RANSOM (20 page)

   “What? Really? But how come she didn’t tell me that when I went to her house that day? Why was she still so worried if he saw us together?” I ask, confused.

   “I’m not sure why she didn’t. As for why she was worried about him seeing the two of you together, I really think she is afraid of him. I mean, think about it. What could he hold over her father’s head to keep the man from turning him over to the law or firing him? Why would he let you go to protect you? I don’t really know for sure. Hell, maybe he is a
phsyco,” she says with a shrug.

   “You really think he would hurt her?”

   “Like I said, Lynkin, I don’t know. It is just a vibe that I got from her anytime she talked about him.”

   That is all I needed to hear for me to make up my mind. I am going to pay
Richard
a visit.

   I set up a fake meeting with little
ol’ Richard for today. I called his office phone and told him I was a new business owner from Texas, and I was expanding my company further east and would like to set up a corporate account through him. He, of course, agreed, and I asked him to meet me for lunch here at the bar. Jennifer and I talked to the owner and told him what I was doing, so it’s just going to be the three of us here.

   I purposely sit with my back to the door. I don’t want him knowing who I am until
it’s too late. I look up when Jen enters from the back, tying her apron around her waist, and asks, “Are you ready?”

   She bobs her head up and down real fast and I see her swallow before she answers, “
Yeppers. Sure am. Game on.”

   “Game on,” I agree.

   Ten minutes later and we are still waiting on him. I doubt if he even shows at this point. Jennifer asks how he even has any cleints if he is late all the time. Just then, the door opens and shuts. When I hear that his footsteps get closer, I stand and face him. At first, he puts his hand out to greet me.

   “It’s nice to meet you…” Then, it clicks who I am, and he pulls his hand back. “You? What the hell is this?”

   “It’s a ‘Come to Jesus’ meeting, Dick. Now, please, sit. We have a lot of business to discuss,” I say in a professional tone.

   He grabs both sides of his suit jacket, and pulls them forward, and replies, “I have no business with the likes of you, Conner.”

   “Oh, but we do.” I take a step forward and lean into him. “Like I said…Sit. Down.”

   He doesn’t budge for a few seconds. When he does, he lets out a mocking laugh, “Fine, I will amuse you and sit, but I am leaving after I finish my drink. So make it quick.”

   He waves Jen over, and orders two glasses of scotch. As she walks away to get them, I notice Richard checking out her ass. If I hadn’t been ready to beat him to a pulp already, I am now.

   “You are a piece of work, you know that?” I seethe.

   “It’s nice of you to notice, but I don’t swing that way if that was what this little meeting was about,” he says, full of himself.

   “Have you lived with people despising you your whole life that you just can’t tell when someone can’t stand you? No, that is not what I wanted to see you for.
This is about you spreading rumors about me to anyone that would listen, this is about why I was fired.”

   “Seriously? You are wasting my time,” he says before he kicks his drink back and stands.

   I follow him to my feet and push him back into his chair. “You will not leave this bar until I say you can. And when you leave, it will not just be the bar, it will be this town, this county, and even this state.”

   “The hell I will!” He tries to jump up, but I push him back down. “Why do you think I would leave town simply because you tell me to?”

   “Because if you don’t, I will let inform the cops about the little money squandering scheme you have going on under the table at Southern Hospitality, and because there is nothing left for you here. I am giving you the opportunity to leave on your own. If I have to make you leave, I promise to rip your entire life to shreds like you did mine.”

   "Come on man, I did you a favor. One day, you would have fucked up and embarrassed yourself anyway. I saved you the embarrassment. You didn’t belong there with us. Besides, you have no proof of my
hobby
,” he says snidely, then reaches over and downs the other glass of scotch on the table.

   “Obviously you don’t belong there either, considering you had to threaten your way into the circle. None of them can stand you.”

   “It doesn’t matter if they can stand me or not. I bent them to my will and got what I wanted, didn’t I? I have an honored position at a very prestigious company, I will never have to want for money, and soon I will be married to the sexiest woman in the South, who also, happens to be the daughter of one of the most renowned men in business around here. I am set.” The finger that was pointed at his chest turns to me, then he finishes, “You, however, are out of luck.”

   I know I probably shouldn’t, but I can’t stop it once my arm is drawn back. I sock him square in the nose, causing him to fall backwards in the chair, smacking the ground with the back of his head on the concrete floor.

    “I am not the one out of luck. Sage called off your engagement. You can’t keep using her as your little magic wand to get what you want anymore,” I shout as I stand over him.

   “Do you really think that I am going to let her get away from me that easily? She will marry me, and I will use her as I please.” He gets to his feet and continues, “If I want her father write it in his will that I get his portion of the company when he dies, if Sage has to have an accident to make that happen. If I come home from a hard day on the job and need a release, I will get it if I have to tie her down bed and put my dick in every single hole until I do.”

   I fight the instinct to hit him again. It’s one of the hardest things I have ever had to do in my life, but I do it. I have to keep the bigger picture in mind. I wave to Jen, who has this mortified look on her face, to bring us two more drinks. I pick up the chair I knocked Richard over in and offer for him to sit. He is reluctant, until Jen walks over with our two new drinks. She sets them on the table, quickly grabs the empty ones, and goes back to the back room. The whole time, he is watching her every move. He takes his seat and grabs the glass once she is out of sight.

   “You and I aren’t all that different,” he states.

   I watch him wipe some blood off from under his nose and don’t even try to hide the satisfaction it gives me. “Oh, yeah? And how do you see that?”

   “Because, we are both willing to make something of ourselves, no matter what we have to do,” he says.

   “No, you’re wrong, because you don’t mind who you step on and hurt to get what you want and I do. I don’t put myself above anyone else, I think everyone is equal.”

   “What a crock of shit. You and me, we aren’t equal. There are people like you, and then there are people like me.” I watch as he finishes this glass of scotch and stands. “I am finished listening to this. If you try to contact me again, I will call the cops on you for harassment.”

   Just as he reaches the door to walk out of the bar, I yell out, “Just remember, I gave you the opportunity to leave without fucking your whole life up, which is more than you gave me.”

   I don’t even stop him as he staggers out of the bar. He has had too many drinks in the small amount of time that we have been here. I pick up the glasses from the table and take them to Jennifer at the bar. “Do it.”

   She grabs her cell phone from her back pocket, dials the number, and puts it to her ear. “Yes, 911, I would like to report a drunk driver. He is headed down Old River Road. He just left a bar and could hardly walk. I tried to stop him from getting in and driving, but he pushed me away and left.” She is silent a minute as she listens to the person on the other end then continues, “Of course. Have a good day.”

   “Did you get everything?” I ask her.
             

   She walks over to pull the device from its hiding spot and hits play. “Every last bit of it!"

Sage

“Good morning, Sage. Did you sleep well?” Dad asks as I walk into the kitchen and grab myself a muffin.

   “Good morning! And yes, I slept great,” I answer him before I bite into the still warm blueberry muffin. I grab a bottle of water from the fridge and take a drink before letting him know I am going for a run.

   I open the front door to the house and notice swarms of reporters at the front gate. They start taking pictures and asking questions left and right. I shut the door and yell back down the hall, “Dad! Dad, why is there a mob of reporters outside?”

   He comes walking from the kitchen and hands me the newspaper. “According to the front page news, your fiancé was arrested last night for driving while under the influence.”

   “Maybe a day in jail will do him some good.”

   He lets out a laugh, “He will spending quite a bit more time behind bars than a day.”

   “Why? Did he get into a wreck or something?” I ask, confused, because normally if you get arrested for drinking and driving it’s just a night in the drunk tank. Of course your license is also suspended, you have to go to DUI classes to get it back, and you have all the fines to pay.

   “Seems evidence has come forth regarding his theft from the company,” he explains.

   “What kind of evidence?”

   “Somehow, someone recorded him basically admitting to all of it. He also is being charged with threats he was recorded making.”

   “Threats?”

   “Yes, doll. They also recorded him saying horrible things that he would do to his beautiful fiancé. The cops called to inform me this morning and asked if we wanted to press charges.”

   “And what did you say?”

   “I said yes. Hell, he has screwed the pooch now. He was already behind bars when the evidence was turned in against him. My partners already know about the charges and have our lawyers prepping. He is done for,” Dad says with a big smile on his face.

   “So he is gone? Really? We are free?”

   “Not just yet. We still have to go through court, because you know he isn’t going to plead guilty, and there is the chance he will make bail.”

   What little excitement I felt about being rid of Richard just vanished with the thought of him getting out on bail. He could come for us while he is out. “Do you really think this is a good idea?”

   “It’ll be okay. I know what you are thinking, because I thought the same thing too. I have already hired extra security for all of us, just in case he does make bail,” he comforts me and pulls me into him.

   It does make me feel a little better knowing that Dad spruced up the security. I decide to stay in instead of going for a run. It would be useless to try anyways, with all the reporters. I head to my room to change, and before I can get the shirt over my head, my bedroom door rushes open and smacks the wall. I pull my shirt back down quickly and turn to the intruder.

   “You don’t have to pull it back down on my account,” Jen teases as she reaches for the handle and closes the door back.

   “Have you ever heard of knocking?”

   “Yeah, but my way is faster. You know I don’t like to wait for anything,” she says with a shrug.

   “Whatever. So what’s with the barge in?”