‘Hatred is a great motivator,’ Isaac said.
‘So’s love. How about you, Ashley?’ Otto said.
‘You’ll need a bath and a rest. You can stay here for tonight; plan our next move.’
Isaac discreetly made for the front door. It had been a bizarre visit, and how Ashley Otway and Otto McAlister got together that night was the most bizarre of all.
Chapter 22
Tricia Warburton considered her position. She had gone from the co-host of a successful programme to redundant and rehired to great fanfare. And now, apart from putting up with Jim Breslaw’s interfering and Tom Taylor’s incompetence, she felt as though she had been set up, an attempt by the television station to force life into a defunct programming format.
‘A bit more, Tricia,’ Breslaw shouted. ‘Lean out further. We’ve got the cameras on you.’
She knew as she dangled perilously over the chasm, a cord secured to her ankles, that the stories she was going to bring in, the travel to all four corners of the globe, was not going to occur. And that it was her, Tricia Warburton, who was putting her life at stake, attempting stunts that Angus would have done.
‘Pull me back,’ she screamed.
‘Why, it’ll be great.’
‘If you’re so keen, you can get out here.’
Unhitching herself, removing the radio mic and taking off the helmet with the GoPro mounted on it, she walked off the set and got in her car. She was furious.
Jaden waited at the television station, forewarned by Breslaw of an impending visit from a presenter who, in his estimation, was unstable, fighting angry and not suitable for the new programme.
Across from Jaden, two people who interested him more: Ashley Otway and Otto McAlister, his eyes still red from yesterday’s mace, his body bruised from where he had collapsed to the ground after being tasered.
‘I want you to make yourselves scarce when Tricia arrives,’ Jaden said. ‘In the other room, Alison will make sure you’ve got a drink.’
‘Are we in agreement?’ McAlister asked.
‘I agreed to the deal with Ashley, not sure how I’m going to maximise on this. It’s a matter of timing.’
‘My money isn’t. I want it now, or else I’ll offer it to the highest bidder.’
‘Otto, you should heed Ashley’s wisdom on such matters. You are, quite frankly, out of your depth.’
Jaden, who did not care for McAlister’s bombastic manner, also didn’t care whether the man heeded Ashley or not. What he needed for now was time, and Tricia Warburton was heading up in the lift.
‘Next room, now,’ Jaden said. ‘Give me whatever time I need, and we’ll come to a mutually beneficial agreement.’
‘If that’s a smart way of saying you’ll drop the price, I’ll not buy it.’
‘Leave it to me, Otto,’ Ashley said. ‘You’ll get your money.’
Alison came in, took one look at the woman who would have slept with her boyfriend if she had been willing, and gave McAlister a casual glance.
‘If you’ll follow me,’ she said. ‘We’ve not got long before Tricia’s here.’
‘You’ve seen her?’ Jaden asked.
‘Breathing fire. I saw her on the CCTV downstairs, arguing with reception, insisting she didn’t need an appointment to see you.’
‘She still got through.’
‘I wasn’t about to stop her. There’s a press briefing in later today, as you know.’
‘It may be that we’ll have updated news for them.’
‘Jerome, Jim’s impossible,’ Tricia said. The other three had left the room before she entered. ‘And besides, I thought I was there to present, not to get myself killed.’
‘Bungee jumping?’
‘I’m not a dancing parrot, nor am I Wonder Woman. I like my feet planted firmly on the ground, looking pretty if that’s what you want.’
‘It’s what you agreed to.’
‘Risking my life, I didn’t. And why is Jim taking control? I thought we were working on a new programme that would bring in the viewers.’
‘And we are, but times are tough, the revenue’s not there. We might have to curtail the travel, three months, maybe more.’
‘But…’
‘There are no buts, only yes. Get back out there. Do what you need to do.’
‘I won’t do it,’ Tricia said. ‘And if you force me, I’ll make it known that you intend to force up the price of your shares in this company, then to offload as much as you can, to let the station survive on its merits or die.’
‘An interesting speculation,’ Jaden said. He leant back and thought about what to do with a woman who was starting to become a nuisance.
‘Do you deny it?’
‘Whether I do or don’t is unimportant. What is important is that you signed a contract with very favourable terms, that you would front the programme.’
‘I didn’t agree with jumping off a bridge.’
‘I’m afraid you did. Tricia, you are the decoration on the cake, as well as what’s inside. If you have to stand there looking pretty, that’s what you’ll do, and if it’s getting dirty and jumping off a bridge, you’ll do that too.’
‘I’m scared of heights.’
‘So am I, so what? We’ll beef it up, make sure we get a couple of days’ worth of promotion out of it.’
‘I could fall.’
‘You won’t. I’ve got someone who’ll come along, make sure it’s safe. He can even take a jump before you. Didn’t your manager explain the contract before you signed?’
‘She said there had to be a catch.’
‘She was right. Did a lawyer check it?’
‘I knew what I was signing.’
‘Which means that you didn’t. If you had, the lawyer would have found a clause that says you’re liable for failing to comply with any reasonable request and that this station has the right to reclaim costs for money lost.’
‘Would you do that?’
‘Sue you? Without hesitation, the same
