Ever After (13 page)

Chapter 16

Nick

Things moved pretty fast. Ryan’s security firm was able to work their magic, in the most surreptitious way possible, so the equipment was set up while the scumbag was at work. He, of course, wasn’t in jail, as he had immediately posted a bond. He didn’t have a live-in housemaid, thank god, so getting this done was a snap.

The other problem that Ryan and I had discussed was the possibility that security cameras might capture me going into the building, so Ryan’s team took care of that issue as well. They went through and found all the security cameras, and disabled them temporarily while I slipped into the building and broke into the monster’s apartment. Needless to say, that was a very important step, because if the security cameras caught me going into that building, then that would be all she wrote. I mean, the odds were good that there would never be an investigation into the asshole’s death, especially since there would be a suicide note, but I couldn’t take chances. As for me leaving the apartment, the security team would hack the building’s computers so that any videos of my leaving would be erased. They were that good.

I put on a pair of rubber gloves and put a net on my hair, so that there would be none of my fingerprints or hairs left behind in his apartment, and then I used the key that was made to get into the palatial loft, which was the penthouse of the gleaming building, and I found a hiding place in one of his enormous coat closets. I crouched in the darkness, the syringe in my hand, and waited.

While I waited, I thought of one thing – Scotty. I had nothing to do during that period of time but be alone with my thoughts, so I couldn’t stop thinking about her. About what she was going through. The guilt in not contacting her was weighing heavily on mind, as I sat there in the darkness of the bastard’s closet, so I focused on her the entire time. I tried not to think about what she was feeling about me during that period of time. I would imagine that her thoughts about me weren’t good, to say the very least. I mean, what kind of boyfriend would just abandon his girlfriend, the love of his life, just when she hit her nadir?

And I was having a hard time picturing how I could get her to forgive me for this abandonment. There was no way that I could tell her the truth. No way. I mean, the chances were good that I could pull this entire thing off without anybody being the wiser, as this mission was planned out to a T. But, if anything did happen, and the shit hit the fan, the less that she knew about this, the better.

I tried to put my guilty feelings about not being with her out of my mind, but it was difficult. I kept thinking how I would feel if I were hospitalized after a suicide attempt, only to have Scotty refuse to return any phone calls and text messages. I would feel like shit, of course, and I would be extremely frustrated and angry. The one thing that Scotty should be able to count on was that I would always be with her. Yet, here I was, ignoring her completely.

But, at the same time, it was paramount that I do this now. I couldn’t wait until she recovered from her suicide attempt, because, if I did, the scumbag would have that many more days to drag Scotty through the mud. I had to get him before he had the chance to do too much damage to her and her reputation. My major regret in this whole mess was that I just
didn’t do this to begin with. I should have just taken care of him before Scotty ever went to the cops. If I did, none of this would have ever happened.

So, for hours, I ruminated on all the mistakes that I had made with regards to this situation, and beat myself up about them. As much as this line of thinking didn’t do me any good, I still couldn’t keep my mind off of these negative thoughts.

And then my mind started to think about what would happen when the bastard got home. I had to hope that he wasn’t with anyone when he finally arrived. That would be the worst-case scenario, because I would have to obviously wait until the other person left. And, god forbid, if that person stayed the night, I had no idea what I would do.

At some point, I heard the door open, and my heart immediately started pounding. I listened carefully to see if I heard one voice or two.

To my dismay, I heard two voices. My heart sunk, as Mr. Lucas was apparently coming through the door with another man.

“I know, Denny,” the bastard was saying. “I’m going to get that bitch if it’s the last thing I do. I’m going to ruin her in this town. When I get through with her, she’ll be lucky if she gets a job at McDonald’s running the drive-through window.”

I took a deep breath, trying hard to contain my rage at this scumbag. He was obviously talking about Scotty, and, if there was any doubt in my mind of what I was about to do, those doubts were erased.

“Paul, I know. I know. You’ve been talking about nothing else for these past two days. Let’s lay off the subject for a little while, shall we? Let’s just eat our dinner without talking about Scotty the little cunt, please.”

“Easy for you to say. You didn’t have your fucking face on the television screen. You weren’t the one who was humiliated in front of the entire fucking city. You’re not the one who is losing clients and contracts right and left because of it. She’s a lying sack of shit, and she won’t get away with this. She won’t. If I live to be 100 years old, I’m going to spend every minute of every day making sure that she pays for what she did. You can take that to the bank.”

“Listen, I’m tired of hearing about this. Tired of it. I have no idea why that girl would do that to you, but I have the feeling that you probably did something to piss her off.”

“What? Fuck you. I’m the victim here. Me. I’m the one whose life has gone to shit. Yet, you’re blaming me? Fuck you. Fuck you. Fuck.you.”

“Listen to me. Brother to brother. I’ve known you my whole life, and you’ve fucked a lot of women over pretty badly. I’m surprised it took this long for one of them to finally try to take you down.”

“No, you listen to me, you dirty mother fucker. And you listen good. I’m going to get that cunt, and then I’m going to get you. I’m tired of your judgments about my fucking life. It’s my life, I’ll live it the way that I want to, and I’m not going to let you or a fucking cunt-whore like Scotty James change that.”

“The charges were dropped. Everything will blow over.”

The charges were dropped? What the fuck??????
I realized that I hadn’t been watching the news, because I was too focused on my plan, which was my mistake. I didn’t dream that the charges would be dropped this soon, especially considering how much publicity attended his arrest, and also considering the fact that he was being charged with some extremely serious crimes.

I took a deep breath. Well, so much for the angle of threatening him with prison, and the prospect of him becoming somebody’s butt bitch behind bars. That was now not a part of the arsenal, so I had to hope that just the prospect of his being humiliated would be enough.

“You goddamned right the charges were dropped. I’ve got too many of those motherfuckers over at that station on my payroll. So pissed that they actually dropped the ball and let that arrest warrant be executed. They danced when I told them to, but the damage is done. I’ve been uninvited to every single party that I’ve been invited to for the next three months. Every single fucking one. I’ve lost millions in accounts and revenue through this. That bitch is going to pay, and pay dearly.”

There was a pause, and the Denny said “And why, pray tell, have you felt the need to have officers on your payroll? What kind of illegal things are you doing?”

Then another long pause. “Listen, I’m going to tell you something. And, I’m not kidding you when I say this, but if you ever tell anyone what I’m telling you, I will literally kill you. And don’t think that I don’t know just who to call to do that. I don’t fucking care that you’re my brother. But, yeah. I did it. I fucked that girl when she lived here with me. She was fucking incredible, too. Smooth, supple skin. The most luscious rack I’ve ever seen before or since. There’s nothing like fucking a nubile virgin with a tight, tight pussy. She was, by far, the best fuck that I’ve ever had.”

Oh, my god. Oh my god.
Suddenly, I knew that I didn’t need to use the truth serum. I couldn’t believe the luck that I had.

“Oh, shit,” Denny, apparently the bastard’s brother, said. “Crap. How old was she when you started having sex with her?”

“12 or 13. I really don’t remember. All I remember was that I couldn’t get enough. Man, she was good.”

“And what about the other charges? The raping her in January?”

“Bullshit. I’ve never raped that girl even once. Not once. That’s why I’m so pissed. It was consensual, and I mean it was always consensual. Yeah, she was 13 when she came to live here with me, and I started to fucking her, but, trust me, she was begging for it. She came into my room every night and jacked me off and fucked me. So, I took her to my island home in January, and we fucked the entire time. Always her idea, too. So, don’t you dare make judgments on me. Trust me, if you would have had a gorgeous 13-year-old living with you, wanting you badly, you would have done the same fucking thing.”

“Paul,” Denny said. “You do know that having sex with a 13-year-old is illegal, don’t you? Even if she was the initiator?”

“Fuck that. In medieval times, everybody was fucking when they were 13. It’s only because this country is so backwards that it’s illegal. It might be illegal, but it certainly isn’t wrong.”

I felt my rage bubble up in my throat, but I also started to spin the wheels in my brain. I had to. Suddenly, I was realizing that perhaps this bastard would never commit suicide, no matter how much I threatened him with exposing him to the world. He was obviously proud of what he did, and saw nothing wrong with it. He was either delusional or lying when he said that Scotty wanted him, and if he truly believed that in his sick head, it was going to take special effort on my part to make him see the error of his ways.

I listened carefully and I knew that I had to approach this is a slightly different way. Somehow, someway, I was going to have to humiliate him enough that he was going to kill himself.
But how?

I got a text from Ryan. “I’m watching the video. OMG.”

I texted back. “I know. The plan has changed. What next?”

“Having second thoughts. This bastard probably won’t do what you want, and, what’s more, he’ll probably put your balls in a jar for bugging his house. Let me think.”

I felt my heart pounding. I made another mistake. Goddammit, it seemed that nothing was going as planned in this entire scenario. At first I thought that it was absolutely amazing that he was confessing his sins to his brother, until it occurred to me that there probably would be no humiliating or guilting him into doing what I needed him to do. The man had ice-water in his veins, and he obviously was a sociopath. There was simply no other word for it.

I continued to listen to the two brothers outside the door.

“Be that as it may,” Denny was saying, “having sex with an underaged girl is illegal, and we aren’t living in medieval times. We’re living in 21
st
Century America, and what you did was a crime.”

I heard a long period of silence. And then “Denny. Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

“What do you think that I’m saying?”

“I told you that if you told anybody about what I’m saying to you, I would kill you. So don’t push me.”

“I’m not saying I’m going to tell anybody about what you did. But I would like to know if there have been other young girls that you have had sex with.”

“Of course,” the bastard said flippantly. “But Scotty was the best.”

“So, you’ve had sex with other girls who were around Scotty’s age when you first started having sex with her?”

“Yeah. Sometimes a little younger.”

Silence. “Oh my god,” Denny said. “How could you have hidden this all along?”

“What did you want me to tell you? That I like banging 12-year-olds?”

“Yes, that would have been nice to know that my own brother is a pervert. Jesus Christ, surely you don’t think that you’re not doing something wrong?”

“You’re just jealous.”

“Jealous?”

“Yes, jealous. You’re jealous that I’m attractive to young girls, and you aren’t.”

“How many?”

“Hell, I don’t know. I lost count a long time ago. 100, 150, I guess. Why is that important?”

I heard more silence, then Denny said “you know what, I don’t even know what to say. You’re a sick, sick man, and you need some serious professional help. I have to get out of here.”

“Where are you going?” the sicko demanded of his apparently rational brother.

“Listen, Paul, you need help. But I just can’t stand by and let you do what you’re doing to these young girls. I’m sorry, but I can’t do that.”

“You’re not going anywhere,” Paul said. “And I mean that.”

“Paul,” Denny said. “Calm down, now. Put that gun down.”

Oh, crap. What was going to happen next?

“I’m warning you,” Paul said. “You say one fucking word, and you’re a dead man. And, no, I won’t be stupid enough to kill you myself, so I will put down this gun. But watch your ass. I know people who will take care of you, and don’t ever think that I don’t.”

My mind started turning as I listened to the interaction between the two men outside the door.
Is there some way that I could use what just happened? Paul’s words?