Page 221 of Atlas: The Story of Pa Salt
Outside, Tiggy stared at the jetty. ‘It can’t be...’ she gasped.
‘I’m sorry, Tiggy,’ Electra said, appearing alongside her. ‘I think it is.’
Dressed in a sharp grey suit, bedecked in aviator sunglasses, and with oiled, slicked-back hair, Zed Eszu tied off his boat and began to slowly make his way towards the house.
‘Goddamn it,’ said Miles, who immediately paced towards Eszu. He was soon joined by Floriano and Mouse.
‘You’ll stay there, thanks, old chap,’ said the eldest Forbes brother.
‘Who gave you permission to be here? You’re trespassing!’ Marina called down from the terrace.
‘Such a warm welcome!’ replied Zed with a greasy smile. ‘I merely dropped in to see my favourite sisters, and pay my respects to their father. I saw on a mutual friend’s social media that you were scattering the ashes today.’
Maia boldly made her way through the crowd to face Eszu. When she spoke, there was no hint of fear in her voice. ‘You can leave, Zed. There’s nothing for you here. You’ve come here to intimidate us. But it won’t work anymore.’
‘Intimidate you? Little old me? How could an ex-lover ever do such a thing, my sweet?’ Floriano’s fists visibly tightened. ‘I just wanted to make sure you were all all right after such a... traumatic time.’
‘We’ve been waiting to hear from you,’ Electra hissed. ‘But funnily enough, you’ve been ever so quiet since your Atlas project failed. Last I read in the papers, Lightning Communications is set to go into administration.’
Zed bristled. ‘It is true to say that reimagining global internet infrastructure during the financial crisis was not my finest moment.’ He sucked his teeth. ‘Particularly as we were bankrolled by... Berners.’
‘Who went under,’ Star reminded him with relish.
‘Yes. Clearly I do not possess the business nous of my father.’
‘We’re not afraid of you anymore,’ said Tiggy, taking Maia’s hand.
‘Aren’t you?’ Zed replied, staring intensely at her.
‘No. You have no power over us, Zed,’ stated Maia. ‘Now leave Atlantis, and never return.’
‘As you wish, my dear.’ Zed turned to leave, but spun back around on his heels. ‘Oh, might I share something with you which you will not have read about in the papers?’ His grin had become serpent-like. ‘You see, I came into some good fortune when my business partner, David Rutter, died.’
‘Good fortune, despite a death?’ Merry shook her head.
‘That’s right. I wouldn’t want you all to worry that Zed Eszu was going to go to rack and ruin, that’s all.’
CeCe frowned. ‘David Rutter... IswearI know that name.’
Zed snorted. ‘Perhaps because you are a living, breathing human being. Everyone has heard of him. David was the CEO of Berners.’
‘Oh my God, yes...’ CeCe said to herself. ‘He’s dead?’
Zed nodded. ‘He is. He had a lethal stroke not so long ago. It was the strangest thing. The man was perfectly healthy. He had a personal trainer, a dietician, and then one day... bang. Gone.’
‘Just like the Eszu empire,’ added Ally, who had arrived from inside.
‘Not quite, my dear. Because good old David left me a little something in his will.’ Zed reached into his pocket.
Somehow, CeCe already knew what he was about to produce.
Zed held up the largest pearl any of the sisters had ever seen. Its pale rose colour glistened in the sun.
‘Do you know how much this little beauty is worth?’ he asked.
CeCe swallowed hard. ‘Well over one million euros,’ she said, struggling to keep the disbelief from her face.
‘Perhaps you’re not as stupid as I assumed, CeCe! You are quite correct. For this is not just any pearl. This is the famousRoseatePearl.’ At the mention of its name, a couple of thesisters looked at each other with wide eyes. ‘It was lost in Australia for many years, but David’s team found it. And he left it to me when he died! Can you believe that?! I always thought the old bastard hated me. He blamed the Atlas project for the bank’s collapse.’
