“For freedom,” Evelyn said. “For freedom and for revenge.” Her voice was frail, mimicking her muscles. She was leaning back in the chair, listless and motionless. “Corporate influence is one thing, we all know it and we have all learned to live in a world run by the one percent. But you created Covid. You let it out into the world. And this wasn’t manipulation or conditioning through advertising or through media; this was an open taking of people’s freedom to move, to speak, to breathe even. That’s why I did it—for freedom.”
Evelyn had expected Daniel to laugh at her, being that he was a diabolical, twisted individual whose beliefs could destroy the world as we know it; the scary part being that he could actually pull it off. In spirit of who he was, Daniel looked sad, perhaps even depressed.
“What freedom, Evelyn?” His voice had gone very low. “Freedom to go out and choose between an iPhone or a Samsung? Freedom to lease a car you want? Freedom to put three generations of your family in debt for a house? What freedom are you talking about? There is no freedom. There is only the illusion of freedom. We have worked in the financial sector our whole lives, and we have been involved in many clandestine activities. And still you believe in freedom?
“People go to college in this country, and there they accrue more debt than they will ever be able to pay back. On top of that, they buy a car, mortgage a house, and put their kids to school. Debt, debt, debt, and more debt. America is the worst debt country, but the whole world is doing the same, stuck in this strange cycle of borrowing and spending on things they don’t even need. They see rich people living by their standards, and, desperate as they are, the poor try to emulate it. They get lost in the rat race, go down the rabbit hole, because the banks do not allow them to breathe or to live. They think they are free because they can say whatever they want, but what does that matter? What does it matter what they have to say when it doesn’t change anything. And now, social media companies are suppressing speech, shaping the world to the liking of the highest bidder. Debts are going up. Evelyn... what is freedom?
“I have been a part of every conspiracy for decades now. I know what is going on, and I know for a fact that there is no freedom. Even I don’t have freedom. What I’m doing, is because it is my destiny, and because it has to be done. The world needs a hard reset because we keep spinning in circles, round and round and round. Then Covid fell into our lap. So, I used it to my advantage.
“The old adage is true: the night is darkest before the dawn. Though this current darkness is artificial, made in a lab, it was something that I used to my advantage, to make people angry, to make them wild, to make them susceptible to waking up. Because they need to wake up from this coma of consumption, dulled out by their Twitter feeds, CNN news, elections, and ads. It is all a simulation, created by the rich and powerful. I helped created that. I did. But I did it because of this moment now, because of what is about to come—the great healing.”
“What are you talking about,” Evelyn asked. That question had managed to come to her tongue from under an avalanche of thoughts and emotions.
“The world, Evelyn, is a bad place. People are lost in their loops they created for themselves, helped by those in power. I aim to stop it. I aim to give this world another chance before we destroy ourselves. That is my mission. That is the mission of the Order. I have done and will continue to do things that I detest, plunging the world into even more darkness. But then, selectively, using the same tools as those who want to dull the people, I will make sure they wake up and fight. And I know exactly how to do it. I know exactly what needs to be done. Too many of us in power live for too long. It has to change. It has to begin anew. People and nations alike need to recover. And that is what I wanted you to understand, Evelyn.”
For the duration of his speech, Evelyn was able to understand how Daniel got so many people to follow his cause. A great testament to his personality is the ability to band together so many rich and powerful people, to get them united behind one cause, a cause that wasn’t money. His idea was pure, honest, and right. Regret washed over her for not sticking to him.
But then she remembered that this man had a hand in killing her father. She remembered who this man was and what he had actually done. And what frightened her was the pain and suffering he is yet to impose on the rest of the world. “What are you planning to do,” she softly asked as her stomach twisted into a knot.
“I plan to fix the world,” he said.
“But... how?”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small metal device, what looked like an implant. “First, we gave them vaccines. They, in themselves, are not insidious. People want to believe they are, though, and we have helped spur that fear. Now, with the cases still going up, the people are screaming conspiracy. They are scared. Now, I am going to introduce this little thing—the Covid-detecting implant.” He raised the implant into the air. “This little thing will be made mandatory by governments across the globe. They are just implants that can detect Covid, but the people won’t know that, and they will grow angrier. They will be ready for blood. And blood they shall have. And as they bleed,” Daniel’s eyes pinned down, “with the press of one small button, I will reset the world.” He was staring at the implant in his hand, but Evelyn could see that he was actually inside of himself, looking at the future he had envisioned, at the mission he was on coming to a conclusion.
“What... What does that mean,” Evelyn asked.
Daniel jerked his head toward her, like he was surprised by her presence. He put the implant in his hand and looked at her intensely.
“It means that the rat race will stop. It means that the powerful will become powerless. I am going to create a situation so untenable that it will force the world into doing something unforgivable. Oceans will be of blood, and it will never enter their mind again to go to war, to pollute, to steal, and to cheat. The world will get another chance, Evelyn. That is what it means. That is what this is all about. It’s not about me or my power or my ego; it’s about what is right. The night, Evelyn, is darkest right before the dawn. And the night will become so dark, that there will never be a dark night ever again.” As he was talking, he had stood up and his voice had deepened and raised. Evelyn wasn’t sure that he was aware of that. In his eyes, she could see his determination, realizing herself that his mission is more than likely to be complete. And it frightened her. In that silence, that pause that Daniel had created in his speech, Evelyn felt small and insignificant, like a little girl crying in the closet, hoping her father bursts through the door and embraces her into the safety of his arms.
It took Daniel what seemed like hours to Evelyn to calm down and resume control of himself. He was staring at her, but the stare was nowhere near as intense as it had been moments before. He opened his mouth to say something, but Jonathan’s phone rang and he stepped into the back. Daniel followed him with his eyes, then turned back to Evelyn. “I was waiting for that phone call. That phone call means that all your friends are dead. You are the last survivor. Once I change that, there will be no one in my way. There will be no one who will be able to stop me or obstruct me in any way. I told you all this so you can picture it, Evelyn, so you can feel it, understand it, and live it, if only for a few minutes. That is the future.
“And who can stop us? Who can stop this train? I am basically a god of the financial world, in charge of the largest and most powerful investment fund in the world. Jonathan is the Head of the CIA. Patrick is the Attorney General. Wilson is the President. And all our friends are Fortune 500 billionaires and Emirati CEOs. All the Company men are the people that decide the faith of the world anyway.”
Then Jonathan Burr entered the room with a pale face and wide eyes. “They survived,” he plainly said. “Johnson and Grimshaw are still alive.” Daniel was unmoved. Evelyn, on the other hand, felt a surge of dopamine. Suddenly, not really knowing why, she began laughing. It wasn’t a hysterical laugh though, which Daniel himself saw; this was an honest laughter b
orne of joy. “Stop laughing!”
Daniel’s scorn meant nothing to her. He had no power over her. And maybe Jack and Marcus can make sure he never has any power over anyone else.
Their relationship was strained by her personal actions, ones she deeply regretted. Those actions were human nature, resulting from short-sidedness of the human mind. But they were still alive, and it made her happy.
“Why are you laughing!?”
“Because,” she said through her laughter, “you are going to lose, you piece of shit... You are going to lose... And all your plans will be nothing.” As she spoke, her laughter was subsiding. “And my father will be avenged. And the world will be saved from your megalomania.”
“And how will that happen?”
Evelyn chuckled. “Yeah, I will tell you in a second.” Her stare into his eyes was defiant, strong, and piercing. She was not going to let Daniel take away her last moment. It was hers.
Then Daniel nodded to someone behind her. The person she saw made her gasp. It was Jose Andres, Patrick Don’s driver. What?
Jose aimed his pistol at Evelyn’s head. Her game with Daniel had come to an end. As had the game of life.
That was the last thought she had.
EPILOGUE
A rthur took the risk and ran to his apartment. His thinking was that if there would ever be an opportunity to go and claim his things it was in that moment, while they were still hunting him down. He needed to get rid of the board and all the documents he had left behind. If they came there before me, he reasoned, then they knew exactly how much I knew. And I can’t have that. I can’t let them know my strategy.
He feared that going back was a big mistake, assuming that the Company men were waiting for him in his apartment, but there was no alternative. Despite the people watching his apartment and the killers on his tail, Arthur went toward the apartment, mulling over the news he had seen on the subway. Seeing the aberrant events in New York and the fleshing out of several bodies, Arthur assumed that the Company was cleaning house from top to bottom. He was definitely planned in that cleanup, but he had managed to get away. For now.
Arthur placed his hand on the door knob and took a few seconds to collect himself before he turned it and pushed the door wide open. His pistol was in his hand, pressed so hard that his knuckles went white. Okay, do it, come at me if you dare, he told himself as a way of motivation. He snuck through his own home into the hidden back room and switched the light on. Nothing was moved or touched. I was faster.
Without a moment to spare, thinking that maybe they came in, took photos of everything, and got out before he knew it, Arthur took everything down and put it in his briefcase. He took all the drives and all the copied documents and his laptop, looking back to make sure nothing was left behind. Then he turned to leave the apartment.
A silhouette of a very large man was blocking his way. In his hand, Arthur could see, was a pistol. Though he had one of his own, Arthur was frozen in place, mid step, his briefcase in hand. This is it, he thought. My time has come. Though frightened out of his mind, he couldn’t help but feel that he had it coming. No one forced him to go back to his apartment and walk into the lion’s den. No one forced him to get involved with the Company in the first place. It was most likely late to protect the information anyway. And now he stood there, facing death.
He heard light steps behind him, as another man approached him. “Guten Abend, Herr Erickson,” the man from behind him said. “You have been very busy. Very, very busy.”
Arthur didn’t know how to reply. What to say to a man who sneaks behind your back and whispers in your ear in a very creepy tone of voice? All Arthur could discern was that the man was German and that he hadn’t killed him yet. “What do you want,” he mustered.
“I want you to relax, Mr. Erickson. I want you to think of me as an ally, and of Daniel as the enemy. I want you think of his actions as judged negatively by all across the globe. I am the man who will put your discoveries into context—the true context of their being. Then, I will offer you a chance to join me and others in the good fight against the Company.”
“Who are you,” Arthur asked, turning slowly—so very slowly—to face the man.
“Ich bin Johann,” the man introduced himself. “And I represent the interests of the entire world. Interests that are aligned with yours.”
“And what would those be?”
“Stopping Mr. Clarkson,” Johann said. “And saving the world. Your friends, Marcus Grimshaw and Jack Johnson, are alive and cared for at this moment. So you are not the only one who survived.”
Arthur wasn’t overwhelmed by joy or satisfaction at hearing the news; he was still locked in fear.
“Why are you helping us,” Arthur asked.
“Because someone has to stop him. You have done an acceptable job thus far; however, you have made a grave mistake of making your findings on Jim Morris public and voiding his election. That had sped up Daniel’s plans, the ones we were working very, very hard on dismantling for quite some time.”
“What do you mean,” Arthur asked, before the realization struck him like lightning. “Oh my God,” he said. “The man in the documents... It was never Jim Morris, was it?” He scrambled for his briefcase and went through the documents, looking for a specific paper he remembered. “What have I done?” He mumbled.
“It’s quite alright, Mr. Erickson,” Johann said. “No need to bother yourself with the documents.”
Arthur stopped fumbling through the papers. He looked up at Johann as his throat dried up. “It was our fault for not working with you from the start. Now we aim to fix that. We aim to fix it all with a clandestine group of our own. Let me introduce you to agent William,” he pointed to the man behind Arthur.
In that moment, the man who had blocked Arthur’s passage stepped into the light. It was the agent from a year before, the one who arrested the Company men when they burst into Arthur’s apartment. It seemed like decades had passed since their last encounter.
“German is not the only government involved with the desire to undermine and stop the Company,” Agent William said.
Then Arthur understood, in that very moment, that his good work was actually having an impact on the world. When he published his articles, he thought he was exposing a conspiracy, one that was underlying all American and some world issues, hoping to shake the people awake. Now, it turns out, he had created a sort of resistance, banding people together in a fight against true evil that is threatening the existence of the whole world.
Johann snickered. “Please, Mr. Erickson, have a seat. We have much to discuss.”
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THE DETERRENT
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
C.J. Steinberg was born in Bosnia, 1990. During the Bosnian War, he emigrates to Germany with his mother. After completing his English studies, he moves across the globe working odd jobs, eventually setting into the editing profession for small prints and magazines. During that time, regardless of the challenges he faced, he never forgot about his writing dream. He thought it had come true in 2016, when he got a deal for his book, only to see his debut novel get lost in the publishing system. Years later, in 2020, he debuted on the indie scene with Honest Intentions, the first thriller in the Marcus Grimshaw series. The sequel, titled All The Company Men, is also available on Amazon.
All the Company Men: Marcus Grimshaw #2 (The Secret State) Page 21
