Tommy, who was lying on his stomach, his hair tousled and his face unshaven, opened his eyes with a quick lift. When he realized it was Grace, he closed them back.
“Hey,” he said in a voice filled with drowsiness.
“I hate to disturb you, baby, but Milt’s here.”
Tommy opened his eyes again this time, waited a second, and then he got out of bed. He sat on the edge of the bed and yawned, and looked at Grace. “What time is it?” he asked her.
“Almost ten,” she said.
He glanced down at her outfit, a beautiful pantsuit, and then he stood and began walking toward the bathroom. “Where do you think you’re going?” he asked as he walked.
Grace braced herself. “I’m going to work,” she said.
“Not today, Grace,” he said firmly as he went into the en suite bathroom and began peeing.
“I can’t sit around here all day, Tommy. I have to do something.”
“You have plenty to do.”
“No, I don’t. But at work I have meetings scheduled that I can’t just cancel. Trammel isn’t like Gabrini, Inc. People aren’t clamoring to join up with us when they can just as easily use FedEx or UPS. I have to really sell them on what we have to offer.”
Tommy jiggled his dick, to get the last of the urine out, flushed the toilet, washed his hands, and then headed back into the bedroom toward the closet. “You have enough to do here, Grace.”
“Like what?”
“Like trying to prove your innocence,” Tommy yelled. “What the fuck you think?!”
Grace was stunned by his outburst. And he didn’t let up. “You saw those vultures yesterday,” he blared. “They’re out for blood, Grace, and you’re behaving as if it’s no big deal. Well, sweetheart I’m telling you right now it’s a big damn deal! Nobody’s calling my woman every name in the book and think they’re going to get away with it! No fucker is going to sit back and scandalize your good name and expect me to just ignore it! You wasn’t abusing any employees, and you wasn’t driving that gotdamn car! You wouldn’t have gotten behind a wheel drunk, and especially not as plastered as that Rawlings guy was claiming you were. But as unfair as all of this is, we’ve got to prove you didn’t do it, Grace. Nobody else is going to do that for us. We’ve got to prove the negative. The burden is on us. That’s what you need to worry about here and now. Fuck Trammel right now. Concentrate on Grace!”
Grace knew Tommy had a temper, she’d seen it unleashed before, but she’d never seen it unleashed like this. She knew there were things Tommy had to do in his past, terrible things, when it came to his family’s honor. But now it was her honor they were trampling on. She never realized, until this very moment, just how super-serious he took his responsibility toward her.
As he grabbed the pair of pants he had taken off last night, she ran and threw her arms around him.
“I’m sorry, Tommy,” she said. He looked down at her. “I hate what’s happening too.”
Tommy pulled her into his arms. “We’ve got to stay focused,” he said. “I don’t ever want you to underestimate your enemies. Not ever.”
Grace held him tighter. It wasn’t that she underestimated them at all. She just knew she couldn’t let things she couldn’t control disturb her. But Tommy, it seemed to her, had a more proactive view. He believed, once he had more facts, that events weren’t going to control him, but he was going to control them. She decided, then and there, to stop putting herself in the way, and trust Tommy to steer this ship.
Tommy made his way into the living room a few minutes after Grace had already been there. She had prepared and was now giving to Milt Alderman a cup of coffee. Milt sat the cup on the cocktail table and rose to his feet, when Tommy walked in.
“Milt, good morning,” Tommy said as the two men shook hands. “Tell me something good,” he added as he sat on the sofa, beside Grace.
“I was getting reports all through the night,” Milt said.
“What’s the bottom line?” Tommy asked.
“There was a terrible accident during Grace’s freshman year in college and a woman was unfortunately killed. That’s a fact.”
“That much we know,” Tommy said.
“And it’s also a fact,” Milt continued, “that Rait Rawlings claimed at the time that some other man was driving the car, a man whom he alleged had fled the scene of the accident. Everybody else died or nearly died, but the driver managed to walk away, if Rait is to be believed.”
“So what do you mean?” Tommy asked, his heart pounding. “That there was no third person in that car?”
“There was no third person in the car.”
“But there had to be,” Grace said. “I wouldn’t have been driving if I was drunk like that.”
“You weren’t driving, Grace,” Milt said. “Rait Rawlings was driving that car.”
“Rait?” Grace asked, stunned.
“Rait Rawlings was driving that car. And he’s right. Your father and a friend of your father’s, a white man named Clive Birch, did indeed pay him off. But the part he failed to mention was that they only agreed to pay him off when he was going to claim that you were the driver. So to exonerate himself, and to collect cash while he was at it, he lied about this third man.”
Grace could hardly believe it. She had never heard anybody accuse Rait. Just this third man or some who believed she might have been driving. And Rait was such a nice guy that she never thought he would have been the driver either. Even after they graduated and went their separate ways, she still didn’t suspect her friend. She just didn’t.
Milt, however, continued. “The prosecutor had no evidence to disprove Rawlings version of events, and Mr. Birch apparently had friends in high enough places to make sure that they didn’t try very hard to disprove it, and therefore Rawlings, nor anyone else, was ever charged. So yes, he was paid off all right. But only after he was attempting to implicate you falsely, Grace.”
Grace was still befuddled. “But why would he come out now with this story?” she asked. “What’s in it for him now?”
“Money,” Milt said. “His driving force. He was broke and willing and the right people got in touch with him. So he was paid yet again for his same crime. But only this time, he wasn’t paid to exonerate you, but to implicate you.”
“Money is what’s driving Jared and Nayla too,” Grace said.
“That’s right,” Milt said. “The old adage is correct. Always follow the money. That’s what we did.”
Although Grace had a real idea who was behind Jared and Nayla’s nonsense, she had no clue about Rait’s. “But who could be paying all of them?” she asked Milt.
“Jillian Birch,” Tommy said before Milt had a chance to say it.
Jillian had, of course, crossed Grace’s mind when the story first broke. But she dismissed it when it didn’t add up for her. She therefore looked at Tommy. “Jillian?” she asked. “She’s paying Jared and Nayla to tell their lies you mean?” she asked him.
“And Rawlings too, yes,” Tommy said.
Grace, however, was unconvinced. “But how would Rait changing his story help Jillian? I already assumed she would want to discredit me, or do whatever she could to regain control of Trammel, but I own fifty-eight percent of Trammel. I’m not going to give her control again no matter what Rait says, or even Jared and Nay for that matter.”
“You’ll give up control if it became a question of her taking over or Trammel going under,” Tommy said. “That’s how Jilly thinks. She thinks there’s the elites like her, and then people like you. She’s convinced that the elites have to rule the world or the world would just crumble and die.”
“And she thinks without her at Trammel it’ll crumble and die?”
“She convinces herself of nonsense like that, yes,” Tommy said. “But of course she forgets to mention that she has to sabotage Trammel for it to crumble and die, but that’s beside the point with Jilly.”
“So it’s true,” Grace asked Milt. “Jillian Birch was behi
nd Rait’s sudden appearance, and Jared and Nayla’s lies?”
Milt nodded. “Yes,” he said. “She and her brother Lootie Pressley were absolutely behind it.”
Grace knew Jillian was capable of some dirty dealings, but she didn’t expect her to dig this low. And it angered her. Hard as she was working to build Trammel up, Jillian was working to tear it down. “I’m going to pay Miss Birch a visit,” she said to Tommy.
Tommy exhaled. To Grace’s shock he didn’t dismiss her suggestion out of hand, or insist he handle it alone. He, instead, doubled down on her suggestion.
“Not without me you aren’t,” he said.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
While Grace and Milt waited at her apartment for Tommy to make a quick run to his office, what she didn’t know was that Tommy also took a detour, and paid an unexpected visit to Rait Rawlings.
As soon as Rait stepped inside of his car in the garage of his modest home in suburbia, Tommy, who was seated in the backseat of the car with his legs crossed, cleared his throat. Rait turned around so fast that he nearly whiplashed himself. When he saw that it was indeed true, and some strange man was sitting in the backseat of his car, he attempted to jump right back out. Tommy, however, had other plans for him as he moved behind the driver’s seat and slung a rope around the man’s neck, pinning Rait’s entire body against the seat of the car.
“This is the way it’s going to be,” Tommy said firmly as Rait struggled mightily to break free. Tommy held the rope steadily, although it took a considerable amount of his considerable strength. “You will call a press conference today,” he went on. “Not tomorrow, not next week. Today.”
Rait continued struggling for freedom. Tommy continued to tighten the rope. “At that press conference,” he continued, “you will admit that your ass lied. You will admit that Grace was not behind the wheel of that car, but that some third man was responsible just as you claimed twelve years ago when the accident first occurred. We know your ass was the real driver, but you’d better stick with the story you told when that accident first happened.”
If Rait kept to the original story, Tommy felt, it wouldn’t confuse the issue. This wasn’t about getting Rait Rawlings. This was about exonerating Grace. Besides, Tommy knew he had to keep that knowledge of Rait’s involvement as leverage should Rait decide to pull another one of these stunts for money.
Tommy therefore tightened the rope again, just in case Rait had any doubts about his resolve.
But Rait already understood his resolve. Because by now he was no longer struggling to be free, but was struggling to stay alive.
“But if you don’t go before those cameras and retract what you said about Grace McKinsey,” Tommy went on as if he was oblivious to the man’s struggles, “then I will not only provide the DA with the evidence I have, evidence that clearly shows you as the driver, but after I do that, I’m also going to kill your ass. And you know why I’m going to do it, Rait? Because I can.”
Rait’s neck was beginning to draw blood as he fought the chokehold, and Tommy knew not to cross that fatal line. He therefore released the rope from Rait’s neck. Rait, finally able to breathe unobstructed again, grabbed his neck as he hyperventilated.
Tommy wrapped the rope around his knuckles. He sat back again, and crossed his legs. “Who paid you to lie?” he asked Rait.
When Rait said nothing, Tommy slung the rope around Rait’s neck again, prompting Rait to immediately respond. “I don’t know the name,” he said quickly.
“You’re lying,” he said, tightening the rope again.
“I’m not!” Rait yelled, struggling to breathe again. “I swear I don’t know! They did a money drop and I picked it up.”
“But how did they get in touch with you?”
“By phone. Everything was by cell phone. They even told me they were using throwaway phones so I couldn’t trace the calls.”
“You say they?”
“First it was a woman. Then it was a man who called me.”
Tommy hesitated. Jillian’s brother Lootie maybe? “And they never gave a name?” he asked Rait.
“Never.”
He tightened the rope yet again. “Don’t lie to me!”
“I’m not lying! I swear I’m not lying! They never gave a name!”
Tommy knew he was getting nowhere with this. He released the rope again. Again, Rait struggled to breathe.
“Just remember to set the record straight,” Tommy said. “Do you understand me, Rawlings? By the end of this day you had better set that record straight.”
Rait looked at him through the rearview mirror. He looked at him with more fear than anger in his eyes. And all he could do was nod.
Tommy smiled that chilling smile that came nowhere near his eyes. “Good,” he said, and then moved to get out of the car. Then he thought of something.
“Oh, and Mr. Rait Prick Rawlings,” he said, “do wear a scarf at your press conference today. To cover up your scars.” Then Tommy frowned. “Asshole,” he said, as he got out of the car.
Later that day, with Grace beside him, Jillian’s butler behaved as if Tommy wasn’t going to be allowed in, which astounded Tommy.
He and Grace were at Jillian’s front door. Karl, the butler, had just answered the door.
“Mr. Gabrini, Miss McKinsey,” he said nervously. “Hello.”
“Hello, Karl,” Tommy said as he began to move toward entering.
“I’m afraid, sir,” Karl said, blocking the entrance.
“Yes?” Tommy asked.
“I’m afraid Miss Birch is tied up at this present time.”
“Then you’d better untie her,” Tommy said as he sidestepped Karl and entered the home. He had his hand on the small of Grace’s back and was escorting her in right along with him. They both had been inside Jillian’s beautiful home dozens of times individually, and Karl knew them both very well. But he also knew what had recently transpired with Jillian’s firing, and Cameron’s death.
“I don’t think she’ll approve, sir,” he said, his eyes begging for understanding. “She’s really very busy.”
But Tommy would have none of it. “We’ll wait,” he said as he escorted Grace to the sitting area.
Karl gave up. He couldn’t be expected to argue with Tommy Gabrini! “I’ll let her know you’re here, sir,” he said, and headed down the corridor.
Grace and Tommy sat on the sofa. Tommy crossed his legs. “She’s going to deny everything,” Grace said. “You know that.”
But Tommy had already taken care of the backup plan. Jillian’s denial was irrelevant at this point.
Grace shook her head. “I know she hates what’s happened to Cam, I wish it wouldn’t have happened too. And I know she figure she should still be at the helm at Trammel. But that’s not how it works. If it wasn’t for you buying up all those shares to begin with, there wouldn’t even still be a Trammel Transport. But she forgets all about that.”
“That bitch hasn’t forgotten a damn thing,” Tommy said, unable to hide his disdain for Jillian. Grace already knew he was growing increasingly tired of their plots and schemes and he was about ready to explode. She only hoped her presence could help keep a lid on him.
Tommy kept on. “She knows I could have sold Trammel a long time ago. I gave her every chance to manage that company better, but she wouldn’t do it. So I took all control away from her. I gave it to you, and you’re actually doing something with it. Working yourself senseless, but you’re turning things around,” he added as he took her hand. “Trammel’s already doing better.”
“I still just hate this,” Grace said. “Who has time for these games? She still owns forty-two percent of Trammel. Doesn’t she realize that she’ll win if Trammel starts turning big profits? Doesn’t she realize she’ll lose if clients start deserting us because they’ve determined I’m some murderer or harasser or I’m firing employees wrongly, or whatever else they come up with?”
“She realizes it,” Tommy said firmly. “But she also do
esn’t care. Cameron is dead. And she wants revenge. I think that’s all she sees.”
Grace looked at Tommy. She wished that wasn’t it.
But when Jillian entered the sitting room, her ever-present French poodle in her arms, sweeping in with a grand smile on her surgically-enhanced balloon lips as if nothing whatsoever was wrong, Grace knew Tommy was exactly right. She was happy to play the bitch.
“Tommy, hello,” she said as she walked in. Tommy would normally stand when a lady entered a room. Not this time.
Jillian noticed it too, but she continued to smile and have a seat. Karl, who came in behind her, assisted her to her chair.
“Is there anything else, ma’am?” Karl asked her.
“No, Karl, thank-you. There’s nothing else. I would offer my guests drinks, but I’m sure they’re not here to socialize. Am I right?” She asked this with a grin. But it was a rhetorical question, and even the butler knew that. He bowed and left the room.
Jillian leaned back in her chair and looked at her two guests. Although she was still smiling, Grace could see the hatred now. It was that same hatred she saw when this same woman called her Tommy’s whore.
“So,” she said, “what can I do for you folks?”
“Nothing,” Tommy said. “But I plan do something for you.”
Jillian always did like Tommy’s style. “Oh, really now?” she asked. “And what is that?”
“I plan rearrange your face,” he said, and as soon as he said it that smile on Jillian’s face was gone.
But he continued. “I plan to take those balloon lips of yours and deflate them with my fists. I plan make you have fond memories of what it used to be like to have both legs. And both arms. Teeth.”
Grace didn’t expect this kind of talk from Tommy, and she wondered if he was joking around. But when she looked at him she saw that he wasn’t.
“I don’t like to act the thug, Jillian,” Tommy continued, “but make no mistake about it. When I have to go there, I go there. I don’t go halfway there, I don’t go a third of the way there. I go there. I keep my word. But my thuggery can be avoided if and only if you go before those same cameras you sent your bought-and-paid-for flunkies in front of yesterday, and issue a retraction of their accusations against Grace.”
TOMMY GABRINI 2: A PLACE IN HIS HEART Page 15