Page 83 of Savage Ruin
HENLEY
My body is deliciously sore the next day. I can’t help but think yesterday gave us all a glimpse into the life we could have together. Thiago and I have a personal relationship separate from them, but Thiago protects us all, his family. We can be together and alone. The dynamics are intricate and layered, and I’m so happy. It’s utterly terrifying to be this happy.
I shake my hands at my side and look around the brightly lit room at the TV monitors. In every one, my pink hair stands out like a neon sign. I try to shake off the nerves by thinking of something else but nothing helps. Not only did we invite doctors—we invited the entire medical community and Epic Entertainment.
Mateo’s hands rub up and down my arms. “Everything worked well this morning. We’re repeating the test. That’s it.”
The TV monitors show Philip Carlton texting into his phone, but whenever he tries to catch my eye, I avert my gaze. If I’m as bad a liar as they tell me, we can’t afford for me to give the game away.
When Philip asked Mateo what I was doing here, he gave him a surprised look. “She’s CJ Tech. It’s her product.” And walked off. Philip look stunned.
The camera guy clicks something in his hand, signaling it is time to start. I position myself in the camera and for the next hour, I demonstrate the technology using several phones and tablets, then I switch to a headset. We rigged a camera above another headset in order to show the audience a replica of what I was seeing.
Next, we opened it up for real-time demonstrations. Doctors and hospitals sent in CT, MRI, and ultrasound scans. Almost all of them performed. There were a few older scans that didn’t convert well, but we did recommend they use this only on the latest renderings.
The Q&A session is winding down.
Beau Whitman chimes in with the question we primed him to ask. “When will this be available to the market, and what is the cost?”
I smile and take a deep breath. “It’s available on your app store now. The licensing fee is a hundred dollars a year per license. Our goal is for the technology to be accessible to all doctors, and we think this nominal cost will achieve that goal. If hospitals or facilities would like to purchase multiple licenses, you can contact SEI directly at the number shown on the screen and we can work with you. And for our last bit of news, I’ll pass it over to Beau Whitman, and Epic Entertainment, to share their good news.”
While Beau shares the information on the AR/VR glasses, I look over at Philip Carlton. Pure panic. He lifts his phone to text someone, but the security guy next to him slips it from his grasp.
A click on my right has me refocusing my attention on the presentation. “Thank you, Beau. We’re incredibly excited to have Epic Entertainment partner with us on the donation of the glasses to any surgeon who requests one. Hospitals or doctors who wish to order can do so directly through their website. We will post this video on the SEI website for everyone to view. Multiple copies will also be available on the InterPlanetary File System in case our website is down.”Or hacked. “Thank you for your time.”
The demonstration ends. Security closes in on Philip.
Mateo walks up to him. “We should talk. If you would like to follow me up to Thiago’s office, we would appreciate it.”
Philip eyes the men around him, then nods.
When we enter his office, Thiago’s on the phone. “Fantastic. We look forward to receiving the first shipment. I’ve got to run to another meeting, but we’ll talk soon. Thanks, Beau.”
He winks at me, then directs his attention to Philip. “Philip.” He hands him a stack of papers. “These are your bank statements for the last year. The highlighted deposits are the bribes you’ve taken for betraying SEI. You are terminated, effective immediately.”
Philip’s shoulders are stiff for a second, but they drop a second later. “I suspected you knew. Mateo’s been tense around me, but I couldn’t tell if I was just overreacting.” He nods. “I understand. For what it’s worth. I’m sorry.”
Thiago’s smile is all teeth like a shark. “Oh, we’re not done here. Whether we decide to turn the evidence over to the authorities is largely dependent on you. While we would love to see you prosecuted and sent to prison, we’re after bigger fish. If you help us, we’ll figure out a way for you to pay your debt without spending time behind bars.”
Philip stiffens. “I don’t know what you mean.”
Thiago tilts his head. “We know David Perry, your son, is involved in the theft of SEI software.”
He shakes his head rapidly back and forth. “He didn’t steal your software. In fact, he didn’t know anything about it. It was entirely me. Diego told me if I didn’t, he would kill David.”
Mateo scoffs and crosses his arms. “You’ve been taking bribes for a year. The software wasn’t stolen until the week before Marcos died. Want to try again?”
“When we pitched the software to you and you decided not to move forward, David was devastated. It was supposed to be his ticket back to working on legitimate solutions instead of the black hat jobs. His boss heard about the pitch from Diego and offered David a choice—death or he could convince me to spy on SEI for them. It wasn’t even a choice. He’s my son,” Philip states quietly.
Mateo throws up his hands. “Why didn’t you come to me? To any of us? You were like family. We would have helped you and David. Instead, you took away the one person who meant everything to us—Marcos. No matter what excuses you tell yourself, you’ll always be responsible for his death.”
Thiago, Grayson, and I all nod.
“We want Langford,” Thiago informs him. “And the woman—what’s her name?”
“What about David?” Philip questions.
“He can walk free, same as you,” Thiago generously offers. “We will require some assurance, of course, that neither of you will ever have anything to do with SEI or…”
