Chapter 21 – An Exercise in Futility

Mr. Aquitaine had been in his office all morning.  He’d even sent Ms. Cavanuagh away when she inquired about lunch.  No matter, his appetite had disappeared the moment he’d opened that letter anyways. Damn Emerson.  He’d been right. The contents of that flash drive had been quite interesting.  He hadn’t realized how closely he was being watched.  No matter though, there was still time to finish what needed to be done and Caroline’s death had hopefully bought him a fraction more. 

He’d spent all morning pouring over the flash in parallel with his own files.  His desk, a collage of paperwork and notes, stood as proof. What to do. What to do.  Leaning back in his chair he stared at the ceiling.  Giving his old tired eyes a break.  

This morning’s exercise had proven fruitful at least.  After the initial panic had worn off, he’d set to working digesting the contents of the file. Again, while more than he was comfortable with was on the flash drive, they were missing a few critical connections.  One the findings largely focused on his financial troubles.  No surprise there, it wasn’t necessarily a well known secret, but some of his competitors had come sniffing around from time to time. The findings showed that they hadn’t fully mucked the depths of his troubles though.  If they had, they might have stumbled on to the second piece of the puzzle, Emerson.  The fact that Caroline had not recognized him onsite proved that his assumption held true.  That card at least, he’d managed to keep close to his chest.  He looked at Emerson as his ace in the hole. 

That however is where the trouble started for a variety of reasons, he had thought it best to keep Emerson in the dark on a majority of his dealings.  His hold on the man was tenuous at best.  While Emerson currently adhered to the contract, if at any point he felt Mr. Aquitaine couldn’t uphold his side, well, his name might very well end up at the top of his own list. 

He sighed, leaning forward in the chair. He picked up the list, looking over the eight names scribbled in ink.  Two had thick black lines drawn straight through them.  Six remained. 

At the top of the list sat his daughter. Avery.  The woman was as cut throat as he was.  Though he had to admit, she concealed it better.  When had his little girl turned into such a monster?  He could remember when she was a girl, sitting on his knee, a tangle of curls and bows.  How he’d loved her and how times had changed, the only emotions left for her now were disappointment and distaste. He crumbled the note in his hand as the anger inside him rose.

Now after all this time, not only was she a disappointment, but a nuisance! He cast the crumbled note on to the desk.  She stood to ruin everything he’d worked for, and for what?! What possible reason could she have for speaking with Caroline?! It made no sense! He swiped his hand across the desk, knocking the contents atop into a storm of disarray. 

Bah!

“Is everything all right in there Mr. Aquitaine?  It sounds as if something fell?”  His secretary called through the door. 

Henry looked around him, realizing the foolishness of his actions. Running his hands over his face, he leaned back once more and took a breath.  “Forgive Ms. Cavanaugh, I pulled one of the drawers out a little too far.”  

A long pause from the other side of the door left Henry wondering if she believed the excuse. “Are you certain there’s nothing I can get for you Mr. Aquitaine?  You’ve been in there all day.”

He pulled up his wrist to check for himself.  Once again he’d lost track of the time.  It was quite late, his wife would not approve of too many more of these.  “That will be quite all right Ms. Cavanaugh.  I should be heading home soon. I won’t be much longer”

“Very well, Mr. Aquitaine” Satisfied with his response she shuffled back to her desk, none-the-wiser.  

Mr. Aquitaine looked around at the mess he had created.  Foolishness, this was foolishness.  He heaved himself out of his chair, bending down to collect the papers he had strewn about.  It was indeed late, perhaps, it was best if he headed home.  All the arrangements had been made, at this point.  As long as Emerson stuck to the plan, Avery would be out of the picture within a matter of days and the time he’d spent fuming over her incursions would have been nothing more than an exercise in futility.