by M T Stone
I close my eyes in frustration and let out a long breath. “Tommy did claim that he doesn’t make mistakes,” I say, reminding him of his text message.
“Better yet, there is still an eighteen million dollar cashiers check out there somewhere,” Trey adds, taking a long sip of water. “So even if the SEC is eventually able to extricate a large chunk of Tommy’s profit, he still has a nice little safety net.”
“Yeah, so worst case scenario, he spends a few months in a cushy white collar prison and then retires to a nice beach home in Belize,” I surmise, feeling a pit developing in my stomach.
Trey finishes his water and slams the glass down on the bar. “Two can play this game,” he says, with a bold glint in his eyes. “We are going to go a different route with this. I know he has been involved in all of this and it would kill me to watch him walk away with just a slap on the wrist.”
“Are you going to clue me in?” I go to his side and slip my arms around his waist.
“It’s still in the formulation stage,” he says, turning to give me a kiss on the forehead. “But you and Anthony will be the first to know.”
“Okay, you better go get some rest now.” I take him by the hand and lead him back to the bedroom. “I’m proud of you for not diving into the Cognac.”
“I already feel like I’m stoned, so I didn’t really need anything.” He pulls the tie on my robe and gives me a smirk.
“Oh no you don’t; I’m not having you stroke out on me,” I pull my robe closed and take a step back. “The doctor said nothing strenuous for a couple of days.”
“You can be on top,” he replies without hesitation. “I’ll just lie there and relax.”
“You are going to get some rest.” I can’t help breaking into a smile. “I think you can wait a day or two.”
“I don’t know. No cognac, no sex… I’m really starting to feel stressed out.” He gives me a boyish look that he must have used on his mother when he was a kid.
“It’s for your own good,” I reply in a motherly tone that matches his expression. “Now get to bed.”
I cozy up next to him as soon as he gets settled and his muscular arm immediately envelops me. After such a hair-raising day, I think we are mutually grateful to be here with one another. Trey came so close to being severely injured and if Anthony hadn’t neutralized both of them so efficiently, I could’ve easily been killed too. The fact that Bill, Victor and the doctor were all killed shows that they do not know mercy. Thank God for Anthony.
CHAPTER 18
T rey
Waking before sunrise, my mind picks up right where it left off the night before. I can already picture the smug look that will be pasted on Tommy’s face when we visit him. He knows that he will get away with everything and it’s driving me crazy. My thoughts turn to Vanessa and Carly. Did Tommy manipulate them both or were they actively involved? It would explain why Dad was having trust issues with Carly, but I still don’t see what Vanessa would have to gain by helping him. I roll out of bed and head into the master bath to find a robe. There is light shining under the door, so hopefully Anthony is awake. I need to work through some of this shit with someone.
“Making any progress?” I ask him upon seeing him pouring over the diagrams that he and Mandy had drawn out.
“I have to admit that your initial suspicions of Tommy appear to be the most plausible,” he replies, without taking his eyes from the white board. “I don’t understand why he would kill Bill though, when he could’ve stuck to the plan and absorbed it into Addison Media.”
“Bill had too much of a conscience,” I speculate. “Even though it would be a relatively small hit for Addison Media to take, it’s not something he would allow to happen as long as he was Chairman of the board. If it ever got out, his reputation would have been destroyed. I think that’s why he went to the SEC.”
“Because he cared that much about his reputation?” Anthony scrunches up his face like he doesn’t understand my point.
“He worked hard and did the right things for forty years which made him a very wealthy man,” I explain. “Why would he want to jeopardize everything he had worked for just to give Tommy a short cut to the top?” I walk over to the diagram and circle Bill’s name. “Out of desperation he may have initially gone along with the plan, but in the end he couldn’t go through with it. At that point, he became the ultimate liability.”
“So, he was taken out, but it was a little too late because he had already dropped off the evidence at the SEC,” Anthony adds.
“It appears that way. Did The Ghost show up at all?” I ask, knowing that they had notified all trauma centers, in addition to Agent Mitchell putting out an APB on him.
“Nah, I knew he would disappear back into his rat hole,” Anthony replies, picking up his phone and checking for messages. “I’m sure he has an underground doctor somewhere who fixed him up. Although, I think he needed quite a bit of reconstruction this time.”
“Well, when we meet with Tommy, I’m going to propose a settlement,” I tell him. “If we can work out a settlement agreement that the SEC will agree to and get him to resign from Addison Media, then we can all get back to our lives.”
“So you are going to let him get away with murder?” Mandy asks bluntly, emerging from the bedroom.
“Not at all.” I smile at the thought of what I have been scheming while I was supposed to be sleeping. “Since he seems to be a fan of Russian agents, I’m thinking of using a couple techniques used by the old KGB in Siberia.”
Anthony’s eyes immediately light up, as he knows the types of tactics I am referring to. “So you think you can take the law into your own hands?” Mandy asks, seeming much less excited about the prospects.
“Just trust me,” I assure her, handing a slip of paper to Anthony. “You will like the end result. He threatened our lives yesterday and he will pay dearly for that indiscretion.”
“I know exactly who to call on this,” Anthony says, after looking over the brief sketch and details of what I want. “If you want the real deal it’ll take a week or so to get them, because they would need to be custom made.” His eyes catch mine as he reveals a shit eaten grin.
“I want at least four of them and they can be fake,” I clarify. “But they have to look and seem like the real deal.”
“I have no idea what you two are up to, but I’m probably better off not knowing,” Mandy huffs. “I don’t want to end up in trouble over this.”
“Just trust. That’s all I’m going to say,” I reassure her, pulling her to me. “By the way, if Tommy takes the bait this afternoon, we are taking off this evening to go visit your father. I could use a little fresh air and sunshine. He wants your help going through your mother’s stuff, so it would be good to visit.”
“I agree,” she says reflectively. Everything has been moving so fast that I know Mandy hasn’t taken any time to grieve. It will be good for her to go through things with her dad.
“I’ll be going with as well,” Anthony insists, his eyes letting us know that it’s not negotiable.
“Hey, after yesterday I’m thinking about hiring you permanently,” I reply with a chuckle.
Mandy
The fact that Trey won’t share his plan with me tells me that it’s something I won’t approve of doing. Even though it annoys me, I have to trust him like he said. After all, it’s his father who was killed and his brother who was poisoned. If it had been my family, no one would be able to talk me out of a plan for revenge either. I stop for a moment to reflect upon how much things have changed since the day I first stepped on his jet. Almost nothing is the same as it was that day. It’s scary to think of how fast things can change in this world.
“I ordered us some breakfast,” Trey says, coming into the bedroom while I’m finishing my makeup. “I ordered from La Toulousaine which is about as close to authentic French pastries as you can get without going to France. Here is an almond croissant and they didn’t have dulce de leche crepes so I got you
a Beignet a la Crème instead.”
“A crème filled doughnut, in other words,” I reply with a giggle. “Thank you, it was very thoughtful for you to try to emulate my French breakfast. I was getting worried that I might lose a pound or two through this ordeal.”
“Exactly, and I don’t want to mess with perfection,” he says, slipping his hands inside of my robe. “I wish we could have a couple hours of privacy,” he whispers, giving me a hot, sensual kiss.
“Are we soon ready to roll?” Anthony yells from the other room. “Crusher tells me the natives are growing restless.”
“I just need to get dressed, so tell him we will be there shortly,” I yell back cutting Trey’s advance short. “I’ll make sure we have plenty of privacy once we are in Tennessee,” I whisper seductively.
“Why, are we staying at Peggy’s again?” Trey scoffs, taking a bite of his croissant sandwich. “Or maybe we can have sex during the flight while Anthony plugs his ears and stands in the corner.” He throws his head back and laughs, obviously amused by his own sarcasm.
“You’ll just have to wait and see,” I tell him. “You’ve got your secrets and I’ve got mine.”
“Fair enough,” he replies with a look of intrigue crossing his face. “Now eat up, you are going to need your strength.”
Trey
Everything seems relatively calm as we exit the elevator at Trump Tower. Crusher and Bolt are both hanging out in the common area watching E! and laughing about something.
“Bolt is waiting to see the dress Selena wore at the Victoria Secret Fashion Show last night,” Crusher says, giving him a punch in the arm.
“It’s probably quicker to just Google it,” I reply with a laugh.
“Oh, he’s filling you full of shit,” Bolt counters. “You notice he’s the one holding the remote.”
“Okay boys,” Anthony says with his drill sergeant voice. “I thought you said there was an issue over here?”
“Oh, there’s an issue.” Bolt scowls and shakes his head. “You may want to check in with Vanessa and Silvia. Your brother has been raging since the sun came up.”
“Actually, I was already planning on talking to Vanessa anyway,” I inform him. “I want to do this alone,” I tell Mandy and Anthony before excusing myself.
“She’s at her parent’s place,” Crusher says, pointing to the other unit. “We had to separate her and Tyler.”
I turn and walk toward the unit without saying a word. It’s time to get to the bottom of what has been going on with Vanessa. Everything is quiet so I walk through the open front door. It’s been years since I’ve been in here. Old feelings stir deep inside of me as I walk down the hallway toward Vanessa’s old bedroom. I think back to the thoughts I had as a teenager, dreaming about what it would be like to be with her. Today, however, I actually dread the talk I need to have with her.
“What’s wrong?” I ask softly as she looks up with tears running down her face.
“Everything.” She sobs, pushing her face into a pile of Kleenex. “I don’t even know where to begin.” She’s crying so hard that it’s hard to understand her words.
“Why don’t you start by telling me why you told Tommy that we were going to meet with an SEC investigator yesterday,” I say, trying to shock her out of her little pity party.
“Why would you say that?” she asks, her eyes immediately filling with rage.
“Because, no one else knew we were going there.” I pull a chair up to the bed and sit down right in front of her. “I know that you called him the night that I confronted Dr. Potaturri at the hospital too,” I add, thinking back to when Mandy caught her.
“You don’t understand the position I’m in,” she whimpers, wiping her eyes and blowing her nose. “I didn’t know what to do, everything was so messed up and he said it would help.”
“He said what would help?” I ask, not having a clue what she was alluding to.
“He said that Dr. Potaturri could help with his pain and help him get over everything that was bothering him,” she sobs once again. “Then things could go back to normal.”
“What went on between you and Tommy?” I ask, knowing there is more to the story than what she is telling. “The night Tyler was poisoned he left me a message and he said, first Vanessa and now the company. What did he mean by that?”
Vanessa sits silently, shaking violently and trying to hold back her tears. “I was so lonely, Trey. Tyler had been so miserable for so long. I was weak and you know how persuasive Tommy can be when he wants something.”
“You slept with him?” I ask, thinking it has to be the only thing that makes any sense. “And you thought that if Dr. Potaturri could make him forget what he knew about the Firefly Media deal, he might also forget the fact that you are carrying Tommy’s baby.” I speculate, sitting back in silence as she closes her eyes tightly and shakes even more violently.
“I never wanted to hurt him,” she finally whispers. “Tommy promised that Dr. Potaturri wouldn’t do anything to hurt him, but Tyler kept getting more and more angry. If he would’ve just let things go, everything would have worked out just fine.”
Wow! I don’t even know what to say. She allowed her fiancé to be drugged in order to make up for the fact that she slept with an old boyfriend and got pregnant. “I feel sorry for you,” is the first thing that falls from my mouth. “I honestly can’t believe you would do something like that. I don’t even know you anymore.”
“Trey, would you please keep this to yourself,” she pleads, looking at me with bloodshot eyes. “Please, give me a chance to work things out.”
“I don’t think I can do that,” I reply, rising from the chair and stepping back from the bed. “I mean, Tyler was poisoned and nearly died.”
“I had nothing to do with that! You have to believe me, Trey,” she pleads. “I had a feeling that something bad was going to happen, but I had nothing to do with it.”
“I want to believe you, but I can’t right now,” I reply, moving toward the door. “I think Tyler would be better off without you for now. He needs some space to work things out and seeing you obviously stirs up deep seated anger.”
“I know, but what am I supposed to do?” she looks up at me looking as if the entire world is crashing around her.
“I honestly don’t have an answer for you,” I reply in disgust. “Does Tommy know you are pregnant with his child?”
“Yeah,” she gasps. “He offered to pay child support, but that’s not the point at all. I wanted my son to have a father in his life, but at this point it looks like I’ll be going it alone.”
“I’m not going to say anything to Mom or Tyler right now, but I’m going to insist that you lay all the cards on the table and let them decide for themselves if they can deal with it,” I tell her giving her an ultimatum. “You also have to answer my first question.”
“What question?” She looks up, gazing at me through all her tears.
“Mandy and I were nearly killed yesterday when we came out of the SEC office,” I inform her. “I need to know why you told Tommy that we were going there.”
She continues staring at me as if she is unable to even comprehend what just came out of my mouth. “He tried to kill you?” she asks, falling over onto her side. “He said it was all Carly. That he had nothing to do with any of it. I’m so fucking stupid.” She begins to shake violently once again and continues to babble incoherently.
“I’m going to be gone for a few days, in the meantime I expect you to have that talk with Tyler and Mom,” I tell her before exiting the room. She is such a basket case right now and I don’t have time to deal with it.
Walking straight over to the other unit, I need to have a quick talk with Mom about Vanessa. “Come here for a minute,” I say, coaxing her out of Tyler’s room.
“If this is about Crusher,” she says defensively. “Its nothing.”
“It’s not about Crusher,” I reply with a chuckle. “But at least you know how to break the tension.” I wal
k over to the couch and plop down at the end of it.
Mom takes the seat next to me, giving me a concerned look. “What’s going on then?”
“I want you to keep an eye on Vanessa,” I tell her. “She and Tyler need to spend some time apart, so please make sure that happens. But, I think she’s going to need someone to talk to as well. Maybe you can get her to open up about what has been going on.
“I’ll talk to her,” Mom says patting me on the knee. “Also, I’ll have you know that I haven’t had a single glass of wine in the past two days.”
“Is that because there isn’t any wine here?” I give her a smartass grin.
“Yeah, but I could’ve easily ordered some from downstairs and I didn’t,” she replies, looking for a little recognition.
“Mom, I just want you to be happy. If wine makes you happy, you should drink wine.” I place my hand on hers and look into her eyes. “You have been unhappy long enough.”
She begins to shake her head and a sad look fills her eyes. “Wine doesn’t make me happy, it just makes me temporarily forget the fact that I’m totally unhappy.”
“Mandy and I are flying to Lynchburg tonight, would you like to come with and visit Ray?” I ask, knowing that he has been a major source of her sadness over the years.
“No. I need to stay here and keep an eye on your brother,” she says taking responsibility. “I’ll have a talk with Vanessa too.”
“I’m glad to hear you say that,” I tell her, patting the top of her hand. “You and Ray will have the rest of your lives to do whatever you want.”
“Yeah, you tell him to hang in there and we’ll see each other soon,” she tells me with a restrained smile. “You don’t need to mention anything about Crusher.”
“I wasn’t planning on it.” I give her another chuckle. “I know how little you two have in common, so I wasn’t too worried about him being my new step father or anything.”