state?”
“Our security budget has been strained. The chairwoman has called them in before to straighten out the crowds. Bullstow comes in, makes a few busts, and writes the reports. None of us like them, though. They’re both assholes.”
“Both?” Tristan asked. “Is it the same two guys every time?”
Simon nodded.
Lila eyed Tristan, who had cocked his head in thought. “How many times have they come out, Simon?”
“Four or five times, at least. That’s what Tobias told me, anyway. He was thinking of joining the militia before we realized how bad off the family was. He still patrols with them sometimes, though. Or did. He always knew who’d been arrested on the compound and who brought them in.”
“The chances of the chairwoman’s call being answered by the same two officers every time is incredibly small,” Lila said.
“It’s pretty much impossible,” Tristan agreed. “Those two men work for your mother, Simon. She’s using them to clear out her estate of undesirables. You are an undesirable. I have to ask myself why a chairwoman would set up her own son.”
Simon eyed the other slaves as they worked along the roadside. “I have to go now. We’ve got to get all the flowers planted before the weekend, and then there’s painting that must be finished. I’ve been gone for too—”
Lila put her hand on his chest. “She set you up, and you know it. Why would your mother do that? Why would she throw away her own son?”
“She didn’t throw me away. She’s going to come back for me. It’s just a misunderstanding. After she gets everything in order, she’ll bring me home. I’ve sent her messages, Lila.”
“Has she replied to them?”
“She will. She’s going to come back for me.”
“What is she getting in order?”
“Nothing.”
Lila grabbed his wrist. “What is she getting in order, Simon?”
“I trust you, Lila,” he said, looking her in the eyes. “Give Alex a message. Tell her she needs to visit Mother. If she waits too long, she’ll always regret it.”
He squeezed Lila’s shoulder and started off toward his crew.
Tristan’s hand shot out, gripped his arm, and held him in place. “We’re not done.”
Simon tried to shake him off, but Tristan held firm. “You idiot child, we’re trying to help you. Senator Craft is dead. Your father can no longer help you get out of this mess. Do you really think your mother is going to save you? She tried to dump you in a mine where you would have come out with black lungs if you ever came out at all. She isn’t coming back for you, no matter how many messages you send. You’re not the only one she threw in the trash, you know. Not everyone was so lucky to end up in a rich man’s vineyard.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Yes, he does,” Lila said. “Why does Alex need to see your mother?”
Simon shrugged off Tristan. “I have to get back to work.”
Lila barred his way. “Simon, I promise you that I will not tell my mother anything that you tell me this afternoon, but if you don’t tell me what I want to know, then this deal is off. I’ll make it my mission to find it out anyway. You know that I will.”
Simon glanced back and forth between her face and the work crew, looking like a lost child who must chose a savior from the crowd. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Then trust me like Alex does.”
He frowned and kicked at the grass, his eyes reddening. “I started interning as an assistant to Mr. Heatherstone last year. He brings in new software accounts between our family and the wealthier lowborn. I noticed my mother was acting weird during our meetings. It was just small things at first, like saying no to reasonable deals because the families weren’t the right sort of people. The deals wouldn’t have brought in all that much money, so I didn’t put much thought into it. But then, suddenly, she didn’t want us to take on any short-term accounts. It seems odd, doesn’t it? I mean, we needed more partnerships, and Mr. Heatherstone brought her several good deals, even one with the Park family. All she needed to do was sign, but she said no to all of them. She said they weren’t right for the family, that we had too many other projects going on.”
“What other projects?” Lila asked.
“That’s what I wanted to know, so I looked into it. We’re coding a few software applications. Each deal is worth several million credits, all long-term projects, but we’re losing more and more money every year. We have plenty of people to work. Why wouldn’t she want us doing anything?”
Simon cracked his knuckles and sighed, his breath steady once more. “I broke into my mother’s files and started fishing around the financials. I’m not an idiot child. I know enough to understand when someone is liquidating assets. She’s putting her affairs in order, Lila. My grandmother died when she was my mom’s age. I got worried. I wanted to know that she was going to be okay, so I confronted her about it one night after dinner. She got angry that I had peeked where I shouldn’t have, said she couldn’t trust me anymore. She admitted that something was going on, though. It’s the fertility meds she’s been taking. I knew they were hurting her. You can’t take that many pills and still be okay. She said they’ve made her sick and that she just needs a bit of time to get things settled. She needed extra money for a doctor up north who might be able to help.”