bankruptcy. On the other hand’ – and now a bitter sarcasm crept into his voice – ‘if we forewarn the passengers about the potential for danger and they still choose to board, the law holds us blameless if one of them dies.’
Magozzi nodded to himself. Sometimes the law was a bitch.
‘Can’t the police order us to cancel the charter?’
Magozzi smiled a little. ‘Not in this country. Not without an Emergency Powers declaration from the governor, and all we’re working with here is a suspicion of something that might happen, not a clear and present danger.’
‘Maybe the mayor could help you with that. He’s on the guest list.’
Magozzi covered his eyes with his hand.
‘I want you to know that if it were up to me, Detective, I would haul that boat out of the water myself and the hell with lawsuits.’
‘I believe you, Mr Tiersval.’ It was always something of a surprise for Magozzi to find genuinely decent people at the top of any corporate ladder. He’d probably watched Erin Brockovich too many times.
‘I called the Hammonds and explained the situation briefly. They agreed to give you a hearing if you can get over there within the next thirty minutes. Do you need the address?’
Magozzi didn’t. Everyone in the city knew who lived in the big stone mansion on Lake of the Isles.
Gino walked in just as he was hanging up the phone. He looked exactly one donut fatter than when Magozzi had left him out in the loft ten minutes earlier.
‘You broke bread with them,’ he accused him, pointing to his chin.
Gino dragged his hand across crags and whiskers and white powder fell to Mitch Cross’s immaculate gray carpet. ‘I’d break bread with Satan if it was a sugar donut. They made us hard copies of the game and registration info for every player who signed onto the website. Didn’t even have to ask twice. General MacBride had the printers going before I could open my mouth, and now we got two boxes out there stuffed with paper. You have any luck nailing down a boat?’
‘Yeah, and it was all bad. I’ll tell you about it in the car.’
When the elevator door slid shut on the detectives, Grace looked away toward the windows and concentrated on the pale strips of light an anemic sun painted on the floor. She wasn’t quite ready to meet the eyes of her friends, not just yet.
People were dying because of her. Again.
Mitch collapsed into a chair next to her. Outwardly, he appeared calm, but hysteria emanated from him like a toxic aura. ‘We are screwed,’ he finally announced.
The comment barely registered in Grace’s mind, but Annie was quick to respond with a scowl. ‘That’s a nice attitude, Mitch.’
Mitch raised his eyes to look at her. ‘What do you think is going to happen to Monkeewrench when this thing blows wide open?’
That comment registered in Grace’s mind and she turned to look at him. ‘What are you saying, Mitch?’ she asked carefully, knowing full well she was opening Pandora’s box.
Mitch blew out a breath and raked his fingers through his hair. ‘I’m saying that Greenberg was pissed off just because we were creating a game about serial killers. When he finds out we’re responsible for a rash of copycat murders, Schoolhouse, along with about fifty percent of Monkeewrench’s income, is going to be a happy memory.’
Grace recoiled and stared at her old friend as if he were an unpleasant stranger. ‘I can’t believe I just heard you say that.’
Mitch scrubbed his unshaven face with his hands. ‘What? I’m the only one who’s worried? I’m talking about the future of our company, Grace. This is not a minor setback, this is a disaster.’
‘For God’s sake, Mitch, people are dying out there because of this game!’
‘Which I didn’t want to do in the first place, remember?’ he almost shouted, and then he saw the look on her face and would have given his life to take the words back.
Your fault, Grace. Your fault then, and your fault
Magozzi nodded to himself. Sometimes the law was a bitch.
‘Can’t the police order us to cancel the charter?’
Magozzi smiled a little. ‘Not in this country. Not without an Emergency Powers declaration from the governor, and all we’re working with here is a suspicion of something that might happen, not a clear and present danger.’
‘Maybe the mayor could help you with that. He’s on the guest list.’
Magozzi covered his eyes with his hand.
‘I want you to know that if it were up to me, Detective, I would haul that boat out of the water myself and the hell with lawsuits.’
‘I believe you, Mr Tiersval.’ It was always something of a surprise for Magozzi to find genuinely decent people at the top of any corporate ladder. He’d probably watched Erin Brockovich too many times.
‘I called the Hammonds and explained the situation briefly. They agreed to give you a hearing if you can get over there within the next thirty minutes. Do you need the address?’
Magozzi didn’t. Everyone in the city knew who lived in the big stone mansion on Lake of the Isles.
Gino walked in just as he was hanging up the phone. He looked exactly one donut fatter than when Magozzi had left him out in the loft ten minutes earlier.
‘You broke bread with them,’ he accused him, pointing to his chin.
Gino dragged his hand across crags and whiskers and white powder fell to Mitch Cross’s immaculate gray carpet. ‘I’d break bread with Satan if it was a sugar donut. They made us hard copies of the game and registration info for every player who signed onto the website. Didn’t even have to ask twice. General MacBride had the printers going before I could open my mouth, and now we got two boxes out there stuffed with paper. You have any luck nailing down a boat?’
‘Yeah, and it was all bad. I’ll tell you about it in the car.’
When the elevator door slid shut on the detectives, Grace looked away toward the windows and concentrated on the pale strips of light an anemic sun painted on the floor. She wasn’t quite ready to meet the eyes of her friends, not just yet.
People were dying because of her. Again.
Mitch collapsed into a chair next to her. Outwardly, he appeared calm, but hysteria emanated from him like a toxic aura. ‘We are screwed,’ he finally announced.
The comment barely registered in Grace’s mind, but Annie was quick to respond with a scowl. ‘That’s a nice attitude, Mitch.’
Mitch raised his eyes to look at her. ‘What do you think is going to happen to Monkeewrench when this thing blows wide open?’
That comment registered in Grace’s mind and she turned to look at him. ‘What are you saying, Mitch?’ she asked carefully, knowing full well she was opening Pandora’s box.
Mitch blew out a breath and raked his fingers through his hair. ‘I’m saying that Greenberg was pissed off just because we were creating a game about serial killers. When he finds out we’re responsible for a rash of copycat murders, Schoolhouse, along with about fifty percent of Monkeewrench’s income, is going to be a happy memory.’
Grace recoiled and stared at her old friend as if he were an unpleasant stranger. ‘I can’t believe I just heard you say that.’
Mitch scrubbed his unshaven face with his hands. ‘What? I’m the only one who’s worried? I’m talking about the future of our company, Grace. This is not a minor setback, this is a disaster.’
‘For God’s sake, Mitch, people are dying out there because of this game!’
‘Which I didn’t want to do in the first place, remember?’ he almost shouted, and then he saw the look on her face and would have given his life to take the words back.
Your fault, Grace. Your fault then, and your fault
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