by Stone, M. T.
“Yes. He needs to lay low for a few days in order to avoid complications,” the doctor warns sternly. “He was about a quarter inch from seriously damaging his brain stem.”
“Wouldn’t that have been nice,” Anthony chuckles. “Scrambled twins.” He steps behind the wheel chair and takes over pushing me out to the SUV. “I think your mother already has her hands full with Tyler,” he adds once we are outside the door.
“Scrambled twins.” I can’t help laughing as I rise from the wheelchair. “You really have a way with words.” I slap him on the shoulder and slide into the back seat of the vehicle with Mandy following me inside.
Anthony’s phone begins to ring while he is closing the door, so he grabs the call and stops in front of the SUV, lowering his head as he listens.
“It’s most likely Romeo,” Mandy informs me. “It looks like Carly was robbed and most likely murdered. I’ll let Anthony explain it to you, he’ll have more details.”
“Murdered?” My mind immediately goes into a spin. “She’s supposed to be the one behind all the murders.” This is getting too damn crazy.
“It doesn’t look good,” Anthony tells us as he hops into the driver’s seat after hanging up with Romeo. He turns around to talk directly to Trey. “To bring you up to speed, they found an old wooden chair with duct tape and blood stains on both arms, sitting in front of an open safe,” he explains to him. “There was a pool of blood on the floor and it appears as if her body was dragged part way across the room. This coincides with the original report from a neighbor who saw three men loading a rolled up rug into a van. She was most likely inside of it.”
“Jesus Christ! I think we need to stop by the office and have another talk with Tommy,” I blurt out, immediately knowing that he had something to do with this. “Somehow he figured out how to pin everything on her and now she’s dead. Maybe he’s right and he will walk away from the whole thing.” I reach back and rub my neck as I feel it beginning to throb.
“You are going to rest tonight,” Mandy demands. “I’m having Vicky put together a new case file and we’ll confront Tommy, with it in hand, tomorrow afternoon.”
“You’re right, I think I need to lie down for awhile.” I look straight forward, trying to focus on the headrest in front of me. “I’m still feeling dizzy.”
“It will take a little time for those chemicals to completely dissipate,” Anthony says, giving me his medical opinion. “A couple big glasses of that fancy Cognac should flush things out.”
“Now who has the warped sense of humor?” I reply, shooting him a look through the rearview mirror.
Mandy
After a hot shower, a bite to eat and lying down for an hour, Trey seems to be getting back to normal. He comes out to the living room where Anthony and I have been writing down everything that occurred leading up to and following Victor’s death.
“It looks like a war room out here,” he observes, after seeing everything we have laid out. “Have you guys come to any conclusions?”
“Every time we think we’ve answered one question, it creates two more,” Anthony says, walking over to the bar and pouring himself a glass of Jack.
“Like, how did The Ghost know to intercept us at the SEC office?” I ask, providing an example. “It seems odd that we were attacked right after picking up the case file. There is no way that Tommy should have known anything about it.”
“The Ghost seemed to know exactly what was in the envelope, so someone had to have tipped off Tommy,” Trey says with a look of realization crossing his face. “Vanessa… she’s the only one who would’ve done that.”
“Seriously? She would risk both of our lives to keep him out of trouble?” I ask very pointedly, as Anthony nods his head in silence.
“It doesn’t make any sense, but I don’t think there was anyone else in the room who would’ve leaked it,” Trey says, running his fingers through his hair. “I’m positive it wasn’t Becky.”
“You need to talk to Vanessa tomorrow morning,” I tell him with conviction. “We can’t have her around if she’s going to jeopardize everything.”
“I agree,” Anthony adds, downing the rest of his drink. “I’m going to go check in with Bolt and Crusher, then I’m going to grab some shuteye. I’m sure it will be another busy one tomorrow.”
“Damn, I can’t believe Vanessa did that,” Trey adds. “But, she has been acting weird ever since I got home. I’m not sure what the deal is between her and Tommy, but something is going on there.” He grabs the black marker and writes on our diagram. First Vanessa and now he’s taking over the company. “That’s what Tyler said in the voicemail message he left me. I’m going to get to the bottom of that statement tomorrow. Vanessa is the one who changed Tyler’s doctor, so we need to take that into consideration too.”
“I’ve always felt that there was something going on between Tommy and her, but then he was with Liv and there is a connection with Carly as well,” I recap in exasperation. “If he has been using all three of them, it’s obvious the man has no soul.”
“Tommy has always been about Tommy,” Trey says walking toward the bar. “He totally used Liv to get the scoop on me, he used Vanessa to manipulate Tyler and as a grand finale he pinned everything on Carly and had her taken out.”
“So you think Tommy was behind her murder as well?” I ask, curious as to how he made the connection.
“He knew that she was going to shut down the bank account, so maybe he suggested that she take out a chunk in cash to have just in case things went bad,” he says dropping ice cubes into a rocks glass. “Then after she left the bank, he told some thugs where she was staying and they got to keep the cash for disposing of her.”
“She paid for her own death? Wow, that’s cold.”
“She paid for her own death, so there is no trail back to Tommy,” he says, filling the glass with sparkling water and adding a lime twist. “All the evidence points to her and now she appears to be dead. Everything leads to one big dead end.”
I close my eyes in frustration and let out a long breath. “Tommy did claim that he doesn’t make mistakes,” I say, reminding him of his text message.
“Better yet, there is still an eighteen million dollar cashiers check out there somewhere,” Trey adds, taking a long sip of water. “So even if the SEC is eventually able to extricate a large chunk of Tommy’s profit, he still has a nice little safety net.”
“Yeah, so worst case scenario, he spends a few months in a cushy white collar prison and then retires to a nice beach home in Belize,” I surmise, feeling a pit developing in my stomach.
Trey finishes his water and slams the glass down on the bar. “Two can play this game,” he says, with a bold glint in his eyes. “We are going to go a different route with this. I know he has been involved in all of this and it would kill me to watch him walk away with just a slap on the wrist.”
“Are you going to clue me in?” I go to his side and slip my arms around his waist.
“It’s still in the formulation stage,” he says, turning to give me a kiss on the forehead. “But you and Anthony will be the first to know.”
“Okay, you better go get some rest now.” I take him by the hand and lead him back to the bedroom. “I’m proud of you for not diving into the Cognac.”
“I already feel like I’m stoned, so I didn’t really need anything.” He pulls the tie on my robe and gives me a smirk.
“Oh no you don’t; I’m not having you stroke out on me,” I pull my robe closed and take a step back. “The doctor said nothing strenuous for a couple of days.”
“You can be on top,” he replies without hesitation. “I’ll just lie there and relax.”
“You are going to get some rest.” I can’t help breaking into a smile. “I think you can wait a day or two.”
“I don’t know. No cognac, no sex… I’m really starting to feel stressed out.” He gives me a boyish look that he must have used on his mother when he was a kid.
“It’s for your own good,
” I reply in a motherly tone that matches his expression. “Now get to bed.”
I cozy up next to him as soon as he gets settled and his muscular arm immediately envelops me. After such a hair-raising day, I think we are mutually grateful to be here with one another. Trey came so close to being severely injured and if Anthony hadn’t neutralized both of them so efficiently, I could’ve easily been killed too. The fact that Bill, Victor and the doctor were all killed shows that they do not know mercy. Thank God for Anthony.
Chapter 18
Trey
Waking before sunrise, my mind picks up right where it left off the night before. I can already picture the smug look that will be pasted on Tommy’s face when we visit him. He knows that he will get away with everything and it’s driving me crazy. My thoughts turn to Vanessa and Carly. Did Tommy manipulate them both or were they actively involved? It would explain why Dad was having trust issues with Carly, but I still don’t see what Vanessa would have to gain by helping him. I roll out of bed and head into the master bath to find a robe. There is light shining under the door, so hopefully Anthony is awake. I need to work through some of this shit with someone.
“Making any progress?” I ask him upon seeing him pouring over the diagrams that he and Mandy had drawn out.
“I have to admit that your initial suspicions of Tommy appear to be the most plausible,” he replies, without taking his eyes from the white board. “I don’t understand why he would kill Bill though, when he could’ve stuck to the plan and absorbed it into Addison Media.”
“Bill had too much of a conscience,” I speculate. “Even though it would be a relatively small hit for Addison Media to take, it’s not something he would allow to happen as long as he was Chairman of the board. If it ever got out, his reputation would have been destroyed. I think that’s why he went to the SEC.”
“Because he cared that much about his reputation?” Anthony scrunches up his face like he doesn’t understand my point.
“He worked hard and did the right things for forty years which made him a very wealthy man,” I explain. “Why would he want to jeopardize everything he had worked for just to give Tommy a short cut to the top?” I walk over to the diagram and circle Bill’s name. “Out of desperation he may have initially gone along with the plan, but in the end he couldn’t go through with it. At that point, he became the ultimate liability.”
“So, he was taken out, but it was a little too late because he had already dropped off the evidence at the SEC,” Anthony adds.
“It appears that way. Did The Ghost show up at all?” I ask, knowing that they had notified all trauma centers, in addition to Agent Mitchell putting out an APB on him.
“Nah, I knew he would disappear back into his rat hole,” Anthony replies, picking up his phone and checking for messages. “I’m sure he has an underground doctor somewhere who fixed him up. Although, I think he needed quite a bit of reconstruction this time.”
“Well, when we meet with Tommy, I’m going to propose a settlement,” I tell him. “If we can work out a settlement agreement that the SEC will agree to and get him to resign from Addison Media, then we can all get back to our lives.”
“So you are going to let him get away with murder?” Mandy asks bluntly, emerging from the bedroom.
“Not at all.” I smile at the thought of what I have been scheming while I was supposed to be sleeping. “Since he seems to be a fan of Russian agents, I’m thinking of using a couple techniques used by the old KGB in Siberia.”
Anthony’s eyes immediately light up, as he knows the types of tactics I am referring to. “So you think you can take the law into your own hands?” Mandy asks, seeming much less excited about the prospects.
“Just trust me,” I assure her, handing a slip of paper to Anthony. “You will like the end result. He threatened our lives yesterday and he will pay dearly for that indiscretion.”
“I know exactly who to call on this,” Anthony says, after looking over the brief sketch and details of what I want. “If you want the real deal it’ll take a week or so to get them, because they would need to be custom made.” His eyes catch mine as he reveals a shit eaten grin.
“I want at least four of them and they can be fake,” I clarify. “But they have to look and seem like the real deal.”
“I have no idea what you two are up to, but I’m probably better off not knowing,” Mandy huffs. “I don’t want to end up in trouble over this.”
“Just trust. That’s all I’m going to say,” I reassure her, pulling her to me. “By the way, if Tommy takes the bait this afternoon, we are taking off this evening to go visit your father. I could use a little fresh air and sunshine. He wants your help going through your mother’s stuff, so it would be good to visit.”
“I agree,” she says reflectively. Everything has been moving so fast that I know Mandy hasn’t taken any time to grieve. It will be good for her to go through things with her dad.
“I’ll be going with as well,” Anthony insists, his eyes letting us know that it’s not negotiable.
“Hey, after yesterday I’m thinking about hiring you permanently,” I reply with a chuckle.
Mandy
The fact that Trey won’t share his plan with me tells me that it’s something I won’t approve of doing. Even though it annoys me, I have to trust him like he said. After all, it’s his father who was killed and his brother who was poisoned. If it had been my family, no one would be able to talk me out of a plan for revenge either. I stop for a moment to reflect upon how much things have changed since the day I first stepped on his jet. Almost nothing is the same as it was that day. It’s scary to think of how fast things can change in this world.
“I ordered us some breakfast,” Trey says, coming into the bedroom while I’m finishing my makeup. “I ordered from La Toulousaine which is about as close to authentic French pastries as you can get without going to France. Here is an almond croissant and they didn’t have dulce de leche crepes so I got you a Beignet a la Crème instead.”
“A crème filled doughnut, in other words,” I reply with a giggle. “Thank you, it was very thoughtful for you to try to emulate my French breakfast. I was getting worried that I might lose a pound or two through this ordeal.”
“Exactly, and I don’t want to mess with perfection,” he says, slipping his hands inside of my robe. “I wish we could have a couple hours of privacy,” he whispers, giving me a hot, sensual kiss.
“Are we soon ready to roll?” Anthony yells from the other room. “Crusher tells me the natives are growing restless.”
“I just need to get dressed, so tell him we will be there shortly,” I yell back cutting Trey’s advance short. “I’ll make sure we have plenty of privacy once we are in Tennessee,” I whisper seductively.
“Why, are we staying at Peggy’s again?” Trey scoffs, taking a bite of his croissant sandwich. “Or maybe we can have sex during the flight while Anthony plugs his ears and stands in the corner.” He throws his head back and laughs, obviously amused by his own sarcasm.
“You’ll just have to wait and see,” I tell him. “You’ve got your secrets and I’ve got mine.”
“Fair enough,” he replies with a look of intrigue crossing his face. “Now eat up, you are going to need your strength.”
* * *
Trey
Everything seems relatively calm as we exit the elevator at Trump Tower. Crusher and Bolt are both hanging out in the common area watching E! and laughing about something.
“Bolt is waiting to see the dress Selena wore at the Victoria Secret Fashion Show last night,” Crusher says, giving him a punch in the arm.
“It’s probably quicker to just Google it,” I reply with a laugh.
“Oh, he’s filling you full of shit,” Bolt counters. “You notice he’s the one holding the remote.”
“Okay boys,” Anthony says with his drill sergeant voice. “I thought you said there was an issue over here?”
“Oh, there’s an issue.” Bo
lt scowls and shakes his head. “You may want to check in with Vanessa and Silvia. Your brother has been raging since the sun came up.”
“Actually, I was already planning on talking to Vanessa anyway,” I inform him. “I want to do this alone,” I tell Mandy and Anthony before excusing myself.
“She’s at her parent’s place,” Crusher says, pointing to the other unit. “We had to separate her and Tyler.”
I turn and walk toward the unit without saying a word. It’s time to get to the bottom of what has been going on with Vanessa. Everything is quiet so I walk through the open front door. It’s been years since I’ve been in here. Old feelings stir deep inside of me as I walk down the hallway toward Vanessa’s old bedroom. I think back to the thoughts I had as a teenager, dreaming about what it would be like to be with her. Today, however, I actually dread the talk I need to have with her.
“What’s wrong?” I ask softly as she looks up with tears running down her face.
“Everything.” She sobs, pushing her face into a pile of Kleenex. “I don’t even know where to begin.” She’s crying so hard that it’s hard to understand her words.
“Why don’t you start by telling me why you told Tommy that we were going to meet with an SEC investigator yesterday,” I say, trying to shock her out of her little pity party.
“Why would you say that?” she asks, her eyes immediately filling with rage.
“Because, no one else knew we were going there.” I pull a chair up to the bed and sit down right in front of her. “I know that you called him the night that I confronted Dr. Potaturri at the hospital too,” I add, thinking back to when Mandy caught her.
“You don’t understand the position I’m in,” she whimpers, wiping her eyes and blowing her nose. “I didn’t know what to do, everything was so messed up and he said it would help.”
“He said what would help?” I ask, not having a clue what she was alluding to.
“He said that Dr. Potaturri could help with his pain and help him get over everything that was bothering him,” she sobs once again. “Then things could go back to normal.”
