Chapter 8: An Insulting Offer

Chapter 8: An Insulting Offer

The mediation was held in a sterile conference room in a downtown office building that smelled of old paper and weak coffee. It was neutral ground, a place devoid of personality, meant to bleach emotion out of conflict. For Jax, the bland beige walls and polished veneer felt more alien than the dust of an Iraqi desert or the grease-caked floor of an auto shop. He sat beside Gunner Kane at one side of a long, imposing table, a silent monolith in a simple, dark button-down shirt and jeans. He was clean, composed, and utterly still, his presence a stark contrast to the agitated energy radiating from the other side of the room.

Across the table, Peter and Karen Sterling were flanked by their lawyer, a man named Davies with a nervous twitch in his eye and a suit that was a size too tight. Peter kept glancing out the window, though all he could see was the brick wall of the adjacent building. His mind, however, was clearly fixed on the view from his own showroom—the roaring machinery, the rising steel skeleton of a new, better auto shop that served as a daily monument to his catastrophic miscalculation. He had tried to get a stop-work order, citing zoning issues, but the permits, filed by one of the top firms in the state on behalf of an anonymous LLC, were ironclad.

Karen was a different kind of storm. She vibrated with a barely contained rage, her knuckles white where she gripped her oversized designer purse. She shot venomous glares at Jax, who met them with the placid indifference of a mountain observing a cloud. Her whispers to Davies were sharp and sibilant, audible hisses of fury in the quiet room.

The mediator, a patient woman named Ms. Albright, sat at the head of the table, her face a mask of professional calm. She laid out the ground rules, her voice a soothing drone that did nothing to quell the tension. This wasn't a court of law, she explained, but an opportunity to find a mutually agreeable resolution.

Gunner Kane listened with a polite, almost academic interest, his hands steepled in front of him. He looked less like a lawyer and more like a predator patiently studying its prey's defenses.

"Mr. Davies," Ms. Albright prompted. "Perhaps your clients would like to begin with an opening offer to facilitate the discussion."

Davies cleared his throat, shuffling his papers. "My clients, Mr. and Mrs. Sterling, maintain that this lawsuit is entirely without merit. It is a frivolous and vindictive action."

Karen sniffed loudly. "They should be paying us for the trouble."

Gunner didn't even blink. Davies shot his client a warning look before continuing. "However, in the interest of avoiding a lengthy and costly legal battle, and as a gesture of goodwill to their former employees, my clients are prepared to offer a one-time, all-inclusive settlement."

He paused for dramatic effect, as if he were about to announce an act of profound charity. "They are willing to offer the sum of fifty thousand dollars."

The number hung in the air, grotesque and insulting. Fifty thousand dollars to be split between fifteen plaintiffs. Less than thirty-four hundred dollars apiece. It didn't even cover the back wages stolen from Jax alone during his fraudulent six-month probation, let alone the systematic wage theft from the other fourteen men for years prior. It was a slap in the face disguised as a handshake.

Jax’s expression didn’t change, but his eyes, fixed on Peter, seemed to darken a fraction. He saw the flicker of smug satisfaction on the man’s face. Peter truly believed this was a generous offer. He believed he was buying his way out of a nuisance for pocket change, still unable to comprehend the scale of the war he had started.

Gunner let the silence stretch for a long, uncomfortable moment. He picked up a pen and jotted the number down on a legal pad. He then drew a line under it and wrote '/15'.

"So," Gunner said, his voice deceptively mild. "You're offering my clients, who have had thousands of dollars in earned wages stolen from them over the years, who have endured a hostile and abusive work environment, and who, in Mr. Ryder's case, was illegally fired in retaliation for seeking justice... less than thirty-four hundred dollars each. Before legal fees, of course. Is that a correct summary of your 'goodwill gesture'?"

Davies’ face reddened. "It is a substantial sum of money—"

"No," Gunner said. The word was not a shout, but a clean, sharp blade that sliced through the room. There was no room for negotiation in it, no invitation for a counter. It was a closing door. "The answer is no."

Ms. Albright, the mediator, sighed softly. She had seen this coming. "Mr. Kane, if I may," she interjected, turning her professional gaze on Gunner and Jax. "You have to understand the realities of litigation. Mr. Sterling is a prominent businessman in this community. He has significant resources. A case like this, if it goes to trial, could take years. The appeals process could take even longer. The legal fees will be astronomical. There are no guarantees in a courtroom."

Peter seized on this, seeing an opportunity to reassert his power. He leaned forward, puffing out his chest. "She's right. We can keep this tied up in court until your grandkids have grandkids. We'll bleed you dry in legal fees. By the time this is over, that new shop of yours across the street will be nothing but a pile of rust."

It was a classic bully's threat, the weapon of a rich man against a poor one. It was the card he had always been able to play in his small pond. He looked at Jax, expecting to see a flicker of fear, of doubt.

He saw nothing. Jax looked back at him with the same calm, unnerving patience as always. It was Gunner who reacted. A slow, almost imperceptible smile touched the corners of his mouth. Davies and the Sterlings had just confirmed his entire strategic assessment: they were arrogant, they were blind, and they were fighting a war that had ended before they even knew it had begun.

"We appreciate the warning, Ms. Albright," Gunner said, his voice smooth as silk. He began to gather his papers, signaling the end of the meeting. "But my clients are fully prepared to see this through. For as long as it takes."

The mediation was over. It had failed spectacularly, just as Gunner had known it would. They stood up, the tension in the room so thick it was almost suffocating. Karen looked like she was about to physically lunge across the table. Peter simply looked confused, his ultimate threat having bounced off Jax and his lawyer as if it were nothing.

As they walked out of the conference room and into the quiet hallway, leaving the Sterling contingent to bicker with their flustered attorney, Jax looked at Gunner. The noise from the construction site across from his old shop seemed a world away.

"They think time and money are on their side," Jax stated, not as a question, but as an observation.

Gunner's smile widened. It was a sharp, predatory grin, the look of a man who not only held a royal flush, but knew his opponent was about to go all-in on a pair of deuces. He clapped Jax lightly on the shoulder, the gesture radiating a confidence that was absolute.

"Let them," Gunner said, his voice low and brimming with anticipation. "They have no idea what's coming."