With Cruel Intent

by Dennis Larsen

  “Faster, faster!” he told himself, “she’ll be on the phone by now, faster, faster!”

  He rode like Steve McQueen, in a race for his life, until he got to the blacktop where he knew he would have to regain his cool and not draw attention to himself. In the distance he could hear sirens screaming toward him, but he fought the urge to accelerate and start going cross-country. Alternating red and blue lights were flashing dead ahead and coming at a breakneck speed.

  “Keep it together! Damn it Lester, keep it together!” He commanded himself, his right hand itching to crank up the rpm’s.

  The Sheriff’s vehicle raced past him, not giving him a second look, he spun his head around and watched the lights become smaller as the car hurled down the road. Lester saw before he heard it, the brake lights on the squad car suddenly lit up, the screeching of the tires barely audible over the sound of his own bike, but undeniable that he’d been made. The Sheriff’s unit desperately tried to stop and turn around, sending the vehicle into a broad slide and landing it in a ditch, dust and smoke covering the scene and for a moment blinding the driver. Breland cussed, rocking the transmission from reverse to drive, and back again, in an effort to work the car out of the predicament he’d put it in.

  Lester didn’t wait around to see if the deputy was really after him or not. He downshifted, increased the torque and left a trail of rubber, as he high tailed it for home and the safety it would provide.

  “Felix better be pretty damn happy,” he said, thinking of the .38 in his pack and how much he’d love to use it on the Chicago gangster right about now.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Iggy pulled his sunglasses down on the end of his nose, peering over the top to see if it improved his ability to see down the country lane. He looked at his watch, having to extend his arm as far as he could to read the time.

  “Should have spent the few extra bucks and got the bifocal,” he said, to himself. “Where are these guys? I’ve got to be back at the office in a couple of hours.”

  At the conclusion of their last clandestine meeting they had agreed to meet one final time before sending their hired thief in for his ultimate mission. With the past outings paying off better than they had anticipated, it was time to move their agenda along. Iggy had waited a long time to get his hands on some big money; the eight years had eaten away at him, slowly killing him inside with nothing really to show for it, other than less hair and more fat. He had to admit that Jeremy had been good to him, advancing him a little here and a little there, but not any of the big money that had been promised him from the outset.

  “That stupid, greedy Beverly Davis,” the thought repeated itself in his mind in various slurs and slanders. “If she’d only been reasonable at the outset, I’d be laying on the beach, margarita in hand and some Caribbean hooker massaging my neck.”

  Different scenarios had played out in his imagination over the past eight years, each complete with beautiful women, exotic locations and lots and lots of money. When Jeremy’s dad passed away it looked like cooler heads were going to prevail, and Beverly would concede and see the will as overreaching and unfair, in light of only a two-year marriage. In an attempt to avoid years in court and numerous parties contesting the will, Jeremy had his attorneys draft an offer to his stepmother with a cash settlement without having to liquidate the estate. He had thought it more than fair and Ignatius had agreed. The will would have been settled, leaving all the assets, or at least most of them intact. Jeremy would have to sell off some of the smaller holdings to come up with the five million he had offered, but after the way they had bonded in the Atlanta hospital, he felt it very generous.

  The realtor had also considered it quite reasonable, and in theory, thought they had a deal, until the lawyers got involved. Iggy recalled the greed and avarice that the council on both sides had shown. At the time, their suggestions and advice seemed to make sense, but in hindsight it was clear they had more interest in dragging the negotiations out as long as possible. At the time of his father’s death, Jeremy estimated the entire estate worth about twenty five million, however, Bev’s attorney’s estimated the value closer to forty million, even after Beverly Davis, realtor, had done an assessment and found the value closer to her stepson's.

  Over these long, past eight years there continued to be one piece of information that Jeremy never disclosed to anyone, not even Iggy. The property that his father owned south of Moody Air Force Base would be a gold mine when, and if, the US Government decided to expand. The possibility had been bantered around a number of times but kept behind closed doors. Very few had access to the information but the congressman that Jeremy worked for was one of the privileged. The aide was not even sure if the congressman knew that technically his top aide owned the property, or at least half of it, if the will should be upheld. What the younger Marshall did know was the time was not right, at least not yet, and the ‘IF’ in the equation of the government buyout loomed very large.

  As Iggy looked back over the rollercoaster of a ride in and out of court, himself always taking a backseat, not letting on that he was anything but an interested party representing the county, he had always been there for Jeremy, a confidant and source of information in all of the legal shenanigans. He was glad that his conspirator trusted him; he was the closest ‘friend’ he had and would miss him when they concluded their business arrangement.

  The possible buyout of five million had been buried, along with a number of other equally fair offers, but meetings turned into, “he said” - “she said”, name calling affairs that Jeremy had recounted to Iggy through their coded communication system online. Eventually the two sides squared off in a battle over the authenticity and veracity of the will. Jeremy contested and sent the proceedings into court after court, along with every other relative, including his mother, contesting for a portion of the estate as well.

  It was incredible how much money could be poured down a drain and into a legal firm's pocket once the ball is rolling. They just never roll the ball very fast, just enough to suck every nickel they can out of their clients, all the time telling them that they were keeping their best interest in mind. Iggy and Jeremy had learned to hate attorneys and the legal profession at large.

  “Yup, eight years I’ve been doing this,” Iggy said, looking into the driver’s side mirror of his older model sedan, adjusting his sunglasses in the process. “Pretty damn tired of it!” he concluded.

  A car turned down the lane from the main road, paused for a moment, then proceeded until it came to a stop next to Iggy’s vehicle. A smiling Felix stepped from the driver’s door, brought two fingers to his forehead in a makeshift salute, and greeted the heavier fellow.

  “You been waiting long?”

  “Well, I for one was on time. Where you been? I can’t believe Jeremy’s not here. He’s always on time. Do you think he didn’t see the location notice I posted?” the sweating director asked.

  “I got it, no reason he should have missed it. Did you catch what our friend did today just a short ways from here?” Felix asked.

  “No, how would I have access to that information? Is it already on the news or something?” he responded, somewhat irritated.

  “Nothing on the news, but I’ve got a scanner and there’s all kinds of shit on there about a break-in where a woman was assaulted. Had to be our guy. He’s pulling out all the stops, the extra five grand you put in his mailbox looks to have paid off,” a very chipper Felix informed the more serious Iggy.

  “When Jeremy gets here we need to talk about this last job we have for him. Hope you’re up to it,” he said, looking for a response from Felix.

  “I do what I get paid to do, little man, and don’t you forget it. I’ll hold up my end of the deal, don’t fall down on yours,” Felix said, still remaining cheerful.

  “What’s got you so happy today? Thought the idea of having to move back to Valdosta for a few days would have you on edge.”

  “Nah, I loved the little place for th
e few days I was there. Can’t wait to get back to that bed and breakfast where I stayed before. You wouldn’t believe the body on this blonde staying there. Don’t think she likes me very much but I can be very persuasive,” Felix said, cupping his hands in front of himself to describe the woman more fully to Iggy.

  The sound of a car turning into the drive brought both of their attention to the newcomer.

  “Finally,” they said, in unison.

  The silver car eased down the dirt path, the driver trying not to stir up the dust that was sure to result. Jeremy saw his co-conspirators before him, unhappy that he was the last to arrive. The drive from DC had taken much longer than expected, with construction delays the entire way. It had been good though, giving him plenty of time to put his calculating mind to work, sorting out the final details.

  “Gentlemen,” he said, as he exited his Acura. “Good to see you both, hope everything is going well.”

  “You in a good mood too?” Iggy asked. “Why is everyone in such a good mood? I don’t get it, we could all go to prison for the rest of our lives and you two seem happy for some reason. Could you give me a clue or was I the only one here that didn’t get laid today or something?”

  “Yes, and most likely yes again,” Felix taunted the older man.

  “Okay, we have a lot to decide on today and only a short time to finalize these arrangements,” Jeremy said, knowing that the pocket recorder was picking up everything that was being said. “Let me bring you up to speed on where we are with the legal developments. Short and simple, we lost. The courts, as high as I want to take this sham, have concluded that the will is authentic and has stood up to every legal barb we’ve thrown at it. Bottom line, I get half the estate, less thirty percent to the blood-sucking lawyers, and the same for Beverly. They have concluded that the entire estate must be liquidated and a disbursement of the resulting assets. I have an option to buy her half out, at a number the court has decided on, with no input from either side. That number is fifty million dollars, and I can tell you that is not going to happen!”

  The congressional aide took a deep breath to collect his thoughts and continued, “My legal council has offered one possible sidestep to this whole thing, and that has to do with our friend and his affect on the market, also as we predicted. The court came up with their estimation of property value when markets were higher, but included in their final wording a ‘shotgun’ type clause, that allows either Beverly, to offer the other party a buyout or myself. If that offer is accepted it concludes the will, but if not, the one making the offer must be willing to accept that same amount for their half of the estate, without the right of refusal. Does that make sense?” He did not wait to see how much of this they were getting, didn’t really concern them anyway.

  “In any case, I can return to court and press that the amount is too high in today’s market, and I think we have a pretty good case to bring the value down or I can lowball her again, but she could turn it around on me. That’s where we stand today if we decide that we don’t move ahead. It could mean a lot of money out of all our pockets.” He gave that a minute to sink in.

  As the three mulled that over, Jeremy looked around at the setting Iggy had selected for the meeting, reminding him of the place where it all started on that morning his father passed away eight years ago.

  “Iggy, you did well, I like this place, another foreclosure?” he asked.

  “Yeah, lots of them these days. I knew the place was empty and it’s not listed yet so no one will be around. I was thinking it was kind of like that first place we met years ago.”

  “I was thinking the same thing, guess great minds think alike,” Marshall said.

  “Okay, you two are we done with the reminiscing and can we get to the work at hand?” an anxious Felix asked.

  “Why not, alright then, Felix fill us in on what is happening with our hired help,” the ringleader directed.

  Felix filled in the other two on the events of the past couple of days and what he had heard that morning over the scanner. The authorities were in pursuit of a possible assailant that was last seen leaving the area near the assault, on a yellow motorcycle, wearing a matching helmet, painted with flames on the sides; however, they didn’t catch him. Some numb-nuts deputy put his car in the ditch and couldn’t continue the chase. Doesn’t sound like they got a very good look at him though, he’s a cagey one, but he’s getting sloppy, too sloppy for my liking.”

  “That’s okay, which actually plays into our needs even better than I would have thought. We need him to just lay low now for a week. Nothing, and I mean nothing. Give him a few extra bucks to maybe leave the area for the week and entertain himself with hookers or whatever he does for fun. We just need to see how the public and authorities deal with this for a few days,” the mastermind instructed the other men.

  “I have good news on the sale of that property that was represented by Beverly. It fell through just like you said it would. Wish I could have been there the day she found that out, stupid bitch is getting what she deserves. So I guess that leaves the field wide open for you to step in and sweep her off her feet, eh Felix?” Iggy joked.

  “Ain’t nothing wrong with a little meat on the bones once in awhile Iggy, I would have thought her just your type,” he countered. As far as that goes, I was able to line up a small investor that is interested in taking a look at the property, now that the Okala Group has pulled out. He’s not dying to purchase but has enough interest that I can approach this Ms. Davis and get my foot in the door.”

  “Good, real good. I’ve tried to look at this from every possible angle and I think we’re covered. When this thing goes down there will be a shit storm coming at me from every possible direction and I need to know that you guys have got my back. You don’t speak to anybody. You don’t know me. Is that understood? Iggy, we have a very casual, business relationship from years past but we’ve not talked in years. You got that?” he said, looking back and forth at both men.

  Iggy and Felix shook their heads in agreement, verbally confirming that they understood, and were in full compliance with Jeremy’s directions.

  “You think they’ll figure you were involved somehow?” Felix asked.

  “Her lawyers will do anything to collect their fifteen million, so yes, I think they will try to persuade the authorities that I was involved, otherwise, they lose their payday and I end up with the entire estate, less your and Iggy’s share of course.”

  “I have a question about that.” Ignatius became very serious.

  “Of course,” Jeremy encouraged his ‘friend’ to continue.

  “Just how is it that we get paid out? I mean not the little bit you’ve been dishing out till now, I mean the big money, the millions?”

  “I know what you are referring to. I’ve set a couple of offshore accounts in countries with no treaty agreements with the US, I will steadily, through a source that you need not concern yourself with, funnel money into those accounts until you have received the amounts we talked about. Some of that money is there today, but I can’t give you access until we finalize this little arrangement.”

  “And just how much money was that again?” Felix asked.

  “I’ve told you I was not willing to discuss the amount that you are both receiving. Those terms were negotiated separately, Iggy has been involved and working for many more years than yourself, therefore, he is getting paid somewhat more than you but the sums are, at this point, no longer negotiable and confidential, as we agreed.”

  “But I’m assuming so much more of the actual risk, if you know what I mean. When you think of it, you’d be nowhere if I hadn’t found our guy and convinced him to come on board,” Felix countered.

  “And you are being compensated very handsomely,” Jeremy reminded him.

  “Yeah, I guess, but just seems to me that my piece should be bigger. I mean you’re coming out of this with something worth a hundred million bucks.”

  “On paper, remember, that’s not cash
. If the property doesn’t sell for what we think it’s worth, I may end up with just a very large farm,” Jeremy tried to assure him.

  “Okay, I get your point, I was just asking.”

  The men continued to nail down some of the logistics that needed to work themselves out over the coming week.

  Jeremy summarized before they split up, “Iggy, tell me again, what are you doing this week?”

  “I’m getting the information, as I’ve done before, to our guy, The Stalker. The locksmith that has been doing our keys wants more money, but I’ve handled it. He won’t be a problem. He’s been very helpful in providing me with information about possible homes to hit, but he’s got two strikes against him, so he won’t screw with us and risk going back to prison for good. Anyway, I’ll secure a key, photo, and everything else, just like before, so he’s good to go,” Mr. Savard relayed, confident that he had his directions straight.

  “That’s right and Felix what do you need to do?”

  “I need to hook up with your stepmother and screw her to death,” he said, laughing. “Sorry, I just couldn’t resist that one. Guarantee you though that she’d go out with a smile on her face.”

  “If it were only that easy, I would have done that myself,” Jeremy said.

  All three enjoyed a good laugh, finding the image of such a conclusion to all their hard work rather funny.

  “Okay, okay, what do I need to do this week? Okay, I’m going to contact Ms. Davis through her realty company, and let her know I’m representing this little corporation that’s interested in the section out by the base. I think I’m free to schmooze her as I see fit, right?” he said, questioning the direction he was going.

  Jeremy nodded his approval.

  “Good, then I hook up with the hot librarian and your mom for a ménage, phone you to collect my money and life is good. Guess that’s about it,” Felix said, turning his palms up in a sign of completion.