Parador (Juggernaut #2)

Nine

Tila gave Malachi a worried look. Why did this feel like bad news?

'He was the biggest investor in the mission, so we thought he would want to see us about the- about the information we have.'

'What information? Never mind... Look, Conway's a crook, man. Well, maybe not a crook, but definitely shady. He's always dealing under the table.'

'Dealing what?'

'Dealing, you know, business deals. Where no one can see.' He dropped his datapad on the table and wiggled his fingers in the air like a magician performing a trick. 'Secret dealings.'

Tila shot Malachi another look while still speaking to Jayce. 'So, you're saying we can't trust him?'

'No way. You can't trust any of them, but he's the worst of all.'

'Them? Who's them?'

'All those CEOs and corporates. They're all up to it.'

Tila clenched her jaw. A straight answer would be nice. 'Up to what, Jayce?'

Malachi spoke up. 'Okay, let's make sure we know what's going on,' he said, and heard a whispered 'thank you!' from Tila.

'You're saying Conway can't be trusted because he makes secret deals, but that he is just the worst of them? Which means everyone in his position is doing the same thing? Is that right?

'Uh huh,' said Jayce.

'If everyone is doing it, why does he have the bad reputation?'

'Conway led the other businesses in the coalition. He backed the captain.'

'Why is that bad?' said Tila. Some support for my mother at last?

'It's not, but that's not everything. Before the trial started, Conway traded short all the engineering firms. When it looked like the accident was their fault the prices fell, so Conway sold them and made a fortune. Then later during the trial, it came out that he bought all the shares back after the price crashed, but before the captain's decision was challenged in court. Once the captain was blamed, the engineering firms were off the hook, so their share price recovered in a big way. Conway made two fortunes on one case. He played both sides.'

Tila felt lost. 'I don't think I'm keeping up.'

'Wait, it gets better! By the time the dust had settled and the insurance had paid out, you know who got rich again?'

'Conway' guessed Malachi. 'But how?'

'You got it. The insurance deals were so complicated that Conway ended up benefiting from the claims more than anyone. Even more than Cho Suleman and her corporate cabal. You can guess how that made them feel.'

Malachi leaned forward in disbelief. 'He made a profit?'

'Three profits. And then, when it was all over, he claimed salvage rights over what was left of the New Dawn and Rising Star.' He dived into the remains of his sandwich and spoke with his mouth full. Anyway, that's when the rumours started. I guess you can't blame them. You'd think once that mission went up in smoke no one would come out on top, but Conway managed it four times. I mean, who spends all that money on a disaster only to come out richer than he went in?'

'Follow the money?' Tila said to Malachi, her fork hovered halfway to her mouth.

Malachi looked across the table at Tila. He knew what she was thinking, and he agreed. This didn't sound good.

Tila dropped her fork into the bowl.

'We need to see him. He made the biggest investment, so I need to talk to him as much as any of the others. Maybe more.'