I smile, “Thanks.” I store the card away in my pocket.
“What’s going on, James?” Éclair asks, “Surely there is nothing in those organic products of yours you guys released, right? I mean, this is all going to turn out to be a bunch of bullshit, right? Or do you know something you’re not telling me?”
I can’t help myself. I tell her about the rat poisoning Eddie found and how the cops are probably going to be finding it soon too. “I don’t know what happened. I mean, how the hell does rat poison get into my supplements?”
Éclair puts out her cigarette; she looks really concerned, “Damn it, James.” She says, “Do you think someone is trying to fuck you over?”
I’m not sure. I don’t know what to say to her. Is there anyone out there who really hates me that much? With all the shit going on in the media right now and all the stress from this ordeal, I almost wish Éclair would offer to buy up my business again. I would probably consider it right now, but she is treading lightly and actually trying to not hit me while I’m down. She puts her hand on top of mine and offers me a sad smile. “Thank you,” I say although I’m not sure what I’m thinking her for. Just being there, I suppose.
“Of course.” She says. “Anytime, James.”
28
Once again I find myself heading to the gym to meet Eddie for a private meet and greet. I am really getting tired of this, but I don’t really blame him for not wanting to hang around the office, and factory with so many cops buzzing in and out of the place –plus that inspector has turned out to be kind of a dick. I just don’t like going to the gym. The emptiness of it is really depressing. I always imagined it full of people after the grand opening –not this bullshit. Just like last time, I am here first. I don’t care for all this waiting around I’ve been doing. My arm is back in its sling, which annoys the hell out of me.
I have been told by my doctor that I can start on a physical therapy program, and since I am certified in that arena, I don’t really see the point in hiring an actual physical therapist. Instead, while I’m waiting on Eddie, I head to the empty gym lockers and change into some of the logo-covered gyms where we were going to sell in the gift shop. I put on a t-shirt and gym shorts as well as some tennis shoes. I start my gentle workout with a simple walk around the indoor track.
I know I shouldn’t run, so I don’t, but it’s driving me insane. Before that stupid car accident, I worked out religiously, but now I have to take it slow like a damn beginner. For my last lap around the track, I allow myself to do a gentle job, and before I even complete the lap I can feel that that was not a good idea. My ribs are on fire by the time I finish the course. “Fuck this shit,” I grumble under my breath. I decide to do some stretching and head to the part of the gym where all the workout equipment is located. Stretching and very light weights would be good for working my sore muscles.
For the next hour, I wind up doing some gentle stretches and working with some of the lightweight equipment, and I am actually feeling pretty good by the end of it apart from my annoyance that Eddie is still not present. It’s another twenty minutes before he finally comes walking in the door. He has a stack of paperwork with him that the police had apparently given him to look over. “What’s the deal?” I snap. “You asked me to meet you here over an hour ago.”
He shrugs, “Sorry, but it does look like you made use of that time, I see. The cops had me helping them with interviews. How’s your arm doing?”
“Better.” I grumble, “Why are we here, Eddie?”
“The cops know about the rat poison now.” Eddie says to me, “They’re talking about doing a criminal investigation now. They know it wasn’t business malpractice now, at least, so hopefully, that will make the news soon, and things will start to calm down a little.”
“We should have told them that as soon as we knew.” I say, “And maybe then things would already be calmed down. There we cameras outside my apartment building this morning.”
Eddie laughs, and it pisses me off. “Sorry.” He says under his breath when he notices my irritation. “Look, we are going to figure this out. At least now we know it’s not because of something we did. Someone poisoned our products, and hopefully the police can find out who.”
“All right.” I say, “But who the hell would want to screw us over like that?”
“That’s what I want to talk to you about.” Eddie nervously shifts his feet back and forth, “What if it’s Éclair?”
Now I’m really pissed. “Fuck you, Eddie!”
“Come on man; I’m serious.” He says, “Think about it. She always wants you to sell. She’s crazy and manipulative, and you know it.”
“No, she’s not.” I say, “Éclair is my friend… despite our… complicated relationship.”
“All I’m saying is maybe we talk to the police about looking into her. She could have easily hired someone to do the deed for her, you know? It’s not like she doesn’t have the money to influence someone into doing something like that. And if our business tanks, she can buy up your business at a record low price. She is the only person I can think of that has the motivation to want to screw you over.” He is practically shaking at the thought, “Who else would want to completely ruin you?”
“I don’t know, Eddie.” I grit my teeth, “But I know it’s not Éclair.”
“You don’t know shit.” He says, “Look, just think about it. The cops might not even be thinking about her as a suspect, and so far she is the only person I can come up with you might want to see you and your company burn.”
“I don’t have to think about it.” I say, “I know Éclair would not do that to me.”
“Why? Because you give it to her good on occasion? Screw you, man. I’m only trying to help you out.” Eddie seems to be pacing somewhat as he talks.
I stand up and wipe my slightly sweaty brow with the back of my hand, “I’m not going to the police and telling them that they need to investigate Éclair. So forget about it and move on, all right?”
“Fine.” Eddie grumbles, “I don’t know why I’m trying so hard to help you out anyways.” And just like that, Eddie storms out of the gym.
I grunt slightly. I am so not in the mood for his bullshit today. He seriously thinks Éclair might have something to do with this? He must be out of his mind. There is now way she would risk her fortune and the good name just to buy up a couple of buildings and branding from me. Besides, we are friends –I really do believe that despite our differences. I just could not imagine Éclair doing something so conniving. I could honestly punch Eddie in the nose for even suggesting something like that. Éclair is my friend, but for whatever reason I find myself questioning that factoid. She is, right? I mean, she would not do anything like this to me, would she? She would not try to ruin me –right?
I shake the nervous feeling off and head for the gym showers. I need to wash off before heading out. I have a meeting with my new lawyer this afternoon; I fired the other moron this morning, so I’m meeting with this new woman that Éclair had suggested and the time is sneaking up on me. I shoot my driver a text before hopping in the gym shower, letting him know that I will be ready for him to pick me up shortly.
After showering off, I get dressed in my regular suit and tie style clothing and gently work my right arm back into its sling. Damn, that shit hurts. I might have worked it a little harder than I should have today. I shrug it off, though, and then I head out the door to meet my driver out in the parking lot.
29
Okay, so I really hate this fucking lawyer Éclair set me up with. She’s rude, and she is so damn snarky. I guess it’s my bad for acting flirty, but what does the woman expect when she looks like that? Her brown hair flows back in loose curls, and her perfectly manicured nails tap the office desk, making a slight clicking noise with each motion. She is wearing an auburn colored suit jacket that is tight fitting for her petite little body, and it matches the short, tight suit skirt she is wearing that is now hidden behind the desk. Under the
suit jacket is a white, lacey blouse that shows off her enormous breasts –breasts you would not normally see on such a tiny woman. Her lips are painted bright red, and her thick eyeliner makes her bright green eyes pop.
Éclair knows better than to put me alone in a room with someone like this –especially someone who is clearly not interested. I always take that shit as a challenge. I have to make myself think of Sylvia to keep from dropping my A-game and really pissing this woman off. Her name is Lillian Lioness; yes, that’s her real name, and I know because I had questioned its existence for ten minutes after she introduced herself, and it really pissed her off. I had only meant to lighten the mood, but she took it all wrong.
Right now she is twirling her pen around and piercing her lips together as she sizes me up. I sit in the guest chair in front of her desk somewhat nervous at the eerie silence that is present between us. I find myself breaking eye contact to just relieve some of the tension that is present. I look around at the bookshelf full of law books behind her as well as the various framed degrees and other awards and recognitions she has received. There are a few framed newspaper articles from big time cases she has worked in the past as well.
I look back at her and, for some moronic reason, attempt to put on the charm again despite the epic fail from just a few minutes ago that resulted in this awkward silence, “Listen, sweetheart,” I say with a smile, and she interrupts me –not with words, but with an embarrassing gesture.
She turns a picture frame around for me to see that has been sitting on her desk this entire time, and she slams it slightly. Awe fuck. I look at a picture of two women in white wedding dresses –one of them is her. I swear my face feels like it’s on fire as all the blood rushes to my head from the embarrassment I am feeling. My left-hand reaches up and loosens my tie, “Um…” I say, “Your wife is lovely.”
“Yup.” She says and leans back in her chair, “So, let’s skip pass all of your playboy bullshit, shall we? No calling me sweetheart, baby, doll, or any of your stupid ass pet names –got it?”
“Yes, ma’am,” I say.
“Trust me. You don’t want to piss her off.” She says and takes the picture frame and turns it back around. “She’s a marine, and I’m pretty sure she could kick your ass, pretty boy.”
I laugh, “That tiny little woman in that picture is a marine?”
She rolls her eyes, “Yes, she is.” She crosses her arms, “You do want my help, don’t you? I don’t just take in random clients, Mr. Mont. You only have a meeting with me today because of Éclair. She’s an old friend.”
“Excuse me?” I question, and she just laughs –leaving me wondering what the hell she meant by that emphasis.
“You need to relax.” She says, “Look, the lawsuit being brought up against you is not going to hold much water once this information about the rat poison goes public. It’s obvious that it is some sort of sabotage. Now, here is the problem, though.” She sifts through some paperwork, getting right now to business, “Your new supplement line does break some minor laws regarding labelling, so the lawyer representing these clowns could actually build a case around that and argue that the mislabeling of your product was dangerous to begin with and that the rat poison only added to the dangers at hand. He’s going to try to label you as corrupt and negligent from the get go.”
“Whoa, hold the phone,” I say, “There is nothing wrong with my labels on the new products.”
“Sorry, sweetheart, but there are.” She says, “Your creators changed a few things with the recipe right before the product was finalized, and you failed to alter the nutrition guideline.”
“What?” I am pissed off. Whose job is that? I’m not sure, but someone is getting fired.
“Yup. Now, it’s not a big deal. You probably would not have even had to issue a recall because the change was so subtle, but you would have had to send out replacement labels if this issue was ever discovered. However, you didn’t. Someone could have posted an allergy to one of the new ingredients… not that basic vitamin allergies are a common allergy, but case in point –you screwed up long before the rat poison made it into your supplements. What this lawyer is going to try to do is use that as evidence of business malpractice. He’s going to suggest that this whole rat poison thing could have been prevented if you had taken the necessary precautions. He might even be able to bring this to court.” Lillian leans back in her chair, “But lucky for you, you are hiring me. My hope is that I can swipe this shit under the rug during mediation and have the judge throw the lawsuit out altogether, but I can’t promise that.”
I’m practically shaking. “So what about the guy who did this? I mean, who could have possibly poisoned my supplements?”
“That’s another thing,” she says, “That’s going to be a criminal case –something different entirely from the malpractice lawsuit. I don’t think the investigators are going to try to pin it on you, but it might be wise if we can try to have something ready if they do. Personally, I would like to look into your brother Eddie.”
“Excuse me?” I sit upright, “What do you mean?”
“I spoke to Éclair, and she briefly mentioned that you two had had an argument not too long before all of this went down.” Lillian props her elbows up on the desk, “So I went ahead and did a little digging. Sounds like Eddie is probably our guy.” I could punch her. I really could punch her.
“You’re out of your mind.” I say with as much anger in my voice that I can manage, “Yeah, we had an argument and got into not too long ago, but he would never-”
She cuts me off, “Come on, James. I know all about you and Eddie. I read up on my client's personal lives. Certain things always seem more obvious to people looking in from the outside, you know? And believe me, this seems pretty obvious. Eddie got screwed out of your father’s will –that shit made headlines. He’s been branded as a bastard and the result of infidelity amongst LA’s socialites. He’s in debt because of it too. He clearly detests you from what I have read in the tabloids; you two have gotten into physical altercations before that have led to arrests, but neither of you ever press charges against one another. And, he has full access to that factory as the head supervisor. He is there all the time alone without anyone else present. And according to Éclair, you slept with the man’s girlfriend not too long ago, and that could very well have been the straw that broke the camels back.”
I am at a loss for words. She really does make it all make sense, but I can’t bring myself to believe it. I grumble, “Eddie wouldn’t.” I say it, but a part of it really does make sense. Plus, Eddie had been really awkward lately. He hadn’t wanted to tell the police about us finding rat poison and let them find it on their own, and he had wanted to pin all of this on Éclair pretty quick.
“Well, lucky for you, picking a suspect is not in my job description –not yet, anyways.” She stacks up all over her paperwork and puts it into a file. “So forget what I said about your brother. Right now, let’s focus on this lawsuit.”
I nod in agreement, but I am hardly able to focus. Does she really think Eddie could have done this? I don’t think Eddie hates me so much that he would try to bring my company down, but for some reason, I cannot get the thought out of my head.
30
I feel sick to my stomach. I am seated in my office at the factory; it’s been a while since I’ve been here. The cops finally returned my computer after having not found any evidence worth holding and after having copied everything off my hard drive, so I am tapping away on it. I don’t like what it is I am finding. I know Eddie is working down in the factory today, mostly just trying to reassure nervous employees who keep showing up wanting to know when we are going to have the place up and running again. Lucky for Eddie, that conversation has gotten easier in the past few days. We are going to be restarting productions in just a couple of weeks after getting the green light from police; we just have a few things to take care of in the factory –like inspecting other supplements for poison and cleaning all
equipment that could have possibly have been exposed. At least, we are going to be getting the ball rolling again soon. I have my secretary call Eddie up to talk to me.
While I am waiting on him, I catch myself biting my nails. I don’t normally act so nervous, but today I am terrified. My sling is seated on my desk so that I can stretch out my sore arm. I can’t shake this horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach, and my conversation with Mrs. Lioness has me on edge. I have not been able to stop thinking about it. It’s been on my mind ever since our meeting, and I have done everything in my power to look for evidence to contradict her claim, but instead I have found something that makes her claim all the more plausible.
Eddie enters into my office, looking as annoyed as ever, “What?” he hisses. This has been his general attitude towards me for weeks now. Could he really be harboring so much hate towards me that he would try to fuck me over this bad?
I stand up and come around to the front of my desk, leaning against it as I speak, “We need to talk.”
Eddie crosses his arms, “About what?”
I don’t’ know where to begin. I take a deep breath, “I started doing a little bit of my own investigations, and I think I found something.”
“Really?” he perks up, “What did you find?”
I take another breath, trying to think of how it is I’m going to say this, “Eddie, do you hate me?”
He looks at me with a curious glare, “What makes you ask that?”
I don’t know what to say next. I decide to just throw it out there, “I noticed you had been clocking in a lot of extra hours in the weeks leading up to all of this.” I say.
“Yeah, so? You know I’m in debt.” He says. He looks really annoyed, but I don’t think he has pieced together what it is I am suggesting just yet.
“Yeah,” I say, “And you stayed after for hours some evenings doing factory clean up and working for my PR guy. You were alone here at the factory several times. And I noticed that a couple of different times our security system was down at that time. And I looked to see who authorized that, and it was you.”
Filthy Desires: A Romantic Suspense Collection Page 60
