. Those kids were his clients.”
“That’s unbelievable,” Amy said quietly. “They all have come here to say goodbye…”
“Yeah,” George nodded. “Jack had given away a lot of toys. By the way…” George pulled out a little box and handed it to Amy. “This is Jack’s present for Tim.”
“For Tim?” Amy was stunned. “A wristwatch? Wow!” She turned over the box and read the inscription, “Your life is approximately 700800 hours. You spend half your life on sleep. Please, spend the other half on doing good.”
“That was Jack’s motto.”
“That’s amazing,” Amy whispered.
“A week ago, I bought his shop. I’d like to invite you to visit it.” George looked at Amy, hesitating. “Even if you don’t buy anything, Tim will receive a free jar of soap bubbles.”
“Oh… Did you say free?” Amy exclaimed. “This changes everything! We’ll come, George. I promise!” And she sent him a warm smile.
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