The Interior - Страница 77

"Then why sell?"

Henry closed his eyes as if in pain. When he opened them again, his eyes were hard. "Are you going to let these people go?"

"Why sell?" Doug demanded.

"I thought you'd get a better price while I was still alive, and together we could deal with the tax consequences."

This, of course, was what Pearl Jenner had written in her coverage of the sale, and it had been the accepted reason bandied about on Wall Street, but Doug didn't believe it. "You didn't want me to have the company," he stated matter-of-factly.

"If that's what you want to believe-"

"Admit it!" Doug aimed the pistol.

Henry raised his hands in supplication. "I'll admit it if you'll let these people go."

Hulan took this as her cue. Drawing on her last reserves, she edged back out of sight, then crawled along the floor. This meant putting weight on her hand. The pain was excruciating, and with every yard she gained she thought she would pass out again.

"Dad, you know I'm not going to do that. I can't. Things went too far."

These words chilled Hulan. Either that or she shook from pain and the cold sweat that had broken out over her body. She reached a little group of women, whispered instructions, and moved on. David too had begun to move, making his way slowly and quietly to a position behind Amy, who stood with her gun aimed at Henry's back.

"Tell me why, son. Isn't that what you're supposed to do now? Tell us why."

Doug didn't respond. Instead he looked around the room apparently searching for something.

"Doug!" Henry shouted. "I'm talking to you!"

Doug looked back at his father. "What is it, Dad?"

"I need to know why."

"But there's so many reasons, and"-he grinned-"so little time."

"Tell me we have time for this at least. Accord me that courtesy."

Across the room, Madame Leung kept moving, also stopping occasionally to whisper to girls and women. Did she have the same idea as Hulan? Or was the party secretary just trying to make her way to the door? If she was and Doug or Amy caught her, she'd be dead in a second.

Doug sighed. "Okay, but if you're stalling for time, it won't do any good. As everyone has said before, this place is in the middle of nowhere. What has to happen now can't be stopped."

Henry agreed with an abrupt nod.

"I was never interested in the company, Dad. You knew that. Everyone knew that. You thought I wasn't good enough. Everyone else thought I wasn't talented enough. I've heard it my whole life at those toy conventions-your dad's a hard act to follow, or you've got some pretty big shoes to fill. Then you got sick and you sent me here to get this place built. I met Governor Sun and, of course, his assistant, Amy. She was the one who first told me how profits could be made without any outlay of capital."

"Skimming off the salaries," Henry said.

"I know it doesn't seem like much," Doug said. "But look, three hundred thousand a year tax-free ain't bad."

"That's chump change."

"It's not when you start adding in other factories. Once I got here, I saw we could expand easily-just as Mattel and Boeing have."

"Those are legitimate businesses."

"It doesn't matter how you get there. What matters is the profit. Do the math, Dad. Four new factories, each with a three hundred thousand skim-"

"But it still wasn't enough."

Hulan reached her old workstation. She brought a ringer to her lips to keep Siang and Peanut from making a sound, but their eyes widened in disbelief and surprise as they recognized her. Then she leaned in and whispered. It was her last act before she lost consciousness again. From his position across the room, David saw Hulan sink to the floor and the two Chinese girls try to wake her.

"Exactly!" Doug said. "The turning point came with Sam amp; His Friends. You're home, supposed to be resting, and you come up with this great idea. That's what makes you a genius. That's why you're in the Toy Hall of Fame. But you didn't see the potential."

"I saw it. That's why I wanted to sell now. We'd get the best price while I was still alive."

"No, you don't see what I see. The dolls are nothing. The money's in the technology. If you'd spent any time with Miles and Randall, you'd have seen that's what they wanted."

"Was Miles your partner?"

Doug humphed. "He's a lawyer, Dad. Give me some credit."

"But he knew what you were doing out here."

"Sure. But he had his eye on a bigger prize. Seal the deal, leave his firm, and go over to Tartan. They were talking stock options, the works. You would have known that if you'd paid any attention." Doug shook his head. "But you didn't pay attention, which is why we're here. All you had to do was spot trouble, i.e., our company was paying Sun Can bribes, and you would have nixed the whole thing, because you'd do anything to protect that guy. Am I right?" When Henry didn't respond, Doug screamed, "Am I right?"

"Yes."

"But you didn't back out of the deal because nothing went as it was supposed to. I gave that little tramp the information, and what does she do? She fucks it all up. I wanted her to give the works to that measly little do-gooder who'd been nosing around. But instead she splits it up. Keith shows a variation of it to Miles, who buries it for his own personal gain. Keith died because he didn't have the guts to expose what he knew. She also sends some of the papers to Sun, and he does everything he can to cover his ass. But I still counted on Guy Lin. He at least did what he was supposed to do."

"But for what end? I still don't understand."

"Any piece of it-the bribery, the problems on the factory floor- should have been enough to alert you. I knew you'd start an internal investigation, and once you did you'd pull out of the Tartan deal, because the idea that Tartan would keep the place running like this would make you sick."

"What you've done here does make me sick. You could have avoided all this just by telling me what you wanted. Did you think I wouldn't pull out if you asked me to? And why promise to sell your shares to Tartan, then back out of that?"

"You still don't get it, Dad. Think Knight. Think chess. Think next move. Finally, rather later than I expected, you did exactly what I wanted. You heard about the hostile takeover and ordered your brokers to start buying stock. You were to increase our shares overall."

"Meaning more profits to you. But," Henry said, gesturing around him, "this can't be the checkmate you wanted."

A small smile played on Doug's lips. "It will do."

"Come on, Doug," Amy interrupted. "Let's get moving."

Doug nodded and motioned for Amy to get to work. The woman tucked her revolver in the waistband of her skirt and began pulling handfuls of fiber out of big burlap sacks and tossing it on the floor. The intention of this action was immediately felt by the hundreds of women in the room. These foreigners planned to light a fire.

"And what will this get you? You'll destroy your prize," Henry said.

"It covers this mess," Doug answered. "I figured we could deal with a lawyer, but the police? Once the inspector showed up we had to change strategies. But don't worry. We've made plans to pick up from the ashes."

David's eyes darted back to where Hulan had collapsed. She hadn't moved, but the two girls had. One was on her feet, darting from the safety of one machine to another, while the other crawled along more cautiously. Both were passing word of some sort. Their movements went unnoticed by Amy Gao, who now looked ghostly in a cloud of fluff, while the two men in the center of the room seemed completely unaware of the electric fear pulsating throughout the room.

"All you had to do was walk away from the deal," Doug said. "But look what it took! It makes me think you're not as smart as everyone says."

"And you're still telling me you did this for the technology?" Henry asked skeptically.

"Dad." The word was drawn out and as patronizing as any from a rebellious teenager. "It was the skim. It was the potential of this land. I mean, my God, look around! We could have had all of it for nothing. But yes, it was the damn technology. You hit it, Dad. You actually hit it. It's so much bigger than Sam amp; His Friends. The other toy companies want it. The studios have been banging at the door. Think what this could mean to Warner Brothers and the Batman films or to Paramount and the Star Trek franchise or to Lucas and the Star Wars empire. Everything that's old could be new again, and everything that's new could be… Well, others have talked about interactive toys, but you did it. Seven hundred million was peanuts. Even if we make one hundred million a year and the stock market values us at thirty times earnings-which is modest these days- we'll have a company worth three billion, with nowhere to go but up."

Henry's face was unreadable. Finally he said, his voice disappointed, "Our family has been in the toy business. Did you once stop to think what that meant?"

Doug turned his eyes away from his father and settled on some women cowering nearby. Seeing them seemed to remind him what had to happen next. When he looked back at his father, he seemed determined. "I'm sorry you see it that way, Dad." Then, "Amy, I think that's enough. Let's go." Amy walked to his side, her heels clicking staccato against the floor and wafting bits of fluff and lint behind her. Doug reached into his pocket and pulled out a lighter, weighing it in his left hand.