Edward Wilcox knows he got Belfort by the Family Jewels. And by the look on his face, it's apparent that he knows that he is being watched. Good! Let the bastard stew for a while. Belfort's eye are so wide, if he is not careful, he might have to pick them up from the floor.
The bombshell from Wilcox drew a blank expression on Adam's face. He speaks, but says nothing. His mouth is slackened as if he cannot get the words out. The veteran reporter seems to be at a loss of words. Edward just leans back in his Executive Chair and puts his hands behind his head. He can see the wheels turning around Belfort's head as if he is playing a movie on what has happened in the past couple of weeks. Only instead, Edward just planted an alternative plot.
Ah, but the plot twist is yet to come. Like a well-seasoned dramatist, Edward will hold back and deliver the coup de grace until just the right moment. Just when his prey is ripe for the picking.
As Edward observes the many gestures and nervous tension of his victim, he will wait until Adam breaks the silence. He did not have to wait long. Belfort shook his head and said, "Are you sure?" as he stutters to get the words out. "Knowing how to scuba dive and acting like Captain Ahab ramming a boat down the Kraken's throat is another."
"Are you saying you don't care about the safety of the people of this community?"
"Of course I care. These people are my friends."
"And yet you won't do what it takes to protect them."
Belfort gave him a frosty look. "I won't even know what it takes to track a beast in this vast ocean let alone be able to kill it once I find it."
"Of course not," Wilcox adds. "No one is asking you to. Hire the best experts for the job."
"How will I even convince anyone to partake in what will most certainly be a suicide mission?"
"That's why you are their leader. You will show them the courage while they provide labor. Be the role model of courage to them."
Adam shakes his head, "You are acting like I am already committed to this." He stands up and heads towards the door. "Get yourself another stooge, I'm out of here."
"So, you think you can live off of that passport savings account and piddly blog you call income?"
With his handle on the door, Adam freezes in place. "How did you—". He cuts himself off.
Now here is where I go for the win. "Of course, for a substantial reward," Edward said, "… which from the bottom of my heart I will gladly pay… if you lead the mission, then I will pay you handsomely." He gives a slow curved upward smile. "Of course, this is on the down low."
"Of course." Adam walks back into the room and faces Edward. "That means you will not be paying the others?"
Wilcox reaches over and closes the door so no one else hears. "They will be doing so for ultraistic reasons. I do not want any crewmembers who is not in it for the right reasons. Money tends to corrupt." Edward pauses for a bit. "As you can now see." His face beams. Gotcha!
"So, what you are saying is that I am to get a payoff?" Adam replied.
"No, not a payoff. It will be a thank you gift for getting rid of the fear controlling the community."
Adam runs his right hand through his thick hair. "If that's the case, then why keep it secret?"
"We don't want the unwanted publicity to it. If we are to prop you up as a hero, how will it appear that the hero is doing so only for money reasons?" And if he dies in the process, then Edward can keep the reward because no one will be in the know.
"Isn't that what it will be? A reparation for blood money?" Adam shakes his head. He paces about a bit in a slow gate, walking away from Wilcox. "I don't know." He tenses his shoulders.
Edward walks over to Belfort and puts his arm around his shoulder. "Take your time. Think about it. But, not too much. We need to stop this beast before it kills again."
Adam body angles away from Wilcox. "I thought you didn't believe in the myth?" His face is flushed as he eyes squint really tight.
"I don't, but this squid is not the Kraken, but it is a killer none the less."
As Adam leaves for the door, his head tilts to the side as he mentally weighing the evidence.
The door closes behind Belfort. Edward watches to make sure he is out of earshot. He gets on the phone. "George? Edward. Remember last year when we evicted that scumbag that caused trouble? Well, I have another cockroach to exterminate." He picks up a paperweight and rolls it between his hands. "Harbor Shores." Wilcox nods his head. "That's correct, right down the bay. Good, good. How soon can you do this?" He slams the paperweight down on the desk. "Can't you do it sooner?" His anger subsides. "Okay, but hurry. I need my leverage on this yokel."
****
Later that day when Adam gets home, Ashley is sitting at the kitchen table going over finances. She has bills sprawled all over the place. She moves the mouse around as she stares intensely at the computer screen.
Adam walks up to her and tells Ashley that he is ditching the Kraken angle. Her nostrils flared. "How are we supposed to live?"
"We'll find away. I was thinking—"
"—always thinking, but you never come up with any action. Talk, talk, talk, talk, talk."
"There are other ways of making money—"
"—tell me? How?" She holds up a bunch in her hand. "Do you see this pile? This is the pile we put off last month. This is the pile that is due at this moment. Magically this pile from last month becomes bills we have to pay at this moment. Do you know how that happened?"
"Well—"
"—I'll tell you how. We didn't have any sort of income because your blog stopped bringing new subscribers." She opens the tab. Then she shows him the low numbers. "And the old ones are still waiting for you to deliver on the Kraken story. Now you are telling me that you are going to drop it. Do you want to put me in an early grave?"
"Maybe you can use a bit from this and a bit from that."
"Here," she throws the bills at him. "If you know so much, you handle them. I'm done."
Adam watches the bills float down like confetti on New Year's Eve. He picks them up and looks them over. "I don't understand. There should be enough."
"Meanwhile, I'm stuck in this apartment—"
"—I thought you loved it here?"
"I would love to get out once in a while. We never have fun anymore. I want to go out and see the night life of San Diego."
Shaking his head, Adam paces about. "It cost too much to go to those fancy places."
"Oh, that's fine coming from the guy that got to see the stupid baseball game. Why can't we do what I like?"
He throws his hands up in the air. Oh, boy… here we go again. Everything is an insult. It was her stupid idea to begin with. "We talked about this. We save our money now so we can buy the dream house we always wanted."
She lets out a cartoon like sigh. "I'll settle for dinner and a movie."
"With you Ashley, it's never just a dinner and a movie. It has to be at the finest restaurants and poshest theatres. After a night on the town, we are out about $75 to $100."
She pinches her lips together. "Love doesn't come cheap!" she says through clinched teeth.
Now it is his turn to sigh. "There are other ways to say 'I love your' that won't require us to take out a payday loan."
"That payday loan has kept us a float."
"Yeah, until the interest comes due. How are we supposed to pay that?"
"Tell me Mister? How are we?" She does a Google search for Plain Truth and it's no were on the algorithm. "Your blog doesn't even show up anywhere."
"Um, well… it's time for a blog to take off."
She cups her hands into her face. "I don't care, do anything… She looks up and points to the garbage with the fast food piled into it. "… work at Mickey D's, I don't care."
Once again, Adam loses yet another argument. Logic does not work on Ashley as she has a sarcastic comment for every one of Adam's fine bullet points. "You know I cannot divert away from my writing."
"Then get a side hustle… as long as it brings in money."
He scoots next to her on the computer. "Look, I went on one of those headhunter webpages." He brings up the application that he filled out yesterday. "See… janitor. I am not against conventional work."
She leans over to look at the pay scale. "Minimum wage? That'll never bring enough to pay for this." She motions to all of the bills that are now scattered on the floor. "Plus, what am I going to tell my friends? Meet my husband… the janitor."
Oh, God… I think I am going to have an ulcer. You cannot win with her. "I did have an offer and well… never mind." He hesitated to tell her about his meeting with Wilcox.
"Why didn't you take it? You just don't want to work."
"It's not much." He was going to tell her, but thought the better of it. She would think that the deal is way too risky. I can hear her now. What do you know about catching a squid? He shuttered her wrath just thinking about it. The money that it could bring is tempting though. But what good is it to have lots of money if you are not alive to enjoy it?
Adam thought that silence was golden. Too bad Ashley did not think so. She went on and on about him wasting time and not bringing in money. He looks at the clock on the wall. "I am late to meet up with Conrad."
"Sure, run away, but that still won't bring us money." He kisses her on the cheek and heads for the door. "You are just wasting your time playing around with Conrad, you need to find a job."
One thing is for certain. Adam knows that Ashley is correct. He needs to find a new way to make money fast.
When Adam finally gets to the docks, he notices that Conrad is about to pull away from his boat. Conrad sees him and waves. "I was beginning to wonder," Conrad said. "It's not like you to be late for anything Adam."
"Sorry about keeping you hanging."
"No big deal," Conrad said, "I thought you had changed your mind after… um--"
"--You mean after I almost killed myself?" Conrad kind of nodded a bit. "I got hung up a bit with Ashley."
"Anything you want to talk about?"
"Yeah, but let's get going and I'll fill you in as we get out to the high seas."
"Oh, a couple weeks of diving lessons and he thinks he is an expert."
Adam pokes Conrad. "You know what I mean."
"I loaded up my gear already. Just help with the rest and we'll get going."
Conrad pilots the boat while Adam fills him in on the argument that he and Ashley had about him getting a real job. "One we first met, we were madly in love and couldn't keep our hands off of each other. In fact, this was also true when we got married. Many couldn't believe we were married for ten years the way we always holding hands and had that dreamy look into each other's eyes."
"Yeah, I've seen it a few times." Conrad moves the gear and slows down. "What happened?"
"It happened about a year or so. No… two… wow…I lost track actually. Something occurred at the newspaper I worked at…" Adam stops. He looks out at the midday skyline and the clouds forming in horizon. "It's just too difficult to say. I know you like Ashley, and you might get the wrong impression."
"She is a great gal. You are lucky to have her."
"I know. And I feel her frustration. The reason she doesn't make sense is that we were so looking forward to leaving all of the stress of corporate life behind and just live here in style."
"Tell me about it. That's why I am here."
"That's what I don't understand Conrad. You have this lifestyle and this boat. But, you spend most of your time by the harbor. Why don't you go out more?"
"Procrastination."
"Huh, I don't follow."
"It's the only reason I keep this scuba gear. Every year I have to zinc line my boat. The metallic part of my boat needs to be insulated with zinc anode to prevent corrosion. It's a nasty thing if you put it off. But, it's a pain staking process. It requires me to go underwater to do."
Adam is confused. "Why don't you just pull the boat out of the water and do it that way?"
"It's much more of a hassle and cost way more."
"I wish I can help you," Adam says.
Conrad tilts his head to the side. Then he gives Adam a sidelong glance. "Actually, there is." He slowly brings the boat to a halt. "You are getting the knack of scuba diving. And just in a few short weeks."
As they talk, they are putting their gear on.
"Thanks. I am having a blast," Adam said.
"You are procrastinating too."
"Me? I always set out what I want to do."
"You are putting off having to leave your old life and start a new one."
Stunned, Adam does not know what to say. Living by the coast in San Diego, he and Ashley has set up this new life and it is nothing but the same old same old. Maybe Ashley is correct. They just sit around and do nothing. Adam nods his head. "I see what you are saying."
Conrad cups his fingers under his chin. He looks at Adam and his eyes deepen. "I may have a solution. Well, not thee solution. But, I might be able to unburden your financial burden for a bit until you get back on your feet."
Adam's eyebrows furrow, then he releases them. "Now you go my interest."
"I need help zinc lining my boat."
"I don't know—"
"—I'll pay you."
"It's not that. I feel that it's charity."
"Don't think that. As I said, I have been putting it off this year because I am just not looking forward to it. By hiring someone to help me, it forces me to get it done."
"That's great. We can use the money." They do a standard handshake, then grip hands palm to palm. FinallyAdam pulls Conrad in for a hug.
There is an awkward pause as they both are trying to regain their manhood. Conrad said, "Did you see the game?"
"Yeah. Such a heartbreak loss."
Sitting on the edge of the boat, they stare out at the horizon. Conrad says, "Don't forget to check everything this time. It's easy to get complacent." Adam nods his head, like he is saying yeah, yeah. "You may think you have this down, but trust me, if you don't do a run down, something is always forgotten." He hits Adam on the shoulder. "Now that you are going to do this for pay, you must act like a pro."
They have a great swim underneath the water. Adam gets a bit creeped out when a fish rubs against him, but it seemed it was just curious and left him alone. They swim in such a slow motion pattern, it's almost like watching Jacques Cousteau on TV.
As they head back, Conrad tells Adam to give him a day or two so he can get the equipment and then they will get an early start at zinc lining the boat.