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“If we pair that with the reversed Hanged Man of your present, who needs to slow down because he’s going too fast... “ I sought out the last card, the Hanged Man, and placed it upside down slightly overlapping The Sun card. “Your cards may have suggested exactly this plan you’ve come up with. One that means you get to relax, take your foot off the gas, just coast and see what happens. You embracing chaos, engaging in a form of play with this subterfuge, this public ‘charade’ of romance... That’s The Sun reversed, to me.”
“You think I’m excited because this means I can drop the idea of having a master plan to defeat Apollo?”
“Yes.”
“And that this plan seems well-suited to my current state, according to the cards?”
“Yes.”
“Then, by gods, on this occasion I’ll listen to the cards, I’ll listen to you, because I sorely, sorely need some rest.”
And then, amazingly, he grinned.
* * *
As planned,I contacted Apollo as soon as I arrived home.
Ria:You said to contact you if I had some information on Forest.
Apollo:I’ll send someone to pick you up.
It took no time for the car to arrive. This time, I was alone in the back seat. I was to be taken to a location where I would meet with Apollo, presumably. The driver was silent – it was the woman I recognised who had stopped me exiting the subway, before.
We drove for a while. I quickly searched the internet for the location of Apollo’s head office, which was in the city just like all four of his brothers’. Cross referencing that with a map, and I could tell that was the direction in which we were going.
I was right.Brock Industrieswas the biggest of all the Brock corporations. I knew a little bit more about the family now that I’d been reading up on them. After Emory’s death, his businesses had been split into five parts. Four of the brothers – Jude, Winston, Sylvester, and of course, Forest – had kept the businesses running steadily, downsizing in some cases but not running at a loss. Their business priorities had changed. They took on different clients, new ways of working.
Apollo’s business, on the other hand, had grown and grown. In some cases, he had taken on staff or projects that the others had dropped, therefore expanding his own business out into the areas the others had original domain over: charity, technology, science including medical science, and entertainment. His had originally been ‘commerce’. Now, his business was a sprawling, but successful, mass.
The headquarters ofBrock Industriesloomed terrifyingly above us as we drove up to the entrance. It was a formidable building, brutalist and shadowy. I’m sure this was Apollo’s, or his late father’s, intent. I was surprised I was being taken to the entrance. I followed the driver wordlessly to the reception.
Sat at the reception desk was Jenni.
I was incredulous. “Jenni?”
The woman at the front desk scowled at me. “That’s not my name.”
I could see it now, the differences in their mannerisms and the slight differences in facial structure, cheekbones. This definitely was not Jenni. But it was someone almost identical to Jenni. “Are you a twin?”
She scrunched up her face. “Unfortunately, yes. You’re here to see Mr Brock, correct?”
I nodded, dumbfounded.
“You’ll be escorted to him. Wait here for a security guard to arrive. Linda, you’re free to go.”
The driver nodded and departed. I stared at the Jenni twin, who was staring resolutely away from me at her computer screen. A member of security arrived after not too long.
Apollo’s security staff were much more seriously equipped than Forest’s. They looked like they were carrying at least three guns, and spent several hours a day at the gym, as well as being on steroids. Combined with the architecture, the receptionist’s attitude, and my general knowledge of Apollo, the whole atmosphere was far, far more oppressive than Forest’s office.
As I followed the guard up in the elevator and through the twisting corridors of the penultimate floor of the building, ‘The Imperial March’, Darth Vader’s theme from the Star Wars films, came unbidden into my head. I wasn’t much for movies, but it floated up out of some hidden memory, and seemed appropriate.
I smirked to myself quietly. As if hearing my thoughts, the guard stopped walking and snapped his head around to stare at me. I dropped my smirk. We kept walking.
Eventually we came to my destination. The guard entered a keycode and gestured at the door, and I entered.
He was sat at his desk, one leg resting on the opposite knee. “Ah, Ms Moon. I was highly delighted to hear from you today.”
“You were?”
