Bank On Love

by Iris Bolling

  Chrystina and Gina walked over to them. Chrystina gave a glass of champagne to Myles.

  Gina gave a glass to Preston. “Drink slow. This is the good stuff and you know you can’t hold your liquor. I don’t want to see you rolling around this room yelling wheeee........”

  Preston glanced at her and smiled.

  “My job is done.” She winked at Chrystina then walked back over to the tray.

  Myles held his glass high. “To BIT Technologies, and the man who made this day possible, Preston Long. May our merger be prosperous and our family strong as Dunning Bank and Trust moves to the next chapter of our existence.”

  “Here...here,” the crowd sounded.

  Gary, AnnieMarie and Cainan walked over to shake Preston’s hand, congratulating him.

  Jonathan walked over to Myles. “You are a class act, Mr. Dunning.”

  Myles glanced at Jonathan. “We have a number of issues to work though.” He nodded as he watched Preston. “I believe he will be fine.”

  “He will once issues with his mother are worked out and he is told he is taking Elaine’s position as Director of Corporate Accounts. And then there is the ever beautiful Gina.”

  “Gina?” Myles raised an eyebrow, thought about it, then shrugged. “His future is looking bright indeed.”

  The two men smiled, tapped their glass together, then saluted the future.

  As the celebration continued Myles’ cell phone buzzed indicating a message had arrived. He pulled out the phone then read the message.

  An organization outside my jurisdiction is coming for you. Watch your back. Nikolai.

  Myles read the message again. He sent a message back.

  Confirmed. Myles

  CHAPTER 40

  Shawn Bolton’s, known to his friends as Bolt, payday had come in. Watching the news had changed his economic status for life. He decided to celebrate by using his last paycheck from the convenience store where he’d worked for the last year, to throw himself a goodbye party. To his way of thinking, he didn’t need to pay rent in the dump he currently called home. Soon he would be moving to Florida, where the sun was a daily occurrence, the women were plentiful and there was ocean as far as the eye could see.

  Two days later, with bags from the liquor and grocery store, in his hands, Bolt turned his key in the lock, then kicked the door open with his foot. Walking inside he turned into the kitchen, which was the first opening to his right. He placed the bags on the kitchen table, walked back out and closed the door. Turning into the open door to his left, he pulled off his coat tossing it onto the bed, clapped his hands and began rubbing them as he walked the short hallway into the living room. He froze.

  “Nice place you got here, Bolt.”

  It took Bolt a few seconds to get his heart to settle down. The person who had caused him to vacate his comfortable life in New York was sitting in his living room chair with two men as guards.

  “Pauley.” Bolt smiled nervously. “I didn’t expect to see you. You got my message from Johnnie? He told you what I have?”

  “He did. Said I should see the information you have in person. So here I am.”

  “Johnnie was right. Wait until you see this.” He took a step forward while reaching into his pockets. The guards reached inside their jackets quickly pulling their weapons out.

  “Hold on.” Bolt held his hands up. “It’s just my phone, just my phone,” he repeated twice.

  He hit a button on the phone, turned it towards Pauley. Pauley took the phone.

  “That’s who you’ve been looking for…right?”

  Pauley nodded. “I see a picture on a television. It does not give me the man’s location.”

  Bolt nodded, “I know, I know. But I got that too.” He grinned. He picked up the remote control to the television to turn it on. “I recorded it cause I thought you would need a location.” When he found the recording, he hit the play button. “This happened at a bank here in town.” He paused the recording. “That’s him. Right there.” He pointed. “And that sign back there on the building says Dunning Bank & Trust.”

  Pauley slowly rose from the chair, staring at the screen, anger seeping out for all to see.

  Feeling more confident now, Bolt continued talking. “You gave me a break by letting me leave New York with my life. I appreciated that. As you can see it hasn’t been good for me here in Virginia. I just want to move, get a better start to my life again, Pauley. I’m not asking for much and this, this is helpful to you…right? I mean I even got the name he’s going by here. That counts for something…right?”

  “What’s the name?” Pauley asked without looking away from the television.

  “Cainan…Cainan Scott. Scott is his middle name. He’s using his real name.”

  Pauley slowly turned to look at him.

  Bolt nodded. “Yeah, ironic…right? He’s all cleaned up and shit but, that’s the man I was working the tilt with. So, this find, it’s worth something…right, Pauley?”

  “Yes, Bolt, it is.” Pauley smirked, then turned to the guards. “Pay him.”

  “That’s what I’m talking about.” Bolt clapped his hands together as he did a little dance in the middle of the floor. It was all working out. The two years lying low from the Feds and from Pauley had come to an end. Now he could catch that flight to Florida, leaving the unpredictable weather, and the sorry ass jobs behind. He was going to start a small business. Maybe a small investment firm or something dealing with numbers. Get a few partners and start living the good life in the Miami sunshine.

  It was the click of the gun that caught his attention. He looked up to see one of the men wearing black gloves pointing the gun at his head.

  “Pauley, what…..?”

  He never finished the question. The last sound he heard was the shot, more of a whoosh due to the silencer, and then the pop as the bullet hit the center of Bolt’s forehead. Bolt’s body slumped to the floor like a rag doll. The other man took the cell phone from the table where Pauley had placed it. He shoved it into Bolt’s mouth, pulled black tape from his back pocket using it to secure the phone in place. The shooter walked into the kitchen, opened one of the bottles of liquor from the bag. He put a plug in the kitchen sink, filled it with the brown liquid then lit a match dropping it on top. The flames shot up.

  Pauley opened the door. The air from the hallway caused the flames to travel, igniting the paper towels that sat on the counter.

  The men walked out as Pauley grinned. “The drinks are on me.”

  The door closed as the flames began to consume the apartment.

  ###

  “We were able to kill the clip.”

  “Did it play in New York?”

  “Not to our knowledge, Wagner. Relax.”

  Cainan Scott sat in his vehicle in the parking lot of Dunning Bank and Trust headquarters building in downtown Richmond, Virginia listening as his handler spoke. “Don’t tell me to relax. My parents watch the news. If my mother sees the clip it will kill her.”

  “You caused this with your actions.”

  “I’m a Federal agent,” he angrily stated. “It is a natural instinct to assist people when they are in danger. I could not stand by while people were being shot and neither could you.”

  “I understand that. You carrying that woman out of the building makes you appear to be a hero. There is nothing the media loves more than showcasing a hero.”

  Cainan leaned his head back against the seat. There was something about Elaine Jacobson’s reaction to the shooting that had bothered him that day. From the moment he carried her out the door, her actions encouraged the media to swarm around her. At first he thought she did not want to be seen, but thinking back to her actions then and now, he knew he was wrong. Elaine wanted the reporter to see her as a victim.

  “They have been in contact with the public relations department requesting information on me.”

  “How is Dunning handling those requests?”

  “Refusing all interviews or infor
mation on employees involved in the shooting,” Cainan replied.

  “Let’s hope they can keep that going until this situation dies down.”

  “The head of public relations is good. She will hold them off.”

  “That would be AnnieMarie, the youngest Dunning child and the woman you are involved with.”

  “Was involved with. That ended when her father died.”

  “That was a dangerous move on your part. As an agent you know how a witness in a criminal investigation needs to conduct themselves until the trial is over. We put a false narrative out about your death to keep your family safe. You getting involved with this woman puts her life in the same danger your parents would have been in.”

  “I am aware of that,” he shouted back. Cainan exhaled. “Look, I did not intentionally go after her. It just happened.”

  “I understand. You need to remember there is a reaction to every decision we make. Until you testify against the Giuliani family, every person you get involved with gets a price put on their head.”

  “That is the reason it’s time to let AnnieMaire know who I am and why her father allowed me to hide out here.”

  “It is not the SAC’s place to make your personal life easy. Besides, that is above my pay grade.”

  “Talk to the SAC. Get him on board today or I will tell AnnieMarie the truth.” Cainan disconnected the call, exhaled then stepped out of the vehicle. The deception was getting under his skin.

  From the moment her father introduced him to AnnieMarie at the first Board meeting, Cainan could not take his eyes off the woman. All his life he’d concentrated on joining the FBI. That took dedication, leaving little time for a good relationship. He’d had women, even girlfriends over the years, but at the age of twenty-nine, not one of them ever took him past the sex stage to a longing to have and betroth. AnnieMarie did. She was the Michelle to his Barack. They would laugh about that comparison. They even purchased coffee mugs of the President and First Lady to use each morning as they shared breakfast in the cafeteria.

  Now that everything with her father’s death was out in the open, the only issue keeping them apart was his situation. At the moment, the family was dealing with so much, the last thing Cainan wanted to do was bother Myles with his situation. They all wanted to protect AnnieMarie. He felt telling her the truth should be the first step. But out of respect for Myles, Cainan would wait. But not for much longer.

  “You appear to be deep in thought.”

  Cainan looked up as he walked towards the employee entrance to the office. Her voice warmed him through and through as it did every time they spoke.

  “Would you be surprised to know my thoughts were of you?”

  AnnieMarie looked up at him. The gleam in her eyes drew him close to her as she stood holding the employee entrance door open.

  “You say the nicest things.” AnnieMarie smiled.

  “Only to the pretty woman with the smile that can light up a room.”

  “You keep talking like that, Mr. Scott, and you are going to find yourself in deep, deep, deep good guy status with me.”

  “Three deeps? Hmm….I think that puts me in good standing.” Cainan smiled. “How is your mother doing?”

  “She’s handling things well.” AnnieMarie smiled. “Having Jonathan’s mother recuperating at the house gives her something to dwell on other than the craziness.”

  “It seems like your family has had its fair share of drama.”

  AnnieMarie nodded. “If nothing else it brought the fact that life is short to the forefront. Do you know Myles asked Chrystina to marry him?”

  Cainan smiled. “No, but I’m certainly not surprised. I’m happy for them.”

  “Me too.” AnnieMarie smiled. “I think maybe…you and I should talk.”

  Cainan gazed into her eyes. “That is music to my ears, Annie.”

  The two stood outside talking with no knowledge of the people standing on the rooftop of the office building across the street with a rifle scope pointed at them.

  “Is it him?” Pauley asked.

  “Looks like him from here,” the man with the rifle replied. “Do you want me to take him?”

  There was a moment of hesitation from Pauley. “Take the shot.”

  The silent shot was fired just as Cainan bent in to kiss AnnieMarie’s cheek. The impact hit before his lips reached hers. AnnieMarie collapsed as Cainan’s body covered hers and they both hit the ground. Neither moved as blood began to run down the pavement.

  EPILOGUE

  Jonathan and Grace were laying in each other’s arms basking in the aftermath of their lovemaking.

  “I don't ever want to experience that feeling again, Grace.” Jonathan kissed the top of her head. “The hours of not knowing whether you were dead or alive just about killed me. It took all of the willpower I had to not throw on a parachute and jump out of the plane. The flight was taking too long to get to you.”

  Grace kissed a nipple on his chest. “You are here with me now. There was never a minute, not one, where I doubted you would find me.”

  “It could have been Roark who found you.”

  “No, I was pretty sure that would be you.” She sat up, her hands propped on his chest, her face resting on top of them. “Hey, what happened to him anyway? He seemed pretty beat up when he came by the house to give the information on that man.”

  Jonathan smiled. ‘You mean your Uncle Walker.”

  “I refuse to acknowledge that man was any part of my family.” Grace shrugged. “The fact is, he killed my father over money.”

  “And power,” Jonathan added. “It can be a lethal combination in the wrong hands.”

  “Myles has both and he handles it like it’s not important.”

  “Yes, he is like your father. For Myles it’s about family and people. He wants his family safe and people happy. It’s just that simple for him.”

  “You have both, power and wealth. It hasn’t jaded you at all.”

  “I think it has.” Jonathan ran his finger down the center of her back. “It manifests in different ways.”

  “Really?” Grace smiled as she kissed her way down his chest. “Tell me how,” she said pulling the sheet over her head and moving further down.

  “There seems to be a bit of power radiating in my lower limbs, Love. Are you about to drive me mad?”

  “Ahh……I think I’ll lick you until every drop of power you possess is controlled by me.”

  Grace’s lips had covered him, surrounding him with the wonderful warmth and the silken feel of her tongue against him, he was literally in heaven. His cell phone chimed in the background but he was too far gone to even think straight. The last thing he cared about was what was going on in the outside world that would cause his cell phone to be ringing. It stopped. Grace’s cell phone began to ring, neither was in a mindset to stop as she continued, demanding he release every ounce of life he had in him. She was relentless with the suckle, the kneading of her nails into him, there was no way, either, to stop the sensations she was creating. Then both cell phones began to chime in a rhythm, first his then hers then his again, then hers again. Her head bobbed to the sound causing him to moan and laugh, until his mind exploded. Shots of lightning filled his head as his body jerked and pulsated inside her more. He tried to pull out, but she held him in place, stripping him of every ounce of power he possessed as he exploded.

  It took a moment for either of them to recover to a point to register the fact that both phones were still ringing.

  Grace reached the nightstand first. “Hello.” She listened. “Wait, wait, slow down, Chrystina, what’s going on.”

  Jonathan had reached his phone. “Yes,” he said more gruffly than intended. He listened to Myles, as he frantically looked around for the remote for the television. Grace had it in her hand then turned it on. She laid back against his chest, him wrapping an arm around her as they listened to the news report.

  “Holy crap!” Jonathan jumped up. “Holy crap, holy shit, ho
ly crap.” He was scrambling around the room looking for his pants. “Myles, I have to call you back, mate.” He hung up the phone then called Sydney. “Syd, telly the pilot. I need to fly back to my mother’s place asap.”

  Grace watched Jonathan wondering what was happening. “Chrystina, let me call you back.” She looked at him. “Jonathan, what’s going on?”

  “I will tell you on the plane. Get dressed, hurry.”

  Within twenty minutes they were in the vehicle on their way to the airport. “Jonathan, are you in trouble? Is something wrong with your mother? What’s happening? You’re scaring me here.”

  He pulled her into his arms and kissed her soundly on her mouth and began to laugh. “No, Love, I am not in trouble. But if I do not get to London soon the market may crash and it will be my fault.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “We are here, Mr. Michael.”

  “Thank you, Ben.” Jonathan grabbed Grace’s hand, literally pulling her from the vehicle and up the stairs of the plane. They took their seats and buckled in. “Take off posthaste,” he told the stewardess.

  The pilot taxied down the runway as Jonathan began laughing again.

  Grace kept looking at him with a bit of mischief in her eyes. “I swear if you don’t tell me what’s happening in the next five minutes I’m going to throw you off of this plane for real.”

  Jonathan pulled her into his arms then reclined their seats back. He took a deep breath and sighed. “I am a genius you know,” he said so nonchalantly she had to laugh. “No really I am.” He chuckled. “There are people in the world who think they can use, degrade, toss out anyone they feel is not their equal. The bias is baseless most times, however due to the color of your skin or the zip code you were born in, some people feel they are superior to others. It never crosses their minds that the very person they use or abuse has the tools or skills to destroy them. By the time they discover that simple possibility, it’s too late. That person that they tossed aside as beneath them has taken away the one thing they cherish more than life and that is power. I realize that many people at Dunning do not understand the power that is within our grasp. That is what I love about the Dunning group it’s not about power with us, it never has been. It’s always been about people helping people.” He chuckled. “This is really funny. I mean it’s not ‘ha ha’ funny, but it is funny as hell. Okay…okay, I was a little pissed when Dewberry had someone to attack my mother so when I went to London I first checked to make sure that my mother was okay in the hospital and then I went to her house. In the basement of her home, I built a computer network that has a direct interface into Phase International’s main computer system. Because I was so pissed at the audacity of Dewberry to send O’Donnell and his people to harm my mother,” he shrugged. “I inserted a code to shut down all access to any funds at Phase.”