He was in.
Bill felt an absurd sense of exhilaration. This was the first time, no doubt, that someone had stood up to King, the first time that the training had not taken, and it was clear that the CEO had not expected this, had not prepared for something of this nature. Bill was not something that King had planned for.
He could not be bribed and he would not be blackmailed. He would stand tall and fight, do what he knew was right. He would come clean with Ginny, he would continue with his rehabilitation of the Juniper Store, and he would go up against Newman King.
What about the managers of the other Stores? They could do the same thing.
They could stand up to King as well, run their Stores their way, do what they wanted with their towns.
King could be broken.
What would he do if all of the managers broke away? If they all defied him and started doing things the way they wanted? Would he destroy them? Or would he be so weakened by the loss of power that he would become impotent?
He would still own the corporation, of course. He would still be incredibly rich. He would still be able to hire new managers if the old ones quit or died off. But would the dissipation of his influence over day-to-day retail operations siphon off his dark power?
Bill thought of Mr. Lamb, Mr. Walker, Mr. Keyes.
Maybe he would die.
There were still tears drying on his face, still sickened horror in his heart, but there was hope there as well, an optimism that hadn't existed before.
He was still slightly woozy as he walked, but his sense of purpose overcame the lingering effects of whatever King had hit him with, and he went through the doors, locking them behind him, and out to his car.
He drove home.
Ginny and Shannon were waiting anxiously in the living room when he arrived, and he hugged them both and told them everything was all right, and sent Shannon into her bedroom so he and Ginny could talk.
He told her what happened his last night in Dallas.
He should have come clean before, but he'd been afraid. He hadn't had the guts. He'd been a moral coward, and in that sense he had still been a part of King's team. He told her everything now, though, and she grew increasingly quiet as he described his encounter. He explained that he'd been awakened, that the woman had already been on top of him, and that he'd had no choice in the matter.
He was tempted to let her think that he'd been helpless and overpowered, forced into it, but he was determined to be honest with her, and he told her that he had had an opportunity to stop it but had not. He emphasized that this was after two weeks of King's so-called training, after the deprivation and the rewards, but while he made sure she knew the context, he did not avoid his own complicity, his own responsibility for what had happened.
He did not tell her it was Sam, though. It was a lie, he knew, but it was a lie that he felt was justified. They might be able to get past an incidence of adultery, but their marriage would not survive an incidence of incest. Ginny would never be able to live with him, knowing that he had had sex with their daughter.
He would have a tough time living with that himself.
Bill was crying by the time he was finished, but Ginny was stone-faced, and he thought then that their marriage was probably over. He didn't blame her.
He understood her feelings. He'd feel the same way.
Still, he was glad he'd told her. It might ruin his life, but at least it liberated him from the influence of Newman King. At least he knew now that he was free to do as he chose without having to worry about his misdeeds coming to light.
Ginny was still not speaking, still staring at him with that hard, unreadable face, and he continued, explaining what had happened tonight in The Store, describing Newman King's anger, the CEO's inability to break the contract he had made, the possibility that he could be defeated.
Afterward, Bill collapsed on the couch, exhausted, emotionally drained.
Ginny continued to stare at him. "I understand," she said finally. "I'm not sure I can forgive and I definitely won't forget, but we'll wait until all this is through before sorting it out. Right now, our first priority is to get rid of Newman King. And to get Sam back."
_Sam_.
Bill swallowed, nodded.
"I think your idea's good. I don't know if it'll bring down his whole corporation, but taking the individual Stores away from him is bound to hurt him. I think you need to contact the other managers."
"I'm going to."
They stared at each other in silence. Bill wished he knew what she was thinking, but her face was unreadable to him. He took a deep breath. "Where do you want me to --" He cleared his throat. "Where should I sleep?"
She looked at him, thought for a moment. "The bed, I guess." She held up a hand. "This doesn't mean I forgive you, but I understand that these are not normal circumstances."
"I --"
"And I don't want Shannon to know. As I said, we'll sort it out afterward."
Bill nodded.
Ginny sighed, and now there was a tear in her eye. She wiped it away with one strong finger. "Come on," she said. "Let's go to bed."
3
He was in his office at The Store the next morning, paging through the rambling, incoherent notes his predecessor had left on the computer, when the phone rang. His personal line. He picked it up immediately. "Hello?"
"Bill?" It was Ginny. "I got a package from Sam. Federal Express."
His heart lurched in his chest.
"I haven't opened it yet. I thought you might want to be here."
"I'll be right over," he said.
She'd opened the package by the time he got there, but she had not watched the videotape, and she sat there, solemn and pinched, holding it in her hand.
She looked at him when he walked in, thought for a moment, then handed him the tape. "I'm not sure this is something I want to see," she said.
"It's not," Bill told her.
She nodded. "Do what you want with it."
He dropped the videocassette onto the floor and stomped on it, breaking it into pieces. He picked up the pieces, unspooled the tape, threw everything into the big garbage can in the garage.
"Have you called any managers yet?" Ginny asked.
He shook his head. "I've been trying to get up the courage. I just keep thinking, what if they're on his side? What if they don't want to do anything differently than the way he tells them? What if they decide to come after me on their own, on his behalf. The contract prohibits him from harming me. I don't think it applies to them."
"Didn't he say his worst enemies make the best managers?"
"Yes," Bill admitted.
"Then how about the other managers you met in that training course? You got along with them, right? Why don't you start there?"
He nodded. "That's a good idea." He sighed. "But King's probably blackmailing everyone. Just in case the training didn't take. He sets us up, then uses it against us."
"But if they're strong enough to stand up to him, if they're strong enough to admit their mistakes and face what they did wrong and accept the consequences . . ." She left the sentence unfinished.
"It might work," Bill said. "I'll contact them."
"But be careful."
"I know. King's probably monitoring my E-mail, bugging my phones. I need to find another way to get through to them."
"Mail," she said. "Regular mail. Or Federal Express."
"The old-fashioned way."
"It's secure."
"As long as the other managers don't have a Mr. Lamb opening their mail for them."
"It's a chance we have to take."
He was still nodding. "We might be able to pull this off."
She kissed him. For the first time since he'd told her about his betrayal.
"Think positive."