remember?”
“And you owned it two years ago when you flew out of here, claiming you’d never be back,” replied Crowe. “What’s changed?”
“What’s changed is that I have a paying job for you, for both of you.”
He stared at the two men expectantly. In unison, Crowe and Kavanaugh folded their arms over their chests. Their faces, still masked by sunglasses, remained impassive.
“Aren’t you going to ask me about the job?” Flitcroft demanded.
“I have a boat,” said Crowe.
“And I have a chopper,” Kavanaugh stated. “If the job doesn’t involve hiring us to sail or fly, there’s no reason why we would be interested enough to ask you about it.”
Flitcroft shook his head. “You guys are still so quick to cop the ‘tudes.”
“That’s because we’ve done business with you before,” said Kavanaugh. “Howie.”
“It couldn’t have been all that terrible…you’re still here.”
Kavanaugh uttered a scoffing sound. “It’s not like I had much choice, not with all the process servers out there looking for me.”
“Have I charged either one of you a dime of rent in two years?”
“You haven’t collected a dime,” Crowe reminded him. “That’s different from charging us. I always figured you’d get around to billing us one day.”
“Charge, collect, whatever…if you two go back to work for me, we’ll wipe the debit column clean and start all over.”
“You still haven’t said what the work is about,” said Kavanaugh coldly.
Flitcroft smiled for the first time, showing his capped, bleached teeth. “By coincidence, the work is about you flying and sailing a film crew around.”
“A film crew?” echoed Crowe.
Flitcroft’s smile widened and he clapped his hands together. “Boys, I’m going into the reality TV business.”
Behind the dark lenses of his glasses, Kavanaugh’s eyes slitted suspiciously. “What kind of reality?”
“Real people, real things and real places.” His smile widening into a grin, Flitcroft gestured expansively with both arms “A TV series about Cryptozoica.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
“Whose stupid, suicidal idea was that?” Crowe demanded skeptically. “Not even the most desperate insurance company in Hollywood would issue a policy to cover a project that goddamn risky.”
“I’m financing it,” Flitcroft answered, tapping his chest. “I’ve got my own insurance company, remember? I’ll cover the cost of everything.”
Kavanaugh slowly took off his sunglasses, started to speak, then shook his head wearily.
“What?” Flitcroft stared at him. “Go ahead.”
“I thought the whole strategy was to bury that fucking place and hope the world and most of the courts forgot about it.”
“That was the strategy,” Flitcroft agreed. “But I didn’t get to where I am today by closing my mind to new opportunities.”
“Such as?” asked Crowe.
“After I dissolved the Cryptozoica corporations, my attorneys settled the wrongful death suits and managed to get all but one of the negligent homicide charges dismissed.”
“Which one?” Kavanaugh inquired, even though he knew the answer.
“The one the Jessup estate filed against you.” Flitcroft lifted his hands palm upward in an attitude of helpless resignation. “Sorry, Jack. You knew I had to give them somebody and you did fly Cranston, Jessup and Shah Nikwan in-country, against company rules.”
A flush of shame and anger warmed the back of Kavanaugh’s neck and unconsciously his body tensed, his fists clenching.
In a voice pitched low to disguise the tremor of building rage, he said, “I flew them there because they were my employers and they told me they’d fire me, Mouzi, and Augustus if I didn’t do it.”
“They wanted to shoot the animals,” Pendlebury interjected shrilly. “The product!”
Kavanaugh didn’t glance in his direction. He kept his eyes trained on Flitcroft’s face. “They told me they were going to shoot the animals with cameras. It wasn’t
“And you owned it two years ago when you flew out of here, claiming you’d never be back,” replied Crowe. “What’s changed?”
“What’s changed is that I have a paying job for you, for both of you.”
He stared at the two men expectantly. In unison, Crowe and Kavanaugh folded their arms over their chests. Their faces, still masked by sunglasses, remained impassive.
“Aren’t you going to ask me about the job?” Flitcroft demanded.
“I have a boat,” said Crowe.
“And I have a chopper,” Kavanaugh stated. “If the job doesn’t involve hiring us to sail or fly, there’s no reason why we would be interested enough to ask you about it.”
Flitcroft shook his head. “You guys are still so quick to cop the ‘tudes.”
“That’s because we’ve done business with you before,” said Kavanaugh. “Howie.”
“It couldn’t have been all that terrible…you’re still here.”
Kavanaugh uttered a scoffing sound. “It’s not like I had much choice, not with all the process servers out there looking for me.”
“Have I charged either one of you a dime of rent in two years?”
“You haven’t collected a dime,” Crowe reminded him. “That’s different from charging us. I always figured you’d get around to billing us one day.”
“Charge, collect, whatever…if you two go back to work for me, we’ll wipe the debit column clean and start all over.”
“You still haven’t said what the work is about,” said Kavanaugh coldly.
Flitcroft smiled for the first time, showing his capped, bleached teeth. “By coincidence, the work is about you flying and sailing a film crew around.”
“A film crew?” echoed Crowe.
Flitcroft’s smile widened and he clapped his hands together. “Boys, I’m going into the reality TV business.”
Behind the dark lenses of his glasses, Kavanaugh’s eyes slitted suspiciously. “What kind of reality?”
“Real people, real things and real places.” His smile widening into a grin, Flitcroft gestured expansively with both arms “A TV series about Cryptozoica.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
“Whose stupid, suicidal idea was that?” Crowe demanded skeptically. “Not even the most desperate insurance company in Hollywood would issue a policy to cover a project that goddamn risky.”
“I’m financing it,” Flitcroft answered, tapping his chest. “I’ve got my own insurance company, remember? I’ll cover the cost of everything.”
Kavanaugh slowly took off his sunglasses, started to speak, then shook his head wearily.
“What?” Flitcroft stared at him. “Go ahead.”
“I thought the whole strategy was to bury that fucking place and hope the world and most of the courts forgot about it.”
“That was the strategy,” Flitcroft agreed. “But I didn’t get to where I am today by closing my mind to new opportunities.”
“Such as?” asked Crowe.
“After I dissolved the Cryptozoica corporations, my attorneys settled the wrongful death suits and managed to get all but one of the negligent homicide charges dismissed.”
“Which one?” Kavanaugh inquired, even though he knew the answer.
“The one the Jessup estate filed against you.” Flitcroft lifted his hands palm upward in an attitude of helpless resignation. “Sorry, Jack. You knew I had to give them somebody and you did fly Cranston, Jessup and Shah Nikwan in-country, against company rules.”
A flush of shame and anger warmed the back of Kavanaugh’s neck and unconsciously his body tensed, his fists clenching.
In a voice pitched low to disguise the tremor of building rage, he said, “I flew them there because they were my employers and they told me they’d fire me, Mouzi, and Augustus if I didn’t do it.”
“They wanted to shoot the animals,” Pendlebury interjected shrilly. “The product!”
Kavanaugh didn’t glance in his direction. He kept his eyes trained on Flitcroft’s face. “They told me they were going to shoot the animals with cameras. It wasn’t
Similar Books
