After a few minutes that felt like hours passed, Colin came back. He had her purse in his hands, which was strangely comforting. He’d gone back in to grab her stuff?
He came to a stop outside the driver’s door and motioned for her to unlock it. She did and threw the door open.
“Move over.” Colin bent down.
Jean eyed the console, but she was short enough that moving over was easy. As soon as she was in the passenger’s seat, Colin sat down and started the car. One second later, they were driving off and out of the park.
“What happened to Stan?” asked Jean as they got onto the main highway.
Colin kept on glancing in the rearview mirror. “Stan? Which one was that?”
“The one I, um, the one I shot.” The sentence sounded so strange coming out of her mouth. She really shot someone?
“Down but still alive. The other one was calling Eric and giving him a report when I got in.”
Jean’s eyes widened. She hadn’t really considered what Colin would do to the men. “Are they both still...”
“I didn’t kill them,” assured Colin. “Stan might be in trouble if he doesn’t get to a hospital, but Eric knows where they are. If he doesn’t have an ambulance head over, that’s their fault for getting in bed with him.”
“We need to call someone,” she said, thinking about someone suffering in her home. Suffering because of what she’d done.
“He was breaking into your house and probably wasn’t there to give you a welcome back lasagna. Let it go, Jean.”
“I shot so I could stay alive. Not to kill him. Just call the damn police please. I knew him...”
She half thought he was going to argue with her, but instead he pulled out his phone, leaving a quick anonymous call to 911 before he hung up. There. At least she could feel like she’d done something.
“I’m surprised you didn’t want to wait for the cops to show up.” Colin glanced between her and the road.
“I’m not that stupid,” she said before she remembered exactly how stupid she’d been with him.
“You figure that Eric has cops working for him?”
“I think I’ve seen far too many off-duty cops gambling with my mother to think that they’re not in debt to Eric in some way.” Which meant she’d probably have to find someplace else to live. Great. She let her head fall back against the seat. “This is horrible,” she muttered.
“I’ll handle Eric,” said Colin.
Jean let out a bitter laugh. “Sure. You need to protect your investment, right?”
He clenched his jaw and kept his eyes on the road. “That’s not why I’m here.”
“I don’t care why you’re here. I’m, well, I’d be lying if I didn’t admit I’m grateful you showed up when you did. But things have changed between us.”
“I know. That meeting with your mother—”
“I talked to her about it. I know that wasn’t you. She’d wasted all the money Walter gave her at first and was trying to get more out of him. I get why he wouldn’t give her more.”
“He’s not the good guy here.”
“I know,” said Jean wistfully. “He and Katherine were kind of made for each other, weren’t they?” She paused as she started to think about her mother. “You don’t think she was working with Eric, do you?”
“I doubt it. She’s not a very...reliable ally. If Eric were working with her, he’d have guys on her all the time.”
Jean hadn’t seen anyone around Katherine earlier, but she’d hardly been in an observant mood. “I need to tell her to lay low.”
Colin handed her his phone. “Do you know her number?”
“Yep.” Jean had long since memorized her mother’s phone number. The one constant about Katherine’s life that never changed.
The phone rang three times before it was answered, but it wasn’t Katherine. “Who is this?” asked a masculine voice.
Jean was taken aback by the strange man. “Who the hell is this?” she shot back.
Colin pulled over abruptly onto the shoulder and grabbed the phone from her hand. “This is Jean’s friend. Who am I talking to?”
Jean leaned forward to try to hear the other side of the conversation.
“I’m Katherine’s friend. If Jean ever wants to see her mother alive again, she’ll come to this address now.” The man started to list out an address two towns over, and Jean scrambled to find pen and paper.
“Where is Katherine now?”
“No. Jean first, then you get her mother.”
Jean looked nervously at Colin, but he wouldn’t meet her eyes. “We need proof of life. I’ll transfer a deposit into your account of two hundred grand and you’ll give me visual proof that Katherine is still alive.”
The line went silent for a few moments and Jean glared at Colin. “What the hell are you doing? We don’t have that kind of money,” she whispered.
“Your brothers will do whatever they need to help you. The second Eric gets his hands on you, you’re dead. So we have to stall and we have to find out where Katherine is. He’s not going to kill her, though. If he wants to get his hands on your inheritance, he needs Katherine under his control.”
“That doesn’t mean he’s not going to hurt her! I know Eric. It’s like he’s an abusive boyfriend Mom keeps going back to. We need to get her out of there.”
“Okay, we can do your deal. We’ll send you the account numbers now and once we confirm the transfer, we’ll give you proof of life.” The guy hung up and Jean sat back in her seat.
“So we’re going to give them a pile of money in order to...what?”
“In order to find them.” Colin dialed another number on his phone. A few seconds later, he barked orders into the phone. “Smith, I’m going to need you to trace an incoming call for me.”
Jean ran the strap to her shoulder bag through her fingers as she stared at the entrance to the casino. She was running on some never-ending adrenaline and two energy drinks, which, in hindsight, wasn’t the best idea to drink before a potentially deadly situation. But she wanted to have all her wits about her for this...whatever this was.
Colin had arranged for Smith to locate the source of the call they’d just received. Jean shouldn’t have been surprised it came from the casino. It was basically Eric’s home base, and he probably didn’t even have to force Katherine to come there with him.
“Just stick close to me,” said Colin as he led Jean into the casino.
She wasn’t going to try to wander off anywhere. She thought Colin was going to force her into seclusion at the motel, but he’d been pretty adamant that he didn’t want her anywhere he couldn’t keep eyes on her. Somehow the idea of being outnumbered by ten to twenty guys at least didn’t seem to bother him at all.
She didn’t know whether she should be happy she wasn’t stuck alone somewhere or terrified at his recklessness. Or just plain terrified of him.
Jean held onto Colin’s arm tightly as they got past security easily. The second they were inside the building, the bouncer at the door who checked IDs picked up his walkie. “Shit. They know I’m here.”
“Yep. Should only take a second now.”
Just like he said, a few seconds later, a group of five guards all came over to where she and Colin stood. “We’re going to need you to come with us,” said the first one. Tall and bulky, Jean recognized him. He used to be a football player headed for fifteen different scholarship offers until a bum knee sidelined that future. Now he was apparently doing grunt work for Eric.
“Lead the way,” said Colin.
Jean held on tighter as they walked into the private secluded hallways that led to the offices. “All part of the plan?” she whispered.
“How many of these people do you know?” he asked as they turned a corner.
Jean glanced around at the five guards. Brandon was the jock, one of the men had eaten at Striker’s a few times, and another one had dated Suzy, her neighbor at the trailer park a few years ago. “Three.”
/> Colin nodded. “That’s good.”
They stopped in front of Eric’s office as one of the men used his radio to tell Eric they were there. She squeezed Colin’s bicep until her knuckles turned white.
“Trust me,” he whispered.
Jean met his eyes, silently telling him just how hard that was for her. But then the doors to Eric’s office opened and it was too late to turn back. Eric sat behind his desk as the two of the guards moved to stand on either side of him while the three other ones remained close to her and Colin. If he thought he’d be able to take on five guys and still get to Eric, he was crazy.
“I wasn’t expecting to see you so soon.” Eric took a sip of some sort of alcohol in a clear glass.
“Well, we were hoping to verify Katherine’s safety sooner rather than later,” said Colin.
“Oh, I think that offer has come and gone. I’ve been eagerly looking over my accounts and I haven’t seen any large deposits in the last hour.”
Colin’s eyes widened in mock surprise. “Oh, wait? You thought I was going to pay you two hundred grand? Oh no, that money is for your men.”
Jean frowned, just like everyone else in the room.
“Excuse me?” said Eric.
“I know exactly what game you’re playing. You kill Jean and extort all the money you want out of Katherine. Tax-free money, probably. You get rich and the guys you work with, the ones who do your dirty work for you, get nothing. So why don’t you all consider this an incentive to get a better, more rewarding job.”
Eric scoffed. “These men aren’t going to do a damn thing for you. They’re loyal to me.”
Colin smiled at that idea. “Funny about that. Loyalty is pretty much the one thing in the world that can’t truly be bought.” Colin detangled himself from Jean to step behind her with a hand on each shoulder. “How many of you guys have seen Jean around?”
There was a moment of silence before Brandon stepped forward. “I know her.” One by one, every single one of the men chimed in, even the ones Jean didn’t remember ever seeing.
Colin gave her shoulders a little squeeze. “That’s the beauty of a small town. Everyone knows everyone. And I’m pretty sure you never took the time to know this, but Jean is a pretty fucking awesome girl. The kind who makes even assholes like me feel bad about things I never used to bat a fucking eyelash at. So, by a show of hands, how many people here want to kill Jean?”
Eric raised his hand fervently, but his enthusiasm waned as he realized he was the only one doing it.
“My offer still stands,” said Colin. “Two hundred grand split between all of you and whoever is on Katherine. So, what? Six, seven ways? That’s a good chunk each. And that’s money to keep you from doing something you don’t want to do in the first place for a guy you don’t even like.”
The other guard in front of Eric reached his hand into his waistband and gripped the butt of his handgun. “What proof do we have that any of this is real?”
“The guy who called me about Katherine? Tell him to check his bank account. Using some less than savory methods, we found out where his checking account was held and put a deposit in already. He probably doesn’t even know it’s there. As soon as you give us your accounts, you’ll all be set for a while.”
Brandon took out his phone and called someone. “Hey, Thatcher. Are you still with Katherine? Okay, I need you to get to your computer and look at your bank accounts. Tell me if there’s been some weird deposit in your checking account.” There was a pause. “It doesn’t matter why, just look!”
Eric stood. “You can’t seriously be considering this? Ten, fifteen grand won’t even last you all a year! If you stick with me, you’ll be set for life!”
The one next to Brandon finally pulled out his gun. Jean stepped back as Colin moved to stand in front of her, but neither of them should’ve bothered. The gun was turned on Eric. “Sit down,” he ordered.
Eric started to move around the desk until two of the other guards pulled out their pistols too. That finally got Eric’s attention, and he backtracked until he fell back into his seat. Beads of sweat broke out on his forehead.
“Let me take out my phone and call my guy. I need a routing and bank account number from all of you.”
One of the guards shifted on his feet. “I need to call Mary.”
“That’s fine. Get whatever you need. Let’s get started.”
“Thanks, Smith. Good job today.” Colin hung up the phone and looked around at the guys in the room. They all had their phones out, checking the pending transfers into their accounts. “I take it we’re done here.”
The big guy, the one who appeared to be the leader, jerked his head to the back two guys, who opened the door for them. “You’re all set. Take care of yourself, Jean.”
She let out a hesitant smile as she held onto Colin’s arm. Not quite the death grip she had before, but still enough to probably cut off a good amount of circulation. Not that he was complaining.
Once they got out these doors, Jean wouldn’t have any reason to hold onto him. No one would be trying to kill her, and even if they were, she now had three overprotective brothers more than happy to take over guard duties. Four, if Logan warmed up to her once he got out of prison.
And, knowing Jean, Logan would be her biggest guard dog.
“So you had that all planned out in your head?” asked Jean as they crossed past the slots and to the main door.
“That was plan A. My plan As don’t always work.”
They reached the outside of the casino and Colin stopped, waiting for the moment when Jean would pull away from him. But she didn’t. Instead, she leaned her forehead against his arm, and he closed his eyes, trying to commit the feel of her to memory.
“So what do I do now?” she asked.
“Well, you have a bunch of holes in your trailer, so I’d say the first stop is the police station. Tell them you ran off after firing a few shots and hid out in the woods for a few hours until you felt it was safe to go back and get your truck.”
“But Eric owns the cops out here.”
Colin stiffened and looked down at Jean. “I don’t think Eric is going to be a problem anymore.”
“Just because you paid those guys not to kill me doesn’t mean he’s going to drop—”
“I’m saying those guys aren’t going to let him walk out of that room. He never had their loyalty, even for a second. They’ll get rid of him and wait for the next Eric to roll into town and take over. There are always more...”
“So your entire plan focused around the idea that these guys would hate Eric as much as you hated Walter?”
Colin let out a soft laugh. “No. The entire plan revolved around everyone else loving you as much as I do. But that was a pretty dependable bet.”
Jean’s face fell. He didn’t know what he was expecting by letting the little fact that he was in love with her slip out, but that was about it.
“I’ll give you a ride back to pick up your truck. Once you pick it up, I’ll—”
“Jean! What are you doing here?” shouted Katherine as she walked out of the casino.
Colin and Jean both turned to her. Katherine’s face noticeably fell when she saw Colin. “What’s he doing here?”
“He’s leaving,” said Colin. “Why don’t you let Katherine give you a ride? You can go straight to the police and I’ll make sure the trailer is clear. I’m sure you can think of something to tell the police.”
“And it will probably give her new job a good reason for why she missed work,” muttered Jean.
Colin nodded. There was so much more he wanted to say, but nothing made it out of his throat. “Take care of yourself, Jean.”
He didn’t look back as he walked away. No point in looking back. From now on, he was focusing on the future. Namely a bottle of cheap whiskey with his name on it.
Jean took out her phone, which had finally charged. One of the officers who’d gone to the trailer had been nice enough to grab her phone. The sh
eriff had the same model so she’d been able to use his charger.
Not that the sheriff was there at one in the morning. There was only one deputy taking notes on her crazy story and the patrol car that went to check things out. Things like this just didn’t happen in small towns. But she had the New York police confirm that she’d been attacked there, and thanks to the knowledge that it wouldn’t happen again, she was secure in the fact that it didn’t matter how much the small department muddled up the investigation.
She scrolled past the list of voicemails from Colin and looked at the ones from her brothers. She owed them a call, especially after they’d funded Colin’s little plan to get Eric’s men to turn against her. They must think she was an absolute mess. They give her a hundred grand without her even asking, and not even a day later, she needed two hundred thousand more. She’d have to promise to give it back once she got her inheritance.
Of course, she didn’t know which brother to call. Nathan was the one she’d had the most contact with, but Robert was the one who seemed to be...in charge. She took a chance and dialed Robert first.
“Hello?” he said in a tired voice. Jean suddenly realized she was calling well past midnight his time.
“Shoot. I’m sorry, I completely forgot what time it was. I can call back tomorrow.”
“No, no. It’s fine. I was up. Just going over boring work stuff.”
“Oh. Maybe someday we can talk more about the boring work stuff.” Someday she could actually learn more about this family of hers.
“Any time you want a cure for insomnia, call me,” said Robert. She thought he was joking, but he was just as dry as always, so it was hard to tell.
“I’m sure it’s not that bad. Running an empire always sounds like so much fun in the movies.”
“Except the fun stuff is normally the stuff that ends up with me cleaning up messes. Like the three articles and one news interview today that made me look like I’m the next dictator that needs to be taken down.”
Ruthless (Fractured Farrells: A Damaged Billionaire Series Book 1) Page 16