by Claire Adams
The conviction in his voice compelled me to believe what he was saying. He seemed to have a totally new view of the world and his place in it, and I was excited for him.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chase
As we walked out to face my father, I could hardly see straight, I was so scared. Even after 29 years with the man, he still scared me to death. He certainly wasn’t the kind of man who hit us or even swatted our backsides, but he still had the ability to put fear into my brothers and me, as kids and as adults.
“Father,” I said as I met him in the lobby.
My father stood there with Captain Bastrop at his side. There was no denying that the Captain had in fact called him. But I couldn’t quite figure out why. There didn’t seem to be a benefit to the Captain if he called my father and got him involved.
“I tell you what, Reynold. This son of yours is one stand-up guy. There are not many men that would come to the police with the information he had. You should be really damn proud of him,” Captain Bastrop said.
I stared at the Captain and then back at my father. Then, I turned and grabbed Jordan’s hand and looked her in the eyes. We both didn’t know what exactly was going on, but it appeared that Captain Bastrop had just made me look like a stand-up, responsible person. I had no idea at all what he was up to, even less than when I believed the Captain had ratted me out to my father.
“Chase, Jordan, I’m so glad you are safe,” my father said as he hugged me and then turned and hugged Jordan, too.
“Chase, I think you need to tell your father about the money that Escabar needs,” Captain Bastrop said as he looked at me.
“Umm…I…well,” I stammered.
“Reynold, Chase borrowed some money from Escabar to start a club, but then the club fell through and Chase couldn’t pay him back. He’s going to need a quarter million to pay the guy off. I think you should do it, considering the information Chase turned into us. We will make sure you get your money back when Escabar’s arrested, but giving him the money will make things a lot easier on you all while we finish our investigation.”
“Your investigation?” Jordan asked.
“Yes, young lady. We have an ongoing investigation with Escabar, and with your help, we can move forward and hopefully catch him in a few months.”
It suddenly became really clear that Captain Bastrop had his own agenda, and I was getting in his way. At least he didn’t want me to get killed, I was grateful for that. But I could see very clearly that he wasn’t about to help me if it would put his own investigation in jeopardy.
“Well, thanks for the call, George. I can take it from here,” my father said as he shook hands with the Captain.
“Chase, can I talk to you for a minute?” Captain Bastrop asked.
I was reluctant to talk to him. He seemed to be into some dirty stuff himself. I had to wonder what exactly he and Escabar were up to. He seemed to be protecting Escabar and pretending to protect me. But I couldn’t resist and went to talk with him.
“Sure,” I said as I walked with him to the other side of the room.
“I didn’t see a reason to involve your father in all of this. I think you should give Escabar the money and then leave the country. It’s your best option. You are lucky that your family has the means to pay the man off. We just found a kid your age in the river, and we suspect he’s a casualty of Escabar’s.”
“Thanks,” I said and shook the Captain’s hand. “I appreciate you going to bat for me with my father.”
“I meant every word. You are a responsible and brave guy to have come here. I’m just sorry we weren’t able to help you any further.”
“Thank you again,” I said as I returned to Jordan and my father.
There was no need to get into things with the Captain. I would just have to take care of things on my own. I was fine with taking care of Escabar on my own, but I really hoped that Captain Bastrop didn’t think I was stupid enough not to know what was going on. I knew he was likely protecting some wrongdoing that was going on in his own facility.
I grabbed Jordan’s hand and leaned in to whisper to her.
“We are still going forward with our plan.”
Jordan just smiled at me and squeezed my hand. We both knew that paying Escabar off wasn’t going to keep us or our families safe. The only plan that would work was going to Ramos. I was confident in that.
As we walked outside, my father pulled his checkbook out and started to write me a check. It was the first time in a really long time that I felt like my father actually looked me in the eyes. At least I could thank Captain Bastrop for that. I had longed to see respect in my father’s eyes, and I welcomed every moment of it.
“How much do we need, son? How much to get this creep to leave you alone?”
“Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars,” I said quietly.
“Chase, I know you are a businessman. I know you want to do your own thing. I just wish you would have come to me to borrow the money instead of this criminal.”
“Dad, you cut me off. I hadn’t been respectful to you and your money. I knew that it wasn’t the right time to come to you for money. I’m sorry.”
“Chase, you did good by turning that man in. That showed some real guts. If you want the company, I would be more than happy to give it to you. Maybe a couple of the guys from the board could stay on as your support when I retire.”
It was the offer I had waited on for years. That moment was what I had dreamed about since I had started to work at my father’s company. But I didn’t want to accept it just yet. I didn’t want to accept it until Jordan and I had finished what we needed to do. There was no future for me with his company or with anything, if I didn’t get out from under Escabar’s control.
“Thanks, Dad,” I said as I hugged him. “Do you mind if I think about it for a little bit?”
I saw the shock in my father’s eyes and then a bit of a smile as he looked at my hand intertwined with Jordan’s. Something about his look showed me that he understood I cared about Jordan and I wanted to do right by her.
“Certainly, you two take your time and discuss things. We can talk in a couple of days.”
“Thank you, Mr. Foster,” Jordan said.
“Thanks, Dad. I’m sorry I didn’t come to you first.”
“I’m still proud of you, kid. It takes a lot of guts to turn in a bad guy like Escabar. You did the right thing.”
My father leaned in and hugged me before he turned and made his way to the car that was waiting for him.
It was a different kind of hug than I was used to. This hug seemed filled with real emotion. Real genuine emotion, and I almost started to choke up when I let go of him.
Being a Foster son had never really been that easy. I always had to live up to what my brothers were doing and never felt like I was good enough. I still didn’t really feel like I was doing that great at life, but hopefully once everything was settled with Escabar I would be able to move forward.
I could only imagine how perfect life would be with me in charge of Foster Industries and Jordan by my side. Maybe we would even have some babies or something like that. It was fun to fantasize about that kind of life, although I had never really done so in the past. Meeting Jordan had me thinking in a whole different way.
Jordan and I made our way out of the parking garage and drove around town as we discussed our plan.
“I’m scared, Chase,” she said.
“I know, but I think this is really going to work. It’s our best shot at ending this whole thing. And if we do it right, I won’t even have to pay Escabar back his money.”
I couldn’t help but smile at the thought of not giving Escabar $250,000. I had technically already paid him back all the money I owed him, through his crazy high interest payments that he required over the last six months. I really didn’t want to hand over any more money to the man.
“Well, I’m ready if you are,” Jordan said.
“I’m ready.”
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br /> Chapter Twenty-Four
Jordan
“Do you think Ramos will actually show up himself?” I asked Chase, as we pulled up to the park where we had planned to meet up with Salina and Salvador.
“No, he’s got to be suspicious of us. We will talk to Salina and Salvador first and get them to take the message back to Ramos.”
Chase and I held hands in the car while we waited for Salina and Salvador to show up. I felt my heart pounding. I couldn’t help but think we were being watched. My eyes looked around outside the vehicle as I tried to see whoever it was that I felt watching me.
“Do you feel like we are being watched?” I asked as I looked at a hill on the other edge of the park.
“Kind of, but I just chalked it up to feeling really paranoid.”
“Man, I just can’t shake the feeling.”
“It’s possible Ramos has some eyes on use to make sure we aren’t working with the police or anything like that.”
“It was pretty amazing that Captain Bastrop slipped you that black book,” I said.
Chase flipped through the pages of the book nervously as we waited. Although we would have moved forward with our plan no matter what, it did work much better now that we had the actual black book in our hands.
“Yeah, he made a copy of everything and gave it back. But I really think this is a different version of the book. I think some of the names were undercover cops and they rewrote the book to exclude them. I suspect he thinks we will try to give it back to Escabar with the money.”
Chase was a smart guy. I hadn’t fully seen that side of him until we started plotting out how we were going to get out of the mess we were in. It seemed just a little confidence was all he needed to make the change to a fully confident undercover outlaw.
Our plan was to meet with Salina and Salvador and let them know we had information about Escabar that Ramos would want. It was risky because those two could take that information back to Escabar, but we suspected they would want to move up the ladder themselves and get into the good graces of Ramos. Their need to please him would have them working like putty in our hands.
“I’m so nervous. I feel like I might throw up,” I whispered.
My hand shook inside of Chase’s, and I felt like my body just couldn’t take much more of the excitement that was going on. It had been a crazy couple of weeks in America. I just wanted all of it to be over.
I wanted to be on a beach somewhere snuggled up to Chase and not worrying about a single thing. Deep down, I knew our plan would work, it just had to – that was the only option. The other outcome was too horrible to imagine.
“Jordan, look at me,” Chase said as he turned my direction. “We are going to get through this. We will be just fine. You and I together will get this finished, and then we will take a vacation to Miami to look for Ana. Okay?”
I smiled as my heart filled with happiness. He was thinking about me, even in the middle of our most dangerous moment. We could be shot by Escabar, or Ramos, or any number of other people who worked for them, yet there Chase was, trying to make me feel better.
It had been two weeks since I came to the United States and, although I had received an email and phone call from my mother the day before, I still hadn’t heard from Ana. I was positive something bad that had happened to her, but I wouldn’t know for sure until we found the guy who she had gone to meet.
Chase had promised me he would even get his brother Jackson, a private investigator, involved if he had to.
“Is that them?” Chase said as he pointed to Salina and Salvador as they walked through the park.
“Yes.”
“Okay, remember the plan. Just stay near me and follow my lead. We just need to get them to go back to Ramos with the information. Don’t get mad at them.”
He knew I had almost exploded with anger when he said we should use Salina and Salvador to get in with Ramos. Those two had pretended to be my friends and then served me up to Escabar without a second thought. They hadn’t known what Escabar was going to do with me, and they didn’t care. To them, it was a job that they got paid for and that was all that mattered. It made me want to punch them both in the head when I thought about how easily I trusted them.
“I will behave myself,” I said as we got out of the car and walked toward them.
I stayed a step behind Chase and continued to look around as we got closer to them. I still felt like we were being watched. Surely, sending Salina a text message and telling her we wanted to meet and talk about Ramos had set off some serious red flags in their world.
“It’s good to see you, Jordan,” Salina said as she looked around Chase at me.
“It’s not good to see you, bitch.”
Chase grabbed my hand and pulled me back as I started to step toward Salina. I thought I was going to be able to behave myself, but being there next to her had my emotions going wild.
“Now, now, girls, we are here for business,” Salvador said as he turned to face Chase. “Damn women. So, let’s talk. You got something that Ramos wants?”
“Yes, we do. We have some information that will be really valuable to Ramos, and I’m pretty sure it would get you two in good with him if you helped us deliver the news.”
“Or it will get us killed,” Salvador responded.
“I think it will benefit everyone involved if we could just sit down with Ramos. Can you make that happen for us?”
“Why would we do that for you?” Salina said spitefully.
“Shut up,” Salvador said.
“Yeah, shut up,” I added.
“All right, ladies, let’s keep this professional. Salvador, I think you know that helping Ramos get rid of a scumbag that is working for him will only serve to benefit you in the end. Ramos will be happy to see he has a new loyal man who he can count on.”
“You have real evidence that this man is not serving Ramos and his best interests?”
“I do.”
“Like what?”
Chase needed to tread lightly with the information he actually gave Salvador. We had to give him just enough information so he knew we were telling the truth, but not so much information that Salvador would turn and give it to Ramos himself without bringing us in on the deal.
“It’s about Escabar and some side work he is doing that is putting Ramos in danger. I’m sure you can understand that, with the sensitive nature of this information, we would like to talk directly with Ramos.”
“You know something about Escabar?”
“Yes, I do. Haven’t you heard that I stole his black book of contacts?”
Salvador looked surprised that Chase admitted to stealing the book. I was even a little surprised to hear the words come out of his mouth. But I was confident that he had a plan. I was willing to bet admitting to stealing the book was all part of the larger plan.
“Yeah, I heard. I’d probably get a nice big bonus from Escabar if I just killed you right here.”
“I doubt that. I owe him a quarter million dollars. He’s going to want that money back before you kill me.”
Salvador seemed annoyed by Chase and his logic, but he backed off from the threats to harm Chase or me. The two men continued to stare at each other as they tried to decide if either of them were willing to trust the other.
Chase finally broke the silence with a little peace offering.
“You see this black book,” he said as he pulled the book from his pocket. “It’s got a lot of incriminating information about Escabar. Ramos really needs to see it.”
As Chase pulled the black book out of his pocket, I could have sworn that I saw movement in one of the trees on the edge of the park. My eyes fixated in that direction as I tried to get an eye on who was over there. I really had no idea if it was someone from Escabar’s group, Ramos, or maybe even law enforcement.
“Okay, I’ll get a message to him. But it better be this big piece of information that Ramos wants, or I’ll turn your ass into Escabar and let him deal with you.�
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“Trust me, Salvador, Ramos is going to put you on his team after all this. You will be doing him a huge favor.”
Salvador clearly did not trust Chase, but that was fine. He did look very interested in getting on Ramos’ good side.
“Be here tonight at ten o’clock,” Salvador said as he turned and walked away.
I couldn’t believe I had missed my opportunity to punch Salina in the face. As she walked away, my eyes stayed focused on her head as I imagined what it would have felt like to punch her right in the back.
“Someone’s out there for sure,” I said to Chase as we walked back to the vehicle.
“I know. I felt it, too. But whatever they are watching for, they didn’t kill us. So, they must want to see us giving this book to Ramos.”
“Or, they are waiting for Ramos and us to all be in the same spot so they can kill us all.”
“You are getting the hang of this mobster stuff aren’t you?” he teased me.
“We could be the new Bonnie and Clyde.”
He grabbed my hand and pulled it up to his lips as we got to the car. The way his eyes looked at me, I felt exactly what he was thinking. The adrenaline of the moment had my blood pumping, too, and I wanted to find a fun place for us to play around.
“Get in the car,” he said as he smiled.
“Oh, yes, sir.”
Chase drove around for a little bit to make sure no one was following us before he pulled into an old, rundown hotel. It certainly wasn’t my idea of a perfect evening, but then again, nothing between Chase and I had been perfect.
He ran into the office and got us a key to our room, then pulled around back to the parking area. He purposely left the car as far away from our room as possible, which I assumed was so that no one would know which room we were in if they happened to find us. But I seriously doubted that anyone was going to come to The Lucky Motor Inn looking for us.
As we made it to our room, Chase looked around quickly and then opened the door and pushed me in. He locked the door behind him and started taking off his clothes as his eyes peered into mine. There was no talking – it wasn’t needed. I could see the pure lust in his eyes, and I knew he could see the same in my own.