“Good. Who is behind the set-up?” I got straight to the point.
“I don’t kn—” He couldn’t finish his sentence before my hand was wrapped around his neck, squeezing, tightly.
“Remember my warning,” I seethed through clenched teeth. “Please do, test me on it. Please do,” I taunted, squeezing his neck tighter.
“Okay, okay,” he wheezed out, holding his hands up. “A g-guy came to me a few days after you f-fired me.”
“What guy, James?”
“He said his name was Tim. He showed up out of nowhere on my doorstep. Said he was with the Better Business Bureau, at first, and they were doing research on Townsend Real Estate’s unfair treatment of employees. I told him how I’d just been fired.”
“Which he undoubtedly knew already. Keep going.”
“He just wanted to know my story. I told him. Then a week or so later, he calls, says he has a proposition for me.”
“To rob my damn company?”
James nodded.
“And your stupid ass believed someone working for the Better Business Bureau would have you rob Townsend Real Estate?”
“No.” He shook his head vigorously. “No, but then he said he wasn’t with the BBB but that he worked for a man who had a vested interest in seeing Townsend fall. He said there’d be something in it for me if I robbed the condominium that was for sale. Said the former owners had a safe in it that they hadn’t emptied out.”
“That makes absolutely no fucking sense, James!” I growled, grabbing him by the collar of the orange jumpsuit he wore.
“I know! But the guy told me I’d make an easy ten grand out of the deal. I was broke. It sounded like a bargain to me. So I took it.”
I rose to my feet, standing over James who still laid on the floor. I eyed him, looking for any signs of deception.
“What was this Tim’s last name?”
“McDonald or Mc something or other. Ouch!” he bellowed when he received a sharp kick to his abdomen.
“Give me a straight fucking answer, James.”
“McKellen. He said his last name was McKellen.”
“Tim McKellen,” I sounded out loud, running the name through my mental rolodex. It didn’t ring any bells but I felt this was connected to someone I knew. I stooped low in front of James again. “I’m leaving now. You will be taken back to jail by the officer that brought you here. You will never mention this meeting to anyone or you will find yourself in a very ugly scenario behind bars. You won’t have to worry about ever making it to the end of your ten year sentence for armed robbery. You understand what I’m saying to you?” I glared at James.
“Yesss,” he drew out.
“Good.” I nodded and stood, turning my back on him to move to the door. James was as good as dead behind those prison walls. I’d already saw to that, but I wouldn’t reveal that to him. That’d be a little surprise he’d learn in the next few months. Since he’d pleaded guilty to the armed robbery, there would be no trial. He was going straight to jail where he wouldn’t live out the next six months. That was his real punishment for pulling a gun on Kayla. This minor beating was just to get some information. Now that I had it, I had no use for him.
“You can take him now. Thank you, Officer Venetti.” I held out my hand for the officer to shake. When he gripped it, I said, “As promised, your son will get the medical treatment he needs at no financial cost to your family. Anonymously, of course.” A smile I’d perfected over the years in the course of business dealings touched my lips.
“Th-thank you,” the officer stated, his gaze bouncing between Brutus and I.
I gave Brutus one last nod before turning and heading home. I needed to get changed so Kay and I could make it to my parents’ for dinner.
Chapter Seventeen
Joshua
Silently, I watched as Kayla wrestled with how to wear her hair for the dinner at my parents’ house. The tension of my earlier meeting began to recede as I noted the half up, half down hairstyle she’d chosen for the night. My fingers itched to get tangled up in those auburn strands.
I licked my lips as she dropped the towel from her lithe body. Moving into the bedroom, I observed her. When she put a little more sway into her hips, sauntering over to the dresser where her panties and bras rested, I knew she was now putting on a show. My groin tightened and a groan moved up my throat, spilling out of my mouth when she bent completely over, exposing all of her hidden treasures, just to step into the lace panties she opted to wear that night.
Fuck, Kay!
