“I’ll sue you!” he said in a nasal voice.
“Oh, I doubt that Oscar Pinto Diaz, alias Buzz, alias Porcupine,” frowned Dan. “Porcupine? Oh. I get it. All the piercings. Whatever Porcy.”
“Fuck you!” he yelled up at the big man. Dan just smirked as Mike stepped on his fingers, the bones cracking loudly.
“Oh, sorry. Was that your hand? My bad,” smiled Mike. The man was shaking with so much pain he finally shut up. He nodded at Dan. “As you were saying my good friend.”
“Outstanding in warrants in Texas, Arizona, California, and Florida. Mostly drug related. Two accusations of sexual assault and what do you know, one conspiracy to commit murder. Tsk, tsk, tsk. You’re trouble old boy,” he smiled.
“Fuck that shit! She said she’d get the charges dropped. Told me her son was a lawyer or some shit.”
“He’s a doctor and he’s wanted by the law as well,” said Mitch. “In fact, desperately wanted by them, but believe me, I’ll get to him first.”
“I never met him,” he frowned. “Obviously. She just wanted me to help poison the old man and she was going to give me fifteen-grand.”
“Fifteen-grand? He’s worth millions,” said Dan. “That’s how stupid you really are.”
Suddenly, Porcupine knew he’d been had and was in deep shit. With local and federal authorities arriving on the scene, his ass was cooked. He’d never be outside a jail cell again.
“Hey,” he yelled toward Mitch and Brooks. “The chicks were trying to buy an island somewhere. I don’t know where but they talked a lot about building their own mansions and some big fancy hotel and country club. They won’t give up on that. And they’re all so deep into the drugs they can’t function for long without them. I’ve been around enough addicts to know that sooner or later they’ll start turning on one another.”
“Why are you suddenly being so helpful?” asked Brooks.
“Because if I go down, that bitch is going down with me.”
Mitch looked at the face of Lawrence Talbot and felt for the man. Love does strange things to people. Man, woman, or child, we often overlook the horrible behaviors of those we love.
“We’ll find her Lawrence. She might have had a lot of cash on her but it won’t be enough. If they try to get into their homes, they’ll be met with professional security. None of them will get far.”
“You said it earlier. We’re all smart men. Entrepreneurs. Intelligent. Savvy in the world. We’d identify a snake in the grass in business, if it was a man, in a moment. Why not a woman? Because she was pretty? Because she was willing to spread her legs?”
“Maybe,” said Mitch. “Maybe it was something you hoped for. Someone to love for the remainder of your life. That’s what I’m hoping for.”
“You’re married?” he asked.
“My wife is the one her son is going after. We got married recently and she’s already pregnant with triplets,” he grinned.
“Congratulations,” smiled Lawrence. “What a blessing. I couldn’t have children of my own. I expect that’s why they were attracted to all of us. Either we didn’t have biological children or they died in accidents or at birth.”
“That could have been a key element in them finding you,” nodded Dan. “People’s motives are always strange, Lawrence.”
“It’s Larry,” he grinned. “I hate Lawrence. Only she called me Lawrence. I’m a blue-collar man who started paving driveways when I was eighteen and broke. The man who owned the company took me under his wing and showed me the differences between pouring a driveway, a highway, a residential street or home slab, or making girders for overpasses.
“I learned everything from him and thanks to him, I moved up in the company. He left me fifty-nine percent of it when he died. The rest was with investors. I bought them out within ten years. I’m proud to say I’m a self-made man. Just not a very smart one. At least when it comes to love.” Mitch nodded at him.
“You’re still a relatively young man, Larry. Believe me, you’ll find someone that makes you happy. For now, let’s get all of you safely back to New Orleans until this whole thing is blown over.”
“I hope you’re right. About love. I don’t think I’m quite ready to give up on that just yet.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Alden heard his phone vibrating but truth be told, he was exhausted. He was surprised to realize just how much he was enjoying being back at work. Of course, he also was feeling better with a little bit of the drugs in his body, forcing him to relax and think more clearly.
He rolled over in the motel bed and stared at the phone, shaking his head. He was not in the mood to speak with his mother. Her negativity and neediness was killing him.
With his first weeks’ pay in his hand, he had enough to rent a small apartment and maybe put down some roots. He was far enough from her that he didn’t need to worry about her showing up on his doorstep.
Of course, sooner or later he’d have to find Marnie if he was going to be truly free. He’d need to end that loose end and then find somewhere that his mother couldn’t find him.
