The Love Of Money - Episode 283
27-08-25 (10:21)
Corporate Takeover
"Marcos Finally Confront Roger VanCamp."
Thursday, 10:08 am
I threw the stack of evidence on the dark wood
conference table and looked at the two men standing
across it.
“I want him gone by the end of the day.”
Karl Yunger looked like he was having difficulty getting
it together this morning. “Who? Are you talking about
Tanaka?”
“Tanaka?” I asked. “What does this have to do with
Hiro Tanaka?”
William, with whom I’d had the least experience,
immediately started spreading out the papers I’d
dropped on the table. “He’s talking about VanCamp,
Karl.”
Karl’s eyes went wide. “Roger! You’re talking about our
partner!?”
“Did Erin not tell you what I wanted to meet with you
about?” I asked.
“Ah… I must have missed the details. Gladys is out
today. She’s sick.” Karl said. “Seriously, though… what’s
this about?” He glanced at the only other person in the
room besides Chloe. “And why is he here?”
Vikram was standing next to me, and he looked like he
was turning a little green, which was impressive
considering his Middle Eastern complexion. He opened
his mouth to reply, but I cut him off. “He’s here to
represent my legal interests as an expert on YPV.”
“We’re your legal representatives,” Karl insisted, “And
no one is more of an expert on the subject of Yunger,
Price, and VanCamp than Karl Yunger and William
Price!”
I’d never seen Karl get so heated before… he’d always
struck me as more old and doddering than anything,
but after recovering from the surprise, the old Karl was
gone. In his place was a lion. Perhaps he was a little
long in the tooth but still king of his pride. It made me
hesitate a moment as I remembered that Karl Yunger
had decades of experience in a world I barely had a
month in. He was facing down billionaires and
politicians while I’d barely been able to look my server
in the eye while returning an order they’d gotten
wrong.
But I wasn’t the same Marcus anymore. I couldn’t be.
That Marcus could have eaten the scrambled eggs
when he ordered fried, and his day would have been
fine. In this world, the scrambled eggs could’ve killed
me.
The metaphor didn’t hold up, but I’m sure my meaning
was clear enough. I couldn't afford to be a chump, no
matter how wealthy I was.
“Not when VanCamp is the one responsible for
murdering one of my people, Karl.” I began circling
around the table. “Not when he’s responsible for getting
my friend raped and beaten. Not when he had me
kidnapped and beat me personally.” Stopping just
outside his personal bubble, I glared at him. “Not when
he fucking pissed on me!”
“Jesus,” Karl said, a flash of uncertainty crossed his face.
It was gone a moment later, and he stood a little
straighter. “Don’t be preposterous, young man. Roger
was in the UAE when you were kidnapped.”
“Where did you get this from?” William said,
interrupting our exchange as he looked up from the
sheet of paper he was holding. I could see just enough
of it to identify the tran*********** of the recording
Henry Psalter- had shown me yesterday.
“I have a private investigator,” I said.
“One of ours?” Karl asked.
“Of course not. Maybe I’m a little naive, but I’m not
stupid enough to hire an investigator to investigate the
firm they work for.” Truth be told, Erin, Vikram, and
Helen were responsible for me hiring Chloe, and Chloe
was the one who hooked me up with Henry. Had it not
been for them, I probably would have simply used the
firm’s recommended agency without giving it a second
thought.
“I don’t care where' you thought he was. He was
definitely the guy beating on me.” I pointed to the
fading bruises on my face. “I don’t want a law firm
working for me that might have a partner who wants
to kidnap, beat, and murder me. He’s got to go, or I’m
walking and finding a different firm.”
“We can’t just kick him off the partnership,” Karl said
with considerably less heat in his voice.
“You signed a contract,” William said on his heels.
“About that,” Vikram said. He cleared his throat and
glanced at all three of us, who had turned our attention
to the junior lawyer at the firm. “If Roger VanCamp did
what Mr. Upton is accusing him of, then it violates a
few different clauses in the contract, giving him the
option to terminate the agreement if he wishes.
Neither of them spoke for a full ten seconds. Karl simply
stared at Vikram while William looked back down at
the tran*********** in his hands. Since neither of them
pushed back, I guess they were very aware of the
section of the contract Vikram was talking about. I
wondered if Karl wanted to skin Vikram alive for his
role in all this. His thousand-yard stare looked devoid of
emotion, but something in his eyes suggested a lot
more going on there that I couldn’t see. I had a
suspicion that the only thing that kept me from being
burned alive by his wrath was my billions.
The uncomfortable silence continued to wear on. I sure
as hell wasn’t going to break it… not when I had
nothing to be uncomfortable about.
Karl finally looked back at me, his expression neutral.
“What can we do to make this right?”
“I already told you,” I said. “He has to go. He’s no
longer a partner at this firm. I also want him arrested.”
“If you have Roger arrested,” William said, “Helen and
Ashlee will be arrested as well.”
Ashlee, I couldn’t give a flying fuck about, but Helen…
“What? Why?”
William glanced at Karl and said, “I’m okay with it if
you are.”
Karl gave William a look that basically said, Are you
fucking kidding me?
“It’s not like we have a choice here,” William said.
“Fine,” Karl sighed. “Look, Mr. Upton, we have always
strived to keep our operations within the scope of the
law, but we are working with clients with certain needs
that occasionally require… out-of-the-box solutions. Your
grandfather was one of those people. Roger VanCamp
was our out-of-the-box specialist, and Helen worked
directly for him. I’m sure the Federal government would
be interested in hearing what Helen and Ashlee had to
say just as much as Roger.”
Glancing back and forth between the two partners, I
knew a lot of context was left out, but I got enough of
a picture to be convinced. Besides that, I was already
uncomfortable with Roger VanCamp being arrested,
knowing he could make trouble for me and use that as
a bargaining chip. Not getting the police involved meant
that we were at a stalemate—I had the kidnapping/
beating/murder charges on him, and he had the dirt on
me and my company. It was mutually assured
destruction.
Okay… so not cops.
“He still has to go,” I said.
“We can’t—”
“He’s out, or I walk away,” I cut Karl off. “Maybe I
won’t risk everything to have him arrested, but I’m sure
as hell not letting him get away with what he’s done
without any consequences. You have a choice, Karl. Me
or him.”
“Marcus—”
“Mr. Upton,” I corrected Karl. Don't forget to leave a Comment 
