Animal Kingdom (19 page)

“
And it’s
my
building,” said Randall, “but I digress. I think Mason would be a wonderful candidate.”

“
Except for the fact that I am not volunteering,” Mason said. “I’m not cut out to make decisions. I’m a scholar; comfortable alone in a room full of books. I don’t wish to have that responsibility.”

Joe deflated. The only respectable contender against Randall for leadership would have been the zoo’s curator. Without Mason, who else was there?”

“
I suggest Joe,” said Bill, trying to take the weight off his injured leg by sitting on a pile of cushions. “He’s a risk taker, but he always does what’s right.”

“
I agree,” said Grace. “He’s done nothing but put other people first since this whole thing began.”

Randall smiled, the expression drenched in condescension. “My dear, Joe has a son to look after, and that would only compromise his ability to lead. I very much doubt that he would want to-”

“
I volunteer,” said Joe, cutting Randall off mid-patronisation. “Politicians have children and families, so don’t give us that bullshit!”

Randall sighed and shook his head as though the bad language hurt his soul. “Okay then. We have two candidates. Is everyone ready to vote?” He looked down at Danny sleeping soundly and added, “Over-eighteens only, of course.”

Everyone sat patiently while Victor used a marker to scrawl the words JOE and RANDALL on the seminar room’s whiteboard.

“
Okay,” said Victor. “I’ll chair the vote and ask you one by one to give me your choice between Joe and Randall. We’ll start with you, Shirley.”

Shirley nodded and allowed herself to think. Joe suspected it was just for show and was not surprised when she answered. “Randall. I pick Mr. Randall.”

“
Okay,” said Victor. “How about you, Grace? Should I even bother asking?”

“
Joe is the best man by far.”

“
Thanks for that, lass.” Victor drew a scratch below each of the names on the board. A tie so far.

“
I vote for Joe too,” said Bill before being asked. Joe nodded a silent thanks to the man.

“
Hold your horses,” said Victor. “I’m in control of this thing, so let’s speak when spoken too, yeah?” Despite his assertions, Victor put another scratch below Joe’s name. He then put another one beneath Randall’s.

“
Hey,” said Grace. “What’s that for?”

“
That’s for my vote, lass. We have a tiebreaker. Mason it falls to you.”

Joe smiled.
It’s in the bag. No way is Mason going to vote for that egotistical prick.

“
I vote for Randall,” said Mason, seeming to choke on the words as they came out of his throat.

Grace leapt to her feet and threw out her arms. “What? How can you not vote for Joe? We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him.”

“
I’m aware of that, Miss. Although earlier I saved his life in return so perhaps that makes us even.”

Joe shook his head, genuinely shocked. “Why, Mason?”

Mason couldn’t look him in the eye. “I don’t want to see anyone else get hurt, and as Bill said earlier, you’re a risk taker. I think things will be a little more stable if Randall runs them, and this is, after all, his building.”

“
Bullshit!” Grace screamed at him. “You’re a spineless bastard. He said something to make you vote for him, didn’t he?”

“
Now, now, Grace. I do not wish to hear any talk of corruption.” Randall wagged his finger back and forth. “Not under my government.”

Grace cackled. “Government? There’s five people here, you big-headed prick. You’re not the prime minister! You’re just a sad little man that wants to be in charge of all the toys because no one will play with him otherwise.”

Randall turned to Victor. “Control her, please.”

Victor shot forward and twisted an arm behind Grace’s back, making her squeal.

Like a shot, Joe was on his feet and rushed the Scotsman, but before he knew what happened something cracked against the bridge of his nose. He staggered backwards, already feeling the blood and snot flowing between his fingers. When he looked up, through blurry eyes, he could see that Victor was holding up his long blade against Grace’s throat. He’d obviously smacked Joe in the face with Martha’s thick handle.

“
What the hell are you doing?” Bill screamed.

Randall held a hand up as though he were talking to a church full of worshippers. “My first order of business is about the adherence to law and general obedience of the group. Victor is now the group’s Marshall and will deal forcefully with any disruption. From now on he will also be the only one with access to weapons. I took the liberty earlier of dispensing most of them to a secure place.”

Joe spat bloody-mucous onto the floor. “And why did you do that if you didn’t know if you would get the vote?”

Randall smiled. “It was just a precaution. A shrewd one, I believe. Victor will now escort Grace to my office until she calms down.”

“
What happened to this being a democracy?” said Joe, still blinking tears from the blow to his nose.

Victor answered on Randall’s behalf. “The vote was democratic. Now that it’s been dealt with, consider this a dictatorship. It’s for your own good.”

“
Indeed,” Randall seconded.

Victor strong-armed a protesting Grace through the door and out into the corridor, disappearing a moment later. Bill limped up to Joe and stood beside him, facing down Randall. “You’re not going to get away with this!” he vowed.

“
With what?” Randall scoffed. “I was voted in lawfully and am leading as I see fit. It is for your own good. With time you will learn to love my regime. I’m certain of it. And if not then you will most definitely respect it.”

Joe took Bill away from the scene. He could see the man was ready to explode. “Come on, Bill, we’ll deal with him somehow. Let’s not worry for now.”

“
I hope that’s not conspiring I hear, gentlemen. This government takes a very dim view of plotting.”

Joe turned back around. “Oh don’t you worry, Randall. We’ll play up to your delusions for now, but just remember that when the situation comes that you need our help, you won’t get it. As far as I’m concerned, it’s just a matter of time until you fall on your fat ass.”

“
Perhaps, but until then you will do as I command, or face the consequences.”

Joe nodded. “Fair enough.”

But sooner or later I’ll make sure that the consequences are for you….my friend.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Things are coming along nicely,
Randall told himself. The group was under control and would be obeying his commands from now on. And if they did not, Victor would happily show them the error of their ways. After making an offer that Mason could not refuse, and with Bill being injured, there was now only Joe to worry about.

But there are plenty of options to make that over-sized brute behave. Like his son, or the girl.

Speaking of the girl, Randall thought, he should go see her and explain what was expected from her going forward. It would not do to have her kicking up a fuss again. It was bad for morale. He crossed the room and exited into the corridor. Victor was coming back the other way, jangling a set of keys between his fingers. When he saw Randall, he handed them over.

Randall took them and smiled. “Everything under control?”

“
Aye, she’s sitting pretty in your office. Feisty one, that lass.”

“
Isn’t she
just
. I’m going to have to keep an eye on her. In fact I’m going to go see her right now.”

Victor nodded. “I’ll look after things until you get back.”

“
Good man!” Randall walked away. The door to his office was locked and he used the keys to open it. When he did so, Grace immediately rushed at him. A swift backhand soon put her in her place.

She fell to the floor, palm against her bleeding lip. “You bastard!” she hissed, wincing in pain.

Randall placed himself down on a swivel chair up against the room’s desk. He folded his hands in front of himself and placed them in his lap. “Listen here, woman. You better get used to the way things will be running around here or else you’re going to find yourself locked up more often than not.”

Grace pushed herself back to her feet and scowled at him. “You have no right!”

“
I was given the right by a vote.”

“
A vote you fixed.”

“
Such accusations will not be tolerated – especially ones with no substance. Now, if I hear such things again, I will see that you spend an entire week in here alone.”

The girl’s eyes grew wide and Randall fought the urge to gloat as an obvious fear seized hold of her.

“
You can’t leave me alone in here,” she pleaded. “You have to let me out.”

Randall smiled, his thin lips stretched wide. “Not until you learn how to behave, young lady.”

“
I’ll behave,” she cried. “Just don’t lock me up.”

Randall thought for a moment. What on Earth had taken the fight out of her so quickly? Surely it couldn’t just be the threat of incarceration? Either way, it was a lot of fun watching her beg. Maybe he could even get her on her knees.

“
Why are you so afraid of being locked up, my dear?”

Grace looked away, avoiding his attempts to make eye contact. “I…just don’t like being alone.”

“
Then perhaps a day alone will be a suitable enough punishment to teach you some respect.”

Grace lunged across the desk. The act was so ferocious that Randall was in awe of how quickly she was upon him, hands around his throat. He grabbed a fistful of hair at the back of her head and pulled her off of him, slamming her down onto the desk. He moved his face close to hers, their noses only centremetres apart. “Now listen here, sweetheart. There’s a new mayor in town and you better learn real fast to respect him. You hear me?” He yanked harder on her hair and she nodded, tears starting to spill from her eyes. “Now I’m gonna leave you here on your own so you can do some thinking. When I decide to let you out, I hope to see a significant change in your behaviour.” Grace began sobbing, but he cut her off by shoving his tongue into her mouth. She struggled and fought to remove him, but he held the kiss a few seconds more until he was satisfied.

I love it when they fight.

Randall pulled away, and Grace spat onto the floor then started sobbing. He moved towards the door, but turned to face her one last time before he left. “You know, with a mouth like that, I may just make you my First Lady.”

Randall slammed the door and locked it. Leaving Grace alone with her tears.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

“
What are we going to do?” Bill asked Joe. They were standing over in the corner of the room where Danny was playing with some toy animals from the warehouse.

“
I don’t know yet,” Joe said, “but Randall has no right to behave the way he is. We should just play it safe for now.”

Bill nodded. “Or else we’ll have that psycho, Victor, on our asses.”

“
Exactly. That man is dangerous, and I don’t think he’s ‘all there’, you know?”

“
I hear ya. What should we do about Grace though? We can’t just leave her locked up.”

Joe bit at his lip as he thought about her. “No, we really can’t. We have to get her out.”

“
Okay,” said Bill. “How?”

“
Appeal to Randall’s decency?”

Bill laughed. “Don’t think the man has any.”

“
Me either, but I don’t know what else to do.”

Bill shrugged. “Okay. Give it a shot.”

The timing was perfect because Randall had just re-entered the seminar room and seemed to be in a good mood about something. Joe approached him over by the window. It was still deserted outside, the animals gone.

“
Hey, Randall,” he said, trying to sound calm and reasonable. “You think maybe you should let Grace out? She’s probably calmed down by now.”

Randall faced Joe, the smug grin still on his face. “I’m afraid not,” he stated firmly.

Joe threw his head back, already frustrated by talking to the man. He gave it another shot though. “It’s not safe for her to be alone. Last time she got attacked and bitten.”

Randall nodded as though he was taking Joe’s concerns on board, but what came out of the man’s mouth said different. “Victor has safeguarded the room sufficiently. He’s even added a padlock to the door. There’s no need to worry about anything.”

“
Well how long do you plan on keeping her locked up? You have no goddamn right! It’s kidnapping.”

Randall folded his arms across his chest. “Don’t be so dramatic. She was hysterical and had to be removed for the safety of the group.”

Joe saw an opening. “And now she’s not, so she should be released.”

Randall shook his head solemnly. “I thought just the same thing earlier, but I’m afraid that she attacked me as soon as I entered the room.”

Joe looked at Randall’s neck as the man turned his head to one side. Sure enough there were red finger marks against the podgy flesh.