Before Robert walked out, he casually said to Ray, “I hope you know he’s gang-affiliated and probably has grand larceny charges a mile long.”
“Listen here, son. I was in this business way before you were an itch on your father’s balls. A man like me does his homework, trust me.” Ray stood in front of his receptionist, Brenda.
“Good day, Mr. Couture. Hopefully, I will see you around.” Robert stepped down the hall.
“Brenda, please call the locksmith and alarm company. I want new locks and new codes for all entrances by the end of the day. Thanks,” Ray instructed. “Oh, when my daughter comes in, please have her call me.”
Chapter 14
Amber pulled into her reserved parking spot and stepped out of her car. With her breakfast in hand, she strolled down to her office. When she entered the garage, she noticed that Trevor wasn’t in. Well, thank goodness I don’t have to deal with that today, Amber thought, waltzing into her office.
She took her seat at her desk and logged on to her computer. Amber opened the McDonald’s bag containing her favorite breakfast: sausage, egg, biscuit, and two hash browns, along with grape jelly. Her mouth watered at the sight while she squeezed the jelly onto the biscuit. She closed her eyes on her first bite and savored the warm, sweet taste. As she continued to eat, her computer chimed. She had an unread e-mail.
Amber opened the e-mail without even looking at the sender’s name. A video began to play. She heard her voice. “Now, shut up and fuck me... .” Amber couldn’t believe what she was seeing on her screen. That motherfucker! She knew exactly what it was. She hadn’t thought that he would try to blackmail her. She hadn’t thought that he was that smart. She covered her mouth with her hands and closed her eyes, fighting the stream of tears. She wanted to throw up. Amber didn’t know how she would get herself out of this. Her phone buzzed. She grabbed it and saw a new text message come in.
Meet me in the parking lot of Starbucks in fifteen minutes.
With her phone in hand, she picked up her bag and ran out to her car. She sped out of the parking lot, almost hitting an incoming car. She knew who to look for when she pulled into the lot of Starbucks. She searched all the outside seating, then went inside. She saw Trevor and a young woman sitting together. She walked over slowly and took a seat.
“Hey, Amber. How you doing this morning?” Trevor asked, surprised. “Didn’t I tell you to meet me in the parking lot?”
“You know exactly how I’m doing this morning,” Amber spat back. “What? You didn’t want me to see your little coconspirator?”
“Okay, I guess you are right. I do know how you doing this very fine morning. You know how this works, I’m sure. I want one million deposited into this offshore account by the end of the day.” Trevor put a small slip of paper with some numbers on it in front of her.
Amber looked at it and laughed in his face. “So what? Am I supposed to be scared? Stupid hood nigga. I should have known not to fuck with you.”
“Who the fuck you calling hood, bitch?” Trevor’s girlfriend jumped in her face.
Trevor grabbed his girlfriend by the waist and pulled her back down in her seat. “Shut the fuck up, and let me handle this shit. Go fucking wait in the car,” he grunted through his teeth. She did what she was told.
“Like I said, hood, bitch,” Amber nonchalantly said to her as she left the table.
Amber reached into her bag for her iPad. “Trevor I get it. You want money, but guess what? The amount you want, it won’t happen,” she continued. “If you think you can file a suit against me, then go ahead. I doubt it will get far. My father knows a lot of people in high places. So, let’s handle this like businessmen, as they say. I will offer you two hundred thousand, and you hand over all the copies and the original of that little film school video you put together. Because, I am sure, with all my money, I can find an expert to say that that video was created to show only certain things.”
Trevor chuckled slightly and paused. He knew what she said was true, but he still wanted the money—any amount of money. “Okay, make it a half a million and I turn over everything to you, along with getting out of Miami. You go your way, and I go mine.” Trevor folded his hands on his chest and sat back in his seat.
Amber looked deeply into his eyes. She quickly thought about the money in her trust. She knew dropping half a mil wouldn’t hurt her. She had over twelve million in her trust, even with the money she’d invested with Stephen. Amber opened her iPad and powered it on. She looked at the slip of paper and punched in the numbers on it. Amber showed Trevor the screen. “Now, I want every single SD card, video, and the hard drive off the computer you created the masterpiece on. If it’s not on my desk by”—Amber saw that it was ten thirty on her watch—“three o’clock, you can kiss that money and your freedom good-bye.”
“Then our business is done.” Trevor removed his sunglasses from the table and placed them over his eyes. “Have a good life, Ms. Couture.”
“Oh, and, Trevor, make sure I don’t have to put your little hood chick in her place, ’cause it won’t go down like this. It will be very different.”
Amber placed her iPad in her bag and removed herself from the table, heading for the exit. Her phone began to sound an alert. She pulled her phone out of her bag and noticed that it was an e-mail alert. She glanced at the small screen and then figured that she would just look at it when she got back to the office. She pulled out of the parking lot and headed back to the office.
“Okay, is everything set for the transfer?” Stephen asked.
“Yeah, everything is all set. Did you set everything up on your end?” the bank manager asked.
“I’m heading to the taxiway now. I will talk to you in about a month,” Stephen said into the phone, then hung up. He looked around his apartment, then walked into his bedroom, where his hidden safe was. Stephen punched in the code, and it popped open. He reached in and pulled out fifty thousand dollars in cash, along with some passports and paperwork. He shoved everything into a knapsack and walked to the front door. He turned around and scanned the apartment again. “Well, it’s time I moved on,” he said out loud, stepping out the front door.
A taxi pulled into the driveway, and as he jumped in, his phone sounded. Stephen instructed the driver to head to Miami International Airport and looked at his phone. The transfer was complete, and his account now had over ten million in it. He smiled as he sat back in his seat and enjoyed the sun beaming on his face.
Chapter 15
Ray sat patiently waiting for Harold. For the first time, he was the early one. His watch read 12:50. He ordered a shot of Scotch, hoping it would calm his nerves. He could spot Harold coming out of the restroom area. He laughed to himself. As Harold took his seat, Ray said, “How is it you still here before me? And here I thought I had you beat for the first time in twenty years.” Ray continued to chuckle, then took the last sip of Scotch.
“Because, Ray, I’m good at what I do.” Harold also laughed.
“Now, tell me what you have.” Ray looked at the folder that Harold’s hands were on top of.
“You might need another drink,” Harold said with a serious tone. He then motioned for the waitress to take their order.
For the next twenty minutes Harold informed Ray of all the mess Trevor and his girlfriend were up to.
“Harold, did she buckle to his threats?” Ray asked.
“Well, it seems that she paid him off, and I doubt that he will show up here today. She transferred a half million dollars into an offshore account in his girlfriend’s name. My surveillance informed me that he is on a plane headed for Puerto Rico. There is nothing indicating that he will be back. They flew out on a one-way ticket and have left their place empty. Sorry, Ray,” Harold offered.
“Well, she handled it, and she paid for her mistake. Hopefully, she learned her lesson,” said Ray.
“But we have a serious problem with Stephen. Apparently, he has disappeared—”
Ray cut him off. “What�
��s so fucking bad about that? It seems to me that he solved our problems for us.” Ray smiled, but it quickly became clear that Stephen’s disappearance wasn’t a good thing.
“Ray, before I tell you, I want you to know that I have already taken all the steps to find his ass. And I have spoken to all your lawyers that will be involved in this.”
“Lawyers ... What the fuck are you talking about?” Ray raised his voice in anger.
“Ray, your daughter’s trust fund has been wiped clean. This son of a bitch was taking money from your daughter after just three months of them dating. Now you—”
“Why didn’t you catch that shit? That’s what I pay you for.” Ray slammed his fist on the table, catching all the patrons’ eyes on him.
“Ray, you need to calm down. The only reason I didn’t catch it was because you stopped the investigation of him. Remember?” Harold showed him a copy of the bank transfer on Amber’s account. “This is much bigger than some dummy companies. He’s into something major that includes a bank manager and good baiting and switching skills. This bank manager would take the investment checks and open an account in the check writer’s name, then transfer a little at a time into the new account under an alias, in this case Stephen Hunter. So, anyone can transfer the money once they have the pass codes, and just like that, one touch from a keyboard anywhere in the world, and he’s a rich man.” Harold shifted in his seat and looked at his watch.
“So, can’t we go to the bank manager and shake him down for the info on where this so called Stephen is?” Ray grew concerned.
“It’s not that simple. We have nothing on the bank manager. Despite all my efforts, I haven’t been able to figure out his true identity. Whatever identity he is using it all matches up. His paper trail is clean. That’s why he’s been the bank manager there for the last year. But my sources tell me that his identity only looks good on paper. That only tells me one thing, he’s dirty.” Harold let out a sigh.
“So, I have ... no, my daughter has lost over ten million dollars, huh? Why doesn’t she ever just listen to me? I told her just listen, dammit,” Ray stormed, voicing his anger.
“Ray, what do you want me to do?” Harold asked.
“I want you to find that no-good thieving bastard, and after you get my money back, you put—”
“I understand, Ray,” Harold said, cutting him off, and eased out of his seat.
Ray sat there, trying to drink his problems away. He couldn’t believe what he had just heard. Most of all, he couldn’t believe how stupid his daughter was. He gulped down another shot of Scotch and placed two one-hundred-dollar bills on the table and headed out the door.
Trevor and his girlfriend sat in first class for the first time. He placed his hand on her lap and smiled at her.
“What you smiling about?” she asked.
“Oh, only that we are one of those people now. No more holding on to a week’s check and stretching it for two. Now I can ... we can afford what we want at any moment,” Trevor said as the flight attendant offered him a glass of champagne.
She looked at the flight attendant and asked for a glass as well. Once her glass was in her hand, she tapped it against Trevor’s. “Now, baby, you have to understand we are not even close to being one of those people. That amount of money is not enough. We need more to get to where we need to be. That’s why ... I took the liberty to reach out to an old friend to help me make some new connections to invest our money.” She smiled.
“Well, you know best, but you better make sure that those investments turn out to be lucrative.”
“Trust me, this is a friend of a friend, and I have been researching this for a little while now. So, once we get to Puerto Rico, he is supposed to stop by the hotel to run through everything with us. No need to worry.” She kissed him passionately and called out to the flight attendant for more champagne.
Trevor smiled but didn’t trust her with all his cash. She was hood, and he knew no hood chick could ever leave the hood. He continued to smile and enjoyed his glass of champagne.
Chapter 16
It was strange for Amber to not take lunch, but today she decided to call lunch in. She called the reception area and asked if any lunch orders had been placed yet. The young lady replied no. Amber instructed her to order a tuna sandwich with tomatoes on a toasted roll and a bottle of lemonade. Amber looked at her watch. It read two o’clock. She was uneasy. Amber knew that her business with Trevor was still not complete.
Her computer chimed an alert for a new e-mail. Consumed with covering up what she did with Trevor, she’d totally forgotten about the unread e-mail. Amber knew that her father couldn’t find out. If he did, he would disown her or, at the very least, move her to another dealership. She shook the thought away and looked at the new e-mail. The sender was from her bank. She opened it up and let out a loud scream. “Noooo!”
She looked at the screen, which read $0.00 FUNDS. Tears filled her eyes. She logged on to her account and saw all her bank accounts had been completely emptied. She had nothing, only what she had in her wallet. She called Stephen, but his cell phone was disconnected. She called his office and again got the disconnection message. She tried to e-mail him, and her e-mail bounced back. At that moment she felt helpless and sobbed. She’d had everything she wanted, but she had to cross the line and want more. Her father had always warned her about wanting more. She’d never listened.
Ray walked into her office and closed the door behind him. “Baby, what’s wrong?” he calmly asked her, as if he didn’t know everything.
Amber looked to him with tears streaming down her face. She couldn’t say anything. She went to hug him and cried in his arms.
Ray consoled his daughter. It hurt him to do what he had to do, but this was the only way she would learn her lesson. “Amber, stop crying,” Ray blurted out. “Now, why didn’t you listen to me? I told you that throwing your money and pussy around would get your ass in trouble. And now it has caused problems. Major fucking problems.”
Amber stood still, shocked by her father’s tirade of words.
“Now, your lesson to learn isn’t over yet.” Ray picked up the tissue box on her desk and slammed it to the floor. It broke into pieces and revealed the hidden camera.
Amber looked at her father. “You knew? How long have you known? Weren’t you going to warn me? Isn’t family supposed to protect family?”
Ray didn’t answer any of her questions. “Family? You tell me what you was thinking when you decided on having a boy toy within your own department. The stupid thing is that you knew he was a thug, didn’t you? When he first came into this department, I told you just to keep your eye on him, and now I can see you kept more than your eye on him. Even though you were with someone already. It looks like he has been stringing you along the entire relationship.”
Amber tried to speak. “But ...”
“But fucking nothing. You had every fucking thing, and now what do you have?” Ray’s voice became louder with anger.
Amber sat there in silence. Tears dripped from her face, and she didn’t want to believe what she was hearing from her father’s lips.
“Answer me. Goddammit!”
Amber’s voice trembled as she spoke. “I don’t know what to say. Can you fix it?”
“Fix it? That’s your fucking problem, Amber. I’m always there to fix your fuckups. From this moment on you ... you can forget about all the mess you have caused and get the fuck out of Miami. Go home, pack your shit, and head back to New York. I don’t want to hear from you. Consider yourself on punishment.”
“Daddy, I have no money. My accounts are wiped clean, as you know. How am I supposed to get to New York? What about my house, my car? Daddy, please don’t do this to me,” Amber pleaded with her father.
“Yeah, I know you have no money. Have you heard from Stephen?” Ray asked, avoiding her questions.
“Stephen? What does he ... Oh, I see. Now I understand.” Amber realized now how much mess she’d really caused.
“Do you understand now? Amber, do you know where he is?”
“I tried calling him, but his phone is disconnected, and his e-mail address is no longer valid. Daddy, I’m sorry. Please, don’t—”
“Amber, you have to learn, just ’cause you can afford everything doesn’t make you invincible to everyone around you and shit can’t happen to you. Just answer me this one question. Why didn’t you leave him once you found out that he was cheating on you?”
“Because I thought he was everything I wanted. I thought that if I confronted him, he would leave me. His manipulation fooled me. I thought you liked him. He was the first man I had dated in years, since I put on all this weight. I figured it was all good since you actually showed efforts to get to know him.” Amber’s tears began to fall again. “Oh, Daddy, this is all my fault. Now I have to suck it up and make it up to you in every way possible.”
“It will be hard, but I think you need a slap of reality. You will be working at another dealership in New York, where I can keep close tabs on you. The money you earn will be the only money you have. I have a car waiting for you at the house to take you to the airport. From there you will fly to New York, and someone will pick you up from the airport. Your house will be up for sale, as well as your car. That’s to recover a tiny bit of that money that you so carelessly handed over. Amber, you are still my daughter, but from now on you will follow my rules, not yours.” Ray walked out of her office with a single tear in his eye.
Epilogue
One year later ...
After she had been in New York awhile, working at her nine-to-five job, Amber’s father finally came around and lifted her punishment. But he wouldn’t allow her to return to Miami, and all her money was to go through him first. If she wanted to do anything, she would have to call him to let him know. She hated that she had put her father in such a situation, and herself, as a result of her stupidity.
Full Figured 4: Carl Weber Presents Page 18