But Richard was still digesting the fact that the Italians were involved. He thought he was helping out his brother. He thought it was as simple as calling a meeting to sniff out crooks and put them in their place. When those crooks were the ones sniffing him out. And tried to snuff him out too!
And Richard had to get to the bottom of it. For Janet’s sake, he had to find out the who. “Who hired them?” Richard asked Cary.
“My brother didn’t know. He said they never showed their faces. They handled it through text messages on throwaway phones. I told him not to do it. I begged him! But he did it anyway. Now he’s dead.”
“Okay, what’s your excuse?” Richard asked. “Why did they hire your ass?”
Doris was shocked at Richard. “He had nothing to do with that!” she cried. “You know Cary. He would never harm you! Nobody hired him to do anything!”
“What did they hire you to do?” Richard asked him, ignoring his longtime secretary. “And don’t make me ask again!”
“To rig your woman’s brakes,” Cary finally admitted, crying too.
Doris was shocked. So was Spencer. Cary was supposed to be one of the good guys.
But Richard was confused. “Why would they want you to rig her brakes?” he asked.
“I don’t know why,” Cary responded. “They didn’t tell me why. Everything was handled through my brother. I didn’t even know he was dead until after that night, after I rigged those brakes. And we still haven’t found his body. But I know you took him out. He was going to meet with you. And I haven’t heard from him since.”
But Doris was still stunned. “You were the one who tampered with Janet’s brakes?” she asked Cary.
“What about that shooting at the mill?” Spencer asked.
“That wasn’t me. I think they handled that themselves. I rigged her brakes. But that’s all I did.”
Richard looked at Cary. He couldn’t believe he said that. “That was all you did?” he asked him. “My lady came within inches of her life ending, within inches of colliding with a fucking train, and you have the nerve to say that’s all you did?!”
And his control broke right then and there and he took that gun in his hand and began slamming it violently into the side of Cary’s face like the thug he sometimes could become.
Doris was screaming because she knew how far Richard could go when he was angry enough. She knew his secrets. “Don’t kill him! Richard, don’t kill him! You’re gonna kill him, Richard! Stop!”
But Richard didn’t even hear her. He was down on his knees pistol-whipping Cary so violently that it sounded as if he was beating on a side of beef rather than a man’s face. And Cary’s face was caving, and all the bones were shattering, but Richard kept brutalizing him.
Janet didn’t know what to do. She looked at Spencer. But Spencer was shaking his head. “He’s getting what his ass deserves,” he said. “He could have killed you when he tampered with your brakes. What you expect your man to do?”
Janet understood that too. But she was more concerned about Richard than getting revenge. “I expect my man to stay out of prison,” Janet said anxiously. “That’s what I expect my man to do!”
Spencer smiled and Fiona laughed. “Don’t worry,” Spence said. “No Shetfield will ever go to prison.”
“And you can take that to the bank, honey,” Fiona added.
And right then and there Janet realized she was in a different world now. In the world of the rich and powerful. In a world where scores were settled on the field, not in courtrooms. A world where, if anybody ever tried to harm her, Richard was going to handle it himself.
Personally.
It was as exhilarating for Janet as it was alarming.
But it was painful for Doris. She was crying and screaming for her boss to stop, but even she wasn’t trying to physically stop Richard either. She’d lived in his world for at least a decade. Janet was certain this couldn’t possibly be her first rodeo. She was crying because it was her man in the bullseye at the rodeo.
But Richard did finally stop. His gun was dripping with Cary’s blood. Cary was already unconscious. He stopped. And Doris rushed to Cary’s side as Richard stood to his feet.
Richard was breathing so heavily that he could hardly speak.
Doris looked up at Richard with pain in her eyes. “Call 911. Let them call 911, Richard!”
Richard stared at her. “You had nothing to do with this?” he asked her.
“Me? Fuck you for thinking that I could do something to harm you! After all we’ve been through? Fuck you, Richard. Fuck you!”
Snot was coming from her nose and tears from her eyes. Janet could tell Richard was torn. He believed her, but he was angry that she was still trying to help the man who didn’t try to harm Richard, but tried to harm his lady. He was defending Janet’s honor, and her very life. She’d never been in that position before in her entire life.
And Richard gave in. “After we leave, you can call 911,” he said to Doris.
She nodded her head. “Thank you.”
“If my name or Janet’s name or my brother’s name is mentioned by him, you, or anybody else, I’ll finish the job. And you know I will.”
“My name too,” said Fiona. “You better not mention my name either. Right, honey?” she asked Spencer.
“Yeah, right,” said Spencer.
“And by the way,” Richard said to Doris as he was about to turn away, “the police will be notified of his crime. They will be waiting for Cary when he arrives at the hospital.”
Doris understood what that meant. Richard owned a lot of the cops on the Tulsa police force, especially the high-ranking ones. The fix was already in, and Cary was going to have to serve time for what he tried to do to Janet. But at least Richard wasn’t making him pay with his life.
“Thank you for sparing his life,” she said to him.
But Richard didn’t want to spare anything when it came to Cary’s ass. All he could think about was what that bastard tried to do to Janet. How she nearly collided with that train. The fear that was in her voice when she realized she had no brakes. All because of his ass.
And Richard couldn’t take it. He went to the garage, looked around, and found what he could use. And then he returned inside the house with a metal baseball bat in his hand. And before anybody could even ask him what he was doing with that bat, Richard took it and slammed it into both of Cary’s legs. Repeatedly. Until he was certain that Cary would never walk again.
Then he tossed the bat aside, and he and Janet, and Spencer and Fiona, walked on out.
When they got to the SUV, Spencer had to drive. Richard was in no state for driving. Fiona sat up front with Spence.
Richard sat on the backseat, with Janet leaned against him. He had wrapped his bloody gun in his handkerchief, but she could see that his knuckles were badly bruised too.
“Where to, Boss?” Spencer asked his brother as he looked at him through the rearview mirror.
“The airport,” Richard said, still trying to come down from that heavy lift he had to do in Doris house.
“Back to Texas?”
“Yes,” said Richard. “Until I find out who else is involved, I want Janet out of harm’s way.”
And he kept his word. He phoned his contact at the police department, told him what Cary had done, and ordered him to meet Cary at the hospital. “Put his ass in cuffs at his hospital bed,” Richard said, “and keep a guard on his door. I want to know everybody that comes near him. Especially any shady characters.”
“What about Doris?” the high-ranking officer asked Richard.
Richard gave a hard exhale. “She knew nothing about it. Keep her out of it. But I want that fucker tried to the fullest extent of the law. I want him to do more years than he’s got left on this earth for what he tried to do to my lady. Fuck it up, and you’ll answer to me.”
“Don’t worry, sir. I’ll handle it personally.”
And the call ended.
Janet looked at R
ichard as Spencer drove them to the airport. “You believe her?” she asked him. She didn’t want his emotions to cloud his judgement.
Richard leaned his head back. “She’s been with me a long time. Through thick and thin. I have to believe her.”
“And if you’re wrong?” Janet asked.
“She’ll get what’s coming to her,” Richard said. Then he looked at Janet, saw that she had too much of a window into his rotten soul, and he looked away.
A chill ran down Janet’s spine. She was falling in love with a man who didn’t just play, but played for keeps. You were either all in with him, or all out. She’d never met a man like him in all her life.
“I know my philosophy of life is hard to take,” Richard looked at her again and said to her. “But that’s how I was raised and I don’t know any other way. I protect what’s mine, and what’s mine protects me.” Then he smiled. “Including your gangster ass.”
Janet was surprised. “Me?”
“I heard what you said to Fiona. About not bringing a knife to a gunfight. That was some gangster shit you said right there.”
Janet smiled.
“Mama Bear,” he added, and they all laughed.
But Janet kept staring at Richard until he looked her way again. She was still smiling, but she was curious. “What kind of people are the Shetfields?” she asked him. “Are you businesspeople, or gangsters?”
Spencer looked at them through the rearview mirror. How would Richard answer that question? Janet already saw more than he would have liked her to witness. But Richard had total faith in her. And Spence had total faith in Richard.
Richard was still smiling when Janet asked him that question. But then his smile completely left. “Businesspeople when you leave us alone,” he said. “Gangsters when you don’t.”
Janet nodded her head. That sounded completely logical to her, in a twisted, weird, billionaire kind of way.
“Can I ask you one more question?” Janet asked Richard. Spencer looked at her again through the rearview.
“You can ask me anything you like,” Richard said to her.
“Does shit like this happen to you every day?” she asked him.
And Richard and Spencer and Fiona, too, all broke out in great laughter. Richard placed his left arm around Janet and pulled her close. “No, darling,” he said, still laughing, “hardly ever.”
But he also knew that when shit did come down, it poured like rain.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
But as if to make a liar out of Richard, within minutes of telling Janet that he hardly ever had such a string of problems the way they were having over the last few days, Janet received a text message on her phone with a video link. When she said the name of the video out loud, Spencer, who was driving them to the airport, nearly slammed on brakes. And he looked at Richard.
But Richard was looking at Janet. “What did you say?” he asked her.
“The name of this video link,” Janet said, “is Pourtnoy. What in the world is Pourtnoy?”
But Richard and Spencer knew what it was. It was the name of an accountant that worked for Richard years ago. An accountant that had embezzled millions from Richard, and he handled him too. Spencer wasn’t there when Richard handled it, but he’d heard all about it.
“Maybe she shouldn’t open that,” Spencer said.
But Janet had already pressed the button. Richard leaned against her, watching the video too, his knuckles still aching from that beat down he gave to Cary Vance. But this was different.
He knew as soon as the video came in focus and his old accountant was sitting in that chair. His head accountant, Myron, was seated beside him going down the list of offenses Pourtnoy had committed. And then the video showed Richard, who had been pacing the floor, pick up a rusty nail and shove it through Pourtnoy’s eye. Janet almost dropped her phone when she saw Richard do that to that man.
She was floored. She looked at Richard. How could he justify such cruelty?
But Richard didn’t skip a beat. “He embezzled millions of my money. He had to pay,” he said. Then he looked away from the video, and into Janet’s worried eyes. “I did what I had to do,” he added.
Janet sat her phone on her lap. She was still stunned. “Did he die?” she asked.
Richard shook his head. “Not by my hands. I sent him to the hospital. Told him to have his ass back on the job when he recovered.”
“Back on the job?” Janet asked.
“That’s right.”
“Even though he stole from you?”
“That’s right,” Richard said. “After that nail stick, I knew he would never steal from me again.”
The logic, Janet thought, was foreign to her. But completely logical!
“But he never came back to work,” Richard said.
“Did he pay you back?”
“Oh, yeah. He definitely did that.”
“But the question is,” Spencer said, “who the fuck sent that video to Janet?”
Richard had already wondered about that too. He took her phone and checked out the sender. It had just been sent. But by whom? “He has a handle, not a name,” Richard said.
“What’s his handle?” Spencer asked.
“Uncle K,” said Richard. And then Richard froze.
Spencer caught it too. “Not that fucker,” he said, glancing at his brother through the rearview while continuing to drive them to the airport. “I thought he was in prison,” he added.
“So did I,” said Richard as he pulled up Google on Janet’s phone.
“Who’s Uncle K?” Fiona asked, but they all ignored her.
But Janet wanted to know too. “Who’s Uncle K?”
“Pak Kai-Shah,” said Richard. “A con artist and a killer. A very nasty piece of work.” Then Richard found what he was looking for. “He was released a couple weeks ago,” he said.
“Why would a person like that send me this tape?” Janet asked.
“Apparently he wanted you to know what kind of man you were getting yourself attached to,” said Fiona.
Fiona had a point. Janet looked at Richard. “You think this Uncle K person could be the man who paid those Italians, and who was going to pay Cary Vance?”
Spencer looked at Richard through the rearview. “That’s what it seems like to me, too, Dick,” he said.
“But why?” Janet asked.
But Richard kept his own counsel. They all could tell he was thinking. And even Janet knew to leave him alone. He’d answer when he was ready to answer.
But he didn’t say another word until they arrived at the airfield. Spencer stopped the car, and then he and Richard made eye contact through the rearview. And Richard nodded.
“Let’s get out, Fee,” Spencer said to his fiancée and he and Fiona got out of the SUV.
Then Richard turned to Janet. But Janet had already figured it out. “You aren’t going with us. Are you?” she asked him.
Richard shook his head. “Can’t. I need to find Kai-Shah or you’ll never be safe.”
“And what are you going to do when you find him?”
Richard wasn’t going to lie to her. “Get him before he gets me,” he said.
Janet sat there. And tears appeared in her eyes. “You be careful,” she said to him. “I really need you to come back to me.”
Richard smiled. “So you’re all in now too?” he asked her.
Janet frowned. “Of course I am! You’ve risked your life to save mine. And if I didn’t have you on the phone when my brakes had failed, if you hadn’t phoned me, I don’t know what I would have done. Of course I’m all in. But I was never the problem. Was I?”
Richard nodded. “No. You never were. But I’m no longer the problem. Okay?”
Janet nodded. “Okay.” And she kissed him on the lips.
He tried to smile too. “I’ll see you in Texas,” he said, and they got out of the SUV.
Spencer and Fiona were waiting by the driver side door. Richard walked around to his brother’s si
de. “Take care of her,” Richard said.
“I will.”
“She comes first,” Richard said.
And although Spencer resented that, he knew it was true. Monty was at the top of the pecking order in their family, and Richard was a close second. Their needs and wants always trumped Spencer’s. Now Richard expected him to protect Janet even over Fiona. He had some balls!
But Spencer knew his brother was going into harm’s way. He wasn’t going to give him something more to worry about. “I know,” he said to him.
And then Spencer, Janet, and Fiona made their way toward the plane. Janet kept looking back at him. He kept waving at her.
And then he got behind the wheel of the SUV and watched Janet as she headed for that plane. He was falling hard for her. Super-hard! All those wasted years when his dumbass could have had her by his side. He was going to make up for lost time.
But first, he thought, as he pressed the Start button, he had to find that crazy-ass Uncle K.
But just as he was about to put the SUV in gear, he realized something he had seen. On Janet’s phone. That video had just been sent to her, just before they made it to the airport. As if Uncle K saw when they left Doris house. As if Uncle K knew where they were heading next. As if Uncle K was one step ahead of Richard just as those Italians he hired were too!
Which meant, Richard said out loud, and then he realized what it meant. And he looked as Janet and Spencer and Fiona were about to walk up the steps of his plane.
And he jumped out of the SUV, pulling out his gun, and running toward them. “Don’t get on that plane!” he was yelling at the top of his lungs. “Don’t get on that plane!”
Spencer was the first to hear him, and then Janet and Fiona heard him too. And they all heard the panic in Richard’s voice.
Spencer was already pulling out his weapon, but even he was too late.
The man Spencer and Richard immediately recognized as Pak Kai-Shah, better known as Uncle K, came out of the plane with a loaded assault rifle in his hands, and fired as soon as he appeared. Fiona took a shot straight through the head and fell straight backwards, even as Spencer was grabbing her and Janet and pushing them aside. Even as Spencer was trying to shoot back. Even as Richard stopped running, aimed his own weapon, and took his best shot at that motherfucker, aiming straight for the heart. But that was after Uncle K had already aimed at Spencer and Spencer took a shot to the stomach. And fell to the tarmac too.
Plain Jane Evans and the Billionaire Page 20
