Chương 14: The Retainer (02/29/1980)

DATE: Friday, February 29, 1980 LOCATION: Vista, California LOCAL TIME: 01: 00 PM The office smelled like old coffee and lemon polish. John E. Patterson looked up from his desk as Uncle Bob carried me in. He frowned slightly when he realized no one else was with us.

"Bob? I thought Doug was coming. We were supposed to talk about his exit from Coastal Equities."

"Doug's not coming," Bob said, setting me down on the leather chair across from the desk. He placed a thick envelope in front of Patterson.

"That's your retainer." Patterson opened the envelope, and his eyebrows shot up. He looked at the number on the cashier's check, noted the obscure corporate remitter name, then glanced back at Bob.

"This is... substantial. Who exactly am I representing?" Stolen story; please report. Bob didn't answer right away. He looked down at me. I was sitting quietly, playing with the brass zipper on my little coat. After a few seconds, I stopped playing with the zipper. I looked up and met Patterson's gaze, tracking him with a stillness toddlers don't possess.

"Me," I said softly. My voice was small and high, but the single word landed like a stone in still water. Patterson froze. He stared at me for a long moment, then looked at Bob, waiting for the punchline. There wasn't one. Bob just stood there, arms crossed. Patterson leaned back in his chair, studying me carefully. The confusion on his face slowly shifted into something colder. Something calculating.

"…What exactly am I being hired to do?" he asked, his voice much quieter now. Bob placed another folder on the desk.

"Set up a blind trust. Nevada corporation. Make it airtight. We'll need holding companies, liability firewalls... the whole thing. We'll give you the details as we go." Patterson looked back and forth between us. His eyes kept returning to me. He didn't smile. He didn't laugh. He just stared. After a long silence, he finally picked up the check, folded it, and slipped it into his top drawer.

"Consider it done."