by Deanna King
Jed flipped his arm tossing her fingertips off, narrowing his eyes. “Not me, maybe Randy, but not me, ever.”
Celeste tried to ignore her, but it was hard. If the woman didn’t make her buttloads of money, she’d kick her to the curb, not to mention the fact that she recruited more than half the girls. If she walked, they might too.
“I hate that whore.” Jed stopped at a table near the bar.
“I don’t care for her myself, but she makes us money, and I think Randy is a dumbass. He’s a horny man in a candy shop. His zipper is a revolving door, and JoAnn gives him all the free candy he wants.” Celeste glanced over her shoulder to the bar.
“Come on, I’ll buy you a glass of water. Two glasses of water,” Jed told Randy.
Randy grabbed two glasses, filled them with ice and squirted out water, then set them down.
“Randy,” she began, “you know you ought to give it a rest and stop with the freebies. If you don’t, I might get Sarge to kick your ass.”
“Hell, boss, if they give it away free and you don’t lose money, what do you care if one of ‘em gives me some on the side? I call it a job perk since we don’t get health benefits or retirement.” Randy flicked the bar towel in the air then slapped it on the bar, using it to wipe up nothing.
She gave him a cold stare. “Randy, what’s with the attitude? Cool off before I get irritated.” Her eyes never left his face as she picked up the ice water and took a drink.
He stared at her, then at Jed, and he shrugged. “Jed—”
“Listen, Randy,” Jed cut him off, “just because your old man is a cop doesn’t mean you have carte blanche with the girls, or with anything else for that matter. All it takes is one phone call, and you’re gone, hear me?”
“Is that a damn threat?”
Before Jed responded, Celeste leaned into the bar. “No, that is not a threat. It is a promise.”
Jed put his hand on her arm, but she flipped it off.
“Randy, this is my show, my business, and I’ll have you kicked out the door before I blink, hear me?”
“Sure, boss.” His voice exuded his contempt for her. He hated this woman…hell, he hated any woman that was in charge.
Celeste pursed her lips and counted to ten before she spoke.
“You listen, and you listen hard to what I am telling you. When I tell you something like, ‘make sure you are asking the right cowboys about who wants to pay for pussy,’ or I tell you to keep your dick zipped up and out of the whores, you had better listen and do it.”
“Sure thing, boss,” his voice oozed with sarcasm. “Just to warn you though, I hear things, and some people might have it out for you. If I were you, I’d watch my back.”
“Is that a threat, because if it is, I’ll make sure you are sorry, is that clear?” She enunciated the last three words, while tiny spit particles shot out of her mouth.
“No threat from me, I’m just saying, that’s all.” What was he thinking; he was issuing threats to the one person who held the reins of power. It’d be in his best interest to back off before she hired someone to knock him off. Nope, she wouldn’t do that, his old man was a cop for Christ’s sake.
She knew what his undersized brain was mulling over. “How about I bring your old man in on this? Betcha he’d straighten your ass out, he’s got a profitable deal going on here, and he wouldn’t want to lose it all just because his son is a major screwup, now would he?”
She knew Randy had already been shooting his mouth off; she’d already heard the gossip.
Randy backed away from the bar, and he scowled. “You can keep my old man out of it.”
“Tell you what, Randy, how about you do your job? I pay you decent money for what you do besides bartending, and part of that pay is ‘shut up’ money. If I were you, I’d do that: keep my mouth shut. If I hear you are part of any threats to me,” she snapped, “it won’t matter that your old man is a cop on my payroll, do you hear me?”
Randy locked eyes with the woman. For such a short, small woman, she had balls the size of Alaska. Hell, if he wanted to, he’d break her neck in one snap. He smiled at her, envisioning it. With a knock on the bar, Randy nodded. “Got it, boss,” he replied with a faux smile.
“Now, go see if the barbacks have the new keg ready to install in a few minutes.”
Randy called for Hank to come to this end of the bar and he went to the back, cursing her under his breath the whole way. He hated both of them, and he hoped one day he’d be able to prove it. He’d like to get the best of either of them. That would be pure satisfaction. It would be damn close to the satisfaction that JoAnn offered him.
Jed laughed aloud.
“What’s so funny?”
“You are a tough bitch. I think you’re even tougher than Sara is. You gonna tell his old man that he is messing with you or what?”
“No, I don’t want to have to talk to him, not yet. Do me a favor, have someone keep an eye on Randy. He’s going to cause us all trouble. He thinks he can get away with doing what he wants to do cuz his old man is a cop. We have enough to worry with Roger, the sleazeball attorney, and his sidekick crybaby Archie. Jed, Randy’s old man is as bad as he is with the whores, but at least him being a cop benefits us. Randy is as useless as, you know the saying, ‘tits on a bull.’ “ She blew out a long breath.
“With the cops we do have on the payroll, Simpson and Bullard are the most reliable. I wish we hadn’t let Simpson talk us into bringing Randy onboard.”
“Jed, Sara is the one who took that chance, not me. She’s still in charge, but I’ll be damned, he should have the sense to know that I am Sara’s other arm. He knows all I have to do is say something to her, and he’s gone. He’s a fool.”
“You know he’s been trying to get in tight with Archie, don’t ya?”
“I know, and with Sara’s health failing, Archie is next in line to be the boss. If that happens, I am out of here. I won’t work for that pissant. He’ll have the business in the ground in a year, then all he’ll have are three failing bars.”
Jed agreed. Everything that Sara had built up with the whores and the gambling would end. Archie was a hothead. It wouldn’t surprise him if one of their competitors decided to whack him.
. . .
Celeste closed her eyes. Remembering all those years ago, it felt like yesterday that Sara Sutton had died of heart failure, unexpectedly. She had left it all to her—the bars, the land, the corporation, the house, all of it—sans a small fifty-thousand dollar pittance for her son, Archie. Her instructions had been that she took total control immediately. That had been the beginning of such immense hatred from so many sides.
Roger wanted power, Archie wanted it all, JoAnn wanted Jed, she wanted to stop the threats on her life. Scottie wanted her to be indebted to him and he wanted ultimate power. This tangled web had equaled death.
How could she have known it would go this way?
CHAPTER TWO
“Did you hear me, Celeste?” Ken repeated himself. He needed her to pay attention to what he was saying.
“Yes, I did, Ken.”
“It is a legit business venture, and if the bar businesses do poorly, then the restaurant businesses will grow. Not to mention it would be an easy transition. We can start with the three clubs you already own as customers.”
Her mind was on other things.
“If you think it’s the right plan for us, then let’s do it…whatever you think.”
She was not engaged in the conversation; Ken saw that very clearly.
“If we all agree, Ken, set it up on your end. Use the south side warehouse, the one closest to the Silver Moon.
”
“Uh-huh, sure, Jed, whatever you say is fine.” She was preoccupied, not normal when they were discussing business.
“Where are you, Celeste, because you ain’t here?” Jed nudged her.
She hadn’t wanted to, but she took the folded-up paper from the top drawer of her desk.
“I am right here.” She handed him the note.
Bitch, watch your back. You think you’re safe, but you aren’t. Certain people don’t like the way you’re running things, and if you know what’s good for you, you’ll leave town and not come back.
“Where’d this come from?” He crushed it up into a paper ball.
“It was under the door when I unlocked it this morning. Someone slipped it under there last night. The whole crew was here when we left, could’ve been anyone. This is the third threat letter I’ve received in the past three months.”
“What? Why didn’t you tell me?” Jed was irritated that she had hidden this from him.
“Because I don’t know who wants me out. I mean, Roger and Archie had been my biggest threats. They’re both dead now, who else wants me out, and why? I know I’ve made a few enemies, but this, feels different?”
“Different like what…do you think it’s someone internal, maybe it’s Randy and JoAnn messing with you again? I wouldn’t put it past them.“
“Uh, Celeste,” Ken interrupted. “I think I’ll leave now, I don’t want to hear this conversation, okay?”
“Sorry, Ken. Yes, please get started on the legal aspects of the new company. We can talk later.” Ken had to keep his hand out of the dirty part of the business—that was imperative.
The door clicked shut and she turned to Jed, uttering one single word. “Mob.”
“Scottie, is that who you mean? I know his family has mob ties up Chicago way. Do you think he’s a threat?”
“He’s been itching to get in deeper, and the family ties stretch for miles. Scottie and I get along great though, so I can’t see he wants me dead.”
“So, what do you want to do?”
. . .
She closed her eyes, recalling how things had changed. It had been over twenty-five years. She wanted out, he wanted in…she would make it happen…but he would never know that she was never out, she was taking a long break until she was ready to take over again. Her past played out in her mind like a well-scripted movie.
. . .
“I hafta disappear, and then he can have control. I talked to him, and he’s sure there’s a contract out on my life. I’m going to relinquish power to him.”
“He’s a bastard, Celeste. I am sure Sara didn’t know he might be a threat to you.
“You know that power is an aphrodisiac, and Scottie is on a high. If he wants it, then we can sell out. He has influence up north, and damn, I’m not going to fight it any longer.”
“Sell out, are you crazy?”
“He’ll just think he’s in control. We have him by the short hairs because of the shooting on Richmond. We know he was the shooter, and I know people that will say they saw it. We have people in our pockets, so that’s not a problem.”
“How do you intend to stay in?”
“I won’t sell him the buildings and the land, Jed. I’m keeping them and putting them in your name. He can run the business, but he’ll have to pay you a percentage. He has to use our legal company for all bar supplies, and he can use the trucks for his drug transport. It’s a win-win. I’m dead, he gets what he wants, and he won’t know it, but you and I will have unseen control, all he’ll be is a front man.”
“What if he doesn’t go along with it and the contract on your life stays in force?”
“I’ve written a letter and have it all set up so that if something happens to me, his ass will be burned. Besides, he knows that the one person who saw him that night on Richmond has already spoken to the police, and I’m going to offer him a deal.”
“JoAnn, is that who you’re talking about? Because I’m all for frying her ass, can’t stand that whore.”
“If the people up north think I’m dead and I make Scottie a deal he can’t refuse I don’t see why it can’t work.”
“How are you going to fake your death so they’ll believe you are dead?” He wanted to hear this plan.
She explained her plan to him.
“It might work at that, but one question—why pick him?”
“Because, Jed, Ken told me he’s a rising star. I say we get him in our pocket too. For that matter, Scottie will think he has him in his pocket.”
Jed was in awe. This woman’s mind was sharp, and he knew that was one reason Sara had left her everything.
“Then let’s get you killed off before someone does it for real.”
She picked up the phone. “I’ll call Scottie and tell him to meet us in an hour.”
. . .
“We gotta get rid of her too.” Scottie wanted to tie that loose end up.
“What if there was a way to get rid of her and me?”
Scottie looked at her as if she had two heads.
“What’s she talking about?”
“Why don’t you ask her? She’s sitting right there, and she was asking you the question.”
Scottie waited for her to say something.
“You want the business, and your goons up north want me dead…tying up a loose end I figure. There are so many other loose ends, but I guess if they get me, then the others won’t talk, and they’ll have to be loyal to you. I hafta disappear, and you are afraid JoAnn will point a finger at you for killing Roger and Archie. Have I left anything out, Scottie?”
“That about covers it.”
“So if they think ‘I’m dead, will that satisfy you?”
He thought about it for about two minutes before he bobbed his head, in jerky short nods.
“I’ll take that as a yes. I’m going to tell you that if anything happens to me, that’s in any way unnatural, the dominos will begin to fall, and they won’t be falling in your favor, understand?”
“Is that a threat?”
“No, Scottie, it’s a promise. Here’s the deal: I help you, you help me, or we can both burn in hell. I’d don’t care one way or another anymore.”
“What do you have in mind?” He had no problem with her being alive, he liked the woman, and if Jed were to ever “disappear,” he would make a move on her.
She told him the plan, she told him who, what, and why.
Scottie was all in.
“Jed, make the call.”
Jed picked up the phone and dialed Ken’s office. The young whippersnapper attorney answered. “Hey, dude, how would you like a freebie?”
“What do you have in mind, Jed?” The arrogant young attorney propped his feet on his pristine desk.
“I figured you needed some relaxation. You can have JoAnn tonight, free of charge.”
He knitted his brows. “Free, why free tonight? What do you have up your sleeve? On the other hand, what does Celeste have up her sleeve?”
He sat up. This was the first time they’d offered him free, and a red flag went up. He knew there had to be a catch.
“Can’t we do a nice thing for you?” Jed tried to sound offended.
“No. There’s a catch, so what is it, Jed, and don’t lie to me?”
He did not care to be indebted to anyone. He’d heard rumors that blackmail was part of SS Corporation’s success, and he wanted no part of it. Lord, he did like the whores; they were worth every penny, especially JoAnn. He had been very careful to cover his tracks. He couldn’t let his
wife find out, it would ruin him. Without her support, and her father’s political ties, he would never be able to get to where he wanted to be…but the warm feeling that began to rise behind his zipper, as he thought about JoAnn and what she allowed, it was too much to turn down.
“Scare her a bit, teach her a lesson. She’s been giving us a bit of trouble, and I want you to go over the line,”—he snickered—“more than normal.” Jed knew the whore and her tastes.
He gave a deep belly laugh. “Overboard, with JoAnn, now that’s a laugh, Jed, hell, she is overboard in the sack.”
“So I’ve heard. I’ve never had a taste for that myself, but some men have no problem paying big bucks for that.”
The man on the other end let out a deep throaty laugh. He loved S&M and he liked the whore. “Sure, Jed, I’ll have a whack or two at her.” He got a woody thinking about it.
Jed hung up the phone.
“The ball’s in your court now. You call her then it’s set.”
She didn’t hesitate at all. She needed JoAnn dead. She guessed she was a cold-hearted bitch after all. All she had to do was to remember that day in the storeroom—a drunken Archie had a gun in her face, JoAnn behind him, begging him to shoot. She knew that if JoAnn had been holding the gun, she’d be dead right now.
She picked up the phone, dialed the number. “JoAnn, this is Celeste.”
CHAPTER THREE
The motel was seedy, out of the way, and perfect. He threw back his third straight whiskey as she stripped, and then lying on the bed, she spread her legs wide open inviting him in, and he took charge. She thought he was done, but he had other ideas.
“Get me another whiskey, I ‘m taking a piss, and then I am coming back to fuck you again.”
“Can’t wait,” she replied in a low husky voice. She watched his tight backside as he went into the small dingy bathroom. When he was out of sight, she put the envelope of coke in his glass, it was more than the normal snort, and she poured whiskey over it, stirring it with her finger. Celeste told her it was a favor for Jed, and then promised that Jed would do something nice for her. She took another envelope out, poured more into the whiskey then dumped the rest onto the table. Taking a dollar bill, she rolled it up and then snorted the entire two lines.