The Love Of Money - S01 E283

Story 5 days ago

The Love Of Money - S01 E283

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 283

Corporate Takeover

"Marcos Finally Confront Roger VanCamp."

Thursday, 10:08 am

I threw the stack of evidence on the dark wood conference table and looked at the two men standing across it.

“I want him gone by the end of the day.”

Karl Yunger looked like he was having difficulty getting it together this morning. “Who? Are you talking about Tanaka?”

“Tanaka?” I asked. “What does this have to do with Hiro Tanaka?”

William, with whom I’d had the least experience, immediately started spreading out the papers I’d dropped on the table. “He’s talking about VanCamp, Karl.”

Karl’s eyes went wide. “Roger! You’re talking about our partner!?”

“Did Erin not tell you what I wanted to meet with you about?” I asked.

“Ah… I must have missed the details. Gladys is out today. She’s sick.” Karl said. “Seriously, though… what’s this about?” He glanced at the only other person in the room besides Chloe. “And why is he here?”

Vikram was standing next to me, and he looked like he was turning a little green, which was impressive considering his Middle Eastern complexion. He opened his mouth to reply, but I cut him off. “He’s here to represent my legal interests as an expert on YPV.”

“We’re your legal representatives,” Karl insisted, “And no one is more of an expert on the subject of Yunger, Price, and VanCamp than Karl Yunger and William Price!”

I’d never seen Karl get so heated before… he’d always struck me as more old and doddering than anything, but after recovering from the surprise, the old Karl was gone. In his place was a lion. Perhaps he was a little long in the tooth but still king of his pride. It made me hesitate a moment as I remembered that Karl Yunger had decades of experience in a world I barely had a month in. He was facing down billionaires and politicians while I’d barely been able to look my server in the eye while returning an order they’d gotten wrong.

But I wasn’t the same Marcus anymore. I couldn’t be. That Marcus could have eaten the scrambled eggs when he ordered fried, and his day would have been fine. In this world, the scrambled eggs could’ve killed me.

The metaphor didn’t hold up, but I’m sure my meaning was clear enough. I couldn't afford to be a chump, no matter how wealthy I was.

“Not when VanCamp is the one responsible for murdering one of my people, Karl.” I began circling around the table. “Not when he’s responsible for getting my friend raped and beaten. Not when he had me kidnapped and beat me personally.” Stopping just outside his personal bubble, I glared at him. “Not when he fucking pissed on me!”

“Jesus,” Karl said, a flash of uncertainty crossed his face. It was gone a moment later, and he stood a little straighter. “Don’t be preposterous, young man. Roger was in the UAE when you were kidnapped.”

“Where did you get this from?” William said, interrupting our exchange as he looked up from the sheet of paper he was holding. I could see just enough of it to identify the tran*********** of the recording Henry Psalter had shown me yesterday.

“I have a private investigator,” I said.

“One of ours?” Karl asked.

“Of course not. Maybe I’m a little naive, but I’m not stupid enough to hire an investigator to investigate the firm they work for.” Truth be told, Erin, Vikram, and Helen were responsible for me hiring Chloe, and Chloe was the one who hooked me up with Henry. Had it not been for them, I probably would have simply used the firm’s recommended agency without giving it a second thought.

“I don’t care where you thought he was. He was definitely the guy beating on me.” I pointed to the fading bruises on my face. “I don’t want a law firm working for me that might have a partner who wants to kidnap, beat, and murder me. He’s got to go, or I’m walking and finding a different firm.”

“We can’t just kick him off the partnership,” Karl said with considerably less heat in his voice.

“You signed a contract,” William said on his heels.

“About that,” Vikram said. He cleared his throat and glanced at all three of us, who had turned our attention to the junior lawyer at the firm. “If Roger VanCamp did what Mr. Upton is accusing him of, then it violates a few different clauses in the contract, giving him the option to terminate the agreement if he wishes.

Neither of them spoke for a full ten seconds. Karl simply stared at Vikram while William looked back down at the tran*********** in his hands. Since neither of them pushed back, I guess they were very aware of the section of the contract Vikram was talking about. I wondered if Karl wanted to skin Vikram alive for his role in all this. His thousand-yard stare looked devoid of emotion, but something in his eyes suggested a lot more going on there that I couldn’t see. I had a suspicion that the only thing that kept me from being burned alive by his wrath was my billions.

The uncomfortable silence continued to wear on. I sure as hell wasn’t going to break it… not when I had nothing to be uncomfortable about.

Karl finally looked back at me, his expression neutral. “What can we do to make this right?”

“I already told you,” I said. “He has to go. He’s no longer a partner at this firm. I also want him arrested.”

“If you have Roger arrested,” William said, “Helen and Ashlee will be arrested as well.”

Ashlee, I couldn’t give a flying fuck about, but Helen…

“What? Why?”

William glanced at Karl and said, “I’m okay with it if you are.”

Karl gave William a look that basically said, Are you fucking kidding me?

“It’s not like we have a choice here,” William said.

“Fine,” Karl sighed. “Look, Mr. Upton, we have always strived to keep our operations within the scope of the law, but we are working with clients with certain needs that occasionally require… out-of-the-box solutions. Your grandfather was one of those people. Roger VanCamp was our out-of-the-box specialist, and Helen worked directly for him. I’m sure the Federal government would be interested in hearing what Helen and Ashlee had to say just as much as Roger.”

Glancing back and forth between the two partners, I knew a lot of context was left out, but I got enough of a picture to be convinced. Besides that, I was already uncomfortable with Roger VanCamp being arrested, knowing he could make trouble for me and use that as a bargaining chip. Not getting the police involved meant that we were at a stalemate—I had the kidnapping/beating/murder charges on him, and he had the dirt on me and my company. It was mutually assured destruction.

Okay… so not cops.

“He still has to go,” I said.

“We can’t—”

“He’s out, or I walk away,” I cut Karl off. “Maybe I won’t risk everything to have him arrested, but I’m sure as hell not letting him get away with what he’s done without any consequences. You have a choice, Karl. Me or him.”

“Marcus—”

“Mr. Upton,” I corrected Karl.