As I turn to leave, I hear William say, “I’m sorry—”
Before I stormed out, I saw what might have been hurt cross his eyes, but I’m too overwhelmed to think it through. I rush into the bathroom and burst into tears. I cry for the loss of my friends and my life as I know it. Here I have an amazing opportunity with my boss going out on maternity leave, and I’ll be living in a homeless shelter—either that or…. It’s been staring me in the face, and I haven’t really wanted to do it, but it’s time I start lining things up to move home to help my dad.
Chapter twenty-six
William
I wanted to tell Quinn about what we found in the safe-deposit box, but she was so angry with me that I didn’t get a chance. I had to tell Mason about our relationship because of my partnership agreement. Dillon and Emerson are married and partners, and while it happened before I joined the firm, I heard it was tough to get by Mason. I figured with Quinn and Mason having a history, I needed to warm him up. I didn’t tell him that I plan on marrying her, only that I wanted his and the company’s okay to see her.
I run through the conversation. She owes the world money, and she’s looking at eviction. She was incredibly helpful in Philadelphia, and I owe her more than she knows. I did promise to pay her for coming with me, so I need to make this right. I do some quick research and figure out who owns the building she lives in. His number is unlisted, so I call Jim, and with a few clicks, he gives me his number. I make the call.
“Hello,” a gruff male voice says into the phone.
“Yes, this is William Bettencourt. I’m calling on behalf of Quinn Faraday.”
“She’s behind over three months’ rent.”
“That’s why I’m calling. What is the total?”
“Her monthly rent is $4,000. When she pays after the 5th, she owes another $500 and interest kicks in.”
“What kind of payment world is that?”
“I’m starting eviction notice day after tomorrow if I don’t have the past three months’ rent.”
“So she has told me. What is the amount?”
I hear a ten-key clicking and the tape going and going. “It looks like she owes $19,064.26.”
I’m stunned into silence. No wonder she feels overwhelmed. Seven thousand dollars in late fees—I need to get her out of this apartment. The rent is unfortunately in line, but the terms are bad. “What is your banking information? You’ll have that plus an additional $8,000 to cover the next two months.”
He rattles off the banking information, and I put through a transfer from my savings.
“You should have the money in your account tomorrow. Please call her once you have it, and let her know that she doesn’t owe you rent for the next two months. If you try to cheat her in any way, I will bring the force of the law down on you so hard, you won’t ever be able to dig out.”
“I’m not a liar. I’ll let her know.”
“No, you’re just a cheat.”
“I have a few other tenants who are late since you’re in a generous mood.”
“Not surprising given you are essentially a loan shark.” I hang up. I want to relieve her of some of her school loans, but I know she may already be upset that I paid off some of her rent. I know she didn’t tell me of her plight to get help but to make her point, and I need to tread carefully.
Looking at my phone, I see I have a voice mail; I’m not sure when I missed a call. The message is from Harriett. “Master William, Marcus and I have been through the house. We don’t think anyone was here. We’ll keep our eyes out.”
I don’t delete the message, but I hang up. This is all very strange. I’m due back at Jim’s about three so we can watch the VHS tapes. I’m anxious to know if my dad uncovered a sex trafficking ring. Just the thought sours my stomach.
I work through lunch, and I watch Quinn do the same. I want to talk to her, but she won’t even look at me, so I know I’m still firmly in the dog house. At two thirty, I pack up and head out to Jim’s. He has a ride waiting for me downstairs. This can’t be good.
When I arrive, they take me in through the garage and to a floor that I can’t quite determine if it’s above ground or below, but the lack of windows suggests it’s below. Jim greets me. “We were able to get the tapes transferred to a digital copy, and we’re set up. I’ve asked Thomas and Brian here to join us.”
I extend my hand and say, “Nice to meet you.”
We sit in what looks like a movie theater, and someone starts the video. It’s a young girl with blonde hair and beautiful big blue eyes, and she can’t be more than ten years old. I blanch as I see an old, withered hand caress her cheek. We watch as he removes her dress and then pulls down her panties. She stands looking at him scared. “I’m going to make you feel so good.” He touches her genitals, and I can’t take anymore. I run from the room and find a metal trash can. Ripping the lid off, I vomit, emptying my stomach of everything I’ve eaten today, and I’m still dry heaving when Brian joins me. “You okay?”
I shake my head.
“That’s the right response. I’ve watched the six hours of tape already. They are much of the same. None of them are your father, if that makes you feel any better.”
“Who are they?”
“We don’t know, but we have pictures of about twenty different men. I’ll get freeze-frames of them and see if you can identify them.”
I nod. “What do we do after that?”
“This is where it gets tricky. We need to get the FBI and possibly Interpol involved. I would suggest that you retain an attorney used to dealing with the FBI, and we take it to them. I’d like to get a few more things figured out if we can, first.”
“I’m good with that.”
Jim walks up and puts his hand on my shoulder. “I’m sorry you had to see that. I have an update on your crank calls. Let’s head up to my office.”
I follow him upstairs and to his office. It has a wall of windows that overlook a bullpen of men and women working on computers. All are dressed in the company uniform—black cargo pants, military-style boots, black T-shirts, and the occasional sweater or sweatshirt. Jim points me to a set of chairs at a small table. I sit down.
“These are pictures of the accident site.” The helicopter is a blackened mess of metal. I look at him expectantly.
“My team hiked down to the site, and here are the pictures.”
I can see the inside of the cockpit, and it looks like the seats are blackened. “I’m assuming your team noticed the plants already growing into the cockpit in less than a month.”
“You have a good eye. We think the accident is much older than they are reporting.”
I sit back hard in the chair. “So chances are my father is alive?”
“We don’t know. There was a second accident in the right time period that killed six people on their way to base camp. That may be our accident. We believe they used this accident because they were too lazy to climb to the other accident site.”
“How will we find out?”
“My team has your father’s DNA and dental records. Now we just need to find the other accident and get it in front of some people.”
“What about the recording? Do you have any updates on that?”
“We compared the recording to your father, and we agree, it’s a doctored tape. We believe that some of it comes from previous recordings spliced together. It’s a setup though.”
Well, at least this is good news. This whole thing is making me anxious—first the Ponzi scheme, then Lillian being strange, and now the sex tapes with minors. It’s all too much. I’m not sure what to do at his point.
“Where are the pictures? I want to know if I can identify these motherfuckers.”
“We’ll have them for you by morning.”
“What about the crank calls?”
“They’re using burner phones that were sold here and in Philly. Each time we come close to triangulating them, the number changes.”
“Great, we don’t kno
w much more. So I can leave?”
He nods. I stand and check my phone for the time. It’s getting late. I walk out for a rideshare. I can’t breathe. How the fuck did my father get involved in this shit?
As I wait for the rideshare, I listen to my voice mail, and it’s Quinn. “I’m not happy with you, but thank you for paying my rent. I will repay you.”
I direct the rideshare to Quinn’s apartment. She’s not home yet, so I use my time to consider what’s going on and all the implications as I sit on the front step and wait for her.
“What are you doing here?” she asks in greeting.
“I needed to see you. I know you need to work tonight, but I’ll pay you if you will just join me for dinner.”
She looks at me, taking in my disheveled hair and my bloodshot eyes. “Come on upstairs.”
I follow her. When she opens the door, she puts her computer and things over a chair close to the door and faces me. Trembling, I pull her into my arms. “Can we order in? Please?”
“Yes. Otherwise, we’re stuck with peanut butter crackers and bananas.”
“What are you interested in?”
“A steak actually. Is that too much?”
I laugh. “No, we can do that. Ruth Chris okay?”
She nods. “More than okay.” We order two rib eyes, twice baked potatoes, sautéed mushrooms, and asparagus with Hollandaise sauce. When she isn’t paying attention, I add a chocolate cake and a cheesecake for dessert. I find her in the kitchen. “It’ll be here in about an hour.”
“I’m not having sex with you,” she informs me.
“I’m fine with that. I just need to talk to you.”
We talk about what’s been going on with my dad and how screwed up it all is.
“That is completely unbelievable. If you were to write this in a book, no one would believe you.”
“Welcome to my life.”
Dinner arrives. I watch Quinn dive in, and I love her enthusiasm for food. “This is so good. I didn’t realize how much I missed a good steak.”
“Make sure you save room for dessert.”
She evaluates me carefully. “So talk.”
I talk for over three hours, telling her all about what happened with Lillian, the tape I was given from the flight attendant, the crank calls, and the mail that was sent by my father.
“Holy shit. That’s unbelievable.”
“I don’t know what to think.”
“I can see why.” She looks at me, and I can see tears in her eyes. “Thank you for paying my rent.”
“I promised that I’d pay you for going. It’s the least I can do since it’s my fault you’re behind.”
“Uh, no, it isn’t. It’s the fact that my loans and rent are more than my take-home pay.”
“You know you could always move in with me. That would eliminate your rent and leave you only with your school loans.”
“That’s very kind of you, but I can’t do that.”
I’m saying this all wrong. I’m too tired to say this right.
“I will pay you back the money you wired to my landlord,” she says with great force.
“First, that isn’t necessary. Think of it as payment for helping me with my predicament.”
“I’m not a charity case. I will get you your money back.”
I know I can’t force it, but I’ll work on her. After dessert, we’re both fighting sleep. “Can I stay the night?”
She nods, and I follow her into the bedroom. We both strip to our underwear, and she tosses me a T-shirt, and we crawl into bed. I don’t even care that sex is off the table. I only want to spend as much time with her as she’ll let me. I’m determined to wear her down.
Chapter twenty-seven
Quinn
I’m truly grateful for what William did for me. Without the monkey on my back, I feel so much lighter. I feel like I can breathe. I was able to send a double payment for my school loan with this pay period, and I evaluated my finances. Even with the two-month reprieve, it doesn’t look good.
There’s really only one solution. Pulling up the company calendar, I put a meeting on Mason’s calendar for eight. The email sends and almost immediately is accepted.
No going back now.
I look around my apartment. I don’t have a lot. I have a semi-decent television, some expensive wireless speakers, my bed, and some bookshelves. There are a few things I want to take with me, but only a few. There’s my car. It’s worth money. It’s currently uninsured, which is why it just sits in my parking space. After checking the Blue Book price, I’m actually surprised at how much I’ll get for it. I’ll have to buy another car, but at least now I’ll have the money to do so. Pulling up Markslist, I list the car for sale. It now feels real.
After what feels like hours of tossing and turning, I finally get up and list all the things I need to do. Each time I’m close to drifting off, I think of one more thing. When my alarm sounds at six thirty, I’m slow to get out of bed. I fight back the tears and get ready and walk to work for my eight o’clock meeting with Mason.
He’s already in the office when I arrive, so I put my things down, grab a cup of coffee, and make my way to his office.
“Hey, what’s up?” Mason asks expectantly.
All of a sudden, I’m nervous. This is going to be harder than I thought. “My father is having some challenges, and I need to go home and be with him.”
“You need to take some family leave?”
“No, I think I need to give notice. My two weeks’ notice.”
“Wait. You can come back after your dad is on the road to recovery.”
“Thank you, but I guess I look at it this way, my career, my friends, my personal belongings, these are all rubber balls. If I drop them, they’ll bounce back. Family is a glass ball. If I drop that, it’ll break. I’m an only child. There isn’t anyone else for my dad, and I can’t convince him to come here, so I need to go to him.”
“Do you think it would help if I talk to him? I can help you find a place down on the peninsula,” Mason pleads.
“I’m not sure if William told you, but I have a second job.”
“Why? Are we not paying you enough?”
“Mason, my rent and my school loans are more than my take home each month. That isn’t your fault. I’m over thirty, and I want to live without a roommate. You know that I borrowed for grad school. I can’t afford it here anymore. I know this puts you in a bad place, and I’m really sorry, but I need to go. I will do a really good transition memo so that everyone has everything they need to know.”
“We’ll throw you a big party, but it won’t be a goodbye party, rather a see-you-soon party.”
“Actually, I’m hoping that we just tell people I’ll be back in a few weeks, but don’t tell anyone I won’t be coming back. I know that is asking you to lie, but I don’t want anyone to make a big fuss, and I beg you not to tell the partners about my financial situation. It’s truly embarrassing.”
“I understand about wanting to be close to your dad. You know I’m in a similar boat with my mom, but I won’t accept your resignation. When you’re ready to come back, we’ll find you an inexpensive and safe place to live, and we’ll give you a raise. Please don’t leave us.”
“I don’t think you understand. My second job is a phone sex operator. It most likely is a violation of the ethics policy.”
“Phone sex?”
“Yes, men call in the evenings and want me to talk dirty to them. I don’t use my real name, but I get paid by the minute.”
“Does anyone know?”
“Yes. William knows. I was leaving him a message one night, and I accidentally didn’t hang up, and he heard my side of a very embarrassing conversation.”
“I see. Did he threaten you? Is that why you went to Philadelphia with him?”
“No, he needed someone to be his beard for his crazy stepmother. It was all good.”
“So you’ve been supplementing your income with a second job, but no one
knows it is you?”
“That’s correct.”
“Why do you think that’s a reason to quit? I mean, there is someone here that is writing erotica and publishing it under a pen name, and that doesn’t bother me. If they decide to do a book tour, then we might have to have a conversation, but from what you describe, it’s legal what you’re doing, and I know San Francisco is expensive.”
I’m both shocked and grateful for his response. I paint a smile on my face. I can’t let him convince me to stay. Working that many hours for years on end will put me in an early grave. “Please keep this between you and me, and I know the partners need to know, but can you wait until after I leave? I don’t want anyone to make any fuss.”
“Is this because you aren’t a partner?”
I fight back the tears and shake my head. “No. I don’t think I could afford to buy into partnership anyway. I love my job, and under different circumstances, I might think differently, but I want to be there for my dad.”
“You’ll always have a place at SHN.”
I choke back tears. “Thank you.” I stand and extend my hand, and we shake. Mason looks crestfallen.
When I get back to my desk, I begin the process of writing up the giant memo so that I can transition my dream job to someone else. Throughout the day, my phone rings and I take care of multiple issues, making notes in my memo so that nothing falls through the cracks. I have too much pride in my work to leave a job without a roadmap so that my clients don’t see any disruption.
I’m going to miss my job. It’s something I’m truly good at. I can manage crisis after crisis, loads of drama, and sometimes intrigue, and I love it.
I’m going to miss my friends. CeCe’s wonderful, and I love Emerson and Cynthia. I’ll miss the glasses of wine and the gossiping, eating, and going out shopping with them—I look, and they buy.
I’m going to miss this city. Despite the influx of tourists year-round, I will miss the fantastic views, the amazing restaurants, and all the fun things to do here.
Enchanted: (Billionaire Venture Capitalist #8): A Fake Fiancée Romance Page 20