What Have We Done (81)
“I think you are miscalculating.”
“No, I think you’re miscalculating. I pick up that phone over there and make one call and the deal will be cratered. I’ll tell my contacts your code is crap.”
“But that would be a lie. The code will change everything. How people communicate.”
Park Jones chuckles, shakes his head. “Created by someone who’s hardly a poster boy for communicating.”
“At least I don’t hurt girls. You and Mr. Brood.”
“Watch yourself.”
“No, I think you’d better watch your self. I know where the bodies are buried, quite literally.”
“You should choose your next words carefully, Artemis Templeton. I’ve spent a lot of time,
money, and contacts helping you, but that can change.”
“It better not. I’m the one who stopped the other kids from asking too many questions, the one who scared them into thinking Mr. Brood is to blame. But if you keep doing this, the truth’s going to come out.”
“You’d better hope not. If it does, you’re going down with me, kid.”
An hour later, there’s a knock on the door. Artemis answers it.
Annie’s there, wearing the cheap necklace Nico bought her. She looks distraught.
“Is Nico okay? Where is he?”
“I think he’ll be okay. Derek beat him up pretty good.”
“Oh my goodness, where is he? Did you call anyone else?”
“I think he’ll be fine. He’s in the room in the back.…”
EPILOGUE
NICO
“Hi, Nico,” the small crowd perched on metal folding chairs says in unison.
He stands at the podium, offers a fleeting smile, and says, “It’s been eight months since I last gambled.”
The room fills with light clapping as he looks at the circle of faces. It’s mostly men, but there are a few women attending the GA meeting. Some of the attendees are in business suits, others in work uniforms, others in shorts and flip-flops. Every color of skin is represented. The draw of the game—
the thrill that your next hand will be the big one—doesn’t care about race, religion, or socioeconomic status. This Los Angeles crowd doesn’t look so different from those who come to GA meetings in West Virginia.
Nico’s in LA to talk to the network about his future. He’s guessing it isn’t so bright. Three years ago, he flew over for the same meeting and they met at Nobu amid celebrities and a thousand-dollar tab for run-of-the-mill sushi. This time, the network set a late afternoon meeting at its offices in Century City, which isn’t a great sign. Oh well.
Nico looks out at the other gamblers taking it a day at a time. He keeps his talk short. He usually tries to be upbeat. Everyone at these meetings has tales of hitting bottom. Few involve the depths of a coal mine, but many are even more bizarre, sadder. Nico can’t tell them the whole story, of course.
That will forever be buried on that knoll in Chestertown, Pennsylvania.
After the GA meeting, he’ll head over to the Hollywood Roosevelt, which is hosting a fan conference for a few of the network’s reality shows. Comic-Con it isn’t—he’ll likely sign posters and participate on a panel about the show—but it’ll make the network happy. Then comes the dreaded meeting with the suits. The Miners is still doing well in the ratings, though the aftershow tanked when the audience revolted against Davis. He wonders if that douche will be in the meeting today.
Whatever.
By two o’clock, he’s wrapping up at the fan event at the Roosevelt. The organizers have shuttled him down to the poolside bar to take photos. The DJ has the music on too loud and Nico can’t wait to get out of there.
He’s done a few of these fan events, and ever since what happened in the mine he always secretly hopes his ex, Natalie, will show up. He hates how they left things. But he can never explain the truth. The world will never know it. Jenna’s former employer sent a cleanup team. No one on earth seems to have missed the ghoulish twins. There have been a few reports about Donnie’s missing writer but, again, no major stories. No big search. Most of the attention has been on the disappearance of the FBI agent and Artemis Templeton. The agent was investigating the O’Leary family, and many suspect that Special Agent Rodriguez is wearing concrete shoes at the bottom of the Delaware River.
He didn’t deserve what happened to him, but such is the curse of Savior House.
The only serious media attention has been devoted to the disappearance of the eccentric tech
mogul Artemis Templeton, but he’s rumored to be alive and kicking on a secret pilgrimage to create the Next Big Thing.
Nico says his goodbyes, then makes his way to the lobby where he’ll wait for the network’s driver to shuttle him to Century City. There’s a fountain bordering the stairs. Nico retrieves his silver dollar and examines it before climbing up. Then, for some unexplained reason, he flips the coin into the fountain.
He finds a seat in the lobby, which has an old-time Hollywood feel, complete with photos of cinema icons in black and white outside the elevator banks. He gazes about the room, imagines Natalie walking over, sitting across from him.
An older woman approaches. She holds her head low. She’s not exactly the target demographic for The Miners, so he wonders if she’s mistaking him for an actual celebrity.