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Page 51 of The List

He tossed the files he was carrying to the floor.

Now that he was away from the mill, inside a closed room, not susceptible to observation, the composure he’d used to successfully get him here dissolved.

All he could see was the sight of his father’s body, laid out in a coffin.

He’d sat with him for hours before the funeral.

Hank stepped over and gripped his shoulder, seeing he was upset.

“How bad is this?” his old friend asked.

He grabbed hold of his emotions. “Really bad.”

“Tell me what you know,” Hank said.

“Hank, you have no idea what you’re into. These bastards are deadly serious.”

“You need to get ahold of yourself. Relax. Sit down. Tell me what this is all about.”

“They’re killing people, Hank. One by one. Systematically, they’re killing people for profit.”

His voice had risen. Hank looked at Greene, who sat up in his chair. He reached into his jacket, found the envelope, and handed Bozin’s narrative to Hank. “Read it.”

Greene stepped over and read over Hank’s shoulder.

“My God,” Hank said, when he finished the last appendix. “I know just about every name here.” Hank looked at him. “And your father was one of them.”

“We’re next.”

Hank said nothing, but the look on his face said he agreed.

“Not necessarily,” Greene said, wedging himself back down in the chair behind his desk. “They’ve got to be unsure what you know and what you have. They can’t take a chance on the unknown. They’ll be sure before they act.”

“I don’t think these guys really give a damn,” Brent said.

“Sure they do. If they’ve really done this, which apparently they have, they certainly don’t want to get caught.”

“If we’re dead, they won’t have to worry about that.”

“Not necessarily. Bozin went to a lot of trouble latching on to you. They’ve got to be wondering about that, just like you are.”

“They’re following us.”

“If they are, then they know both of you are here right now,” Greene said.

He pointed to the files lying on the floor. “That’s what those were for. You’ve got several cases against us. I told my office I was coming over to discuss settlement. I didn’t hurry or do anything suspicious. So if somebody was following me they didn’t see anything unusual.”

“And I come here all the time,” Hank said.

“Let’s hope they’re sufficiently confused to still not know what to do.”

Brent reached into the envelope and removed the recorder. “You ought to listen to this.”

Greene and Hank listened. Afterward, they read the two remaining sheets.

“These guys are amazing,” Greene said. “They’ve taken the concept of a company town to its most logical extreme.

They own or control most of the really profitable local businesses, along with banks and the credit union.

And they’ve always had a hand in the hospital and convalescent center.

It’d be easy for them to know everything there is to know about somebody. ”

“You almost sound like you admire what they’ve done,” Brent said.

“Not at all. But you have to marvel at the ingenuity.”

“They killed my father.”

Greene held up his hands. “I know. I get it. I’m sorry as hell about that.

But to stop this, we have to understand it.

They’ve become the ultimate self-insurer.

A guy works thirty years, retires, and expects a pension and his medical bills paid.

Instead, he gets knocked off by some goon in the night and everybody just thinks he worked too hard.

Bad heart. Weak kidneys. Tragic accident. ”

“Was your father ill?” Hank asked.

“Not that I knew of. But he liked to keep things to himself.”

“I used to wonder about people,” Hank said. “Men I worked with for a long time retiring, then dead within a year or two. But you’re right, Lou, I just thought it went with the territory. The mill’s a tough place to work. It’s hard on the body.”

“The vast majority died on their own, Hank,” Brent said. “According to Bozin only about two thousand were killed. There must have been tens of thousands of people who’ve worked for Southern Republic. They can’t kill ’em all.”

Hank shook his head. “Bastards. When I was mayor the company always insisted that some of their people serve on the council. Same was true at the county, especially on the board of tax assessors. Lee would push me hard to make sure there was some element of political control always there. But these guys didn’t need looking after. ”

“I’d imagine that was all for show,” Greene said. “A certain pretense would have to be maintained. But a few tax breaks and some undervaluation of property wouldn’t hurt the bottom line either. Those were little favors you could easily deliver. If they hadn’t asked, you’d become suspicious.”

“These three SOBs are mass murderers,” Brent said, talking like the prosecutor he used to be. “We need to do something. Now.”

“Bozin is right,” Greene said. “Drawing attention to them is the key. But I’d stay away from the local press and local law enforcement. We don’t know how far Southern Republic’s reach is. It would be logical to assume they’d have friends there. Atlanta is the place to spring this.”

“You got somethin’ in mind, Lou?” Hank asked.

“This room could be bugged,” Brent said.

Greene shook his head. “There’d be no reason to bug this office—until now.

And yes, Hank, I do have something in mind.

I have a friend from law school who works in the U.S.

Attorney’s Office in Atlanta. I also know a couple of reporters with the Constitution .

I have to be in Atlanta Monday and Tuesday for workers’ compensation hearings at the state board.

The trip’s been planned for some time, so it won’t raise any eyebrows.

While I’m there I can get this stuff to the right people. ”

Brent immediately didn’t like the idea. “That’s putting you in the line of fire with the rest of us. I can go straight to the Fulton County DA.”

“I’m already in the line of fire thanks to you two coming here today.”

“They’ll probably put a tail on you now,” Brent said.

“Maybe. But I’ll be careful. I always drive, that’ll give me time to see if I have an escort. And I’ll go straight to see my friend tomorrow.”

Brent shook his head. “I don’t want to involve you.”

“I’m already involved. Besides, it’s the only practical solution.

There’s no way you two would ever make it to the police or the press.

This De Florio would be all over you. And don’t forget about your families.

You can’t risk them. You need to keep the other side in a state of confusion.

Go about your business. If they’re watching, there won’t be anything to arouse suspicion.

Sure, they kill. But they kill carefully.

It’s planned. Not spontaneous. By tomorrow, I’ll have this stuff to the right people.

After that, they wouldn’t touch either of you. ”

“I think that’s a good idea,” Hank said.

He didn’t like it. Not at all. But the reference to his mother struck home. Not to mention Ashley and Lori Anne. “Okay. But let us know the minute you make contact.”

“I’ll call Hank,” Greene said.

“No,” he quickly said. “Remember the phones. Call your wife and leave a message for Hank. Make it cryptic enough so we’ll understand, but she won’t. We’ll check with her somehow.”

“Good idea. I should have something by tomorrow afternoon. Right now, I’d better copy all of this. They’ll want to see everything. Can I take the recording?”

Brent shrugged. “Sure. You’ll need it.”

3:14 P.M.

H AMILTON L EE STRUTTED ACROSS THE TWENTY-NINTH FLOOR toward Larry Hughes’ suite of offices. He entered and noticed that Hughes’ assistant was still crying.

“How’s Nancy?” he asked, feigning concern for Bozin’s employee.

“She’s home, under a doctor’s care.”

“This is all so terrible. So tragic.”

“Yes, it is,” she said through the tears. “Mr. Bozin was a wonderful man.”

He agreed, then excused himself and slipped into Hughes’ office. Closing the door, he instantly dropped the pretense. “There’s something we need to do. Chris’ will. We need to get it.”

“And how are we going to do that?”

“He had no family. Wouldn’t it be logical for his business partners to handle his affairs?

” He plopped down on the camelback sofa.

An oval mahogany table with an exquisite Tiffany lamp sat next to it, a phone beneath.

He grabbed the handset. “Chris’ lawyer was Mark Durham.

He told me about him back in friendlier times. ”

He’d already located the phone number, writing it down, so he dialed and was ultimately connected with Durham, after explaining who he was and the nature of the emergency.

“I don’t think we’ve ever met, but Chris Bozin spoke highly of you all the time,” he told Durham. “I wanted you to know. Chris died this morning.”

Durham sighed. “That’s awful. Terrible. I knew time was short, but I never suspected the illness was so far along.”

“Terminal cancer. We’ve all been upset about this for some time. The reason I’m calling is that Chris’ estate is going to need handling, and he specifically asked us to look after things.”

“Not a problem, Mr. Lee. Mr. Bozin left an envelope for you here last week. He told me about his medical condition then and said for me to expect your call in the event of his death. I just didn’t realize it would be so soon.

He instructed me to promptly deliver the envelope.

I’ll have it sent over by messenger right away. ”

An hour later, the envelope arrived.

Lee read the handwritten note alone in his office.

By now I have been Prioritized, processed, and you’ve attempted to get a copy of my will.

You’re so predictable, Hamilton. Last week, I rewrote my will.

All of my estate, including the payment owed to it by the company (and payable within the next 90 days per our shareholder’s agreement), is now in a trust. My lawyer has been instructed on what to do and the named Trustee, Brent Walker, has been provided some specific written instructions.

I think you’ll find the whole thing exciting. I know I do.

He smiled.

The old man had style, he’d give him that. Whatever Bozin conceived had obviously been carefully planned.

Everything apparently thought through and anticipated.

Or was it?

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