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“Revenge.” It made perfect sense.
“Yes.” Andrew nodded.
I mulled the idea over. “What would it take?”
Owain hiccupped softly, and Andrew just stared at me. He understood the question.
“It’s not about him,” Andrew said. “Nothing has to happen to him specifically. I made peace with that even before I died.”
“What then?” I asked. “Where would the revenge go?”
“The company. I need nobody else to ever die because of that fucking place. I need it to either start treating their people as people and offer training and resources and protections and equipment to handle the job, or for it to burn to the ground. There is no middle ground.”
“And if that happened, you’d be able to rest?”
He thought for a second before nodding. “I think so. I have to believe it would be enough. I have to believe I didn’t turn into someone who needs to take a life to settle a score.”
“Okay,” I said. “So there’s no actual need to be this melodramatic and consider the most nuclear option.”
He stared at me. “That company isn’t going anywhere. It took so many lives and it keeps taking and nobody is doing anything about it.”
I smirked. “You might be wrong about that. As we speak, it is rotting from the inside out. We just have to capitalise on it.”
“What’s happening?” Andrew asked, a tiny spark back in his eyes.
“I have no details, but the old man is in some deep shit. This might be our chance.”
“If we don’t know what’s happening, what can we do?” Owain asked. “Have you asked nicely?”
“Not many people to ask, love. Nicely or otherwise.”
A ping! came from the now fully open drawer.
“Yes, Pop,” I said. “Him…I did ask.”
“Who?” Andrew asked.
“Someone close to the source of all of this,” I said. “He’s fine, but not as chatty as I’d like him to be.”
“So we need information,” Andrew said, “and we have no way to get it.”
“There he goes again with the melodrama,” I said. “We just need to brainstorm and work it out. Any ideas?”
Silence.
Dead silence. Pun intended.
“Please, one at a time,” I said when nobody moved or spoke. I had so many eyes just silently blinking at me I felt like I was in a fucking horror movie. “Right.”
“It is pretty late,” Owain said.
“We’ve had a long day,” Bronwyn added.
“And we’re tired,” Harri and Larri said at the same time.
“Aye,” Barth agreed.
PING!