The King (6 page)

Chapter 22

London heard a collective groan, like an undertow beneath the cheer at Stone’s words. She heard someone say, “shit” behind her, and a girl in front of her hissed, “bitch.” None of it distracted her from the fact that one of the richest, most famous men in the world thought that her idea was good enough to hire her on the spot – in front of half the campus. After spending a month fading into the background, feeling barely acknowledged, isolated, lost, and reeling in loneliness, Billy Stone’s statement of support was just the boost she needed.

She was swept up by some of the security guards and led behind the stage, to where Billy was waiting in the green room. He was a little shorter than she was but his eyes were bright, and he radiated confidence.

“I want to thank you for your idea,” he said.

She blushed. He was rich, and famous, and he was thanking her! It was overwhelming. “Am I really hired?”

He smiled at her and looked a little embarrassed. “I’ll be honest with you. I really didn’t know how to end that thing in there, but I am in charge of the company and I did like your idea...how about this: I’ll take you to dinner and we’ll talk about it.”

She blushed again, thinking about who he was, and how he was just talking to her like a regular person. Something about him made her feel...comfortable. “Okay,” she said. “I’ll go.”

And with that, their romance began. Her being hired never came up again... Until it did, in the worst possible way.

Chapter 23

Frank Larson, one of Russell’s clients, stood up slowly and shook his hand after their client review. “Did you see the video of London on YouTube?” he said, grinning.

“What?” Russell felt his stomach drop. He tried to fight back every possible sick, twisted image he could imagine being maliciously posted about London.

“Hey, it’s nothing bad!” Larson said, seeing the look on Russell’s face. “In fact, I think she may have gotten a job!”

“A job?” Russell turned the word over in his mind. If she’d gotten a job she would have called him – and besides, she was only a freshman!

“Yeah, it was that guy from PushThrough – Billy something.”

Russell tried to put on a jovial, professional face to hide his panic. “Ha! No, I haven’t seen it yet,” he said, slapping Frank on the back. “I’ll have to check it out.”

“Just Google ‘You’re hired!’”

Russell was at his computer, looking at the video before he heard Larson’s car start up out front. The video was obviously shot on someone’s phone, in the auditorium at Stanford during a speech. He watched, feeling a mixture of happiness just at seeing her, and sick anxiety at how she was being exposed. He watched, as London stood up and offered her idea, and the man on stage – Billy Stone – hired her on the spot.

For a brief second, his chest swelled with pride. How smart she was, to be hired on the spot by one of the biggest Tech companies in the country! But a moment later, he was filled with anxiety, imagining her moving too quickly, never finishing school, and worst of all, being far away on the west coast.

He would have to sell his house and his business, and move west. Still at the computer, he started to skim through articles about Billy Stone – the ‘Internet King’ who ran through models like popcorn. He pictured Stone with his daughter, at first just talking and then his mind filled with other, darker images that ran together until he leapt up from his desk, spun, and smashed his hand through the wall behind the desk.

Then he picked up the phone. He needed to talk to London.

Chapter 24

Stevens and Emory walked quickly into the conference room. Inside, agents had set up all the information they knew so far about Billy Stone’s kidnapping. On one wall, information on the prostitute who had been hired to lure Billy to the hotel room had been listed, along with additional details. On another was the information on the handyman who had rented the room. On the third was all they had about the congressional testimony – when it had been scheduled, who had called for it, what questions would have been asked, and who would have been affected. Information on the hotel itself, the security tapes, the access routes in and out, and all forensic evidence – the little they had – was included. Pictures of possible cars taken from traffic cameras from the surrounding area were taped against the white board by the hotel information, and next to that, everything they knew about Black Hawk Security, including their threat assessment. Finally, they had collected information on the two houses that they’d raided earlier in the day, as well as personal information about Billy’s phone, his credit cards, his internet accounts, and his bank information, updated continuously in case any of it changed.

Stevens slammed a hand down on the conference room table and a small crowd of agents turned to look at him. “Stop everything!” he said. “And listen.”

Emory nodded his agreement, as Stevens held up the stack of printouts in his hands.

“I’ve got thirteen profiles of women who’ve had problems with Billy Stone that were handled by Tom Francis at The Agency. I think that once you read through how they were ‘handled’ you’ll agree that any one of them could be behind this.”

Stevens handed the copied sheets to Emily Sarah, who started passing them around the room. Finally, she took a copy for herself and started reading. He watched her try unsuccessfully to hide her disgust as she realized what Stone and Francis had been doing. 

Chapter 25

Mercedes and the models that followed had been all about having sex. Yes, there was a certain amount of pleasure in using his newfound power and confidence to achieve something that he’d never thought possible. But ultimately, it had been about the physical act of sex, without thought or connection, all of which had left Billy physically satisfied, but still alone.

And then London had come into his life, and everything changed.

London was so different from all of the other women, he sometimes felt as if she was the first woman he’d ever really known. She was gorgeous, but seemed completely uninterested in her looks, let alone being complimented about them. She was smart – she actually understood when Billy started geeking out on the details of what he was working on. She cracked jokes that made Billy laugh until his sides hurt. She’d led him to the idea of mobilizing PushThrough’s architecture, and that idea had pushed the stock price up fifteen percent, which was making Josh and everyone else at the corporation much happier.

Everything London did made him smile, and the more time he spent with her, the more he was starting to think about his life – what had happened over the last few years, and what he really wanted. 

Chapter 26

From the first time London Scott went out with Billy Stone she felt at home. There was just something so familiar about the way Billy took care of her. His world was one that she’d only imagined, fueled by amazing amounts of money: the best restaurants, the best cars, the nicest clothes, everything you could possibly buy, Billy could get. Yet Billy seemed indifferent – almost oblivious to the money. To him, it was just a byproduct of his business. If she didn’t have the right dress to go out, he would buy it for her without even thinking about it. Shoes? Jewelry? There wasn’t anything that he wouldn’t get for her. She wasn’t even sure if he noticed the way she tried to be modest, the way that she never asked for anything. He paid attention to her, he watched her, he listened to what she had to say. He laughed at her bad jokes, and made her feel like she was the center of the world. She felt as if she were home. The fact that he was rich and famous but was still interested in her was a source of constant wonder.

She hadn’t dated in high school because of the Tommy Healy incident, and nobody had been interested in her at Stanford. When Billy had tried to kiss her, as the two of them stood inside his apartment, looking over the lights of San Francisco, she let him. When he ran his hands up under her shirt, she let him. When he pulled her skirt up, she’d sighed in anticipation. When he took her virginity, she screamed with pleasure.

When she thought about it afterwards she had no regrets. She loved Billy, and he loved her back. She’d given him that special moment in her life and he’d made it special for her. She wasn’t thinking about college anymore, or her father. She wasn’t thinking about anything, other than Billy. Billy had become her world, and her world was filled with happiness. Love had blossomed in her heart.

Chapter 27

Russell’s clothes were packed and the flight was booked. He was heading out the door when London finally called back. He wanted to be mad. He steeled himself, getting ready to yell at her, to tell her how worried he’d been.

“Daddy,” she said. “I’m so happy!”

At the sound of her voice, every bad thought, every disturbed emotion drained away, along with the adrenaline. “You sound so good, dear. Tell me what’s going on.”

“I’ve met someone,” she said, and his heart melted as she told him about Billy Stone. “Dad,” she said to end her story, “I’ve never been so happy.”

His heart melted. His little girl had fallen in love. Part of him was incredibly happy that she was happier than he could ever remember her being, but at the same time, he was terrified that Billy Stone was taking advantage of his naive daughter. What should he say? If he told her she was moving too fast or that Billy wasn’t right for her, he would drive her further into his arms. If he told her he was happy, he would be setting her up for whatever fall was probably coming. Before he could say anything she cut him off.

“I have to go,” she said. “It’s Billy. I love you so much, dad!”

And then she was gone, before he could tell her how much he loved her, too.

He dropped the handle to his rolling suitcase, walked into his office, poured himself a Scotch and took a deep, long drink, that burnt its way down to his unsettled stomach. He refilled the glass and fell back into his chair, exhausted from the countless hours he’d spent fretting over what London was doing since he’d seen the video. He was happy to have heard her voice, but scared to death that she was rushing into a relationship with Billy Stone. He wanted to protect her. He wanted to find Billy Stone and tell him that he’d better treat his daughter right. But he also knew that she was an adult. She’d gone to Stanford to find herself, and that was exactly what she was doing.

He finished his drink, threw the glass against the wall, turned, and started punching the wall behind his desk. He kept punching until the pain and blood made him stop, then he fell to the floor, bleeding, holding his aching hands as tears of frustration fell from his eyes. 

Chapter 28

Agent Emily Sarah was designing the parameters and algorithms she would use to run the names that Stevens had given her. As she did, she pulled up the driver’s licenses of the girls and projected them onto the screen to use as reference points.

“That’s her!” Stevens said, pointing at the picture of London Scott.

“Why her?” Emory said.

Stevens clenched his fists. “She looks like the prostitute at the hotel, and it’s a Virginia License.”

Emily Sarah started throwing information about London Scott up on the screen, then sucked in her breath.

“Jesus,” Emory said as he read over her shoulder.

John Stevens practically shook with rage as he looked at the information on screen. “God damn it,” he said. “We’re already too late.”

Chapter 29

London Scott stretched as she woke, watching the sun that shined brightly through the twelve-foot high, glass windows of Billy’s bedroom, overlooking the San Francisco Bay. Cars made their way across the Golden Gate Bridge, seagulls flew through the air, and boats sailed across the bay. Everything looked perfect and peaceful, and if she had to describe what she was feeling, the word she would have used was joy. She reached over to put her arm around Billy, but he was gone.

He’d been there when they’d fallen asleep in each other’s arms, but as she pulled herself up in the bed and looked around the room, she didn’t see any sign of him. She got up, threw a robe on and started walking through the massive apartment, looking for him. She went into his upstairs office, the theatre, the exercise room, and glanced into the two extra bedrooms before she finally walked downstairs where she found Tom Francis. She’d met him before – with Billy – at a charity event a few nights before. Now he was standing at the big crystal dining table in front of the twenty-foot high wall of windows that looked out onto the Bay.

She self-consciously wrapped the robe around her a little tighter, wishing she’d put something on under it. “Hi Mr. Francis,” she said, “are you meeting Billy?”

“No, Miss Scott,” Francis said, “he’s not here. I’ve been waiting to talk to you.”

“Me?” She didn’t like the flat, humorless sound of his voice or the dry look on his face. “Why me?”

“It’s time for you to move on, Miss Scott,” Francis said, pointing at the seat next to him.

London’s stomach sank, and her knees practically gave out as she dropped down into the chair. She felt as if she had just been punched in the gut. “Wh...what do you mean?” She tried to keep her lips from trembling, but she couldn’t stop the tears. 

Francis waved a finger in front of her eyes. “Now, don’t start all of that. You had to know that this wasn’t going to last.” He threw a stack of pictures on the table, pictures of Billy with other women. “You had to know about Billy’s reputation.”

“No, I…” She looked at the pictures of Billy, seeing them, but not comprehending. “Where’s Billy?”

“He’s back at work, where he should have been the whole time. He’s done playing with you.”

“Playing?” She felt her entire sense of self, unraveling.

“A girl like you doesn’t get involved with a man like Billy unless she wants something,” Francis said, taking a check out of his pocket. “So here you go.” 

Through the tears, she saw that the check was from The Agency and was made out to her...for one million dollars. The memo in the box said FOR SERVICES RENDERED.

“What...what is this?”

“Like it says,” Francis said dryly, as if he’d done this a hundred times before. “For services rendered.”

She knew what he was implying, but she just couldn’t believe it. “What the hell does that mean?”

“You presented a good idea. PushThrough is going to use it, and Billy said he’d pay you for it, so before you go to a lawyer claiming that he made a verbal commitment to you... which he did... we’re giving you that check.” Francis pulled out a second piece of paper, a document. “Sign this, releasing the idea to PushThrough, and we’ll call it a day.”

The idea of taking any money from Billy sickened her. “I don’t want your money, I want to talk to Billy.” Her head fell into her hands and the tears came streaming out.

Francis shook his head and waved dismissively towards the door. Blake Fitzpatrick from Black Hawk Security stepped forward with one of his men. “Don’t you get it?” Francis said.

She looked from Fitzpatrick to Francis. “Get what?”

Francis smiled. “I wouldn’t be here unless Billy wanted me to get you out of his house. Just sign your paper, take your check, and move on. You should be happy.”

London’s mouth fell open. She couldn’t breathe. Her heart felt like it was being torn apart. She loved Billy. She wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. She’d given her virginity to him. And now Francis was telling her that she was being swept out like the trash, and Billy didn’t even have the decency to tell her himself.

Francis grabbed her knee and squeezed. “Don’t let it get to you, kid. You weren't the first, and you won’t be the last. People like Billy, they live above the rest of us, and no matter what he said to you, you’re just another girl to him.”

Just another girl? How could she be just another girl? She’d always been the girl, the center of attention, and now she was being cast aside? How could it be true?

“I...I just want to talk to Billy!”

Francis shook his head. “That isn’t going to happen. Just take your check and go.”

“I don’t want the money...”

“When you get past all this–” he pointed at her tear-stained face “–you’re going to want that money. That and a lot more, but this is one time offer: it’s not going to happen again, and if you walk out that door you won’t receive a penny. Take my advice: sign the paper, take the money, and at least you’ll have that to compensate you for your...services.” At the last word, Francis curled up his lip in disgust.

“I don’t want it...”

Francis gestured, and Fitzpatrick and his man came up and stood over her. “Sign the fucking paper!” Francis yelled, slamming his hand down onto the top of the glass dining table.

With Fitzpatrick standing over her, and Francis yelling, all she wanted to do was run away, but there was no escape. She didn’t want anything to do with Francis, or the money, but didn’t know what else to do, so she did the only thing she could to get out of that room. She signed.

“Good girl,” Francis said, and he smiled.