Chapter 21: Removed

He came back on Thursday, at ten past nine, with nothing in his hands.

No roses, no folder, no driver.

Evan saw it on the lobby camera, which the security desk had put on every screen in the building that morning.

Ethan Ross walked through the revolving door of the Shieldon building in a dark suit and stopped at the desk.

"Mr. Ross," said the guard, a heavy man with a kind face.

"I'm sorry, sir. I've been told you're not to come up."

"I know."

"Then I'll have to ask you to leave."

"I'd like to say one thing to him. Then I'll go."

"Sir..."

"I'm his husband."

The guard looked down at the desk.

"I'm sorry, sir," he said again.

Ethan did not leave.

He stood in the middle of the pale floor with his hands at his sides.

The staff gathered along the balcony rail above him.

Evan watched them come out of their offices with their coffees.

He watched fourteen engineers find a reason to be near the stairs.

He went down.

He took the stairs, not the lift, and each flight felt shorter than the last.

Every Red was already at the bottom.

She stood by the wall with her arms crossed and a very small smile.

"Say what you came to say," Evan told Ethan.

Ethan turned.

He was thinner.

There were shadows under his eyes that made them look larger and greyer, and he had cut himself shaving.

"I haven't slept," he said.

"I can see that."

"I read the filings. I read them all, last night. Every order."

His voice was rough.

"You were right to come to the boardroom. You were right about all of it."

"Then why are you here?"

"Because I can't..." He stopped. "Because I want to fix it."

"How?"

"I'll cover Shieldon's losses. Every cent.

"I'll buy the Servercore stake out to the owners, at a premium, so the deliveries restart.

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