The Fool Ch. 12

"Jordie, Gerry, Joey and Jolly, it's gonna be fun having you newbies around to make fun of," Freddy said, approaching the small group and watching Gerard and Joseph bristle at his comment.

"Don't hate us because we're young and beautiful. The truth is, old man, they had to bring in some younger and more handsome faces to make you old farts look good," Oliver retorted with a chuckle, making Jordan genuinely laugh for the first time in weeks at the indignant look on Freddy's face as he narrowed his eyes at Oliver.

"Don't get too cocky; we old farts have experience and skill to go along with our devilish good looks. That far outweighs youth and a pretty face. We all get older, but we don't all get smarter, just ask Vane," he chuckled and walked away.

"If we're going to have any friendship at all between us, don't call me Gerry," he warned the other three men, making Jordan laugh all the more, and the others join in its infectious nature.

"Sure thing, but so that you know, Gerry suits you. It makes you seem like that kid brother we never had. Don't you think, Jordie?" Oliver asked.

"Carrie always called me Jordie, so it's more a term of familial affection for me, maybe you could look at it like that. There are worse things they could call you than Gerry," he chuckled again.

"I'd rather be Joey than newbie," Joseph agreed. "But if you've always been Gerard rather than Gerry, I can respect that, and they all will eventually. I'd prefer just to be Joe, though, if it's all the same to you guys."

"No worries, we newbs have to stick together," Oliver said. "Anything I can do to make that easier, all the better. Just a heads up, though, when we all get together like this you have to expect a fair bit of playing around, it's how they show they like you, just like normal brothers. Having said that, I am going to go and flirt with Carrie in front of Sinclair. Let her know the younger Mansvelt man is available," he chuckled and walked away from the small group.

"I think I'll go talk to Ben about the offer he made," Jordan looked to where Ben was chatting with William Roberts. He'd met Roberts before when he had been meeting with Grant about something, and had walked in on a strained conversation he couldn't quite remember. He wasn't sure if Roberts would remember the meeting, but there was only one way to find out.

"We don't even know if what Carrington said was true or if we are being fed bullshit here to make us sign the contracts," Roberts seemed to be campaigning to have everyone not accept the terms of the agreement. Jordan considered his words as he angled away from the pair to where Sinclair stood with John.

"Sorry to interrupt," he said in a mild tone as he stepped toward the pair. "I have a question, and I'm not sure whether to find Carrie and her Grandmother or have you ask it for me," he said to Sinclair.

"What's the question?" Sinclair tried to keep his voice even and remember how much Jordan had lost today, both personally and professionally.

"We were given a lot of information regarding Edith's arrest and that of those who worked with her, but I guess I'd like to be able to make a call, or at least look online to know it's true. I know the likelihood of Carrie lying is very slim, but I feel like everything people told me in the last six months has been twisted and manipulated. I'd just like to see a news report, if I could," Jordan said tentatively, not wanting to piss Sinclair off again now that he had stopped snarling at him.

"The boy has a point, Sin," John said easily. "What proof do any of us have? We had to hand over all our devices when we arrived. We've had no contact with the outside world since arriving here. Not that we should insult our hosts by calling them liars, but it might be nice to know what happened for ourselves.

"I believe them, but I understand why you have to ask," he said quietly to Jordan. "Oliver came onboard much later than us, maybe he heard something, and, if not, maybe he would be able to call his Dad and tell him the news, a seat being vacated to a cousin is rare enough to make him want to call Uncle Roger," Sinclair nodded.

"Sounds like a lot of effort when you could just ask if they could stream a news channel to the lounge monitor, then everyone can see for themselves. Something this big couldn't be kept out of the news, and I get the feeling they would want it made public, not cover it up," Jordan suggested.

"There's something to be said for the straightforward approach," Sinclair nodded. "This is your family we're talking about, Jordan, and you have every right to want proof, so maybe the request would be better coming from you. I'll see if I can find the old woman for you."

"Straightforward works on a few levels. We were told to make ourselves at home, so let's do just that and turn on that big ass television over there and see what sort of news service we can find," Freddy, who had joined them, suggested with a grin.

Fifteen minutes later there was no further doubt in anyone's mind about the fate of Edith Ward and her associates. When CC arrived to announce dinner was ready she looked directly at William Roberts.

"What you're about to ask is something I can't grant, you will have to plead your case to the brotherhood," she indicated the men in the lounge. "But do that after dinner, another hour or two won't hurt the situation."

The thirteen men were joined by the five ladies of Windsor for dinner, and Sinclair's face lit up when Carrie entered wearing a simple white sheath dress and flowers woven through a thick, complicated braid in her hair.

"You look beautiful," he said as she took the seat beside him. "We don't have to do this tonight if you'd rather wait, we talked it out with the rest of the men, and the marriage isn't as urgent as we thought."

"Getting cold feet?" she asked in a teasing way, even though her heart dropped at the thought that he might have felt forced into proposing that they marry immediately.

"Not in the slightest," he shook his head. "I am just making sure you have all of the choices you want and need to go along with that freedom you won today."

"Then I choose tonight, in case you do get cold feet about giving up all your other girlfriends when the public finds out," she laughed.

"So, Lady Windsor," Oliver gained Carrie's attention from where he sat on the other side of her. "Any idea when we will get out phones back and access to the outside world? I can't wait to call Uncle Frazer and tell him Sin gave up the family chair to me," he smirked at his cousin.

"If you care about me and, more importantly, value your own life, I probably wouldn't tell him like that," Sinclair groaned, much to Oliver's delight.

"As far as I know, as soon as everyone has either signed the terms or renounced their heritage, you are all free to do as you wish, including calling your loved ones," she said, knowing not all the men had signed their terms of the contract.

"How many are you waiting for to sign it?" Sinclair asked quietly, worry lines creasing his forehead. While he could live without Vane or Teach in the association, he knew that their sense of self-preservation would keep them tied to the brotherhood they shared. Sinclair gazed around the table and considered the other men. Roberts obviously had a problem, and Gerard was still standoffish with the other men. If he had to hazard a guess, those two would be the ones holding out because this had not worked out as they had planned. He hated the thought of having resentments and dissatisfaction before the contracts were signed to bind them all together.

"Including you and Oliver?" Carrie tilted her head, and a small smirk touched her lips as Sinclair's eyes widened. "You two should probably see CC about that after dinner," she grinned as the first course arrived.

Between the first and main course, CC had the contract brought in for Oliver to sign and had asked that Sinclair come and see her after dinner to discuss what would be required of him in relation to the new position created for the group.

"Shit!" Jordan exclaimed, dropping his fork to loudly clatter onto his plate as the main meal came to a conclusion. He stared wide-eyed at William Roberts, but quickly regained his composure. "Sorry, all, I just remembered..."

"That you left the oven on at home?" Freddy teased.

"Yeah, something like that," he laughed self-depreciatingly.

"It's alright, Jordan," William said reluctantly, "you don't have to lie for me. I was about to tell them all anyway. It would seem, gentlemen," he turned to the rest of the table, "that I am in need of your assistance."

"Perhaps you can tell us once the table has been cleared and dessert brought in," Carrie cut through the tension. "The staff are anxious enough having such a large party on board," she said softly, indicating the people floating around the table.

"I believe that would be preferable," CC gave Roberts a look that said she would not be happy if he persisted with the conversation before dessert was served.

"I need to do something. Would you excuse me for a few minutes please, gentlemen?" Carrie asked.

"Everything okay?" Sinclair asked.

"Everything is perfect. I just have a question to ask your BFF, before we get married," she laughed and winked at him, moving along the table until she stood beside Christopher Davis. "I hate to interrupt the fun, but would you mind terribly helping me with a small wedding surprise for Sinclair?" she asked sweetly.

"I'm at your service," he replied with a wide grin at Sinclair. Christopher stood and walked from the room with Carrie, feeling Sinclair's eyes follow them.

"Chris," she said as they mounted another set of stairs and walked to the rear of the half deck looking down over the lounge they had been in earlier. "I need to show you something before William asks the group for help." Carrie picked up a tablet she had left there earlier and brought up the screen she needed, offering him earbuds before pressing play and handing it to him.

"Okay," he said, frowning at her, but taking the device and earphones, moving to a nearby seat. Carrie had asked to be the one to soften the blow for Christopher Davis, who they were sure was unaware of his wife's involvement with the Leather Barrow. She had been arrested along with William's son, with whom she had been having a long-standing affair. Carrie said nothing as he watched it several times before pulling the buds out of his ears and looking at her.

"The Windsor's used their influence to have that footage pulled from the media. No one will know unless you choose to tell them yourself or William mentions it," she paused so he would understand why she had chosen now to show him the footage.

"Roberts will be asking for help to cover up his son's involvement and free him, I assume," Chris nodded sadly.

"Did you know?" Carrie asked, unsure of his quiet sadness and what it meant.

"If I'd known I wouldn't have let her be as involved in Hats business as she was. I guess that explains why we never caught the ringleaders or bigger shipments as our intelligence had told us were about to be moved." He sounded devastated. "I'll help with the cover up and suppression of names, but I won't be voting to free either of them, any more than you would vote to free Edith," he said through clenched teeth.

"I'm sorry," Carrie whispered. "I didn't want you to find out from William. He may not even mention it or know himself, but Sinclair loves you and needs you to stand by him during this whole restructuring event, and I wasn't sure how'd you'd react if you were blindsided by what's coming. I know that's probably selfish of me, but I love Sinclair, and because of that I care about you too. You're the closest thing he has to a brother, and I'm sorry you are hurting." She reached out and took his hand. "I'm so sorry, Chris, please believe that."

"She was a pure bitch to you, Carrie. Why would you be sorry?" Christopher shook his head.

"Because I care about you, and the next few days are going to be a nightmare for you," she said. "Maybe you could come and stay with us for a little while, just until the initial hype of it all blows over," she suggested.

"I'm not normally a jealous man," Sinclair said from behind them. "Possibly finding my best friend holding my fiancé's hand as she suggests he move in with her might even push me to react a little dangerously."

"I got divorced today, Sinclair. You can't blame the woman for hedging her bets now that I am a free man," Chris said lightly, masking his true feelings.

"Stella was arrested in the raids?" Sinclair guessed, not even trying to be delicate about it. Christopher nodded and handed over the tablet with the screen still showing.

"I'll give you two a few minutes," Carrie started to get up.

"Stay, please," Christopher gripped her hand tighter. "I appreciate you telling me like this and giving me time to wrap my head around it, but I've done nothing wrong and have no reason to hide from this. Women have affairs all the time, and, let's face it, Stella was a bitch."

"You know they probably told her to try and break Sinclair and me up when I saw you in Panama," Carrie said. "They had other plans for me and my Windsor heritage. It would make sense that was why she was such a bitch to me."

"I sat across the table from that little fucker and never recognised him. Fuck!" Sinclair cursed and shook his head. "And I would bet heavily on the fact that Jordan just recognised his pretend boyfriend's father down in the dining room."

"When Roberts asks, I will agree to a cover up, but I won't vote to free his son, even if I'm outnumbered," Christopher repeated his earlier words.

"Regardless, they sent me to find you so dessert could be served. So, are you alright? Need a few more minutes?" Sinclair asked.

"No, I'm good. I've done nothing wrong, unlike Roberts, who knew what his son was into," he replied.

*****

"So, you will forgive the orphan over there, but can't forgive Grant?" William raged at Ben who had spoken in defence of Jordan.

"I think there is a great deal of difference between Jordan's role in all of this and Grant, who was involved at a senior level of their organisation. Both Carrie and Jordan were unwitting dupes in the machinations of a bigger entity," Ben shot back. "Don't for one moment think you can intimidate me, Will. You probably had a greater role in all of this as well, so you should probably be grateful that Sin isn't asking you to fall on your sword right now, and if I were Chris I wouldn't even be offering a lawyer, let alone a cover up. So, take what you've been given and shut up, or find out first hand just what a total bastard I can be when pushed. As far as I'm concerned, your son betrayed us all, Will, and nearly destroyed us and what we stand for. He deserves nothing but our condemnation."

The whole table fell silent, looking at the normally placid Ben Morgan as if he had grown two heads. He seemed to recover himself and took his seat again, looking around at the men he called brothers.

"What? You know I'm right," Ben said to the gathering.

"He's right, Will," it was Teach who finally spoke. "We've all done some pretty bad stuff, me more than anyone, but we never endangered each other or dishonoured our very name. Grant crossed the line. He didn't care about any of it. Edith lied and manipulated to keep Carrington and Jordan in line and doing what she wanted. Grant grabbed the opportunity to destroy our association and rebuild it with Edith as the guiding hand. There is no honour in that, no matter how you twist it."

"Say we freed him," John said carefully holding up his hands in a gesture to stop anyone cutting him off. "With the proviso that your younger son took the chair instead of Grant. What's to stop him from just picking up the pieces of what's left of his association and continuing to try and destroy us, especially knowing he would never have a place among us? Will you ground him and take away his private jet?"

"He's still my son," William said. "I can't just stand by and let him rot in jail."

"I never worried about what I did because I always knew my parents would bail me out," Freddy admitted. "The threat of jail time never scared me because I knew my Dad would fix it, so I didn't serve a day. That backfired on me though, and I learnt the lesson early enough for it to matter. I agree with John. If we bail him out and pull all the strings we have to get him out, what's to stop him turning on us again? For all we know he ordered one or both of the hits on Sinclair when it looked like he would mess up their plans for Carrington and Jordan."

"Did he?" William looked at Jordan for confirmation.

"He was aware of them, I don't know if he organised them," Jordan said somewhat timidly, not daring to look at Sinclair.

"So, all those in favour of helping to cover up the story of his arrest and the upcoming trial?" Sinclair asked, not wanting to remember the injuries sustained when he had been run over, or the image of Carrie falling from the cliff face.

"Aye," went around the table unanimously. Concern for keeping a lid on their own identity paramount in their minds.

"In favour of assisting in freeing him?" Sinclair asked.

The nay vote carried, and William slumped in abject misery.

"Those in favour of assisting in enabling the pronouncement of a lighter sentence at a possible white-collar penitentiary?" he asked for the third time.

William looked up with genuine surprise and hope in his eyes. They'd bandied around the idea of funding a lawyer, but what Sinclair proposed now had not specifically been tabled for discussion.

"Aye, as long as he does some time, I don't care where," Freddy shrugged.

"Aye, as long as we agree he can't inherit the Roberts chair," Christopher stipulated. "I mean it, Will, you start training Bart to take your place among us. Grant won't be welcome, not now, not ever. Renege on this, and there will be consequences."

William nodded slowly as the vote went around the table, with each making similarly barbed comments but agreeing to manipulate the judicial system on his behalf.

"That's it then," Sinclair said. "You accept those terms, Will?"

"I do, and would be happy for Stella to have the same, if Chris wants," Will said, looking at the man his son had wronged so badly.

"That won't be necessary, I owe her nothing, and that's what she will get from me," Chris spat, his anger still rolling just below the surface.

"Great, we're done then. Those of you who have signed the terms offered by the Windsor's can go and recover your personal items and relax for the evening. Call your loved ones, just in case there are any more surprises out there. We'll be docking tomorrow morning near Port Royal. Those who haven't yet signed; please hang around and make a choice before retiring for the night," Sinclair instructed, using a commanding tone he knew would grate on some of his colleagues, but he also knew he needed to let them know right from the start that he intended to lead with authority.

"I'll be more than happy to check in with the boys," Vane said, getting to his feet immediately, and was closely followed by Teach. Sinclair knew both men had reason to be worried, particularly in light of William's disclosure. William opened the file in front of him and signed it, sliding it up the table to where Sinclair and the three now senior members of the association sat.

"Thank you," he said contritely. "Grant's a shit, but he's my shit." He turned to Jordan. "Thank you, you didn't have to say anything, but you did, so I owe you one, and I don't take debts like that lightly."

"I only told the truth. I remembered that argument you had when you tried to talk him out of what he was doing, it was how I recognised you at dinner," Jordan acknowledged. "Truthfully, it was the only time I ever saw you," he said thoughtfully.