Caleb Anderson: Berkley’s Bastards – Billionaire Romance (Berkley's Bastards Book 1)

by Kathi S. Barton

  “You know the Andersons—they more than likely are proud of him. He was a hellraiser for a while there. They’re incredibly stupid if you ask me. Forever bitching about one thing or another.” Dick had a thought. “You don’t suppose they’re related to that newcomer, do you? He’s Anderson too, right?”

  “I doubt it. I saw them the other day out someplace. The younger one calls him Mr. Anderson, as well as calling Melissa Mrs. Anderson. That is a strange man if you ask me. He just shows up out of nowhere, buys up all the land that we were holding onto, then has his attorney going around asking questions.” Dick asked what sort of questions he was asking. “Mostly to the underwhelming people in town. The downtrodden and shit like that. He was taking a survey on how many people rented as to how many owned their own homes. I don’t think any of them own shit. However, I was thinking that they do rent from you. A great many of them, as a matter of fact, right?”

  “Yes. I’d say all, but there have been a few holdouts in selling me their places. But I’ll get around to it.” The knock at his door had him shushing Slam when he started to speak again. “Yes, what is it now?”

  “I can’t get through to your line, sir. So I had the gentleman call you on your cell. We’re making calls from our cells out here now as the phones aren’t working at all. And no Internet.” He told him to get onto that. “I am. I just said that I was.”

  The door shut before he could fire the young man. There was no hope for any of them to makes any sales this week if no one could call them. Not that there was much buying and selling going on right now. The town was dead as far as he was concerned. Picking up the phone when it rang, he was dismayed to see that it was a private number.

  “This is Sheppard Alexander, Dick. I’d like to speak to you about a couple of matters.” Dick sat up higher in his chair just as he realized that the man couldn’t see him. He asked him what he could do for him. “Nothing. I was just speaking to my new attorney here. It seems I’ve been remiss in a few things. I’m sure you don’t care to hear about all of them. But I did want to point out that I own the property your business is sitting on. Were you aware of that?”

  “I was. It’s the perfect piece of property for our business, sir. We have a nice view of the streets and the comings and goings of the town.” Confused a little, Dick waited to see what the man would say next. When he didn’t say anything else, Dick, as usual, felt the need to fill in the silence. “I was thinking of calling you next month about having new carpet put into the place. It’s worn in a couple of places that are beginning to be a hazard to the people that work for me.”

  “I’m having the place torn down in thirty days. As for the carpet, I’m not going to put any in if I’m going to demolish it. I’m sure you can understand that.” Dick asked him where he was going to set up shop. “Well, I’m not sure that’s any of my concern, are you? I mean, as far back as before my son was out of high school, you stopped paying me any sort of rent. I’m not going to sue you for back rent now, though I more than likely would win. Instead, so that it’s not something that slips my mind again with you, I’m having the building torn down and a nicer one put in its place.”

  “Would it be a place we could rent from you? The reason I ask, I have ten people working for me that will be out of work should I have to fire them.” Mr. Anderson asked him if he thought that was his fault. “Well, you are tearing down their means of support.” He asked him to hang on a moment. When Anderson came back on the line only after the briefest of moments, he was laughing.

  “You have three employees, Dick, one of them being you. As for them being unemployed, I’m reasonably sure they’re about hitting poverty now with what you pay them. Do you really take money from them to advertise? That’s highway robbery.” He had only a second to wonder how he’d heard that before he spoke again. “No, I’m not going to rent the new place to you. I think the people around town might be better off working for someone else than you. From what I’m hearing, there will be a couple of new businesses coming along here soon anyway.”

  “Really? Where did you hear that?” Instead of answering him, the man simply hung up on him. “He’s tearing down the building. Not only that, but he’s not going to rent the new place to me. What the hell is going on around here, Slam? Why are things suddenly going to shit for me?”

  “For us. Now I’m doubly worried about the new bank coming in. I might have to go back to my office and find out who owns the land the building is sitting on. Christ, this is terrible.” As he stood up, his phone was ringing. “Unknown. Could be Anderson again. I’m not answering it until I have information. I’ll see you later, Dick. Let me know if there are any newer developments going on.”

  Dick was still sitting there when his cell phone rang again. Instead of answering it, he let it go to voice mail. This was bullshit. He did have a moment, wondering if this was even legal. But then Anderson did say he’d spoken to his new attorney. Putting his head in his hands on his desk, he tried to think past that he wasn’t going to be able to find a place to open shop. People would demand that he pay them rent, not to mention, he’d have to move all the shit he had here.

  It was a quarter past two when he finally got up from his desk to see what he could salvage. Also, he figured it was high time that he went to see his daughter. He might be moving in with her quicker than he thought.

  Dick had never been one to save money. If he had it, it was as good as spent. Even with all the money coming in that he was making off the sales that Cain made, he was forever bouncing a check or two. Or his credit card that was directly attached to his account would not have enough on it to cover his lunch or other expenses.

  As soon as he was in the outer office, he knew something was really wrong. The lights were all off. Testing one of the switches, he knew the power was on, but there was just no one working. Going to the five cubicles he’d slapped together when the sales crew was doing more socializing than making calls, there wasn’t anything on the desks either. No pens. Not a single paperclip was to be found. Even opening the drawers to see if they were simply people that cleaned up after themselves, he found them to be empty as well. What the hell was going on here?

  It took him twenty minutes to find out that his car, which was another rental that he didn’t pay for, was gone. Heading to the police station to file a claim, he was stopped by Slam again. He had all his things from his desk in a box and was carrying it out of the bank. He asked him what was going on.

  “I’ve been terminated as of the second I got back to the office. There were Feds there, Dick. They’ve closed down the bank to do an audit, and then they’ll reopen in a few weeks. But regardless, I’ve been fired.” He asked under what grounds they could do that. “Misappropriation of funds. Poor work performance. That’s from the head office. Theft. Property damage. Falsifying company records. Christ, they had a list longer than my arm. They told me I’m not to leave town or they’re going to hunt me down. Dick, I’m going to prison.”

  “Prison? What the hell have you been doing there, Slam? I mean, they can’t have figured out our little plot, can they?” Slam just looked back at the bank, then at him. “Slam, did you tell them?”

  “I had to. I had to tell them everything.”

  Dick was still standing there when a car beeped at him. Dick hadn’t realized he’d been standing in the middle of the road until that moment. Dick made his way to his daughter’s home. He needed a place to hide out and to think. Also, he figured Elly would have some money from the commission’s check. It wasn’t like they were going to need it worse than he was. Dick needed to get out of the country right fucking now. She’d better not give him any shit either.

  By the time he made it to her house, it was late. There were police everywhere he’d gone. Dick hadn’t even been able to get himself a cup of coffee, something he needed to calm himself down enough to think. He’d been all over this town, moving in and out of alleys to get wher
e he wanted to go.

  All the lights were off in the place, and he realized he’d forgotten his keys at work. Oh well, whoever had taken his car, they’d not be getting far without the keys, he thought. Knocking, then pounding on the door, nothing stirred. It wasn’t until the woman next door came out of her place to tell him to be quiet that he was able to figure out some things. He asked her where his daughter was.

  “Moved out.” He told her that wasn’t possible, that he’d not given her permission for that. “Yet she’s gone and done it. I don’t know how long it’s been since you looked at your daughter, Dick, but I’d say she’s not had to ask you for permission for shit for a long time. They ain’t nobody there. Now get on out of here before I call the cops on you.”

  He asked her where they’d gone, but the woman had closed her door and ears to him now. Dick was afraid she would call the police, and all his shimming around the town would have been for nothing. Not sure what to do now, he headed to the last place he’d seen the two of them. Maybe the person there would tell him where they’d gone.

  “Ungrateful shits. After all I’ve done for them.” He’d actually done nothing and knew it. But this was his child, and she’d better damned well step up and help him. Or else. He hadn’t any idea what sort of threat he could hold over them, but— “They went and spent that money on buying their way out of living in that house. Mother fuck. They had better not have spent it all. I’m not kidding right now.”

  By the time he was at the house, he was exhausted. The lights there were turned off too, but he didn’t bother with trying to get in. Waiting till tomorrow might well keep his ass from getting shot up. He didn’t know who might be living in the house. It could well have been the Anderson man, but he wasn’t sure. Waiting until morning seemed like a good idea.

  Dick took the blanket off the chair on the front porch and made himself a little bed with the swing out there. Elly would have to beg for him not to be to upset with her after this. After all, she was supposed to be daddy’s little girl. That sent him into peals of laughter that lasted until he fell into a deep sleep.

  Chapter 7

  Joey didn’t have anything left. Nothing in his heart, his mind, or even his body. Everything he’d ever had, hoped for, or even wished for was gone. He was no different, no better than the hundreds of other homeless veterans across this country. Picking up his service weapon, he laid it in his lap while he tried to figure out where was the best place to end his life.

  It wasn’t the place he was concerned about. It would be days, if not longer, before anyone were to find his body. Should he put the gun in his mouth? His temple? Perhaps in his belly. Not that he thought he could suffer any more than he was now, but there was the off chance he’d live through it and be in worse shape than he was currently.

  Two weeks ago, the plant he’d been working in closed up. They had moved, they told all the people working there, to a place that would cut them better deals on taxes. That if they had a beef about it, to take it up with the government of their town. Joey, like sixty other employees, was denied unemployment. He’d have to take it up with his previous employers, as they were the ones that hadn’t paid into unemployment for any of them.

  “You got anything to eat, Big Joe?” He told the man next to him that his name was Joey, not Joe. “Oh, really? Well, you got anything to eat? I sure could use a cookie or two about now. I’m pretty near starving.”

  He’d talked to this man every day for the last two weeks. Joey told him not just his name but also that he was a war veteran, that his mom had passed on, and that he was looking for a job. Nothing was out there much if you didn’t have an address where you lived.

  “I don’t have anything to eat, Sherman. I’m sorry about that. I’ve not eaten for a few days myself.” Sherman nodded but didn’t move, not before asking if he had anything to eat. “No. Try the soup kitchen.”

  “I’ll do that. Do you know where it is?” He pointed down the street, knowing that Sherman wouldn’t be able to find it even if he had someone guiding him there. Sherman had hit the needle a few too many times, and it had fried his brain cells. “Thanks, Big Joe.”

  Why on earth he could remember what he didn’t want to be called and not his name was a mystery to him. There were others around here like that. Martha, he thought her name was, had been pushing a stroller around since he’d seen her with a doll in it. She must have lost a child at some point, and it messed with her mind. Martha treated the doll that she had better than Joey had seen people treat their real kids.

  “Joseph Phillips?” He looked up but didn’t say that was his name to the two men that were standing next to a cardboard box asking for him. “We’re looking for Sergeant Joseph Phillips. Does anyone know him?”

  “There ain’t no Phillip around here, mister. You got any food on you? Something I can have. I am hungry.” The man whistled, and someone came toward them with a huge box. The two men, with the woman now with them, started handing out not just bags of food but blankets too. “Oh, my goodness. It’s food. And it’s warm too. Lookee here, Big Joe. Food for us.”

  The woman came to him first. “I don’t know why you’re looking for me, but I’ve nothing to say to you. I’m not interested in becoming a lab rat, nor am I willing to kill anyone for you.”

  “You get that a lot down here, Joey?” He nodded and looked up at her. “I’m not here for any of those things, honestly. But here is some food for you while we— Your gun slipped. Let me get it for you.”

  Before he could guess what she was about to do, not only was his gun picked up, but she had put it in the back of her pants. He asked her to give it back to him.

  “It’s about the only possession I have.” She sat down on the ground with him, unmindful of her clothing or the fact that he was someone she didn’t know. “What is it you want, ma’am? A good lay? Sorry. I don’t think that even in better places, I’d be able to satisfy anyone. I’ve already asked about the other things that people usually want. Tell me what it is you want from me so I can turn you down, and you’ll go away.”

  “Your father was Howard Berkley.” He didn’t say a word. Not that he was shocked by her knowing, but that she’d bring that up. “My husband is one of his bastards too. His mom, like yours, passed away recently, and she set him on the task of finding the men that Berkley fathered. You’re just one of six, I’m afraid to say.”

  “He’s dead then.” She nodded. “Okay. Good to know. Now I won’t have to go to prison for ending his life. However, it might have been a little better living conditions than I have now. Did you come here to tell me that? Thanks. Anything else before you head out?”

  “Yes. As I said, Caleb has been tasked to find you five. Abby, Caleb’s mother, wanted him to help you guys in any way he could. If you allow us to, we’ll take you home with us and get you healthy again. After that, we’ll figure out where to go from there.”

  “I don’t need—well, I don’t want your help. I want my gun back so I can do what I wanted to do before you got here.” She held out the gun, but before he could reach for it, she took it back, slammed a bullet into the chamber, and gave it back to him. “You think you’re so smart? You’re not. You just might have given a man his death by handing that back. What happens if you read in the paper tomorrow that I offed myself?”

  “Would it be more helpful if I were to shoot you?” She snatched the gun back and held it to his head. “No one would notice you being dead. By the time they did, your body would be rolled and picked over. All evidence of me doing it would be gone. Not to mention, my prints wouldn’t even be on the bullet. They’re all yours. Then there is the sad fact that it’s doubtful anyone would be around to mourn your death.”

  “You’re a bitch.” The man that came to stand behind the woman told him to watch himself. “Did you hear what she just said to me? That she would kill me, and no one would care.”

  “Would they?
I mean, like she said, who would even know that you were here until it was too late?” Joey stood up and then realized that the man was just a little taller than he was. Also, he noticed that whoever he was, he wasn’t afraid of him. “You and I have the same colored eyes and hair. My mom was a blonde. Seventeen when Berkley took advantage of her. How old was your mom?”

  “Sixteen. Seventeen when she had me. How do you know? Why are you doing this?” Caleb, he assumed his name was, told him what the woman had. “So, you’re doing this as a promise to your mother? How will she ever know if you do it or not? I mean, mine wouldn’t.”

  “I would know.” Joey could understand that as well. “Come with us. Please? I have a few things I’d like to talk to you about.”

  “Caleb, I presume.” He nodded. “I have nothing. Less than nothing. I haven’t any idea why I think you have it all, but there isn’t any way you can help me out that would have much of a lasting effect on my life. Not unless you can give me a good job that I’ll work hard at. A nice suit to wear to work that I’ll pay you back for, as well as a place I can call my own. That’s really all I want in life.”

  “Deal.” Caleb put out his hand. “You set the terms that I’m willing to meet for you to come with me. A deal is a deal, Joey. Shake on it, and we’ll get moving.”

  He looked around at the men and women he’d been with over the last few days. They were all wrapped up in blankets. Warm food and a warm, dry place to sleep was good for that. He looked back at the couple.

  “They’re going to need more than a one-time shot here. You are aware of that, aren’t you?” He said he was and what he’d done to improve their lots in life. “How long will that last, Caleb? Until some other shiny thing comes along—” Joey was appalled at himself. “I’m sorry. I had no right to say that. I’ve been so long without social needs that I forget myself.”