Breaking Into the Business (26 page)

“Lana,
are you kidding me?”

“No,
I’m not.”

“This
has to be Frank.”

“Frank
is gone,” I said.

“Frank
will never be completely gone until you see his rotting body. That man was
trouble from the beginning. I remember coming home from college and meeting
him. I told Mom and Dad that he would be trouble, and now look where you are.”

“I
don’t even know if this has anything to do with him.”

“I’m
sure it does. That man was as shady as they come, Lana. This reeks of some hair
brain scheme he got himself into.”

“How
do you know?”

“I’m
a cynic, Lana. I’ve never denied that. And my cynicism is like a special power
I have. Trust me; this has everything to do with Frank.”

“Okay,
well whatever the reason is behind these strange calls, I have to address it.”

“Do
you need me to go with you to Mom and Dad to ask for the money?”

“You
would just love to see their faces when I asked them, huh?”

“I
have to admit that would be nice. But what other options do you have? I know
you don’t have that kind of money anymore.”

“I’m
going to stand up to him. I’m not giving him the money.”

“How
do you know he won’t retaliate?”

“How
do I know he won’t take the money and then ask for more next week?”

“True,”
she said. “But aren’t you worried he will try to harm you or the children?”

“That’s
where you come in,” I said.

“I
don’t want to get mixed up in this.”

“I’m
not asking you to.”

“Of
course you are. In fact, you already have. If you brought Greg here with you,
it means that you’re scared he might actually follow you. The fact that we’re
meeting in public means that I’m involved now. I should have known an encounter
with you would bring unsavory things.”

“Pam,
cut me some slack.”

“For
what?” she asked. “For being a promiscuous teenager who got herself pregnant
and then leeched off of our parents so that you could get your education, and for
agreeing to marry the father of your children out of some sense of moral
obligation?”

“I’m
not going to get into this with you here,” I said. “The only thing I wanted to
ask you was if you would let the kids stay with you for a few days.”

“What
about their school?”

“They
get out for the weekend at three thirty and don’t have to go back until Monday
morning. I’m hoping to have all of this resolved by then.”

“And
if it isn’t?”

“Then
they can miss a few days of school. This is important.”

“What
are you going to do?”

“I’ve
called in a few favors from some friends. They’re going to be staying at the
house with me in case something happens.”

Pam
laughed. “Pearl and Betsy won’t be much help if a guy tries to attack you in
the house.”

“Greg
will be there and a few other guy friends.”

“Of
course, you would have a lot of guy friends.”

I
chose to ignore her comment.

“I’m
only asking you to take the kids for a few days.”

“You
know I will,” she said finally. “I have a soft spot in my heart for your
children. They certainly can’t be blamed for their mother’s mistakes.”

“So
you will take them?”

“Of
course,” she said.

“So
why didn’t you just say that? Why take me through all of that?”

“Lana,
you may expect everything in life to be easy, but I will not make myself
available like everyone else in your life. Just because Mom, Dad, our brothers,
and everyone else fall down on themselves when you call, doesn’t mean that I
have to as well.”

“So
you’re making me work for this?”

“Exactly,”
she said.

The
creepiest part of the exchange came then. When she uttered that word, she actually
smiled; a sadistic grin that showed a glimmer of her black soul.

What
was wrong with that woman? How could we have possibly come from the same
parents? My brothers were nothing like her. Sure, my mom passed judgment, but
only in the way, that overbearing mothers usually did. Pam was something else
altogether.

“So
are we ready to order?” Greg asked, in a feeble attempt to lighten the mood.

“When
do I pick them up?” Pam asked, ignoring the escort.

“There’s
a plan to minimize your seeming involvement in this,” Greg said. “At four
o’clock, you are to arrive at Lana’s and pull in through the back. We’ll open
the garage door and you should pull in next to Lana’s car.”

“Why?”
Pam asked.

“Trust
me,” Greg said. “We’ve worked out the details.”

“Trust
you? I just met you, and you ask me to trust you?”

“Yes,”
Greg said flatly. “This will be for the best. Can you handle that?”

“Are
you being serious? Can I handle that? Are you trying to insult my
intelligence?”

“Pam,”
Greg said softly. He reached across the table and set his hand lightly on hers.

I
turned to watch my sister’s reaction and was surprised to see her frozen in
place. She kept her gaze fixed ahead, staring at Greg, but I could see her eyes
drift slowly to where he was touching her. Every muscle in her body tensed, and
I knew that she was fighting the ability to pull away from him, but she was
stuck.

Greg
just had that effect on women.

“I
will be there at four,” she finally managed. Her breathing was a little heavy.

I
hid my smile behind my hand. “So are we ready to order now?”

Greg
pulled his hand back, releasing my sister. She reached down for her purse.
“I’ve suddenly realized that I have to stop by Pete’s office to bring him some
lunch. I really should be going.”

“Okay,”
I said. “Thank you for agreeing to this.”

“I’m
doing it for the children,” she reminded me as she stood up and started to walk
off. She took a few steps before turning around. “I’ll see you at four.”

When
she was sufficiently out of earshot, Greg turned to me. “That went well.”

I
chuckled. “It went better than I thought it would.”

“What’s
her problem?”

“Honestly,
I have no idea.”

“My
first thought is that she is jealous of you, but it’s tough to say. There’s no
rhyme or reason to the things she picks on you about.”

“Well,
I know one thing,” I said. “She never would have agreed to this if not for your
charm.”

“So
you’re saying that I’m charming?”

“Maybe
a little.”

“You
know we have about four hours until we have to pick up the kids. My apartment
is not far from here.”

“We
need to get back to the house. I can’t leave Ben too long to man the phones.”

“He’ll
do fine. He’s a really smart guy.”

“But
it’s my job. I can’t pawn that off on him.”

“It
won’t take that long,” Greg said. He stopped himself when he realized what he
said. “I mean, it won’t take
too
long.”

I
shook my head, but couldn’t hide my amusement. As I looked at Greg, I wondered what
I was going to do.

Chapter Twenty-Three

On the
way back to the house, Betsy and Pearl three-way called my cell to check in. I
realized I hadn’t caught them up on things, so I spent the car ride filling
them in. It took a while, and I was still on the story when we arrived at the
house.

Like
any conversation with my two best friends, I got loads of input, questions, and
suggestions, and I hadn’t even finished the story before they started
interjecting.

I
would have choked them if they were in person. They had not shut up during my
story, but when I had finished, they both sat on the line wordless. What the
hell?

“So
what do you think?” I asked them after a few seconds of nothing. I had to check
my phone’s display to make sure they hadn’t hung up.

“Girl,”
Pearl began. “Are you telling me that you have five gigolos staying at your
house all weekend? And the only time they leave you is to go to have sex for money
and come back?”

“Yes,”
I said.

“Oh
shit,” she said. “I think you need some added protection over there. I get off
work at five today.”

“We’ve
got it covered.”

“No,
Pearl’s right,” Betsy said. “We can’t let you stay there all by yourself. I’ll
leave in a few minutes, stop by my house and pack an overnight bag.”

“Please
don’t do that,” I said.

“Why
not?” Pearl asked.

“That
will just make things uncomfortable.”

“What
makes it uncomfortable?” Pearl asked.

“Um,
let me think,” I said sarcastically. “It’s already weird enough that I have
five escorts at my house, and now my two best friends want to come over to gawk
at them.”

“I
won’t be gawking,” Betsy said. “Well, maybe at first. But once I get one alone,
gawking time is over.”

“See
what I mean? You’ll be trying to sleep with them.”

“You
don’t think they’d charge us, do you?” Pearl asked.

“Oh,
my god!”

“Stop
being so selfish,” Betsy said. “You’ve got all these beautiful men in your
house and you’re not sharing.”

“Can
you two take this seriously?” I asked.

They
must have picked up on my frustration, because joking time was over.

“I’m
going to lay this out for you honey,” Pearl said. “I know I’m joking about
this, but the truth is, I’m still coming over. My best friend is being
threatened, and now she’s got five men staying in her house that she doesn’t
know that much more about than she does the man threatening her. I’m worried
about you, Lana.”

“There’s
nothing to worry about. They’re all great guys.”

“You
know that, but we don’t,” Betsy said. “I don’t know any of them. I would expect
this same thing from you if I were in this position.”

“The
irony is that you would never have put yourself in this position,” I said.

“Now
don’t go feeling sorry for yourself,” Pearl said. “Whatever this shit is, it
isn’t anything you brought on yourself.”

“Okay,
you can both come over, but make sure to wait until after four when the kids
leave. I don’t want to give them any more to get excited over. I’m trying my
best to keep things as normal for them as possible.”

“If
you’re trying to keep things normal, then why are you sending them to stay with
your bitch sister?” Pearl asked.

“She
loves my kids. Don’t ask me why or how, but even though she hates me, she loves
them. They will be in very good hands with her.”

“You’re
right,” Betsy said.

“Oh
shit,” Pearl said. “I’ve got to go. My boss is coming down the aisle and he’s
staring daggers at me. I hate that asshole.”

“See
you this evening, girls,” I said as the line went dead.

Poor
Pearl. Her boss was the biggest jerk in the world. Former military, the man had
ruined the name Victor for me. He was literally the biggest prick I had ever
met. Twice, I had picked up Pearl for lunch when he was walking by. The first
time, he had approached my car and lectured me on the importance of Pearl not
taking more than her time for lunch. The second time was when Pearl’s
grandmother had passed away and I had to go to her office to pick her up. When
I passed his office to go to her desk, he stopped me to tell me to make sure
Pearl understood that she was only getting one day off of work, including the
time for the funeral.

While
I was gone, Ben had taken three calls for the business. Between the time of my
return and leaving to get the kids, I had taken five more. Finally, each of the
guys had a session booked and prospects looked promising.

Ben
was most excited and nervous about his session the following night. His had a three-hour
block, and he spent the hour after the call talking to Greg for different ideas
he could do with his client.

When
I picked the kids up, I told them about the fact that their aunt would be by
soon after we got home and that they didn’t have much time to pack some
clothes. Neither were pleased nor tried asking several questions, none of which
I was willing to answer.

I
watched them through my rear view mirror, and as I did, my certainty in the
decision to send them to Pam’s became stronger. Those two were my pride and joy
and everything I did was for them. If anything happened to them, then I had
failed as a mother.

By
the time we arrived, Jake wasn’t too happy with me for avoiding all of his
questions, but he still obeyed and went upstairs to gather his clothes. Mallory
was a little less irritated, but judging by the way she was furiously typing on
her phone, I knew that she was letting all of her friends know that she was
going away for the weekend.