by Storm, Sloan
Whatever.
Tabitha walked over to me, and I gestured toward one of the chairs. "Have a seat."
She looked apprehensive, glancing at Trav and Gunnar. I got the message.
"Fellas, why don't you take the ladies to the bar? Buy 'em some drinks. Tabitha and I need to have a chat."
A few minutes later, I got what I'd been after since the night she conned her way into my suite - her - all alone. Tabitha sat there, her arms and legs crossed, like I might reach across the table and shake the truth out of her. Believe me, after all the damage she'd done, there was a part of me that considered it.
But she was fucking skittish. I got the sense that if I pushed too hard or too fast, she'd bolt. If she did, I wasn't sure I'd get a second chance. Brow beating her into the truth wouldn't work.
No, I'd have to try a different tactic with this chick…
* * *
The Tabitha sitting in front of me was very different from the one I'd met before. Unlike the motormouth that'd talked my ear off in Vegas, she didn't have much to say. Now, halfway around the planet, the scowl she wore did all the talking.
"Can I ask you a question?"
She glared at me before switching her attention to a fingernail, picking at the polish. "What?"
"Are you happy with your life?"
Tabitha froze, the glare returned, this time with a look of disbelief.
"What do you mean?" What a stupid question. She spread her arms. "Look where I am right now, who wouldn't be happy living this way? Seriously, how many people get to come to a place like this?"
Gotta hand it to her. For a whore, she had a decent grasp on reality. My questions were only getting started though.
"What about ten years from now?"
"What do you mean? What about it?"
I eased back in the chair. "Come on. There're always younger girls. Do you really think you can keep this up? Hell, I bet even at your age you wake up some mornings feeling old. Don't you?"
The insult hit home. "Fuck you. You dick."
She already had enough and tried to stand. No way. I grabbed her arm.
"Let go of me."
I did, and she kept looking at me, rubbing the spot where I'd held it. She hadn't run off, but I was far from finished.
"Don't you want to have a husband, kids of your own?"
"What difference does that make?" she snapped at me. "Why do you care?"
You're about to find out, skank. "I care because the woman I'm in love with, the relationship you caused irreparable damage to… She's pregnant with my kid. I care because that's what I want for my life, and if you're smart, you'd want the same."
She scoffed at me, shaking her head, while I kept hammering away. "I have no intention of losing either one of them. And I sure as hell won't let my child grow up without a father. If I have to drag you back to Portland by your hair, I will do it."
My threat didn't get a response from her. She went quiet. Not like she was afraid of me, more like lost in thought. I don't know how long she sat there, but I didn't have any time to waste while she daydreamed.
I smacked the tabletop with a flat palm. "Pay attention. I'm only going to say this once, I…"
"Sorry to hear about your baby." I could barely hear her voice over the hustle and bustle of the nightlife surrounding us. However, something had changed. All of a sudden she gave a shit? There was a chink in the armor. May as well exploit it.
Before I could say anything else, she continued. "Believe it or not, I can relate."
"Why's that?" I had no idea what she was on about. She seemed different to me somehow, vulnerable.
It didn't get far, she shook her head, choking off the confession. "Nevermind."
"Look, you don't have to tell me anything. I don't fucking care." That was the truth. "The only thing I do care about is salvaging my relationship with the mother of my child. If something's on your mind, spit it out."
She hesitated for a little while longer but eventually got around to it. Seems she grew up without a mother or father. To be honest, that didn't come as a big fucking surprise to me. Not many whores come from stable backgrounds.
"Can I see a picture of her?"
"Who?" I frowned.
"Your fiancé."
I had no idea where this was going, and I wasn't interested in finding out. "Do it yourself. Google her."
Tabitha pulled up her phone while I spelled Sneaks' name for her. It didn't take long for some images from the party at La Nicole to load.
"She's beautiful," Tabitha began, scrolling through the pictures before stopping and looking at me. "You both are. I'm sure your baby will be, as well."
Whatever. It was time to move this conversation along. I was about to give her an ultimatum, when I noticed Tabitha covering her mouth and shaking her head.
"It can't be," she whispered, totally engrossed with her phone. "Impossible."
Now what? I needed to get her attention refocused in a hurry. She didn't give me a chance.
"Where is Lily from?" Tabitha looked at me with saucer-round eyes. "Originally, I mean."
Enough was enough. "It's time for you to come with me." Out of time and patience, I stood from the chair.
"If you touch me, I will scream." She never flinched. "Now, answer my question. Where is Lily from?"
"Chicago. Why?"
Tabitha slumped in the chair, cradling the phone into her chest with a look of shock on her face. "There's no way. It can't be."
She looked up at me. "Your fiancé's father. I think he saved my life."
"Come again?"
Without a word, Tabitha reached inside of her clutch, pulled out an old newspaper clipping she'd laminated, and passed it to me.
The story described the scene… A good Samaritan and the woman he'd stopped to help, both killed, leaving a child fighting for its life.
Stunned, I looked across the table at Tabitha. Impossible.
It wasn't. Tabitha filled me in on the rest. She'd been raised by her aunt who'd kept the secret from her until she was in her early teens. The bottom line is that if it wasn't for what Sneaks' dad did that fateful day, there's a good chance Tabitha wouldn't be here.
The chick had me dumbfounded, not to mention speechless. But hey, what the hell, as long as she believed it, that was all that mattered to me.
"Tabitha, this is your chance." I sensed an opening and took it. "This is your opportunity to repay that debt."
She shifted her attention away from the phone and looked at me. "What are you talking about?"
I reminded her about the pictures she took of us together and the text messages she sent to Sneaks. "Those have completely destroyed my relationship with her. Since you were the cause of it, you're the only one that can fix the situation."
"I would help, but I can't." The revelation about Sneaks' dad had been a gift but not enough of one. I was losing the whore. "I've already been paid for my time in Spain. Like, a lot of fucking money."
Money? Are you shitting me? I almost laughed in her face.
"Tell you what, whatever the amount, I'll take care of it. I'll even double it so you can make things right with your John and maybe keep a little something for yourself."
It took a little bit more convincing, but eventually the hooker with a heart of gold decided to do the right thing.
Tabitha started to stand. "Okay, I just need to get my things. It won't take long."
I chuckled and reached across the table, closing my fingers around her wrist.
"Honey, I didn't come all this way to let you out of my sight at the finish line. If this goes like I think it should, you'll be back here in a few days anyway. I mean, if that's what you want. You got nothing to worry about. What's it gonna be?"
Once we were airborne, I looked at my wristwatch, still set for Portland time.
Fuck. I'd won the battle but lost the war.
No way in hell we'd get back in time to beat the deadline.
Life as I knew it would never be the same.
Bitter End (Griff)
Once we were in the air, I did the right thing, calling Grant and letting him know I wasn't going to make it in time. I'd be back in Portland the following day, ready to sign the paperwork turning everything over to Forever Forests.
Not that I was happy about it. It was a bitter fucking pill to swallow.
I'd come so close, but looking back on it, I should have known there wouldn't have been enough time to put Tabitha and Sneaks together before the deadline passed.
What can I say? I was desperate and out of ideas.
Now I'd pay the ultimate price for it, and if I'm being honest, that was okay with me. After all, having Tabitha with me meant I still had a chance to show Sneaks I'd told the truth all along.
But that didn't mean I'd let whoever was behind this scam get away with it. Inheritance or not, I'd figure out the who and the why…
With Trav and Gunnar dead asleep, I got a few drinks in Tabitha, hoping to press her for the info I needed. She had to give me names. Even though we'd semi-bonded over that whole crazy story about Sneaks' father, getting her to give up info was a tedious process.
What I needed from her was a brain dump.
I had to know every single detail before we arrived back in Portland. If we had to do it on no sleep, so be it. I let her know that if she wanted any, there was a California king in the back of the plane, ready and waiting. All she had to was cooperate and she could spend the rest of the flight in bliss while we roughed it out here in the main cabin.
She took a sip and winced, recounting what happened. "He told me it was just supposed to be a bachelor party gag. Everyone was in on the joke. Having to roofie you was the only way to make it believable because otherwise, I'd never get the nude pics and access to your phone."
I stopped her, a question gnawing at me since that night. "How the hell did you get me to the bed? I must have a hundred pounds on you."
"Crossfit." She flexed her arm and smiled at me. "I'm stronger than I look. Anyway, I was so nervous with that whole roofie thing. Jesus. Griff, the way you passed out, I thought I fucking killed you."
Murder aside, I still couldn't figure out how the person who hired her knew about the bachelor party in the first place. Trav and Gunnar made all the plans. I glanced toward their sorry, sleeping asses. No need to wake them.
Yet.
I refocused on the powerlifting prostitute. "Keep going."
Tabitha took another long pull off her drink. "Okay, so I met him at a party. It was like, a week ahead of yours. Here look…"
She stopped and whipped out her phone, thumbing through a bunch of pictures until she found it. Tabitha passed the phone to me, pointing at the photo.
"That's him. That's the guy who paid me one hundred thousand in cash to do this to you."
While I looked at it, she went on to tell me she'd fucked the guy and snapped some pics while he was sleeping. It was the two of them, with the pile of money he gave her in between them.
"Cash, huh?"
"Well. I don't take checks."
I studied that picture of him, digging deep into my memory banks. The dude looked vaguely familiar or maybe I just wanted to hope he did. Anyway, it didn’t much matter. The images weren’t clear enough for me to be certain one way or the other.
Out of ideas, I grimaced. It was time to wake Hansel and fucking Gretel. After stirring them out of their slumber, I gave them Tabitha's phone and asked if either one of them knew who the guy might be. After looking at the picture and talking it over with each other, they shook their heads.
"No idea," Trav said.
"Yeah, never seen the guy before in my life," Gunnar added.
"What's his name?" I asked her.
"Ted."
Ted?
Nope, didn’t ring a fucking bell.
"Did he say where he was from? Give you any other details?"
"No." She shook her head. "In my line of work, we don't really ask those kinds of questions."
"What about a phone number?"
"Nope. Every time he called me it was from a different number. Burners, I guess."
Things weren't looking good. By the time we touched down in Portland, I was more confused than ever. We were out of time, and I only had half the goddamn riddle solved.
One thing was for sure. Tabitha wasn't leaving my sight until I got her face-to-face with Sneaks. That meant she'd be taking a little detour with me to the attorney's office first. Then it would be back to the jet and hopefully, getting her to admit I was innocent.
Trav and Gunnar wished me luck, letting me know if I needed anything, call them.
With that, I hustled Tabitha into my waiting limousine and headed across town to seal my family's fate.
* * *
While the limo sped away from the airport, Tabitha looked at me. "Where are we going?"
My attention had already wandered. Looking out the window, a queasy feeling settled in on me. I'd never felt so powerless in my life, and there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it.
"Griff?"
I shot a glance at her. "We um, we have to make a stop. It won't take long. There's some personal business I need to take care of first."
She didn't seem to be bothered about it. Not that it would've mattered if she was. I was only a few hours away from at last being able to prove my innocence to Sneaks. In the midst of the hell my life became since Papa died, it was the last thing giving it meaning.
The limo pulled up in front of the attorney's office, and I got out, extending a hand to Tabitha.
"Can I just wait here?"
Yeah, no. I wiggled my fingers at her. "No. I didn't fly halfway across the world twice to have you slip away at the last minute."
"Oh come on. Do you really think I'd run off?"
"Not a chance I wanna take, honey. Now let's go."
After a little bit of grumbling, Tabitha did as I asked, and within a couple of minutes, we were on our way to the conference room for the meeting. Before walking inside, I blew out a deep breath. Nothing sucked in life as much as losing, and in spite of my best efforts, I'd lost big-time.
When we entered the room, the half dozen or so lawyers and the two senior executives from Forever Forests stood from their chairs. I sensed Tabitha easing up behind me. She pinched the fabric of my shirtsleeve between her fingers and gave it a quick tug.
"Griff look," she whispered, her voice a little shaky. "I don't believe it. It's him."
Him who? I glanced at her and then scanned the room. What in the world was she talking about? Tabitha nudged me and pointed toward the far end of the conference room table. A man was doing his best to hide his face in his hand.
"It's Ted."
My eyes locked on him. Fuck me.
I had a name, I even had a picture and a half-assed story about a bachelor party prank, but seeing him here proved my hunch correct. What I'd missed was looking outside of my inner circle for the culprit when he was the closest anyone could possibly be.
There was only one problem – his name wasn’t Ted.
In an instant, it came rushing back to me.
Mitchell.
And now, the master puppeteer stood feet away from me. Every muscle in my body hardened, my fingers turned to fists, ready to inflict the maximum pain possible. Tabitha tried to restrain me, but I jerked free of her, barreling in his direction.
"You!" I pointed a finger at him, preparing for my first strike. "Who the fuck do you think you are?"
Mitchell’s face lost all its color. He stood and staggered, almost tripping and falling over his chair. The other attorneys in the room gasped. I'm sure none of them had ever witnessed a fight, let alone been in one. Not that this would be much of a fight. Mitchell was seconds away from feeling my full wrath when Grant distracted me.
"Mr. Foster! What's going on?"
His question diverted my attention. Mitchell used the opportunity to scramble away from me. I bit my lip and looked at Grant.
"I want to know what that sonofabitch is trying to pull!"
Mitchell played dumb, claiming he had no idea why I was so upset. With every lying syllable that oozed from his lips, my rage festered, bringing me closer to the brink. While he begged Grant to listen, I noticed the senior executives from the charity leaning in and whispering to each other.
Something was seriously fucked.
"Tabitha." I looked at her over my shoulder and opened my palm. "Give me your phone. Bring up those pictures you showed me."
Once she did, I passed the phone to Grant and went on to explain the whole scam. Mitchell hired her to sabotage my engagement, knowing that if I couldn't fulfill Papa's request, I'd lose everything. The only question remaining for me was why?
What did he have to gain? Mitchell stood there shaking his head, denying he'd done anything wrong. Except for fucking Tabitha, that is.
"It's my private life. I can do whatever I want."
And then, Grant came upon the smoking gun. He turned the phone toward Mitchell, the picture of Tabitha and him with the pile of cash in full view of everyone.
"Care to explain this?"
Mitchell went silent, his eyes shifted back and forth.
Grant kept going. "Mitchell, I demand an answer immediately."
Mitchell cracked and shot a look toward the executives from Forever Forests.
"I'm not going down for this."
The two men stood there in stunned silence while Mitchell unloaded on them, revealing a story so fucking crazy that, if I hadn't been in the room myself, I'm not sure I would've believed it.
He pointed at them and the confession poured out. "They hired me to make sure the money wound up in their hands. Promised me fifty million to make it happen. Once I found out about the marriage clause, I knew how to break them up. With that slut's help, she wouldn't marry him, and he'd lose everything."
The instant he finished, the executives went into damage control, denying any wrongdoing. It didn't surprise me a bit. They were a shady operation pretending to be a great protector of the environment. But the rumors were always there… Kickbacks and payoffs. It was no secret that the higher-ups skimmed off the operation for years, fattening their own pockets.