Southern Harm

by Travis Casey

Oscar smiled. "That didn't sound too smooth."

  Puzzlement creased Louie's face. "He said he's having second thoughts—something Stacey said."

  "Need me after all, do you?"

  Louie's face went red. "What have you done, Oscar?"

  "I haven't done anything, but it's not so easy sucking up to the governor without a track record, is it?"

  "You've turned him against me, haven't you?"

  "Whatever's going on between you and the governor is down to your charm, not mine." Oscar limped over and sat on the couch, his back toward Louie. "I guess this means we're not going out, huh?"

  "You're going out." Louie grabbed a lamp off the side table next to the couch, ripping the plug out of the socket. "Lights out."

  He smashed the lamp to the back of Oscar's head.

  Oscar fell to the floor, unconscious.

  Louie spoke to the motionless body. "I'm going to see the governor now. If you're still in the same position when I get back, I'll call for an ambulance. Cheerio."

  He stepped over Oscar, grabbed the keys to his truck, and walked out of the condo.

  ***

  "It is imperative I speak with the governor," Louie insisted.

  The security guard held a clipboard in his hand. "You're not on the list. I can't let you through." The gate to the mansion remained closed.

  "It's Brett, right?"

  The guard nodded.

  Louie softened his tone. "I'm a friend of Oscar Novak-Chambers. He sent me here to talk to the governor on his behalf."

  Brett smiled. "Oh, yeah, Oscar. I like him." He looked down at his clipboard. "But he's not on the list today either."

  Louie motioned for the guard to come closer. "You know he's seeing the governor's daughter, right?"

  "It would be kind of hard to miss."

  "He wants me to sound the governor out to see if he would give permission for him to marry her. You know, quiet like."

  He looked at Louie's ID again. "You have been here before, haven't you?"

  "Yes, with Oscar." Louie opened his arms. "Look, he even loaned me his truck."

  "I guess this is kind of an exceptional circumstance." He reached into the security booth and pressed the button to open the gate. "Okay, go through, and good luck."

  "Thanks. Oscar will appreciate this."

  Louie parked the truck and stood at the door of the mansion.

  Conrad opened the door without a smile. "Mr. Gomez. I don't believe we're expecting you."

  "I need to speak to Judd, urgently."

  Conrad cleared his throat. "Simply because you passed through security does not mean the governor is at your full disposal. What do you expect me to do? Tell the governor to clear his diary because Louie Gomez is here and requires his immediate attention?"

  "Sure, that should do it."

  "I think not, Mr. Gomez. I shall have to ask you to leave."

  Stacey appeared from behind Conrad. "What the hell are you doing here, Gomez? And where's Oscar?"

  "He's with us in spirit, Miss Davenport."

  "I don't want his spirit, I want his freaking body."

  Louie smiled. "Really, Miss Davenport, in front of the butler and all. What you two get up to behind closed doors is none of our concern, is it, old boy?" He delivered a nudge and a wink to Conrad.

  "You know what I meant. He's not supposed to let you out of his sight."

  "As I recall, Miss Davenport, you were more than happy to leave me under the watchful eye of your father's bodyguard while you and Oscar went frolicking at the races. I am here again, placing myself under the watchful eyes of the governor's security. Surely you can trust Kentucky's Secret Service, can you not?"

  Stacey's thin brows furrowed into one. "Eww, you insidious man. You really push my buttons."

  "Close the door, Conrad," the governor said as he walked by, studying some papers. "You're letting a draft in."

  Louie pushed his way into the mansion. "Judd—Governor, we need to talk. It's important."

  Davenport looked over. "Louie? How did you get in?"

  "Due to an exceptional circumstance. Five minutes of your time, Governor, it's urgent."

  Davenport looked to his daughter, then jerked his head, motioning Louie in. "You got five minutes."

  "Dad," Stacey called out to their retreating backs.

  Her plea went unanswered as they disappeared behind the closing door.

  Davenport faced Louie. "What's up?"

  "You know jolly well what's up. The kids' program. The parking garage. Harris State Park. What happened, Judd? We were on track to big things. Things that are going to get you re-elected."

  "Stacey doesn't think it's a good idea that I'm seen keeping company with you. Particularly with your trial coming up. It's a conflict of interest, especially as she's the one trying you."

  "What about my appointment to your cabinet? That was supposed to put me in a good and respectable light while you and I champion the kids' program—not to mention, you keep getting hot tips."

  "I may have got carried away at the races the other day. That was some damn-fine whiskey you served and it may have gone to my head a little more than I thought it had. A cabinet appointment was a little overzealous."

  "Oh, I see. And this was Miss Davenport's idea, was it? That you and I shouldn't keep company, despite me being the man who can get things done."

  "Stacey made a few observations regarding how things may look. It's not that I don't want your help, it's public perception. People may get the wrong idea."

  "You know, Governor, since Miss Davenport has taken such an interest in me, my curiosity about her has been building. It seems she left the DA's office in LA rather abruptly. I tried to look into why, but I've been hard-pressed to find out the reason behind her sudden departure. Not a mention of it anywhere. Just poof." Louie used his fingers to emulate vanishing into thin air. "She's no longer a high-flying DA in LA, merely an assistant in the backwoods of Kentucky. Strange, don't you think?"

  "I don't know what you think you know, Louie, but you best leave Stacey out of this."

  "Oh, I'm not going to bring Miss Davenport into it, Governor. The press, on the other hand, love to dig into murky waters. Your lovely daughter may not be as squeaky clean as she'd have us all believe. What might they dredge up if they went fishing?"

  "So help me God, Gomez, that is one fishing expedition you don't want to go on. If you so much as even cast a line, you'll find out how deep governmental waters can get."

  Louie smiled. "I think we understand each other, Governor. I'll be off to the architect now and have those plans for the parking garage on your desk first thing Monday morning." He turned and walked toward the door. "I trust I'll have your approval for my plans before I have time to arrange a fishing excursion. Good day, Judd. I'll let myself out."

  Chapter 33

  Tyler patted his son's face. "Oscar, wake up, son. Wake up."

  Oscar opened his eyes, trying to gain focus on his father. "What happened?"

  "I was hoping you'd tell me." Tyler hoisted him to a sitting position. "Can you remember anything?"

  Oscar held the back of his head. "Someone clobbered me."

  "Who? What? A break-in?"

  "No, it wasn't a break-in." He looked at his father, bleary-eyed. "What are you doing here?"

  "I needed to get the file with the building permits for the stables at the polo park. When you didn't answer, I used my key and let myself in. Thank God I did. Are you okay?"

  "Yeah, I think so."

  Oscar's cell phone rang. He looked at the screen—Stacey.

  He hit a button to ignore the call and put the phone back in his pocket.

  "Who was that?" his father asked.

  "It can wait."

  "I'll tell you what can't wait—we gotta call the police."

  "It's okay, Dad." Oscar did a quick pretend survey of the apartment. "It doesn't look like they took anything."

  "What about your pride? They took that, didn't they?"

/>   The landline rang. Oscar didn't pick it up.

  "Aren't you going to get that?" Tyler asked.

  "No, I don't feel like talking."

  The answerphone kicked in, inviting the caller to leave a message.

  "Oscar, it's me, Stacey. What's wrong with your cell? More to the point, what's wrong with you? Where are you? Or more importantly, why the hell is Louie Freaking Gomez showing up at my house?" Her voice went up an octave. "You're his chaperone. I could throw you both in jail for this—"

  Oscar grabbed the phone off the cradle. "Stacey, how lovely to hear from you." He made faces to his father, downplaying her threats. "Look, Stacey, I'm rather busy at the moment. Can I call you back?"

  "No, you cannot. Why aren't you with Gomez? He's breaking bail conditions, and you're responsible."

  "Well, if he's at your house, then your dad's security can look after him. That's okay, isn't it? That's how it worked before."

  "You sound just like him."

  "My dad's here. I really have to go. I'll call you later." He pressed the button to hang up.

  "Well," Tyler sighed. "She didn't sound happy. And why is she still tying you with Louie Gomez?"

  Oscar drew a deep breath. "I may, unwillingly, kind of, be somewhat involved with Louie Gomez."

  Tyler's eyebrows arched.

  "Businesswise, I mean, not gay-like." He held the back of his head. "Oh, my aching head."

  "What? After what your grandfather told you?"

  "No, this happened before what Granddad told us."

  Tyler helped him to the couch. "I'll get you a drink." Tyler went to the kitchen and returned with a glass of water.

  Tyler faced his son. "From the beginning, I want it all. No more bullshit. What happened?"

  Oscar held his head. "I'm in a bit of trouble."

  "I could see that from the state of the VIP lounge at the polo park."

  "I made some bad investments and lost a lot of money—money I was supposed to be using to build the polo park—then I tried to win it back on the horses."

  Tyler closed his eyes.

  Oscar could see that he was hurting his father but tried to think of him as a priest, hoping a confession would cleanse his conscience. He carried on. "I heard you talking to the trainer about Blue Lightning and figured that was my best bet at getting the money back, except I didn't have any money to put on him, so I borrowed it."

  "Borrowed it from Louie Gomez?"

  "Yeah."

  "Oh, Oscar. What the hell were you thinking? Why didn't you come to me?"

  "Right." He put on a mocking voice. "Hey, Dad, can I borrow a hundred grand to put on a horse so I can finish building the polo park you entrusted me with?"

  Shock stiffened Tyler's posture. "A hundred grand?"

  Oscar looked down. "Give or take."

  "Holy shit. What about the hundred grand you borrowed from Granddad?"

  "Besides the twenty grand you loaned me, I borrowed another fifty from Granddad for the horses and expenses, but that didn't work out so well. When I heard you talking about Blue Lightning, I borrowed a hundred grand from Louie. That was going to be the big win I needed, but as you know, that was NASCAR. When Lightning lost, Louie threatened to kill me, and Johnny too, unless I got him part of Harris State Park. Since I was already up to my neck in it with Louie, when he got busted, he demanded I be the one who bailed him out. That's when I got another hundred grand from Granddad—for Louie's bail—but he'll get it back. Everybody will get everything back. Every cent. I promise."

  "Oh, for God's sake. So you borrowed a hundred grand from a gangster, then borrowed another hundred grand to get him out of jail?" He leaned forward, cupping his hand behind his ear. "What was the charge again?"

  "Drugs, but what difference does it make? Now I have to babysit him until his trial, and he's muscling in on my relationship with the governor. It's not about the money with Louie anymore." He stopped to massage his temples, then took a deep breath and carried on. "To clear the debt, I have to get him the land so he can dig up the state park—just like Hector Gomez wanted Granddad to do. And Stacey's pregnant."

  "What—pregnant? You got the governor's daughter pregnant?"

  Oscar smiled. "No, just kidding about the last bit. Just wanted to see if you were paying attention. For a moment, all that other shit with Louie Gomez didn't sound so bad, did it?"

  Tyler laughed. "I don't know, I think I'd rather see you as a father, not beholden to a godfather. But don't tell your grandmother. She'd probably give you another hundred grand to make that last part come true."

  Oscar's face lit up. "Hey, now there's an idea."

  Tyler leveled his finger at him. "Don't you dare."

  Oscar stared at his father, looking for guidance. "Seriously though, what am I going to do?"

  Tyler ran his fingers through his hair. "So what's the real deal? How much would it take to make Louie Gomez go away?"

  Oscar shrugged. "I looked it up after Granddad's story. If Gomez thinks there's fifty bars of gold out there, each bar's worth about half a million at today's prices, so we're looking at about twenty-five million."

  Tyler whistled. "Well, that's out of the ballpark. What about these charges against him? Any chance of the DA putting him away?"

  "I don't know. Even without the gold, Louie has deep pockets. And deep pockets buy good lawyers. And good lawyers get acquittals."

  Tyler nodded. "That is true." He took a sip of Oscar's water. "Any chance of him having an accident?"

  "Seriously?"

  He shrugged. "Stranger things have happened, and I don't like people messing with my boy. I might have to fix his wagon."

  "Don't do anything stupid, Dad. I got myself into this mess, and I'll get myself out of it. Let's see how it plays out. Maybe the DA will be able to put him away."

  "Or maybe not, if he comes up with Perry Mason."

  Oscar couldn't help but smile. He supposed his father had to have some anti-hero fighting Louie Gomez, but he wanted to put his money on Stacey.

  Tyler stroked his jaw. "Maybe I'll have a little talk with Gomez. You know, tell him what's what."

  "Louie's not the listening type. I think it might be best if you just leave it alone."

  "You know, I felled a marine once. One swift—"

  "Kick in the nuts, yeah, I know. You have told me that story. You were protecting Mom's dignity."

  "Well, no one's going to insult my wife or kick the shit out of my son without answering to me."

  "Dad, don't. You aren't twenty-five anymore. This is why I didn't involve you earlier. Now, please. I can handle it."

  "At least keep Johnny No-Thumbs close by. I don't want anything to happen to you."

  "You know Johnny's not my bodyguard, right?"

  "No, but I know he idolizes you and would do anything for you. And if Louie Gomez tries to bring harm your way, I'm sure Johnny would do what he had to do to protect you."

  "I can look after myself."

  "Of course you can, but keep Johnny in spitting distance, just in case."

  Oscar nodded.

  Tyler slapped his knees and stood up. "Can you get me the building papers for the stables? I have to take them to the building inspector." He looked at his watch. "I was supposed to be there twenty minutes ago."

  Oscar went to his office and got the papers, handing them to his dad.

  Tyler tilted his head to one side, looking at his son. "So what really happened?"

  "Louie lamped me. Literally."

  "That son of a bitch. I'm gonna kill him—"

  "Dad, no funny business."

  "It won't be funny, and Louie Gomez won't be laughing."

  "I'm in enough trouble without you stirring up more. Leave it. Please."

  Tyler was finding it difficult to get past his anger. Louie had thumped his boy. That's not something you just let slide. "Are you sure you're going to be all right?"

  "Yeah, I'll be fine."

  "Good. But I'll be thinking about how we c
an make Louie Gomez go away. For good."

  "You're not going to do anything stupid, are you?"

  "If I do, I don't need Perry Mason." Tyler thumbed himself. "I am freaking Perry Mason."

  Oscar grinned. "If you say so."

  Tyler headed for the door. "If you need anything, call me."

  "Sure. Do you think I should tell Granddad?"

  "Let me tell him. I know just how much alcohol it takes to make him sympathetic."

  "Thanks."

  Oscar was worried that his dad would get embroiled in his mess. Tyler had a history of not only finding trouble—but creating it.

  Chapter 34

  Oscar opened the door to an eager-looking Johnny.

  "It was nice of you to invite me around, Boss."

  "That's what friends do. Want to play some Grand Prix racing?" Oscar preferred Commandos Take the Fort video game, but you needed thumbs for that. All Johnny had to do for the Grand Prix was hold a steering wheel.

  "Sure. Let's race the Montreal circuit. That's my favorite."

  Oscar went to turn on the game console under the TV.

  "Mind if I ask you something, Boss?"

  "Go ahead, shoot."

  "Why'd you bail Louie Gomez?"

  He wasn't expecting that and justifying it was difficult. Oscar wasn't sure how to explain why he bailed Gomez the Digit Chopper. Johnny had saved Oscar's life. When a stallion had gone loco in the paddock while Oscar was in there, Johnny had stepped in and pushed him out of the way just as the horse bucked. A hoof caught Johnny over the eye. It left him injured, and his left eye had been half-closed ever since. Oscar owed him, but explaining why he helped Louie Gomez would be beyond Johnny's capacity for understanding.

  "Well, Johnny, things are complicated, but technically it wasn't me who bailed him. Roscoe stumped up the money. I was just the front man. You know, the cover guy."

  "So, you didn't do it?"

  Oscar shook his head. "Nope, it wasn't my money that got Louie out."

  "That's good to know, Boss."

  "But remember what I said. It's complicated."

  Johnny clenched his fist and gave a nubs-up. "Thanks, Boss." He turned his attention to the TV screen. "Let's race."

  They navigated their race cars around the Canadian track. Halfway through the race, Johnny's car was in the lead with Oscar closing in. A knock at the door made him hit the pause button.