“And you, Solomon?”
“Sorry, Asher, but I never much liked you. You’re too naive. I can’t even begin to fathom half of your business plans. Letting the regular office workers leave early the other day? That’s just the most recent example, too. Do you know how much work we could have finished if they stayed? You’re far too nice for this line of work, and I know you’ve made it thus far, but obviously that’s about to change. You don’t have the mettle to stop it.”
“I’ll go get Jeremy,” I whispered to Asher. “If they won’t listen to reason, we can call the police.”
Asher nodded.
When I began to leave, Beatrice screamed at me. “Where do you think you’re going? Do you think you can just leave here?”
“I gave you a choice, Beatrice! Solomon, too.” Asher sighed, looking to the ground. “I gave you both a choice and you rejected it. You’ve forced my hand and I have no other option but to retaliate in the only way left to me. There’s plenty of evidence for me to hand over to the authorities and have you taken into custody.”
“You think so, do you?” Solomon asked. He paused and laughed. “Wait a moment, Jessika. You won’t want to leave yet.”
I hesitated by the close-together bookcases and looked over my shoulder.
The lights above lit the area around us, but with their dull glow they left elongated shadows from the bookcases. The shadows seemed to consume parts of Asher, and Solomon’s lower body, Beatrice’s left side. Solomon reached into his suit coat, slipping it aside as easily as if it were a shadow, and pulled out a gun.
I stared, aghast, and then I screamed.
“Obviously I didn’t want it to come to this,” Solomon said. “If you’re not going to go down quietly, I’m going to have to force you down, though.”
“Solomon,” Asher said, even and steady. He acted far more calm than I thought he should. “Do you really want to do this?”
“Dammit, Asher! Of course I don’t want to. If you’re going to try and flaunt your control and issue ultimatums then I’m going to show you who has the upper hand here, though.” With a smirk, Solomon added, “Take a hint: it’s not you.”
“This wasn’t in our plans, Solomon,” Beatrice said slowly. “We never talked about this.”
“I don’t care if it was in the plans or not. If you want to ruin Asher Landseer, then you have to be willing to take risks. That’s what this has been about the entire time. The rest of what we’ve done is illegal, too, if you haven’t realized it, Beatrice. This is no different. It’s just going to be more difficult to cover up after the fact, but I’m prepared to accept that.”
“Fine, but…” Beatrice stammered. It was the first time I’d seen her caught off guard entirely. “Fine. If you think this is best, then so be it.”
“Are you serious?” I yelled. “Are both of you serious right now? You want to not only destroy Landseer Enterprises, but you’re willing to kill Asher, too?”
“You wouldn’t understand,” Solomon said. “You’re from an entirely different world. In our world, in business, you have to take risks. You can’t do things half-assed. If you don’t prepare to go all in, then you might as well just leave before you start. It’s a simple premise, and one which people like you would never understand.”
“I can’t do this,” I said. “Asher, I’m sorry, but I don’t understand this. I’m going to… I’m going to get help. Please… please come.”
I started to wriggle my way between the bookcases. Asher glanced over his shoulder at me, favoring me with a sad look. “Don’t worry,” he said.
I was halfway through the impeding bookcases, I was going to get help, and then Solomon fired the gun. I couldn’t see what he hit, who or where, but the sound of it blared into my ears, momentarily deafening me. I screamed and shoved myself through the bookcases, trying to get help. From Robert, or a customer, the police, anyone. For Asher. They wouldn’t kill him, they couldn’t, and… if they did, they would kill me, too.
I was afraid for my life, but it was more than that, too. People like Beatrice and Solomon, they might think they understand themselves—their world, as they put it—but there was so much more than that. Yes, maybe I couldn’t comprehend being rich, but maybe I didn’t want to, either. Maybe I liked the way I was, and maybe if I gained money as a part of that I’d be fine with it. But it wasn’t necessary for my happiness, and I think Asher understood a bit of that, too.#p#分页标题#e#