King of War Tech novel · Chapter 13 of 24

Chapter 13: The Offer

Marjorie did not put the cane down.

She planted its tip in the carpet and used it to stand.

"This is my house, Stellan," she said. "Take your men and get out of my son's room."

"I will, Mother. In a minute."

He stepped inside, and the chief of security shut the door behind him.

The chief leaned his back against the wood, his bad arm in its sling.

The two strangers took the wall beside him.

Stellan crossed to the desk and lifted the top bank statement between two fingers.

He read the signer's line, then set the page down square with the others.

"You sold Clyde," Imogen said. "You sold him for eleven million dollars."

Stellan did not look at her.

He looked at me.

"I'll skip the part where I deny it," he said. "Nobody here would believe me."

"I knew at the dock. A man who mops my floors writes the fourth key on a napkin for an admiral."

"Clyde used to say he had a friend smarter than the rest of us. I thought it was one of his stories."

He had known for days, and he had still watched me kneel on his study carpet.

I added that to the list I was keeping.

He sat down on the edge of Clyde's bed.

Marjorie made a small, hurt sound.

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