Chapter 8

Nicholas teleported to the basement gym and practiced martial arts on the heavy bag. Then, he moved five-pound dumbbells with his mind. Nic concentrated and was able to lift them back onto the rack. Returning to his room, he showered, dressed, and went to the kitchen. After breakfast, Nicholas followed Kelli to the law office. She went to her office, and Nicholas installed the remote cutoff for the front door lock. The access reader would still log entrance and exit times with the lock disabled.

Before Kelli left the office, he got her photo and made her access card. Then he worked with the rest of the office staff through taking pictures and making access cards. The women were the most difficult because they had to fix their hair and makeup. Nicholas and David walked Tammy through the access control operation. She liked locking the door remotely if she saw a threat. David told Nic to watch, she’ll lock people who are mean to her, and they laughed.

Kelli returned from Croft Industries with lunch. While they ate, she said Henry would set up the conference room for our meeting tomorrow morning. Nic asked if David was attending, and Kelli said shit, she forgot to ask him. Nicholas told Kelli, while she was kissing ass, he had a few errands to run, and they laughed. After lunch, Nic went to Walmart and bought a runner’s watch. It wasn’t an expensive model, but it would do what he wanted.

Returning home, Nic stopped at their house, reset the trip on the Bronco speedometer, and drove the route he had run. When he returned home, it logged 1.5 miles, which gave him a good idea of whether his new watch was accurate. He made the trip again, driving 25 mph, and logged the time at 3.36 minutes. Now, he had an idea of how fast he was running, whether he ran around at that time or quicker. Nic parked in the garage and went to his room.

He got out the language binder and selected German. Nic listened to four CDs before he sensed Kelli was nearly home. He shut off his computer and went to the Kitchen. While they ate, Nicholas asked Kelli if she was successful. She laughed and said yes, David would attend the meeting. We’ll go to the office first, then leave and take one car. David will ride with us to the meeting. They finished dinner, said goodnight, and went to bed.

Early the next morning, Nicholas put on his running watch and began his run. The first lap took under 2 minutes, and the second took 1.5 minutes. On the last lap, he slowed down and timed in at three minutes. Nicholas showered, dressed in a suit, and went to the kitchen. Kelli arrived, and after breakfast, they headed to the law office. When David arrived, they went to Croft Industries.

Henry was glad to see them, and they went to the conference room. Mort Levin, Greenburgh Investments’ lead counsel, arrived with two associates. Introductions were made, and then the game began. Mort and Kelli went back and forth but could not reach a common ground. Finally, Kelli said, “Here’s our final offer,” and gave it to Mort. She said it’s not negotiable, and if rejected, we’ll see you in court. Mort said it was above his authorization level, and Kelli said they were done.

Kelli told Mort to let the board know there would be no further negotiations, then got up to leave. Mort said, “Wait, let me make a call and discuss this with the board’s chairman.” Mort left the room, and Henry asked if they were really cutting off negotiations. Kelli said Mort’s playing a game, and I’m not falling for it. The Greenburgh Investments board would be insane not to accept our offer. Mort’s trying to be a hero and lowball us. but you watch what he says returning.

Mort returned and said, “If you take off ten million, we have a deal.” Kelli said no deal. Thanks for your time, and we’ll see how much the jury awards. We got up to leave, and Mort said to wait. We accept your offer. Kelli told Mort it was a smart move, and Henry called in the notary. She witnessed the signatures, and Mort said a check would be delivered to your firm on Friday morning. Everyone shook hands, and Mort and his crew left.

Henry said dammit, Kelli, you almost gave a heart attack and everyone laughed. Kelli told Henry the check would be deposited and put into escrow until the funds cleared. They shook hands goodbye, and on their way to the Range Rover, David told Kelli she almost gave him a heart attack, too. Kelli told David she wasn’t about to leave ten million on the table. David said to remind him to never play cards with you, and everyone laughed.

When they arrived at the law office, David said he would announce the settlement only after the check arrived on Friday. Kelli said she would withdraw the lawsuits on Friday, too. She ordered a delivered lunch, and while they ate, Nic said he didn’t have anything to do, so he would order a Lyft ride home.

Upon arrival, Nicholas rode the Harley around the neighborhood looking for vacant houses for sale. The one he had used sold, but he found two more and noted their addresses. Returning home, he listened to the four remaining German-language CDs. Sensing Kelli was near, Nic shut off the computer and went to the kitchen. Kelli arrived with dinner, and while they ate, Nicholas said he was staying home tomorrow. Nothing is happening at the law office, and he wants to catch up on his school work.

Kelli said that’s fine because she would be busy interviewing new clients and doing paperwork to cancel the lawsuits. But David wants to meet with us on Thursday, so enjoy your day of leisure, and they laughed. They finished dinner, said goodnight, and went to bed.

Early Wednesday morning, Nicholas teleported to the basement gym and practiced martial arts on the heavy bag. Then, he moved ten-pound dumbbells with his mind and returned to his room. Nic showered, dressed, went to the kitchen, and ate breakfast. Kelli left for work, and he put on a disguise of a mustache, beard, and black-rimmed glasses. Nicholas drove to UCLA and went to the administration building.

He got a parking pass and had his photo taken again. Nicholas laughed as he left the building and went to the bookstore. They would have trouble using that photo for their underhanded promotion. He picked up twelve more e-books for the advanced courses he planned to take. There was no issue at checkout, and on the way home, he stopped at In-N-Out Burger drive-thru for lunch.

After lunch, he did the homework for his online courses and read two new e-books. When he finished the second e-book, Nicholas had an idea and started programming an app for his phone. It would send a signal to the target phone and upload the phone’s data to his cloud account. It would come in handy with issues like the Crofts’ two cases. Knowing what they’re talking about immediately would help plan for future actions. Nicholas finished the app and installed it on his phone.

Now, he’d need a test subject, which had to be totally removed from their daily lives. Nic checked the time, and he had an hour before dinner. So, he rode the Harley to the market and tagged a young woman walking into the store. Returning home, he thought of options to add to the app. Erasing the app from the target’s phone was one. Sending the Tag to others in the target’s contact list was another. Then, a factory reset of the phone is another useful option.

Arriving home, Nicholas checked his cloud account and found the woman’s phone information. He was surprised at her texts and photos on her phone. Her name was Sasha, and she was married. Sasha also cheats on her husband and disparages him in her texts to friends. Nic started programming the options he wanted to include in the app and finished as he sensed Kelli was close to home.