Read The Variables for Free Online

help you escape the law,” Gordy clarified. Eugene jolted and turned, surprised to see him standing there.
    “My son is right. Character lasts forever.”
    Eugene put both hands on the boardroom table and leaned forward. “Character? You want to talk about character? You’re a man who killed the world. I’m sorry, so sorry... depopulated . Isn’t that the word you used with me? Does it help you sleep at night when you say it like that? You have a piece of paper in a file that means nothing. And that girl is dead. You were the one who made sure of that. Decomposing in her living room, for all I care. She’s a non-factor. I built this place!”
    “No,” Claude replied, now standing, too. “ I built this place. And you should sit, my son. Before you do something you regret.”
    Turning his attention to the tall black man before him, Eugene eyed him with disdain before plopping himself back down.
    Scott exhaled.
    The faces on the screens were riveted, unmoving. They watched the drama unfold like a teleplay, afraid to interrupt.
    “That girl is dead. And deserves to rot,” Eugene mumbled from his chair. “How dare you walk her into this.”
    The words hit Huck and he recoiled. He rose from his seat and walked with steady footsteps to Scott and put his hand on his shoulder.
    “It’s time,” Huck said in a small voice.
    Hesitating, Scott let his hand hover his pocket. “I can’t, Huck,” Scott replied in a calm voice. He had been practicing the words in his head for the last ten minutes. “It’s not the same.”
    From the corner, Blair shifted in her seat and strained to hear. She uncrossed her legs and leaned forward, her hand poised above her notepad. The monitors hummed, someone cleared a throat, another rustled papers.  
    Huck bent down, his lips near Scott’s ear. “Everything we did was to rid the world of men like this. He was responsible for attacks on girls, Scott. And his wife was complicit in those crimes. Their son was expelled from two private schools for carrying on his father’s tradition of feeling he is entitled access to everything, even people. We used him and now we’re done with him. These are the people who deserve to die.”
    “What’s he saying?” Eugene demanded. “What’s he whispering?”
    The members of the Elektos began to ask questions from the screens: “How did a man with his history make it through your background checks and personality tests? Why was he let inside, knowing his past? Tell us about the survivors. There is a child?” They crooned in waves of questions, each voice rising above the next, then dying away.  
    And behind it all was Eugene. “I demand to know what they are saying!”
    Scott stood and turned to Huck, his back to the people he was commanded to kill. “Why now? How easy would it have been to count him among the missing...spirit him away...why the fanfare?”
    “I’m allowed my reasons,” Huck replied and he turned away from Scott and walked over to Claude, whispering in his ear with empathic tones. And after he was done, Claude rose and walked over to Blair and extended his hand to her.
    “What?” Blair asked, confused. She drew her notebook to her chest and looked at her father. She narrowed her eyes. “I’m staying.”
    Putting his large hands on her shoulder, Claude pulled Blair to her feet and directed her toward the door. Reluctantly, she leaned back and grabbed the lined up pens and dumped them into her purse. She shook Claude off with a glare.
    “Dad,” she said. Huck turned to the wall, away from her. “Is this necessary?” she asked him, but he continued to ignore her. She straightened her back and brushed a piece of hair out of her face and followed Claude to the hallway. When the door clicked shut behind them, Huck turned back to Scott and waited.
    Scott’s heart pounded as he pulled the vials from his pocket and silently popped the plastic lids off into his hand. He held the needles away from his skin. He turned like he