“Think of the consequences. Let’s talk to Chuck first. He’ll tell us what we need to do, you know? Its blackmail, or extortion or one of those other big words the po-po’s use. Either way, we want to be really careful with this. Especially since it’s international, and T’s mom just lost her hubs. Let’s keep it on this side of the pond for a few, then we can tell him, okay?”
“I’m sorry, Kari. If I hadn’t—”
“Don’t!” I cut her off. I knew exactly what she was going to say and I really didn’t want to hear it. “This is not your fault! You didn’t know that Brad was capable of doing something like this and neither did I. You’ve done nothing wrong here, so don’t apologize. I’m going to get us some food, I’ll call Chuck again and when I come back, I expect you to be watching some shitty HBO movie with some semblance of a smile on your face. Capisce?” I could hear her giggle through the door and it put a smile back on my face.
“Okay Kari…thanks. Shitty movie coming right up.”
I rapped my knuckles against the door once. “That’s what friends are for.”
I hurried to the car, craning my neck around and glancing here and there to see if Brad was lurking in any dark corners. We weren’t in a bad part of town, but I still didn’t want to be out alone for too long. I was definitely not in the mood for his shit, either.
A quick drive to the burger joint and while I was waiting for our order, I took out my cell phone and scrolled through the contacts until I got to Chuck. I knew if he were out on patrol, he wouldn’t have his cell phone on him; at least, not his personal one and I didn’t have his desk number.
The phone rang for a few seconds and my heart sank. I really wanted to get this police business handled so I could tell Ginny everything was going to be ok and keep her spirits up. She was down enough missing Tristan as it was.
“This is Chuck.”
“Chuck! Hey, it’s Kari.”
“Hey, Kari! Got your message, been a busy night. It seems like all the bad boys are on the loose. What’s going on with Ginny?”
I smiled. He was always such a nice guy. “Her asshole ex is trying to blackmail her. I don’t know what to do.”
“Blackmail? How? With what?”
“Well, uhm…remember I told you Gin had a boyfriend in England and they eloped and yadda, yadda, yadda?”
“Yeah, yeah, I remember. So now he’s blackmailing her?”
“No. It’s her ex.” I knew I’d have to blurt this out as kinky as it sounds, “The dumb dickhead recorded some sexy stuff in the house and—”
“Recorded? Wow, Kari. Let’s get together and we talk about this. Covert surveillance and blackmailing is a federal offense. I have about thirty minutes of paperwork left and I’ll be right over.”
“Uhm, sure! But we’re not at home. Hold on a sec.” I crooked my neck to hold the phone and grabbed the bags of food from the cashier. In the struggle to get the bag and sodas in my hands, the phone fell, crashing to the floor. “Ahhh shit!” I grimaced at the cashier, dropped the bag and got down on my hands and knees, searching for the battery. I saw the other pieces and I smiled at a couple and crawled across the greasy floor right under their table to grab the phone. Dammit! The screen was cracked! Shit! Oh my God! Oh my God! Give me patience break here. Please.
I had to call Chuck back. I didn’t know if he’d heard the last part about us not being at home. Relax, girl. I stood up, brushed myself off and realized about twenty customers were staring at me. I quickly glanced around, looking for the battery and spotted it right by the door. I could hear whispers about the funny fat girl as I grabbed my purse and the bag of food that was probably a hot greasy mess by now. I put my hand up in my best Barbie Tour Guide fashion, waved, and smiled at the customers adding, “Thank you for coming, thank you, thanks a lot.” When I got near the door, I scooped up the battery, muttered a “fuck you all” under my breath and headed back to the hotel as fast as I could.
When I got back to our room, I was pleasantly surprised to see Ginny freshly showered and sitting on the bed, watching some stupid sitcom. I sauntered in, shutting and locking the door behind me. I was a little paranoid that the little fucker could be lurking around corners, just waiting to film something juicy. Fucking dick. Ginny greeted me with a smile and I was happy to see her one step closer to being her normal self again.
“You okay now?” I asked her. I set the food on the bed between us and pulled out the parts to my phone that I’d thrown in my purse. “I was talking to Chuck and the phone fell on the floor and it shattered. I hope the damn thing still works.”
“Here, use mine.” Ginny handed me her cell phone and I noticed Skype was open with Tristan’s name beside a recent call.
“You talked to Tristan? Did you tell him?”
“Yeah, I talked to him, but I didn’t say anything about anything. Just that I miss him. He wanted sex and I told him I was too tired. What’d you bring to eat?”
“Burgers. I hope it’s not a greasy pile of crap, I kinda dropped it when my phone flew across the restaurant. My knees are all greasy. In fact, I’d better go wash up first.”
“Bacon cheeseburger?” Gin cried out as she waved the perfectly good burger at me. “Do you not realize how much weight I’ve gained? I don’t want to look like a beached whale on my wedding day, Kar.”
“First of all,” I started, “that’s my sandwich. I bought you a chicken one that should be at the bottom of the bag.” I snatched the sandwich from her lax fingers and tossed it on the bed, and then went into the bathroom to wash up.
“Second of all?” Ginny yelled. “There has to be a second when you say ‘first of all’.”
“Second of all, no matter what you wear, you will be beautiful on your wedding day,” I responded from the bathroom. I walked out, drying my hands, smiled at Ginny and was happy to see her smile back. “Tristan loves you. No matter what that butt-fuck crazy Brad does. You and Tristan will always be together. Don’t let one stupid jerk make you doubt yourself.”
Ginny’s eyes shone with unshed tears. “Thanks, Bear.”
I clapped her on the back. “You’re my best friend. Now, enough with this mushy shit. Let’s eat and then I’ll try to call Chuck again. He said something about blackmail being a felony. Let’s hope dickhead Brad goes to jail for this.” I bit into my burger and moaned at the party in my mouth. Damn the diet.
Ginny took a bite of her chicken sandwich, but still had a concerned look on her face. “I think I need to tell Tristan. I’m his wife and if something this bad is happening and I don’t tell him, how will he ever trust me?”
“Seriously Gin, just listen to me, okay? If you tell Tristan, he’ll fly over here in a heartbeat. He’ll kill him and there goes your marriage, your man and any kids you’ve ever thought about. Let me call Chuck again, he’s probably trying to get a hold of me.” I scowled at the broken phone and picked up Ginny’s and dialed.
Ginny stopped eating. “I never thought about that.”
“Exactly. Or who’s to say that he won’t just release the video anyway? The dick is a capital ‘D’ douche. You can’t trust shit stains like that. Just follow my advice and let law enforcement handle it.”
Right then, Chuck answered. “Hi, it’s me again. I dropped my phone and broke it. Now, where was I?”
“I wondered what happened. You were telling me about blackmail. Where are you?” he asked. I could hear driving noises in the background.
“We’re at Motel 6 and—” Ginny shook her head no and mouthed “No, no, no.” I guessed she didn’t want him to come to the hotel. “Uhm, Chuck? Gin isn’t feeling very well you know, after all that’s happened and can we like, just tell you over the phone?”
“Yeah, let me pull over.”
“Okay, hon. Let me know when you’re ready.”
“Okay, tell me what you know.”
“Ginny and her hubby are currently separated; he’s in London and obviously she’s here. So I guess to keep the magic going, they occasionally partic
ipate in uhm… how shall I put it delicately...shall we say, mutual online masturbatory activities?”
Chuck laughed. “They Skype sex?”
“Exactly. And that normally would be totally fine, if not for her ex-boyfriend who got into our house last year, planted a camera and now threatens to release her hot sex tapes to the world.” I practically growled the last part of that out as I remembered the email Brad had sent and all its horrible details.
“Wow, and you’re sure it’s her ex? I mean, trust me, I don’t doubt you for a second, but I want to make sure we have solid evidence so I can figure out how to proceed with this guy.”
“Ginny has the email he sent her,” I replied. I hoped she hadn’t deleted the damn thing; otherwise, we’d be up shit creek without a paddle.
“Good, Kari. Good. Send me everything you girls have about her ex. Any text messages, emails, full name, where he works, everything. I’ll need it all by tomorrow when I talk to the guys down at the precinct and we’ll see what we can do to keep this guy from fucking up Ginny’s life. Mind if I ask what the hell Ginny even did to this guy to make him go off the rails?”
“Yeah, she uh…she moved on,” I answered. “I’ll email you everything we have. Do you uhh…do you need the video? I’m sure—”
“Not right now. I’ll be in touch in the morning after I check what you girls send me. Is this a good number to reach you on?”
“Yes it is. I don’t know if my phone even works. Good night, babe and thanks,” I replied before hanging up.
“There ya go! Chuck’ll take care of it and we can go home in the morning and get packed for England.” When she nodded her head and continued eating, I knew I had her and we moved on from sandwiches to fries to what was left of our drinks before she quizzed me again. I pasted a soothing grin on my face and steeled myself for the onslaught of questions.
“But what if Tristan finds out and is furious I didn’t tell him? What if he’s disgusted by what he sees on the video and leaves me?”
“Ginny Peterson! I wanna slap you right now. How can he possibly be disgusted? He’s already seen your pussy for real and online; I mean...he was watching.”
“Sorry,” she replied sliding more fries in her mouth. “I just…Kari, this has never happened to me before.”
“Well, of course not, it’s—” I started.
“No, I mean any of it! Having someone who loves me as much as I love him. Having someone who gets me and sees my flaws and loves me even more because of them. It’s scary. I’m so afraid that I’m going to open my eyes one day and find out that it was all just some crazy dream.”
My natural desire to come back with a snarky response was suppressed by the sound of real anguish in Ginny’s voice. I knew that right then wasn’t the time for snark, but for reassurance that she was doing the right thing.
“Girl, this whole insecurity thing has got to stop. You’re a wonderfully beautiful person, inside and out. Finally, someone who’s worthy of you has come into your life. Don’t let your worries psyche you out of a lasting relationship.”
“I know Bear, you’re totally right. I mean, he married me. He could’ve had anyone and he married me!”
I nodded. “Exactly. Now, stop worrying. Keep quiet about asshole’s idiocy and just focus on having the best wedding ever!”
Ginny smiled, shaking her head at my faux cheerleader stance. “Alright, I’ll make sure not to tell Tristan. But if Brad does something else, then I swear I’m letting Tristan know first thing.”
“That’s fine. I’m sure Chuck’ll have some info for us about Brad and he’ll lock him up before any of this gets out. After the wedding, we’ll tell Tris, okay?” I hoped Chuck would have some information for us within the next few days. I had no desire to sit on an airplane for however many hours, listening to Ginny speculate about who knows what. I wanted to enjoy our two-week vacation and I was determined not to let Brad get in the way.
Chapter 3 — Tristan
Moving from being on site with the guys to being stuck behind a desk was a bit of a culture shock. I still half-expected my dad to come walking through that door at any minute and yell at me for daring to sit in his chair. In reality of course, that wasn’t going to happen and my own feelings of inadequacy wanted to take over. I ran my fingers along the desk in front of me, solid mahogany. Only the best for the head of Armstrong. I sighed, I had some big shoes to fill. I picked up the phone and rang my secretary.
“Yes, Mr. Armstrong?”
“Call Mike for me and remind him that it was cheese and onion crisps I wanted, please. He should be here anytime soon.”
“Right away, sir.”
I smiled as I listened to the nasally voice of the secretary and leaned back in my leather executive chair to wait for the fall out. Winding Mike up was one of my favorite pastimes and it wasn’t long before I heard his voice as he approached my office door and he didn’t sound too happy. My job was done.
“Are you yanking my chain again, having Gertrude call me, you bloody idiot. You knew I was on my way back,” Mike threw out, scowling at the giggling woman whose desk sat outside my door. Then he smiled when he saw the huge grin on my face, “Honestly, you two are the worst. Next time, get your own friggin’ lunch.”
“Now, now, Mike. Is that any way to talk to your boss?” I chuckled and held my hand out for the sandwich he’d bought me. He slapped it into my palm with a scowl before closing the door and taking the seat in front of my desk. Getting him riled up was one of the best things about my job, and it was surprisingly easy these days. I think the lack of a woman in his life was making him sour, and I made sure to tell him so.
“We need to find you a good woman, mate. You’re losing your sense of humor in your solitude.” I took a bite out of my sandwich and groaned approvingly at the flavors going on in my mouth. I’d been busy, skipped through my lunch again and I was starving. “So, did you actually get any crisps?”
Mike threw the bag at me before taking a big bite from his sandwich. The next few minutes were spent in silence as we both devoured our lunch. Since I’d taken over the Armstrong Corporation, I’d promoted Mike to be my right-hand-man in the field. He was almost completely healed from his accident and unless you knew him, you wouldn’t even be able to tell he had a little limp. I’d always feel guilty for being hung over and not turning up for work on the day of his accident, no matter how many times he reassured me that it wasn’t my fault. Mike sighed as he finished the last of his food. “You’re right, mate. I need to find a girl. Maybe someone like your Ginny would be nice?”
“Oh?” I joked. “I thought you went for the gorgeous waif types with impeccable breeding and a hot slim body?”
Mike laughed. “Oh trust me, I still think they’re nice to look at for sure, but I don’t know how long I could really sustain a relationship like that, you know? I’d always be looking over my shoulder to see who might want to steal her away from me.”
I nodded because I understood exactly where he was coming from. “I know, trust me. The years I spent with Vanessa…well, they were pretty much a waste of time and someone did steal her away. That was a blessing in disguise though, I’m not sorry now I have Ginny.”
“I told you that, mate.”
“I know. I think the only one who was into that relationship for the long term was me. And even then, I think I was just trying to please my father. Do what I thought he wanted; what I thought would make him happy with me. Even after all we went through, the fights, the rebellion, the bullshit, I still wanted to make him proud.”
“I think in the end, you did.” We both ignored the leftover crisps in favor of turning our attention to the past, and I sat in quiet reflection, thinking about my dad when Mike spoke again, “I know your father was proud of you, T, even if you didn’t. Why do you think I tried so hard to get you to talk to him? You forged your own way, made something of yourself by your own rules, and it all worked out. You met the love of your life, even if she is a yank.”
“Leave it out, you tosser! That’s my bird you’re talking about there,” but Mike was right and I thought back over everything that had happened the past few years, doing business by my own rules, meeting Ginny, falling in love with her… all of it had been an amazing adventure.
“Would you change anything?”
“What?” I was startled at Mike’s question. I turned to face him, but I couldn’t read the expression on his face..
“It’s a simple question, T. Just be honest, it’s me, you know? Anything that’s happened in the past two years, would you change any of it?”
Without thinking, I replied, “You getting hurt, leaving Ginny alone, breaking her heart, all of those are things I’d change if I could.” Mike nodded and I thought a little longer, “Not telling my father how I felt sooner so that we could have really talked things out before he died.”
“Good answers,” he replied with a crooked smile. “I think the only thing I’d change was not staying at home the day of the accident. Everything else in life has been good. Plenty of beer, fun and women—and not necessarily in that order.”
I laughed. Mike always had a way of lightening heavy situations. It was unusual for us to be talking about important things without a pint in front of us. It wasn’t uncomfortable, just different as we rarely had serious chats outside of the pub.
“Bloody hell, mate. I’m only twenty-six and we’re turning into sad old geezers who do nothing but talk about our glory days.”
“Fuck you, you speak for yourself. You’re old and you’re married, albeit to Gin and she’s a very nice girl, but I’m still single, young and virile,” Mike bantered back with a smile. “And sorry to change the subject, but shouldn’t you be wearing a suit to work these days, Mr. Big Boss? High-powered businessmen like you, should only be wearing the finest Italian suit designs, you know?”
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