"Not me," Dan said quickly. "I haven't come this far in the business just to make quickies.
That's for Republic or Monogram."
"Columbia, Warners and RKO aren't too proud," David said, a new hardness coming into his voice.
"Let them if they want to," Dan snapped. "I’ve got a reputation to maintain."
"Don't give me that crap," David exploded. "The only thing this business respects is success.
And they don't care how you get it so long as it adds up at the box office.
The whole industry knows you maneuvered Cord into buying the company so you could become a producer.
You won't have any reputation left if you walk out."
"Who said anything about walking out?"
David relaxed in his chair. A new feeling of power came over him.
Now he understood why his Uncle Bernie had found it so difficult to let go.
He shrugged his shoulders.
"You heard what Cord said.
If you won't do it, somebody else will."
Pierce stared at him for a moment, then looked at McAllister.
The attorney's face was impassive.
"That's all very well for you to say," Pierce grumbled. "But while I’m out there getting my brains kicked in, what're you going to be doing?"
"Seeing to it that we survive long enough for you to get your production program working," David answered.
"How?" McAllister asked, an interested look coming over his face.
"Tomorrow I'm laying off forty per cent of personnel throughout the company."
"That's pretty drastic," McAllister said. "Will you be able to function under those conditions?"
David watched the attorney's face. This was another kind of test.
"We'll be able to function," he said quietly.
"That's no way to make friends," Pierce injected.
"I couldn't care less," David replied caustically. "I’m not trying to win a popularity contest.
And that will be only the beginning.
I don't care who gets hurt – the company is going to survive."
For a moment, the attorney stared at him. Then David saw a frosty glimmer of a smile lurking deep in his eyes. McAllister turned to Dan.
"What do you think?"
Dan was smiling.
"I think we'll make it. Why do you think Jonas wanted him to stick around?"
McAllister reached into his brief case.
"There's your contract," he said to David. "Jonas wants you to sign it tonight."
David stared at the lawyer.
"What about Dan?"
McAllister smiled.
"Dan signed his the day of the board meeting."
For a moment, David felt anger climbing up inside him.
The whole thing had been an act. They had put him through the wringer just to see what would happen.
Then he drew in his breath.
What difference did it make?
He reached for the fountain pen the attorney held out toward him.
This was only the beginning.
They were still outsiders and it would be a long time before they knew as much about the company as he did.
And by that time, it wouldn't matter any more.
Once he signed the contract, he was in charge.
The connecting door between his room and his uncle's opened and light spilled through into the darkness.
"Are you in there, David?"
He sat up on the bed and swung his feet to the floor. He reached out and turned on the lamp next to the bed.
"Yes, Uncle Bernie."