Only the Strongest Survive

by Ian Fox

  “OK,” he said, “I’ll pay you five thousand, but I hope you’re worth it.”

  The woman sat down again, satisfied with herself, while Miles wrote a check for the amount she was demanding. He could only hope that his boss would reimburse it.

  Anita lit another cigarette, stared at the check for a while, and then said, “You know everyone thinks Emely just disappeared. They think she may have been killed, but no one knows anything for certain.”

  Miles pricked up his ears. What is she trying to tell me?

  “Go on, please.”

  “I think she was killed.” Anita stared at Miles as if to see whether he believed her. “Emely Donnovan was an evil woman and finally someone had had enough of her machinations.”

  Though he didn’t like what she said about his heroine, Miles didn’t interrupt, sensing that something important was coming. “What machinations do you mean?”

  She laughed confidently, liking the fact that the man in front of her could barely wait for her to continue. She liked it when people were dependent on her, even though this didn’t happen often.

  “Ms. Donnovan was not the wonderful person you have described. I’ve read everything you’ve said about her and it’s all nonsense, about her being smart, prudent, honest, some kind of a superwoman.”

  These were insults Miles found difficult to swallow. He was about to raise his voice, but she overtook him. “Emely Donnovan had a horde of enemies. You don’t know how often I’ve witnessed attacks on her, when all the people angry with her wanted to get her.”

  “What attacks? Tell me, who were these people?”

  Anita paused for a few moments again, enjoying her performance. “You wrote that Emely was a manager who men and women in leading positions could look up to. I don’t think that’s true. I’ll tell you why that company grew so fast. Don’t think that it all just happens. Damn it, it’s easy for those with heaps of money. And you know money is power.” She put out her cigarette and pursed her lips.

  Robert’s mouth was completely dry, but he didn’t dare order another drink since this might interrupt her flow.

  “Donnovan Corporation is involved in investment funds. They’re very successful and so there are quite a few people investing in them. This means a lot of money. The numbers I’m talking about surpass the dreams of any individual. Emely and her brokers invest this money into securities, gold, and other precious metals. But with time, Emely grew bored with this and found a new hobby.” She stopped again.

  “Please, go on.”

  She smiled and then continued. “She started taking over companies that were in trouble. This means that she waited for a victim, like a spider does, and as soon as an opportunity arose, she bought nearly all its shares in the market, acquiring the majority share. You can follow what I’m saying, can’t you?”

  “Barely.” Miles was able to write maybe every other word. He was trying to work out what this woman was telling him. “What do you mean, she started taking over companies?”

  “It’s simple. As soon as she heard rumors about liquidity problems of a particular company, she hired financial experts, detectives, and God knows who to find all sorts of information. Then she decided, on the basis of this information, whether she would go for the company or not. If she decided to do it, she began spreading false rumors among banks and other stockbroking companies. This meant that the price of the company’s shares fell and banks refused to give it a loan. And then Emely would come on the scene. Within a few days she bought nearly all the shares on the market and became the majority holder. Simple, isn’t it? But only if you’ve got a lot of money to begin with.”

  Miles forgot to close his mouth. What he had just heard was more than worth those lousy five thousand bucks. “How did you get this information?”

  “I did work in accounts, didn’t I? Everyone there knows everything. Nothing remains hidden. And then all those attacks by people who wanted to personally get at Emely. These were the people whom Emely had robbed of their pride and power. Before she came on the scene, they were managers and afterward only the owners of a few shares. Many were unable to take this. I think there were at least two suicides.”

  Damn it, why didn’t I charge those batteries for the recorder last night? Miles thought while cursing himself and scribbling whatever he could manage.

  “If you don’t believe me, ask one of my former colleagues. If you offer them enough money, they’ll tell you the same. Emely was nothing but a greedy, cruel woman who stopped at nothing to reach her goal. She trampled on and swallowed everything in her way. Her power grew on the destruction of others. That’s the real truth about the famous Emely Donnovan. Why do you think she always lived alone and had no children? Because no one could live with a woman like that.”

  Anita was happy with what she had divulged, knowing it shocked Miles. She was pleased that he had invited her to talk to him, and that five thousand would come in very handy as well. She tried to imagine how much he’d make from all she had given him and for a moment she regretted not having asked for more.

  Robert Miles was speechless. My Emely—cruel and greedy? Impossible. What are these lies Anita Walters is spreading around? No one would commit suicide because of Emely. But what if it’s true?

  He imagined an article with this content and people fighting for the paper, and this excited him. He could see newsagents full of News Continental in the morning and after two hours, not a copy left. And all because of him. Suddenly he wanted everything Anita had told him to be true.

  He said, “And you think someone murdered her because of all this?”

  “I’m certain. Justice prevails in the end. Do you think that after having built her empire, Emely would simply disappear? She’s not that dumb. She wasn’t a woman who didn’t know what she wanted. No, she was following the path she mapped out for herself. She didn’t regret her actions. On the contrary, she wanted more and more.”

  “Yes, but it doesn’t seem like a good enough reason for someone to kill her.”

  “Think logically. She can’t have disappeared just like that. She wasn’t the type to suddenly want a different life and leave her empire. There are only two possibilities. Kidnapping and extortion, or kidnapping for revenge. So far no one has asked for anything and there’s no trace of her whereabouts. So, this can only mean that she was murdered. The woman is lying in some ditch and after three months there can’t be much left of her. They’ll probably never find her.”

  Miles was astonished. A volcano was brewing inside him. He kept seeing readers fighting for his article and his satisfied boss, praising him in front of everyone. Maybe I’ll even become the new editor in chief.

  Then he imagined the other news agencies offering him heaps of money to come and work for them. Offering him part ownership, a luxury car, his own office, anything. He could see young girls trying to seduce him, wanting a man like him—smart, ambitious, attractive.

  He said to her, “I cannot believe what you’ve told me. I just can’t.”

  “Oh, believe me, Mr. Miles, what I’ve told you is the truth.”

  He asked her a few more questions, wanting another confirmation of what he had heard, wanting her to convince him, but then he could wait no longer. He got up and said goodbye.

  Miles drove straight to work in his old car and immediately went to see his boss.

  *

  “If it’s all true, it’s gonna be big,” the editor said.

  “That’s what the woman said.”

  “But you’ve got to get someone else to confirm it. You know we can’t publish it otherwise. Do it ASAP.”

  And Miles did. The same afternoon, he spoke to one of the accountants still working for Donnovan and offered her five hundred dollars. The woman refused to cooperate at first, but when she saw the money she wavered.

  “I know you feel like a traitor,” Miles said. “I’m not expecting new information from you, I just want you to confirm what I already know. Someone will do it sooner or l
ater. The truth never remains hidden.”

  The woman kept looking down at the table, but these reassuring words gave her courage to look him in the eyes.

  He said, “Journalists are still trying to find a motive for Emely’s murder, and I found out that she had quite a few enemies.” Miles looked at his informant, wanting to check whether it was worth continuing. On the other hand, if he didn’t carry it through to the end, the woman could cause a panic in her department and then no one would want to talk to him. So he went on: “We don’t really know if it is a murder, it’s just a guess.”

  The woman nodded, still not saying a word.

  “It is well-known that Donnovan Corporation was involved in takeovers of other companies. It was a way in which Emely was trying to salvage companies that would otherwise almost certainly go bankrupt. Am I right?”

  The woman nodded.

  Wonderful, thought Miles. He said, “We also know that quite a few owners of these companies, who did not want her to become in charge of them, attacked Emely. Is that true?”

  The woman didn’t know what to say, afraid of the consequences and wondering why this man had singled her out. She looked around nervously as if wanting to leave. Miles noticed her reaction and put five hundred dollars in her hand and kept another five hundred in his hand. The woman looked at the money for a while and then nodded again.

  “And what was Emely’s reaction in these situations?”

  “She called security,” the woman said.

  “I see.”

  Miles was satisfied. So it is all true. He could still not believe it. All that was left now was to meet with Anita again and ask her which companies were involved. This would make his story even more plausible.

  “Did it happen often?”

  “At least three times during the last year.”

  Miles was getting impatient. He wanted to go home and begin writing at that very moment, already seeing in his mind the first lines with which he would begin this horrific story. His excitement was making him breathless and his arms tingled. Oh, life is so wonderful, he thought.

  He gave the woman the other five hundred and asked her a few unimportant questions, and then he left.

  On the way home he was already composing the story in his mind. If he had had his laptop with him, he would stop the car and start writing there and then. He nearly had an accident because he didn’t brake in time. “This damn road,” he said, and then he was back to the story.

  Chapter 20

  _______________________

  For a while, Ronald was emitting high-pitched noises and trying to remove the hose that was throttling him, but then he suddenly lifted himself so that she lost control over him. He backed away from her and freed himself from the hose. He was still coughing badly, holding on to his throat. This gave her the courage to take a chair and attack him with it. But he avoided it at the last second and the chair smashed on the floor.

  Ronald looked at the chair angrily and then grabbed Emely’s shoulders and hurled her against the wall. The impact was so severe that she nearly lost consciousness. She collapsed on the floor.

  Taking her by her hair, he began pulling her behind him. She thought he would pull all her hair out so she screamed and grabbed his hands in order to relieve the pain. Screaming didn’t help as he pulled her to the kitchen like a sack of cement. He opened a drawer. She was convinced he was going to get a knife and slit her throat. She shouted again and resisted with all her might.

  To her surprise he got a long rope and first tied her hands behind her back and then her legs.

  Emely lay on her side helplessly while he tried to calm down and gather his strength. He was standing next to her, leaning on a cupboard, and his eyes were constantly on her.

  “So, my dear Emely. As you’ve made me work so hard, I’ve decided to improve on my original plan.” The top half of his body was soaking with sweat. “I’ll bury you in the original spot.”

  She didn’t care and lay there perfectly still, resigned to her fate. Earlier she had fought with all her might, but now it was too late. It was perfectly clear that her end was near and she was ready to accept it.

  “But first I’ll go and get that eight million.”

  *

  In about three minutes he was back, carrying the red bag. Again he took her by the hair and pulled her like a dog. This time she didn’t scream, but merely clenched her teeth in order to bear the pain. Her eyes were watering, yet she managed to endure it without making a sound. She didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of hearing her moan and being tied made it impossible for her to resist.

  He pulled her all the way to his vehicle, when another car could be heard in the distance. Emely pricked up her ears.

  Ronald was holding her by the hair with one hand and pushing her into his car with the other, but now Emely was resisting and screaming. He slapped her head several times, but still didn’t manage to get her in.

  A blue SUV screeched to a halt in front of them. Emely began crying when she saw who it was.

  “Let her go, Ronald,” John hissed through his teeth as soon as he got out of the car.

  Ronald let go of Emely’s hair and smiled. “John, how nice of you to come,” he said with surprise.

  John was standing there firmly, squeezing his fists. “What were you going to do with Emely?”

  Ronald became aware that he was still holding the red bag. Awkwardly he looked at the bag and then at John, extending his mouth in a forced smile. “I was going to protect the money. You know you’re not very good with it.”

  At that moment John lost it. He hit Ronald in the face with all his might so that Ronald spun around a few times before finally collapsing. He lay motionless on the ground.

  John’s sharp eyes moved to Emely and he asked gently, “Oh, Emely, what has he done to you?”

  Her face was marked with bruises and her bottom lip was bleeding. “John …” she said weakly, with tears in her eyes.

  Gently, he took her face in his hands and held her to him. “I felt that something was wrong and had to come back.” He held her with one hand while the other was untying her hands. “Sorry, I should never have left you, I’m so sorry,” he said in a trembling voice and with deep pain in his eyes.

  When her hands were free, she embraced him and the flow of her tears doubled. He freed her legs and comforted her with gentle kisses. She was saved now and there was no one in the world she would have been gladder to see than John. He was the only one able to help her. Good old John, so strong. She pressed herself even closer to him. “John, I’m so glad you came.”

  “So am I, honey. If I’d known ….” He pushed back the strands of her hair that were stuck to her forehead. “My God, Emely, you need a doctor. I’ll take you into town right away.” Gently he lifted her and carried her toward his car. He opened the door on the right and just as he was about to put her in, there was a bang that made Emely shudder all over. John’s arms lost their strength and she could feel herself falling. She had to put her hands down in order to catch herself. When she looked at John, he was lying on his back, his arms and legs splayed on the driveway. His eyes were no longer looking at her, but far away.

  “Nooo!” she screamed.

  As if catapulted, she jumped away at the moment Ronald shot again, missing her by a fraction.

  She didn’t care about getting shot and lunged straight for him, tearing the gun from his hand with a single movement.

  Her bold action surprised him and he stared at her fearfully. Ronald didn’t have to wait long. Before he could blink, she hit him on the head with the butt of the gun. He fell and she kicked him in the stomach, but his body was as soft as a sack of cement, indicating that he was unconscious again. She hurled the gun far away, into the bushes, and screamed, “Noooo!”

  She squatted next to John and took his hand. He did not move, did not look at her, just lay there perfectly still.

  “John, please, no,” she begged. “Don’t leave me, please.” Mo
aning, she pressed herself against him and put her head on his chest while she stroked his hair. “Don’t leave me!”

  At that moment she felt a hand gently lower itself on her head. “Oh, John,” she whispered, and looked at him.

  His eyes opened slowly and a slight smile appeared on his lips. “I’m so …” He could barely talk.

  She moved her head closer in order to understand what he was telling her.

  “I’m so very sorry …”

  “I know,” she said, trying to comfort him. Her tears were falling on his cheeks. “I’ll take you to the hospital. You mustn’t stay here another minute.”

  “Listen to me,” he said weakly, and paused.

  Emely looked at him in fear, wiping the tears off his face with one finger.

  He said, “I love you … so very much.”

  “I know, John.” She looked into his blue eyes and gently kissed his lips.

  “Look after yourself, my love,” he said before closing his eyes slowly.

  She was looking at him, releasing all the tears she had been holding back when he was whispering to her. “No, John, no, please, don’t.” Gently she shook his head. “John … John. No, please, no …”

  His hand lay on her head, now heavy and still.

  “Oh, no, John, don’t leave me, please …” She squeezed him, shook him, but he remained motionless. “Why, why?”

  For a few moments she didn’t move. She was looking at his face that was now so innocent and so beautiful. Gently she stroked his cheeks and held his hand. She no longer tried to dry her tears, there were too many. She stared at him in admiration. Then she lay next to him and kissed his neck, wanting to be close to him. She knew these were the last moments she would be able to feel him so close.

  For a while she lay there, moaning loudly. Then she got up, looked at him for the last time in the hope of remembering him forever.