Page 118 of The Proving Ground

“No, you don’t,” Wendt said dismissively.

He closed the door on Mitchell’s reddening face. He then turned back to me. I pointed to the chair in front of the desk as I moved around to my own seat.

“So… what brings you here, Mr. Wendt?” I said.

“You do know who I am, yes?” Wendt said as he sat down.

“Of course I do. I did a deep dive before I sued your company. I’m sure your lawyers told you that I tried to sue you personally, but the judge wouldn’t allow it.”

“Yes, I heard. So, tell me, Mr. Haller, did that deep dive reveal why I called the company Tidalwaiv?”

“No. I thought that was obvious.”

“This technology, Mr. Haller, will soon engulf our world like a tidal wave. It can’t be stopped. Not by a lawyer. Not by a jury.”

“I don’t doubt that. But I’m not trying to stop it. I’m just trying to make it safer.”

“What do you really want, Mr. Haller?”

“Your attorneys know what I want. What my client wants. She wants her child back, but you can’t give her that. So she wants public accountability and an apology.”

“She is standing in front of the wave. She has to get out of the way before it’s too late.”

“Is that a threat?”

“It is a fact.”

“Is that what you would tell the jury if I called you as a witness?”

Wendt didn’t reply. He just stared at me with what looked like both surprise and disappointment in his eyes. He then brought the briefcase up and put it down on an uncluttered corner of the desk. He unsnapped the locks and opened it, then turned it so the contents were facing me. The case was lined with bundles of hundred-dollar bills. The paper wrap around each bundle said$25,000.There were two rows of eight, and my math was strong enough to know there was $400K showing. But it was a thick briefcase.

“The stacks go five deep,” Wendt said.

Two million. In cash.

“I’m sure your lawyers have told you that my client has turned down twenty-five times what you’ve got there,” I said.

“Of course they have,” Wendt said. “This is not for your client. This is for you. Get her to take the fifty.”

“So it’s a bribe. You realize I have a camera recording this whole meeting?”

I pointed to the camera in the corner of the ceiling behind him.Wendt didn’t turn to confirm its existence. Instead, he smiled like he was dealing with a child.

“Your cameras will show no record that I was ever here,” he said. “This is between you and me, Mr. Haller.”

“I don’t want your money until a judge and jury make you pay it,” I said.

“Are you sure about that? I understand your ex-wife underinsuredher house in Altadena, and what little money is owed her for rebuilding may not come for quite some time. You could help her get things moving with this.”

He gestured to the money. I stared silently at him for a long moment, trying to contain my anger.

“Did you fly your G-five all the way down here just to bribe me?” I finally asked.

Wendt said nothing.

“Sorry to waste all that fuel,” I said. “But I need to get back to work, Mr. Wendt. Take your money and your lawyers and your bodyguards and get the fuck out of here.”

I saw a dark red flush come into his smooth, tan face. He was angry and embarrassed at his failure. My guess was that it didn’t happen to him too often. He closed the briefcase as he stood up. He walked to the door, then turned back to me.