“I will,” Liam said in the voice of command. “Everyone here will follow my orders, or I’ll see you thrown out. My goal isn’t to drum up publicity to sell Mick’s book, it’s to block Carnegie’s plan to create U.S. Steel, the largest corporation this country has ever seen. That’s why we came all this way, right?”

Patrick was vaguely aware of the impending merger the Blackstone Bank was financing. It would merge Carnegie Steel and ten other steel mills into one monstrous corporation that would control most of the steel production in the country. It would strangle competition and crush the rights of workers. Suddenly the crowd assembled in this cellar began to make sense. The steelworkers, iron miners, and men who built things with their hands had come to stop the creation of the U.S. Steel Corporation.

Patrick’s unease ratcheted higher as Liam Malone continued speaking.

“If the government won’t stop the creation of U.S. Steel, the working people will,” Liam said. “If we fail, Carnegie and the Blackstones will have a monopoly on the steel industry. Try getting a metalworking job anywhere in this country if you get on the bad side of U.S. Steel.”

The crowd was silent as the tough welder’s words sank in.

“We start by flinging mud on the Blackstones,” Liam continued. “By stirring up bad sentiments from years past, we’ll make people take a second look at handing the Blackstones the reins of the world’s biggest company. Then we’ll go after Carnegie and J.P. Morgan. We are joined together in a common cause, struggling side by side to give dignity to the working people who built this country. We start that journey tomorrow by whipping up a little controlled chaos in the courtroom.”

Patrick eyed this newcomer. Liam’s battered duster jacket and calloused hands made him look as humble as everyone else here, but he carried an air of command that made him dangerous. He outlined plans for the next day with calm, clear precision. Patrick’s fears about uncontrolled disorder began to ease, even as his misgivings about Liam Malone rose.

Mick came to stand alongside Patrick, a bottle of beer in his hand and alcohol on his breath. “That boy shouldn’t have come. I told him to stay home, but he came anyway. He’s a force, to be sure.”

Patrick could already tell that Liam Malone was dangerous by the way he controlled the crowd tonight. Patrick could either risk the anger of the crowd by throwing Liam out . . . or he could join forces with him.