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Sissy went over to the Bear’s table in the canteen. She had known him for more years than she cared to remember, and she could see he was distressed. She sat opposite him at the cream-coloured table and sat on her moss-green moulded chair. He didn’t acknowledge her immediately, he just stared into his coffee cup.
‘What’s the matter, Samuel?’ Sissy said.
‘Brady confessed something to me - something significant. Now, I don’t know what he is talking to Bodhi about, and I don’t want to cause any trouble, but I fear that if I don’t speak up - I will regret it in the future.’
She smiled and put her slender hand upon his, ‘I don’t wish to pry, but who does this information concern?’
‘Me, Brady and our respective Fathers.’ He kept back the murder of Bodhi’s Father.
‘But you obviously think that Bodhi might be unwittingly involved; otherwise, you wouldn’t be so worried.’
He shrugged, ‘If I’m wrong then I will have betrayed a deep confidence of Brady’s. It was something he shared when it would have been easier to keep to himself.’
Sissy tried to guess at what this might be, but she couldn’t put the clues together. Her political instincts warned her not to let it go. ‘I think you should share it with me. I know more about Bodhi than you. I could advise you. I want to help.’
The Bear sighed and rubbed his chin with his big right hand, ‘You know how everybody believed that my Father, Samuel Beardon the Second, had probably killed John Kane?’ He added, ‘Well, Brady has informed me that this wasn’t true.’
‘And how would Brady Mahone know that?’
‘Because his Foster Father, Archie Mahone, confessed to murdering John Kane and disposing of his body.’
Sissy’s eyes stared back at him, at first in disbelief, and then in shock at the revelation. ‘But why on Earth did he do that?’
‘Brady told me, that John Kane had visited the Mahone Ranch in McFarland to enact some claim he had over his foster child, Brady Mahone.’
She said, ‘And you think he’s going to use this information in some way to hurt Bodhi?’
‘I don’t know. Maybe. But if I’m wrong...’
‘You’ve got to tell him. It could be vital. Come with me. Now!’ She got up immediately and almost dragged Samuel up and out of his seat. She sprinted ahead, and Samuel struggled to keep up. They raced through hundreds of yards of corridors until finally, they came to Bodhi’s office. She burst in without knocking, and shouted, ‘Stop.’ Just as Bodhi was about to shake hands on his deal with Brady. ‘I’m sorry, Bodhi. Something urgent has come to my attention, and I think you must hear it first.’
Brady withdrew his hand. Be calm. Stay detached. Beware the feeling that you’re winning. Watch your back. He watched as the Bear came in behind her, he was out of breath and looked on the verge of a panic attack. Watch your back.
They waited for a few moments for the Bear to get his breath back.
Bodhi then asked, ‘What is it, Samuel?’
The Bear looked across at Brady, and said, ‘I’m sorry, brother. I have to speak the truth.’
Brady was careful to hide his true feelings, ‘That’s alright. Say whatcha gotta say.’ He didn’t smile.
The Bear took a deep breath. ‘Brady’s Foster Father killed your Father.’
Bodhi looked at all of them in turn. He grimaced, but then nodded his thanks to Sissy, but then turned to face Brady. ‘Is this true?’
‘Yes. My Foster Daddy confessed to me on the same day that he took his own life. He was a part of that thing we were talking about earlier.’ He assumed Bodhi knew he was being deliberately vague about the Tiberius File. ‘Your Father came to take me away from my Foster Daddy - I was about eight years old - nobody knew when I was born, precisely. My Foster Daddy, Archie Mahone, believed he was saving me, so he garrotted your Daddy with a cheese wire and buried him, way deep in the forest.’
Bodhi stood up, paced the room. He disseminated the events and worked out the timelines. ‘How old are you now?’
‘About fifty-eight.’ Even though Brady knew Bodhi was RedSuit™ protected, he still assessed his height and build as if he was preparing for a physical battle - it was a deeply ingrained habit. He estimated he was a similar height and build to himself.
‘So, your Foster Father killed mine, sometime in 2050.’
‘Yeah. That sounds about right.’
He continued his pacing, and then stopped and said, ‘Thank you. All of you. This has been a day of revelations. I’m going to need time to let it all sink in.’
Brady said, ‘Does this affect our deal?’
‘No, Brady. It doesn’t affect our deal.’
Brady smiled. Beware the feeling that you’re winning. ‘Is it too late to ask for one more thing? It’s a minor one, but it would mean a lot to me.’
Bodhi said, wearily. He knew Trads were greedy, but Brady was in a different league. ‘What do you want?’
‘I have three friends; they are almost family. I want them to be taken in by the Greens.’
Bodhi barked, ‘Out of the question. We cannot have Greens mixing with Trads. It would make them feel guilty and erode confidence in all we’ve done. There can be no interaction.’
Samuel intervened. He sensed an opportunity for redemption if he could liaise in this matter. He didn’t know about the overwhelming generosity that Bodhi had already shown to Brady. ‘Do you owe them, brother?’
‘Lucky is my best friend. He saved my life in Ridgecrest. He was falsely convicted. He is a better man than I. He is married to Mary-Lou, and he took in her daughter, Amie. He is an innocent victim in all this madness.’
Sissy said, ‘Madness? What did you think the world was like before?’
Bodhi also felt obliged to Samuel for his intervention. Bodhi looked to Sissy, but she shook her head. He said, ‘You don’t know what you are asking for. I cannot do this.’
Brady raised his arms and placed his hands behind his head. He pulled a chain from over his head and the ring dangled in front of Bodhi. It swayed as if Brady was hypnotising him. The outer diamonds sparkled in the LED lights and inset was a letter S made up of emeralds laid out in the same font as Sattva Systems™. ‘I could make a trade. It fell out of a coat your Mother gave me.’
Bodhi stared at the ring. ‘I can’t do it, Brady.’
Brady laughed, ‘It was worth a try. Here, you can have it. You’ve been more than fair. This doesn’t belong to me, really. It must have sentimental value to you. I want you to take it back.’
‘I accept the spirit in which you freely offer it to me. I receive the offer of its return in a spirit of friendship and trust.’ Bodhi struggled to find a warm smile to give to Brady. His memories flooded him with images of his Father, and the day he had given him the ring, for his thirtieth birthday. The same day they broke ground on the Sattva Systems™ new headquarters. They had a glittering ball, held at Libby’s Malibu home, with political big-hitters and Hollywood stars, and then they all held Xavier Kane in their rapt attention, as John Kane placed the ring on his son’s finger, and promised the assembled guests a brighter, greener future. They clapped and cheered and had no idea whatsoever that they were cheering on their own destruction. He came to his senses and said, ‘I will allow your friend to be reassimilated to Green. I won’t trade. I will give it freely. Don’t push me any further on the subject. You can keep the ring. It was given to me by my Father. I know you understand why I don’t wish to regard it for any longer than necessary.’
Sissy gave Bodhi a puzzled look but saved her questions for when they were alone.
Brady put the ring back over his neck. He was satisfied that he had repaid his debt to Lucian.
Bodhi swiftly moved into business mode. ‘Hand me your Distor™.’
Brady took it out of his poacher’s coat and placed it in the hand of Bodhi. Bodhi tapped on his screen, and the right-hand-side of his desk slot glowed green, and a Green File emerged, encouraging Bodhi to use his thumb and index finger to retrieve it. He took it out and placed it into Brady’s Distor™, the display informed Brady that he was now the proud owner of 1,912,442 Green File Credits.
Bodhi said, ‘The Security Protocols™ will secure My Word in respect of the following. Brady Mahone is now the owner of my Mother’s property in Malibu. Brady Mahone will be allocated a FusionPlane™ for his private and exclusive use, in perpetuity.’ He said, more informally, ‘These things I have freely given you from today. The expansion of your business will go into the planning stages with immediate effect. As my friend, you will be welcome to visit me here at any time to check on its progress. If ever you need to see me, ask for Genesis, and she will arrange it.’ He smiled. He was determined to take any signs of animosity away from the meeting before Brady left. ‘She is my marketing guru, have you put any thought into your logo - something that could be recognised the world over.’
Sissy knew Bodhi well enough to spot when he needed her to flatter a problematic client. She wanted to object, but she recalled how upset Bodhi was when they disregarded his request to make Brady a top priority after the Encinitas disaster. It was apparently still vital to him that Brady becomes a central part of his future plans. She said, ‘Brady Mahone Entertainment Enterprises is fine, but it needs a snappier variation. Its initials would be a good starting point, so BMEE might work.’ She looked at Brady, ‘Are there any symbols you are fond of? Something which represents you and your business identity?’
He pulled out his notebook and cloth pack of pencils and charcoals. He put it on Bodhi’s screen, and they gathered around. The others looked around at each other as Brady flicked through his highly detailed and skilled sketches of animals, birds, insects, plants and lizards. He stopped at his drawing of a Kangaroo rat. ‘This little creature took me weeks to find.’ He said, proudly.
Sissy looked but wasn’t impressed by its potential to become a logo. ‘Are there any other creatures? This is a little bit too fluffy to represent the Brady Mahone I see before me.’
He shuffled forward a couple of pages to the Diamondback rattlesnake. ‘What about this?’
She asked, ‘What were you thinking about when you drew it in such exquisite detail?’
‘I was thinking about how afraid people were of it, and how it had the potential to kill a man, but always chooses not to - if approached in the right way.’
Sissy was impressed, and for the first time, caught a glimpse of why this man could be fascinating to Bodhi. ‘I feel it. This is better. I see a column of the letters BMEE with the snake curling through the letters.’
Brady turned his sketchbook diagonally to make the snake appear to be standing on its tail and then drew the BMEE letters around, and through the Diamondback’s body. It gave the impression that the rattlesnake was moving through them. Sissy said, ‘I love it. Can I borrow your pencil?’
‘Sure. Knock yourself out.’
She surrounded Brady’s sketch with a shield.
He said, ‘It looks like an old Porsche badge. That’s really cool.’
‘Then, this will be your brand.’
Bodhi and The Bear took turns in looking at it, approvingly. Bodhi said, ‘I need to prepare myself for my next meeting. Samuel, if you could take Brady with you - go and see Marjorie and organise his FusionPlane™ - I know they are easy to operate but get her to train Brady before he flies solo.’
‘Yes, Bodhi.’ He smiled at Brady, and they left together.
Bodhi said to Sissy, ‘I want you to put together a team to plan the launch of BMEE - as we will call it from now on. I want it given a high priority. I want it fully functional inside ten years.’
‘Leave it to me.’
‘As for Brady’s friend to become a Green - ensure that there can be no contact with his former family. I’ve thought about it. I want it to become Samuel’s responsibility to take in his friend in San Martin - faraway from McFarland. He will have to explain it to Brady. I don’t want to see Brady again until that part of my deal is sorted. I can do without any more emotional stress.’
‘I’ll bring Cain in on the handover details. He needs to know what’s happening in his region.’