by J. G. Sumner
I grab my keys and head out the front door before Porter and Dianne can make it up my walkway.
“Good morning, Trent.” Dianne smiles. She doesn’t seem to have a care in the world. In fact, she seems pretty darn confident with herself. I can only imagine what’s going on inside her head.
I get in the car and start it before the others shut their doors. “How are you so sure you can get this guy to leave us alone?”
Dianne smiles at me. “If I gave away all my tricks, it might not work. Have patience and some confidence in my abilities.”
What other options do I have? I follow the directions Dianne gives. Thirty minutes into the drive we are completely out of the city in some suburb. She directs me to an industrial area that is for the most part vacant. I don’t know what I expected. It is a Sunday, there’s not usually a lot going on during the weekends in industrial areas.
We pull into the lot of a two-story warehouse. A sign out front reads: ‘Ted’s Plastic and Sheet Metal.’
“Where the heck are we?” Porter asks, surveying our surroundings.
Dianne stares at the front of the building. “Let’s just say this is the epicenter.”
I don’t like the sound of it. Porter and I eye each other, he’s feeling the same uneasiness I am. The one where a pit forms in your stomach and you’re not sure if you should run or face the enemy head on.
“Come on, boys. It’s time to face your destiny.”
Porter and I follow Dianne to the front door. She tries the handle and it’s unlocked. We step over the threshold and into the lion’s den. There are metal parts and plastic moldings all over the building. It’s messy and unorganized.
“What is this place?” I ask, still not sure why we’re meeting here.
“This is a cover for the real deal. Come on.” Dianne leads us to the back of the building and down some stairs. At the bottom there are two large men dressed in coveralls.
“May I help you?” one of the men asks.
“We’re here to see Al. He’s expecting us.” Dianne smiles like the Cheshire cat.
“May I have your name, please?”
“My, my. Al’s stepped it up. I never remember his men having such fine manners before. Impressive.” Dianne looks back at us. I just nod. She asked us in the car not to speak unless she asked us a question.
“Dianne Watson. But you probably already knew that.”
“Right this way, Ms. Watson.” The large man moves away from the door while the other opens it.
We move through them down a dimly lit hallway, coming to a dead end with a wall lined with plastic barrels. My heart flutters a million miles an hour. Sweat beads form on my forehead. Panic sets in and I’m very afraid we’ve met our fate. This is where we’re going to die. I’m now going to pay for all the horrible things I’ve done.
When I’m about to run away the way I came, the plastic barrels move to the side and another hallway appears. We follow the corridor a little farther until we come to a dead end with a sheet metal wall. After a few seconds it opens into a large room with some sort of textured deep red walls. There are multiple wall sconces dimly lighting the room. Gaming tables are spread throughout. There’s a bar in the back with hundreds of various liquors. The place reminds me of a high rollers room at a Vegas casino. Everything is gaudy and over the top.
It’s empty and there is no sign of anyone around except for the gentleman who escorted us to this room.
Dianne makes herself comfortable on a barstool, casually studying her nails.
“What are we doing?” Porter inquires.
“We’re waiting for Al to size us up. Go ahead. Smile and wave. He’s watching us on some cameras. They’re all over the place.”
I look around, still in awe that a place like this actually exists. This is something straight out of a movie set.
A few minutes later, a short man with a Fu Man Chu goatee wearing a white suit enters the room. He’s bald, and there’s a teardrop tattoo just below his left eye. When he smiles wickedly a gold tooth shines from the corner of his mouth. “Dianne, it’s been a long time.”
The sleazy little man approaches her and kisses both cheeks. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”
“Cut the crap, Al. You know what I’m here for. Apparently you’ve been harassing my friends.”
Al glances at Porter and me before winking at us. “I don’t have a clue who your friends are.”
“Davis-Matthews. Ring a bell? Apparently you’ve been trying to swindle a large sum of money from these suckers. I’m here to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
Al laughs. “And just how do you think you’re going to do that?”
Dianne reaches into her purse. Two men immediately come out from nowhere and take each side of her.
“Relax, boys. I’m not going to hurt your friend. I just want to provide him with some memories.” Dianne produces a scrapbook looking thing. She hands it to Al, who waves his men off. “Please, take a look.”
Al opens up the book and flips through the pages. His eyebrows peak up on certain pages and his jaw clenches at others. Other than that, his face barely moves. I don’t know for certain, but I think that whatever he’s looking at isn’t making him happy.
“I see you have fond memories of our times together.” He closes the book and hands it to one of his men.
“I don’t know that I’d go that far. I’d like to consider it insurance. And just in case you’re wondering, I have several more of those set to be delivered to various law authorities should something happen to me. I wouldn’t get any ideas if I were you.”
Al flashes his gold tooth. “Dianne, this is the first time we’ve spoken in almost eighteen years. Why do you have to start off the conversation like this?” Al moves a little closer to her.
“Stand back. I’m not in any way interested in rekindling some romance with you. My days chasing you around like a lovesick puppy are long gone. Now I want your word that you will leave the Davises and Matthews alone. They have been kind to me. They’re good people. You’ve already received way more than you should have from them.” Dianne crosses her arms over her chest.
“Oh, Dianne. You should know better. We all have skeletons in our closets. Take for instance your friend Trent here. He’s been parading around with a young woman who isn’t his wife. And Porter here enjoys partying with a little cocaine from time to time not to mention his less than savory sexual preferences. These boys are hardly innocent and neither are their fathers.” Al snaps his fingers and a guy brings him a shot glass with some gold liquid in it. Based on the whiff I got as it was passed by me, I’d say it was tequila.
“I don’t give a rat’s ass what they have done. We’ve all made mistakes in our lives. Frankly, you were one of my biggest. What I want is for you to leave them alone. Take the two hundred and fifty million you’ve received and walk away. You don’t deserve any more from them. That’s plenty of money to start whatever new enterprise you want.”
“And if I don’t?” Al takes a sip of the liquid.
“Based on the amount of evidence I have here, the other stuff I have that you don’t know about, and the family you’ve been extorting, I’d say you could go away for the rest of your life. You won’t need that money you’ve got squirreled away. So how about you leave my friends alone and we call it even? You won’t hear from me again, and no one else will ever see this evidence unless something happens to me.”
Al finishes up the glass. “You’ve always been one tough cookie. I’m sorry it didn’t work out between us. We may have been able to rule the world.”
“Ha! Let’s not forget you’re married and have been since before we met. There was never any hope for us. It was just a fun time in our lives. Nothing more.” Dianne gets up from the stool. “I presume we have a deal and you understand the need to leave these families alone?”
Al takes Dianne’s hand and kisses it. “Anything for you.”
“Come on, gentlemen. I think we’re done here.” Di
anne leads us back out of the room.
“Remember not to put all your eggs in one basket, Dianne,” Al calls after us. “There’s more to these guys than you may know.”
Dianne stops in her tracks.
My heart thumps so loud I can hear it in my ears. He knows what I’ve done with Beth. He’s going to tell her. It’s going to ruin everything.
Dianne moves out the door. I follow behind her like a little puppy and don’t bother to look back. The sooner I can get out of this warehouse, the better.
We get back in my car and take off out of the parking lot. For the first several miles, no one says anything. Then Dianne breaks the ice.
“If there’s something you fellas are up to, I don’t want to know about it. I would, however, advise you to watch what you’re doing and not get in any more trouble like your parents did.”
“Just out of curiosity, what do you have against him?” Porter asks.
“Trust me, you don’t want to know. If you found out, you’d be just as guilty is he is. I’d never want to put you in that position.”
The rest of the ride is quiet. It feels like an elephant has been lifted off my chest. It’s an amazing feeling. Almost euphoric. For the first time in a while, I’m able to take a sigh of relief.
We get back to the house and everyone is waiting. Our parents and Parker stare at us with hopeful anticipation when we walk through the door. I don’t want to be the one to spread the news. It’s got to come from Dianne to make it real.
“Well?” Parker asks with one hand on her hip.
“Al Castellanos won’t be bothering you anymore. I think he’s learned his lesson.”
Parker runs up to Dianne and gives her a big hug. “I don’t know what we would’ve done without you. You’ve saved our family.”
“It’s the least I can do after everything you’ve done for Beth and me. You are my family too. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to help you in a time of need.”
We gather around her, thanking her and hugging her. There’s an overwhelming sense of calm and gratitude flowing through the room.
I don’t have the desire to celebrate this. I have to figure out how I’m going to break Beth’s heart.
Epilogue
I sit behind the dark mahogany desk in a large leather chair in my office. The room has no lights except for the white screen aglow from the security cameras. I place my feet on the desk lean back, and sip my thirty-year-old scotch. The taste of chocolate and oak permeates my palate. I allow it to linger on my tongue, savoring the waves of flavor. I paid two thousand dollars for this bottle and typically save it for special occasions. This doesn’t happen to be one of them.
I hold the glass under my nose so I can inhale the scent of wealth. It’s the wealth that got me here. It’s what made me greedy. It’s what propelled me into making decisions that have destroyed my life. I thought I could have it all, I wanted it all, but in a few hours, it will all disappear.
I’ve been working on my relationship with my wife. Parker and I are in a better place, but there is still the unspoken elephant in the room that’s come between us. Beth. I tried to stay away from her. I tried to start my life over without her, but I couldn’t. Every place I go, there is some sort of reminder of her. I love her. I’ve never felt about anyone the way I do about her. She’s like an addiction for me. Stronger than any heroin addiction. I can’t stop the pull toward her.
I pick up the note and stare at it. Each letter is cut from a magazine to create words. Words that are about to destroy everything. It looks like a ransom note, but it’s worse. It’s blackmail:
I know what you’ve done and there’s nothing your money or family name can do to get you out of this one. Tomorrow will be your last day of freedom.
Tomorrow is today. It’s shortly after midnight. Instead of spending yesterday with my family, I spent it with her. I wanted Beth to know this wasn’t her fault and that I loved her. If I could, I’d spend the rest of my life with her. She is my world, she is my everything.
She’s young enough to be my daughter.
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Acknowledgements
First I’d like to thank my editor, Felicia. She’s great to work with under a crazy time crunch. I’d also like to thank Limitless Publishing for their faith in me and my stories. I hope this is the one that makes it big.
Thank you to Stacy Hahn for all of her work assisting me and keeping my social media alive while I work on projects. Thank you to Akeisha Rain for your continued support and encouragement.
To all of my author friends, including Kate Stewart, for your support and encouragement. Some days, you manage to keep me writing.
Thank you to my family who tolerated me being on the computer while on vacations, dinners, and other random times when I should be spending time with them.
Finally, thank you to all my fans for your continued encouragement. Some days I think no one is reading my books and then someone messages me to tell me they loved my story. You are my inspiration. You keep me going.
Also Available by JG Sumner:
A Shot in the Dark
Into the Light
Surrender
Shattered
Saved
Wrecked
Coming soon
Cage of Deceit, Book 2 in the Lies Trilogy
About the Author
JG Sumner was born and raised in Southern California, and went to Nursing School in San Diego, where she earned her RN. She then began working as an ICU nurse. While working full-time, she went back to school to earn her bachelor’s degree in Nursing as well as her master’s degree in Nursing at Cal State Dominguez Hills. Most recently, she worked as a supervisor in a major trauma center in the San Diego area. JG made the decision to leave her position at the end of 2012 to be at home with her three boys, dogs, and to pursue her writing career—a dream that was born long before she ever thought about being a nurse.
She loves snowboarding, traveling, reading, hiking, kickboxing, spending time with her family and her dogs, and pretty much anything outdoors.
JG has a very dry sense of humor, and should never be taken too seriously. She loves to hear from her fans and even those who aren't and would love to hear your opinion on her books.
She is also the author of A Shot in the Dark the prequel to Into the Light, and the Surrender Trilogy coming this summer.
I love to hear from my readers.
Please check me out at:
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