Keep (A Gentry Novella) (Gentry Generations Book 3)

by Cora Brent

  Cami didn’t look surprised. She nodded. “As for the tanning salons, whether he knew it or not, he was in business with some bad guys.”

  “What type of bad guys?”

  “The type who might be associated with a well known east coast mafia family. The type who are being investigated for sex trafficking underage girls.”

  I felt sick. “Hale would never have gotten involved in that.”

  Cami was sympathetic. “I’m sure you’re right. There’s no evidence that Hale was involved but in light of the situation there’s been a lot of digging into the business enterprises of these men. Anita said she didn’t see any reason to make Hale’s affiliation public, at least not for now. She was just trying to be a friend and give us a heads up.”

  “All right.” I didn’t really want to think about this right now, not less than twenty four hours after my brother’s funeral service.

  “There’s part of me that still can’t believe he’s gone,” I said to Cami.

  Her eyes glistened. “I know.”

  “I saw Chase at the funeral yesterday. I kept meaning to go take a minute to talk to him but by the time I got around to it he’d left.”

  “He understands,” Cami said. “He knows it’s not easy for you given the situation.”

  “You mean because Derek’s his son.”

  “Yes.” She examined me. “Are you going to be okay if they don’t charge him with manslaughter?”

  I shrugged. “What good would revenge do in this case? Derek was drunk. Hale was drunk and tearing through the streets like Mad Max. They both fucking knew better.” I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. “I don’t hate Derek if that’s what you’re asking.”

  Cami reached for me. “I know. It’s not in you to hate anyone. It just hurts to see you in so much pain. It hurts that there’s nothing that I can do to make it any better.”

  A strand of hair had escaped Cami’s ponytail. I tucked it behind her ear.

  “Another kiss could help ease the pain a little.”

  A fleeting smile crossed her lips and then she leaned in for a long, slow kiss that got my heart pounding and my dick alert. But she pulled away and checked her watch.

  “The rush hour rat race awaits,” she said and gave me one last peck. “Love you, husband.”

  “Love you too, my wife.” I lifted her left hand and kissed the wedding band I’d placed there.

  There was no point in sitting here alone, brooding into my coffee cup, so I quickly got ready and left. Once I was on my way to Dream Fields, the baseball training facility I’d helped found, my mood lightened a bit. The people who worked for me were all dedicated and incredible. And the kids in the summer program would be around all day, most of them probably taking advantage of the indoor batting cages since the weather outside was so hot.

  The first person I ran into in the administrative offices was Harold Fulton, the legendary slugger who was also my business partner and a friend. He’d been at my wedding. And at Hale’s funeral.

  “Dalton,” he said, obviously surprised to encounter me. “Look, I know I’m not usually around full time but you can be sure I’ll cover everything here if you’d like to take some more time off.”

  I shook my head. “I’m not the type to sit home. I’ll go stir crazy.”

  Harold peered at me. He still looked as fit and strong as he did the day he stepped off the diamond over a decade ago. “I guess the honeymoon’s on hold?”

  “Yeah. Cami and I decided we’d take the trip another time.”

  He blew out a breath. “Dalton, I’m damn sorry about the way things turned out. You need anything you let me know.”

  “Will do,” I said, and reached out to meet his handshake. Harold Fulton had been one of the game’s biggest stars but no one would ever call him a diva. He was as humble as he was talented and now that he was retired he was very active in a variety of philanthropic missions. He’d helped turn Dream Fields into a world class training facility, ensuring that money wouldn’t be an obstacle to talented kids who loved the game.

  There were only a few pieces of mail waiting on the desk in my office. Alma, the office manager, had already separated out the bills and other important business, leaving only some glossy flyers and sports magazines. My email took a lot more time to sort through but all in all there didn’t seem to be much in the way of urgency. Sitting behind a desk had never really been my choice work environment so after a while I decided to wander out to the batting cages and check out the action. Along the way I ran into a few other employees who were surprised to see me and eager to offer their condolences.

  The twelve indoor batting cage stalls were all occupied by kids practicing their swings by taking balls from the pitching machines while the coaches checked on their progress. This group appeared to be young, probably the ten to twelve year olds. I could hear the older kids outside on the field. Mick, one of the part time coaches, spotted me standing behind the mesh fences and acknowledged me with a friendly wave.

  “Ease up on the bat,” he said to the boy who was ready to take a pitch. “If you relax your grip you’ll have an easier time swinging.”

  Mick watched with satisfaction as the kid belted the next ball that came his way. He told the kid to keep it up before he exited the stall and joined me behind the mesh.

  “Harold said you were here today,” he said after shaking my hand and telling me he was damn sorry about Hale.

  I nodded at the kids. “Yeah. It does my heart good to see them out here doing what they love.”

  Mick cracked a grin. “They’re a great bunch.”

  A burst of cheering came from outside and I looked toward the open door that led to the field.

  “Just a short three inning game before lunch break,” Mick explained. “Mark and Carrie are out there coaching I think. The winners get free ice cream.”

  The noise died down and then rose again after the unmistakable crack of a bat.

  “Sounds like a homer,” I said.

  “Probably. Some of those kids have been hitting the ball pretty good.”

  “Thomas gets better every time I see him,” I said, thinking of the kid who was the spitting image of his father.

  “You mean Thomas Gentry?” Mick asked.

  “Yup.”

  Mick shook his head. “He hasn’t been around all week.”

  I was surprised. Chase’s son practically lived and breathed baseball. He was here every chance he got. “I thought he was signed up full time for the summer session?”

  Mick gave me a funny look. “Yeah, he is.”

  I wondered how much the staff knew about the circumstances surrounding Hale’s death. They probably knew at least the basics. Hearing that Thomas hadn’t been around was disquieting. That kid was one of my favorites and I hated the idea that he might be staying away from this place because of the connection between his brother Derek and Hale’s accident.

  I sighed. “I’ll give his dad a call and find out what’s going on. Maybe he’s sick or something.”

  Mick nodded. “Maybe.” He gave me a friendly tap on the shoulder and started to return to the batting cages before spinning back around. “Oh, did your friend find you?”

  “What friend?”

  “Big guy, dark clothes.” Mick made an apologetic gesture. “Sorry, I’m not great when it comes to observations. I ran into him by the equipment shed about twenty minutes ago. I asked him what he was doing back there and he said he was an old buddy of yours. Didn’t offer a name. He wanted to come by in person to offer sympathies over your brother. I told him I’d walk him up to the admin offices as soon as I dumped the pile of bats I was carrying but when I came out of the shed he was gone.”

  “I haven’t seen him,” I said, wondering who the hell would try to hunt me down here, especially when I hadn’t really spread the word that I was going to be around today.

  It didn’t matter though. I shrugged the situation off, guessing if he really was an old friend then he could figure ou
t more than one way to get in touch with me.

  I grabbed some lunch in the Dream Fields cafeteria and hung around for a while chatting with the kids and the coaches before reluctantly heading back to my office to deal with the pile of unanswered emails. I was standing behind my desk and answering a text from Cami when a shadow made me look up.

  The man who’d darkened my doorway walked right into my office and took a seat in one of the chairs right in front of my desk.

  “How are you doing, Dalton?” he asked as he made himself comfortable. Then he grimaced. “I guess that was insensitive of me. You just buried your brother yesterday. You’re probably doing pretty shitty.”

  “Do I know you?” I asked.

  “I’m John Jones,” he said and grinned like he’d just made a joke. If so, I didn’t know what it was.

  “Is that your real name?”

  “It is for the purpose of this meeting.”

  I checked him out. His hands looked smooth and manicured and he didn’t appear to be the sort who got rough. But I knew how deceiving appearances could be. After I’d gotten out of the majors and exited a bad relationship I’d run an upscale night club for awhile. It was the kind of place that attracted some real douchebags who disguised their true nature with expensive clothes. John Jones reminded me of them. Whoever he was, I didn’t like him much.

  “One of my coaches mentioned that someone was looking for me earlier. Was that you?”

  “It was.”

  “Are you a reporter?” I asked.

  “Nope.”

  “A cop?”

  He chuckled. “Hell no.”

  I set my palms on the desk and leaned forward. “Then what the fuck do you want?”

  The man wasn’t intimidated. He took his time withdrawing a tin of mints from his pocket and popped two in his mouth. He chewed loudly and stared at me. I stared back.

  “I’m here about your brother,” he said when he was done crunching his mints. “It seems he left a few things undone.”

  My uneasiness grew, especially when I recalled the courtesy warning Cami had received from her colleague. I still didn’t believe any of it was true. It couldn’t be. Hale had his faults but he wouldn’t have gotten wrapped up in something truly heinous.

  “I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about,” I said.

  The creep chuckled again. “He used to brag about you, his big league golden boy little brother.” His smile fell away and his gaze hardened. “But to me you seem like just another privileged prick without a fucking clue.”

  I was losing patience. “Look, I don’t know what you’re after but you’re wasting my time. Now get out and I don’t expect to see you creeping around here again.”

  He chewed another mint.. When he leaned back into his chair his eyes were even colder. “Do you think I work alone, Dalton?”

  “I really don’t give a shit if you work alone or with sixty five hundred friends.”

  He nodded. “I don’t work alone.”

  “And I still don’t give a shit.”

  John Jones sighed. It didn’t sound like a real sigh. More like a theatrical effect. “My colleagues will be disappointed. They were under the impression you’d be more cooperative when you found out about our predicament.”

  “What predicament is that?”

  “Hale left a balance due.”

  “Money,” I said, starting to understand. “You’re under the mistaken impression you can shake me down for some money, right?”

  He grinned. “Only what’s owed.”

  “For what?”

  “Repayment of a debt,” John Jones said. His eyes had narrowed and there was no mistaking the menace within them. “Because your brother was a fucking thief.”

  “Bullshit,” I spat without thinking twice.

  The man shrugged. “It doesn’t matter if you choose to believe it or not. Like I said, there’s a balance due.”

  I crossed my arms and glared. “Let’s pretend I believe your garbage, which I don’t. You didn’t mention what kind of business you’re in.”

  “The hospitality industry.”

  “What does that entail?”

  “A lot of skin.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “What do you think it means?”

  “I don’t know.” I thought of Cami’s words and took a guess. “Maybe you own a few tanning salons with a side business of sex trafficking.”

  Something flickered in his eyes and then dimmed almost as quickly. “Your brother was a goddamn fool in more ways than one.”

  My hands tightened into fists. I straightened up and glowered down at John Jones or whoever the hell he really was. “It’s time for you to leave now before I really get pissed off.”

  He was no longer amused. “Forty thousand.”

  “What?”

  “The balance due.”

  I scoffed. “And what exactly is that for?”

  “Let’s just call it theft of valuable merchandise.”

  “Let’s be more specific instead.”

  He didn’t answer. He exhaled and got to his feet. John Jones was tall but thin, lacking in muscle. I could deal with him easily. That is, unless he had a weapon hidden in his baggy pockets. A few seconds later I was willing to take the chance when he paused, picking up a framed picture of Cami that sat on the corner of my desk.

  A smile lit up his reptilian face. “Speaking of valuable merchandise,” he started to say.

  I didn’t give him the opportunity to finish. I snatched Cami’s picture out of his slimy hands, leapt across the desk and grabbed him by the collar.

  “You’re fucking done here,” I snarled, hauling him across the office and shoving him through the door hard enough to cause him to collide hard with the brick wall opposite my office.

  When he straightened up he tossed a murderous glare my way and I braced for a response, even half hoping I’d get the chance to rearrange those smug features. But either he realized this was a battle he couldn’t win right now or he chose not to escalate the matter. He just straightened his collar and smoothed back his hair.

  “It’s been good to see you, Dalton,” he said as if we’d just been having a comfortable chat. “Thanks for letting me stop by and talk about Hale. Your brother will be missed. But it’s nice to know you and I have established this connection. Maybe next time I’ll bring a few friends with me.” He started walking away. “Don’t worry, I’ll find my own way out.”

  “You do that,” I muttered. Cami’s picture was still in my hand. My office was rather out of the way, around a corner and down the hall from the rest of the admin offices. I hadn’t considered who might be in earshot but now I realized there was at least one spectator.

  Curtis was standing ten feet away.

  He didn’t move aside when John Jones approached so Jones had to mutter, “Excuse me,” and shoulder past him while Curtis eyed him with suspicion. Curtis with all his tattoos and his powerful build knew how to give off a menacing air when he wanted to and Jones didn’t look up as he hustled past.

  When Jones was gone Curtis turned to me.

  I tucked Cami’s picture under my arm and tried to sound casual. “Hey, Curtis. I didn’t know you were coming by.”

  “Hope I’m not disturbing you,” Curtis responded, obviously puzzled and a little suspicious.

  “Come on in,” I said, trying to sound like I hadn’t just pushed some sleazy dipshit out of my office after he uttered some veiled threats.

  Curtis followed me into the office and waited until I sat behind my desk before he settled into the seat Jones had occupied. I carefully set Cami’s picture back on the desk. It had been taken on a camping trip last fall. Her hair was all tousled after a long hike and she wore no makeup but the camera had captured her radiance as she smiled at me while I snapped the photo. I loved this picture.

  “So what was that all about?” Curtis finally asked.

  “Ah, that was nothing,” I lied.

  “It didn’
t look like nothing.”

  I didn’t want to burden Curtis with news of the strange encounter, not when I didn’t even know what to make of it.

  “It’s no big deal,” I said. “Really. That guy just shot his mouth off at the wrong moment and I guess I’m feeling a little raw these days so I lost my temper.” I tried to change the subject. “So what brings you down here?”

  He was looking at me funny. “I stopped by to say hi since I was dropping Breck off for the afternoon.”

  “Brecken’s a good kid. He plays hard.”

  Curtis dropped the skeptical look and smiled over the praise of his little brother. “Yeah, he is a good kid.”

  “I’m glad you came by,” I told him. “I wanted to thank you for coming to the funeral yesterday. I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to talk to you but I sure appreciated seeing you guys there.”

  “Of course,” Curtis said. He cocked his head. “Are you okay, Dalton?”

  “Well,” I said, leaning back in my chair and pressing my thumb into the throbbing ache between my brows. “It’s been a damn roller coaster of a week, I can admit.”

  He nodded. “Yeah, I know, but that’s not what I meant.” Curtis glanced back at the doorway. “I mean is there something going on that you want to talk about?”

  Actually I was feeling pretty rattled by the whole weird meeting but I still couldn’t find any wisdom in dragging Curtis into it.

  “Nope,” I said with a straight face. “Nothing’s coming to mind.”

  Curtis didn’t look convinced. I didn’t blame him.

  We chatted for a little while longer in a way that was friendly but steered clear of heavy topics. He said he and Cassie wanted to invite us over to have dinner tomorrow night. It was a nice invitation and since I was sure Camille would say yes, I accepted.

  “Does seven p.m. sound good?” he asked after mentioning he had to get back to work.

  “Sounds great,” I said. “Do you want us to bring anything?”

  He shrugged. “Just yourselves.”

  I grinned. “I think we can handle that.”