Trey

As Vanessa walks away, I reflect on how much has changed since the day Dad died. For some reason, I don’t feel nearly as much anxiety when Mandy is around. Even with complete chaos around me, I no longer find myself reaching for a Xanax. Although, I do feel a little twinge of nervousness as I press Aileen’s number to call her back. Who knows what I’m about to learn.

“Hello?” a shaky, quivering female voice answers my call.

“Hi, is this Aileen?”

“Yes, who’s calling?” she asks nervously.

“This is Trey,” I reply. “You just talked to my mother and she told me to call you. Are you all right?”

“No!” she instantly bursts into tears. “There is no way Dad committed suicide…” she gasps and continues to sob. “There’s just no way.” I sit silently for a moment waiting for her to regain her composure.

“So, what happened?” I ask, wanting to find out why she blames herself.

“I… I was the one who insisted that we do the deal with Tommy,” she says before completely losing it. “It’s all my fault.” She is crying so hard that it’s difficult to even make out her words.

“What deal?” I ask, not having a clue what she is referring to. I stand up and walk over to the other side of the room to grab a more comfortable chair. This could take a while. “What deal, Aileen?” I repeat after sitting through an extended pause.

“Nolan was having trouble finding steady work and I knew he would be the perfect replacement for Tommy on the show,” she blurts out before losing it once again. “It’s such a mess and now Dad is dead!” She begins to sob so hard that I know our conversation is over.

“Can I talk to him, please?” I ask, hoping to figure out what the hell is going on. “Nolan is with Mom. They are talking to the medical examiner,” she whispers, unable to speak normally.

“Have him give me a call when he’s free, will you?” I ask, hoping will be able to provide some answers.

“Yes. I’m sorry I’m such a mess,” she sobs.

“It’s completely understandable and I’m sorry about your father,” I tell her realizing I hadn’t even acknowledged his death. “He always seemed like a great guy.” She tries to respond, but is unable to get the words out. “Have Nolan call me as soon as possible,” I reiterate before hanging up.

Apparently, they were involved with the buyout of Tommy’s company. “Who else would know about this? Tyler, Dad and Bill all probably knew what was going on and the only one still alive is my lobotomized brother,” I mumble, talking to myself like a crazy person.

“You really shouldn’t refer to him as lobotomized out loud,” Mandy teases upon entering the room. “Why don’t you join me over here, so you don’t look like a crazy man talking to himself,” she adds, coaxing me to join her on the couch. I stay put, content to watch her strut. She sits down and gives me a seductive look as she crosses her legs. “What are you thinking about?”

“I was thinking about who else would know about Bill and his daughter buying Tommy’s company. But now, I’m thinking about going back to the hotel.” I smile and rise from my chair, adjusting myself just a bit before walking over to her.

“Have you thought about Carly’s role in all of this?” she asks while reaching out and pulling me to her. “If both her and Bill were mad at Tommy, it could be for the very same reason.”

“You’re right, Carly kind of slipped my mind.” I scroll through my contacts, but she isn’t among them. “I know Mom doesn’t have her number and who knows where Tyler’s phone is at.” I think back to my cousin Chester, the attorney that worked on Dad’s estate plan. “I’ll bet Chester has it,” I mention to Mandy as I pull out my wallet and fish out his business card.

“That’s a name you don’t hear very often anymore,” Mandy says thoughtfully. “But, I hear a lot of the old, traditional names are making a come back.”

“Well then, Margaret was ahead of her time.” I smirk as I punch in Chester’s cell phone number.

“Hello. This is Chester.” He answers on the first ring.

“Hi, this is Trey,” I tell him, skipping past any formalities. “I need to get ahold of Carly and I don’t have her number.”

“It’s ironic that you are calling about her. I just talked to her about transferring the remainder of her U.S. assets into an international trust. Is she in some kind of trouble or something?” he asks inquisitively.

“That’s actually what I’m trying to figure out,” I reply, instantly knowing that we might have stumbled upon a key fact. “Did she say where the trust is located?”

“Belize,” he informs me. “I told her that if she is trying to hide money, she would be better off in the Cook Islands. But apparently everything was already set up down there.”

I pause for a moment, staring into space, trying to figure out what this all means. “Can you send me her contact info?” I finally ask, not knowing what else to say at the moment. “I need to talk to her.”

“I’ll send it as soon as we hang up,” he says calmly. “I think she might be on a plane right now, though. She was at JFK when she called me. I could hear them announcing the boarding of her flight in the background, so I punched the flight number into Google. It was a direct flight from New York City to Belize.”

“She flew commercial?” I ask, finding that fact extremely odd.

“I thought it was kind of weird too,” Chester agrees. “But then again, she didn’t get a nickel from your dad.”

“That’s true,” I reply, thinking back to the conversation with his estate attorneys. “She probably lost the most due to his untimely death,” I speculate, not knowing Dad’s intentions regarding her. Mandy has her ear right next to mine, trying to hear both sides of the conversation.

“No.” Chester counters. “He wasn’t planning on making any changes that would benefit her. In fact, the prenup that he had me working on was downright cruel.”

“What do you mean by cruel?” Mandy and I toss each other a look.

“If they got divorced for any reason, she would only receive an allowance of ten thousand dollar per month until she remarried,” he says with a huff. “And nearly all of his stock was going into an irrevocable trust that she couldn’t touch. The remaining assets were to be divided between you and Tyler,” he says with a groan.

“Why would he do that?” I ask, completely floored by the fact that he was treating her even worse than Tyler and me. “He was worth over twelve billion dollars and he offered her ten thousand a month?” What an insult.

“He told me that he didn’t trust her,” Chester replies flatly. “He wouldn’t tell me why, but I assumed she had cheated on him or something like that. He was not in a good mood the day we met to discuss it.”

“Okay, thanks Chester,” I say, wanting to get off the phone. “Send me her info and I’ll catch up with you later.”

“I will. How is Tyler doing?” he adds.

“He’s awake and stable. He doesn’t remember anyone or anything at this point,” I reply, wishing he remembered what happened the night he was attacked. “They did a number on him, so it might be a while before he comes around.”

“Well, you guys take care. We don’t need any more funerals in this family,” he says with a haunting eeriness in his tone.

“No, we don’t. Talk to you later,” I reply, hitting the end button.

Mandy

After Trey hangs up with Chester, we both stare at his phone waiting for Carly’s contact information. After several long seconds his phone chimes and he clicks on her name. He punches her number and holds the phone between us, allowing me to hear as well. It goes immediately to voicemail and we hear the standard AT&T greeting that rattles off her phone number and asks him to leave a message.

“Carly, this is Trey Addison. Please give me a call when you get this. It’s urgent,” he says before ending the call and lowering the phone.

“So, she’s apparently in the air,” I state, since it seems obvious.

“Yeah, her phone is off.” He looks down with a concerned look on his face. “Dad had basically cut her out of his will. Why would he do that?”

“Didn’t Chester say he thought she had cheated on him?” I ask, thinking maybe I hadn’t heard him right.

“That’s what he thought, but Dad didn’t actually tell him why,” he replies, still deep in thought. “I think it’s something more than that. Tommy is probably the only other person who knows the answer to that.”

“Yeah, he still seems to be at the center of it all,” I reply in full agreement.

“Are you Trey Addison?” a voice suddenly booms off to the side. We both turn to see a man quickly approaching in a sand colored t-shirt, camouflaged pants and sand colored combat boots.

“I’m Trey,” he replies, rising to greet him. “You must be Anthony.”

“Indeed, for this mission I’ll be your new limo driver,” he says with a smile breaking across his chiseled features. This guy is intimidating as hell, even without any weapons.

“This is Mandy,” Trey tells him, turning to introduce me.

“Hello Ma’am, it’s a pleasure,” he says with a smile and a nod of his head. I’m amazed by the striations in his forearm as I shake his hand and instantly feel the power of his grip. This guy is definitely in great shape.

“Jack said you’ve done some work for him?” Trey asks, wanting a little more background on him.

“Yeah, he thought he was in real danger but it turned out to be just a rich, young punk messing with him.” He laughs. “It didn’t take much to scare the shit out of him.”

“What division were you with prior to the Alpha 9?” Trey asks, seeming eager to find out more about who he has in his corner.

“MARSOC, which is a division of the Marines that most people have never heard about,” he says with a smirk. “I was an active sniper in both Iraq and Afghanistan.”

“So you were the real life version of the guy in American Sniper?” I feel compelled to ask. “I loved that movie.”

“Yeah, I guess so, but I have to say I found the people of Iraq to be very friendly and hospitable,” he replies. My question had obviously struck a nerve. “There are some very bad people over there, but ninety nine percent of them are very congenial.”

“It’s funny that we don’t hear more about that,” Trey says pensively. “All we ever see is the radicals, Sadam Hussein, Al-Qaeda, the Taliban and ISIS.”

“Unfortunately, that’s all they see of us as well,” he responds with a sigh. “That’s why so many of us went out of our way to be nice to civilians. But, enough about that. What are you guys up against?”

“Well, unfortunately, we are kind of flying blind,” Trey tells him with a shrug of his shoulders. “It all started with my father being killed by a sniper and then my brother was poisoned with pentobarbital.”

“The man who killed your father may have shot from long-range, but he was not a sniper,” Anthony replies in a solemn tone. “Snipers serve to protect their troops, not to gun down innocent civilians. Your father was shot by a contract killer, a murderer.”

“I’m sorry, he was a professional,” Trey says defensively. “I guess that was my point. They never figured out exactly where the shot came from and there wasn’t a shred of evidence,” he explains in more detail. “Are they with you?” he asks, pointing to the others lurking by the doorway.

“Yes, this is Jules”, he says motioning to the only woman in the group to join us. “Jules is not Alpha 9, she actually lives in my building, but she also happens to be an MMA superstar. I brought her along because she can decoy for you,” he says nodding to me. “And she can definitely hold her own in combat if need be.” Jules instantly reminds me of Angelina Jolie in Tomb Raider with her long dark hair, full lips and big beautiful eyes. She’s dressed in a black tank top, black yoga shorts and matching black boots.

“Hi,” she simply says in a reserved demeanor as she shakes hands with Trey and me.

“The other two are Alpha 9,” he says turning back toward the door. “We call them Bolt and Romeo.” He smiles back at them as they strut toward us. “Bolt was a highly decorated Army Ranger and can move-out like no one I’ve ever seen,” he says flashing him a big grin. Bolt is the tallest of the bunch at probably six four or six five. He has a lanky build and reaches us in a couple quick strides. “I look forward to helping out,” he says greeting us before taking a spot behind Jules. With a reddish-brown crew cut, matching goatee and dark brown eyes he also has the most menacing look of the bunch.

“Romeo was with Seal Team Six, which isn’t officially called that anymore,” Anthony continues. “You’ll want to make sure he isn’t left alone with Mandy for too long,” he teases Trey, giving him a slap on the back.

“It’s a pleasure,” Romeo says, lifting my hand to his lips and giving it a kiss. His dark hair, angular jawline and shimmering hazel eyes make it easy to see how he would be a pretty successful ladies man.

“He has always lived up to his nickname,” Bolt says with a laugh, punching him in the arm.

“I’ll let that slide,” Trey tells him jokingly as the three of them exchange handshakes. “I have zero combat training, so I don’t think I would stand a chance anyway.” He smirks and shakes his head.

“Hey, but we’re on your side, so that’s all you’ll ever need,” Anthony assures him with a nod. “Now, let’s get everyone where they need to be. Who do we need to protect and where are we going to consolidate them?”

“I would like someone to stay here with my brother,” Trey says, pulling out his phone to look at his notes. “We need to pick up Tommy’s receptionist, Becky, because she is most likely in danger. We also need to get Bill’s daughter and her husband, maybe his wife, too. Bill was the one found dead this afternoon.”

“Okay, so Bolt, I’m going to station you here,” Anthony says checking him off the list. “Is your current limo driver still in the building?”

“Yes, he is hanging out with the car in the ambulance garage,” Trey informs him. Anthony pauses for a moment and you can just see the wheels turning as he formulates a plan off the cuff.

“Here’s what we’ll do,” he says jotting down a few words on his little notepad. “We’ll throw a jacket on Romeo and a dress on Jules and they will leave in the limo with Tony. This will flush out anyone who is hanging out waiting for you,” he says, looking back and forth between the four of us. “If you get out of here unmolested, you can stop and pick up Becky and the others. Where would you like to consolidate everyone?” he asks Trey.

“The top floor of Trump Tower,” Trey immediately replies. “Dad owns the north unit and Vanessa’s parents own the south one, so we have control of the entire floor. You two can hang out in the common area and keep an eye on both the stairwell and the elevator from there.”

“That’s perfect,” Anthony confirms. “If your mother, Vanessa or any of these other people need to go anywhere, Tony will drive them and Romeo will ride shotgun. We’ll be able to get two more men by tomorrow afternoon if needed.”

“What about us?” I ask, assuming we would be paired up with Anthony.

“I have a bulletproof SUV in the parking lot out front,” he says with a smirk. “I want you two in scrubs and you can give your clothes to Romeo and Jules. Then I’ll take you wherever you want to spend the night.”

“So we will be separated from the rest?” Trey asks, looking for confirmation.

“Yes. Since you two are in the most immediate and obvious danger, we want to sell the idea that you are actually with the others. We have to assume that someone is watching and tracking you. That’s why the most crucial aspect is to make them believe that you guys are leaving with Tony,” he says looking between us.

“It does seem as if they have been watching our every move,” Trey says. “The fact that a black sedan messed with us on the way here was really freaky.”

“Where do you have your cellphone coverage?” Anthony asks Trey with a suspicious look in his eyes.

“AT&T, why?” Trey replies.

“Is it a private account in your name?” he asks raising his eyebrows.

“No…” Trey replies, having an instant realization. “Fuck! We’ve always had our phones through Dad’s corporate plan. Oh my God.” He slaps his forehead and throws his head back. “Tommy has access to all of our accounts!” He shakes his head with a look of disbelief.

“It’s no wonder he knows exactly what’s going on,” I add. “He can see every call or text.”

“Your dad most likely activated the ability to see where you were at as well,” Anthony surmises. “It’s pretty common on corporate phones, especially if they give them to their kids.”

“Dad always did have an uncanny ability to call at the most inopportune times,” Trey says, shooting me a grin. I can feel my cheeks warm at the thought of our first encounter.

“Alright, give me your phone. If you haven’t updated to the latest iOS I can clone an encrypted, secure phone for you,” Anthony tells Trey.

“I never update anything,” Trey replies with a chuckle. “I’ve always found my phones get more fucked up every time I do an update.”

“That’s great.” Anthony hands the secure phone to Trey. “Just plug in your Apple ID and password. Both phones will be completely functional, but if someone is tracking you, they will only see the location of your old phone. We’ll let Romeo take that one with him. It will make this switch one hundred percent believable.”

Anthony takes Trey’s old phone and hands it to Romeo. “What does it feel like to suddenly be a multi-billionaire?” He says with a laugh.

“Yeah, right.” Romeo rolls his eyes. “If I had billions on top of all this?” He moves his hands down the length of his torso. “No female would stand a chance.”

“Oh good God!” Bolt quips. “Are you sure you can handle him, Jules?” He shakes his head and turns toward the door. “I’m going to go check in with your bother,” he tells Trey before heading out of the room.

“We need to get moving too,” Anthony adds. “Lets get you guys changed and get out of here. I’m anxious to stir up the pot.”