Chapter 2

2: 2

"You say five million, so it's five million? Who knows the real number?"

"Right, anybody can make up a story. I don't care what you say today. I want my ten grand in wages, or none of us work."

"Yeah. Strike."

Once the mood had built up nicely, old Mayor Lambert stepped forward on his cane.

"Noah, for a big boss like you, this is nothing. Just agree to it."

"And if I don't?"

"If you don't, then don't blame us for playing rough."

I saw the sly grin spread across Joshua Lambert's face.

Right then, my assistant Blake came running over.

"Mr. Dickerson, we've got trouble. Someone's blocked the road in the village. Mr. Lambert's refrigerated truck can't get through."

I went straight to the village entrance. From a distance I could already hear women screaming and wailing.

Up close, I saw Joshua's wife, Crystal, and the mayor's wife, Winifred, rolling around on the ground at the front of the truck.

"They ran somebody over! Grab them, don't let a single one get away!"

"Running people down right here on our land? They've got a death wish."

The villagers swarmed the truck at once, packing in around it until there was no way out.

But what surprised me was that Antony Lambert, who'd come to haul the goods, was now sitting at the roadside with Dominic, the two of them smoking and talking about something.

In the end they seemed to reach some kind of deal. Dominic came toward me with a cigarette hanging from his lips.

"Noah, you can see it for yourself. If you don't handle this, the truck doesn't get into the village, and then you'll owe Mr. Lambert double the penalty for breach of contract."

I looked at my old schoolmate, and my face went colder.

"You put on this whole show today just to force my hand, right?"

"This is what the villagers decided on their own. Nothing to do with me."

"Nothing to do with you?"

My eyes fixed on Dominic and stayed there.

"Noah, if I were you, I'd agree to the mayor's demands."

"In your dreams."

Dominic's face twisted into a savage grin. He said it lightly. "I think you will."

Watching that look of certainty on his face, I couldn't shake a bad feeling.

Right then, my assistant came running again.

"Mr. Dickerson, we've got trouble. The power's out."

My chest tightened.

Once the power went, the aeration pumps and the water-filtration system at the farm would both stop. In heat like this, the fish would be belly-up in half a day, maybe less.

"Call someone. Get the power fixed."

"I already called. Someone's coming."

Right then Dominic came over again.

"Noah, save yourself the trouble. That power isn't getting fixed."

The moment I heard that, I understood. The outage was no accident.

"Dominic, you had someone do this, didn't you?"

He denied it at once. "Noah, this is the villagers acting on their own, nothing to do with me. Don't try to trap me into saying something."

I couldn't help shaking my head, looking at him the way you'd look at a fool, and then I said it flatly. "Dominic, you think I don't know what you're after? These past six months you've been getting cozy with Antony. You want to squeeze me out and run this yourself, don't you?"

His face changed on the spot. He glanced around, and once he saw no one was close, he leaned in to my ear and dropped his voice. "That's right, Noah. I've already got it settled with Mr. Lambert. Once you're gone, I supply him."

I looked at my old schoolmate and spoke slow and even. "Dominic, getting where you are wasn't easy. I'd think this through carefully if I were you."