~Ten~
Getting in my car, I turned the engine on and made my way back down the dirt road. Leaving Tessa was the hardest thing I had ever done. What made it even harder was the way she looked at me when I said good-bye. I knew that she would be safe with Jonathan, but it still didn’t make it any easier to say farewell.
If I was going to continue checking up on Tessa, there was one thing that I needed to invest in and that was an AWD vehicle. I didn’t know how much more my little sports car could take on this rough road. With the main road in my sights, I applied a little more pressure to the accelerator, wanting nothing more than to get off this road as quickly as possible. Making a complete stop, I waited for the oncoming traffic to pass before turning to my right.
Turning up the radio, I tried to get my mind off Tessa. I wasn’t sure what was going on with the DJ on the radio, but every song played reminded me of her. Maybe it was just me. By the time I had gone through every station on my pick list, I realized it didn’t matter what song I listened to, every one of them would have lyrics that would remind me of her. I found it hopeless and decided then that there was no way I was going to be able to get her off my mind.
With my thoughts drifting, I entered the city and neared my apartment. Just like every other day, nothing had changed. Everyone was doing their own thing, always in a hurry to get where they were going. “Whatever happened to taking things easy, slowing down a notch or two?” I asked to myself.
As I headed into the parking garage to my designated spot, I noticed a black Mercedes parked a space away. I would know that car anywhere. Putting my car into park and turning off the engine, I got out only to be greeted by Colin. I knew he was supposed to be back today, but I thought for sure that it wouldn’t have been until later.
By the expression he had on his face, he was not very happy. Acting as surprised as I could, I slipped my hands in my pocket and said, “Colin, I wasn’t expecting such an early visit.”
“Cut the bullshit, London. You know exactly why I am here,” he cursed. “You have about 10 seconds to tell me where Tessa is before Simon lays into you.”
Looking over to Baldy, I could see that he was more than ready to get a piece of me. Switching my focus back to Colin, I replied, “I don’t know what the hell you are talking about. I haven’t seen Tessa for a few days.”
I don’t think Colin could have stood any closer to me as he stared coldly into my eyes. “I hope that you aren’t lying. I would hate for Simon here to adjust that handsome face of yours.”
Taking a step back, feeling extremely uncomfortable with his breath so close to my face, I left him standing there, giving him the satisfaction of having the last word. The way I looked at it, better to say as little as possible and walk away than to argue with him and regret the outcome.
With my back to him and just shy of talking distance, I was halted in my steps when he yelled, “You only have one more day, London, to finish the job I requested.” It wasn’t a shock that he would be reminding me what I needed to do. It was what he said next that had me concerned. “I’ll be watching you.”
If he intended on watching my every move, it would certainly put a dent in my plan. Somehow, I needed to get in touch with Jonathan and let him know that we needed to revisit our plan. Initially, using his connections, we were going to fake his death by torching a cadaver and making sure Colin witnessed the unfortunate accident. We were also going to leave something on the body that Colin would recognize so he wouldn’t question that it was Jonathan. Now, with eyes on me, the plan would have to be altered to show Jonathan being killed. It wouldn’t be impossible to stage with all our connections. I just needed to rethink our plan.
~*~*~*~
When I walked inside my apartment, I remembered how it was left by Colin’s men. I knew that Simon, ‘baldy,’ was the head guy. As quickly as we left, I guess I didn’t pay attention to how bad it actually was. I knew that they were looking for Tessa, but the way they left the place, I had a funny feeling they were looking for much more. She was pretty petite, but I was positive that she wouldn’t have been able to fit under the cushions of the couch or in the drawers of my desk. Even a dummy could see that they were looking for something besides her.
Picking up the papers that were scattered on the floor in my office, I stacked them neatly on my desk until I could spare the time to go through them and put them back where they belonged. Moving back to the living room, I shook my head and went to the fridge and grabbed a brew. Popping the top, I walked over to the living room, set it on the coffee table, and picked up the cushions to the couch, shoving them back into place before taking a seat. Pressing the opening of the bottle to my lips, I took a long pull as I gazed out the window wondering how Tessa was doing. I was almost ready to call her, but something stopped me. Remembering Colin’s words, I wouldn’t put it past him to bug my place.
Finishing the last of my brew, I went to my room only to be hit with yet another mess. Forgoing fixing my bed, I pulled my shirt up over my head and headed to my bathroom. Everything about this situation was fucked up. It seemed that ever since I laid eyes on Tessa, my life had become more complicated. I am not blaming her, I’m blaming Colin for taking control of a girl’s life and making it a living hell. At least there was one thing positive coming out of this, Tessa knew that I was telling the truth about Colin and she could finally get to know her father.
Standing under the hot jetted spray of water as it beat against my skin, I could feel my mind begin to clear. The only thing I could afford to focus on was convincing Colin that Jonathan Evans had been taken care of. The only way to do that was to make sure he saw it for himself.
Ending my shower, I had a clear perception of what needed to be done. Grabbing my cell from the dresser, I pulled up Jonathan’s number and waited for him to answer and headed out the door, avoiding having a conversation in my apartment all together.
“If you are calling about Tessa, my friend, I can assure you she is wonderful,” his voice came over the phone line with a hint of happiness in it.
“That is good to hear. I was actually calling for you. When I returned to the city, Colin was waiting for me in the parking garage. You can only imagine what he wanted.” I stopped to allow Jonathan to reply.
“Let me guess. It wouldn’t have to do with me, by chance?”
“Not initially, but when he accused me of knowing where Tessa was, he reminded me of my deadline. Which is why I am calling,” I paused, contemplating how I was going to explain the change in plans. “He made it clear that he would be watching every move I made. We are going to have to change our plan. We need to meet, but we need to be careful. If I am being watched, the last thing we need is for them to see us talking together.”
Hanging up with Jonathan, we decided to meet in a very well populated area that he knew about outside of LA. It was going to take some doing, but I couldn’t risk being followed. Getting in my Jag, I pulled out of the parking garage. I knew that none of Colin’s men were there since all the cars seemed unoccupied as I left. Taking a left, my next stop would be the rental company at LAX. I had to give Jonathan credit for choosing the airport to rent a car. It would be extremely busy and even harder for Colin’s men to follow me.
After renting a compact car so that I wouldn’t draw any attention, I headed south on Hwy 1 towards Manhattan Beach. I knew the beach very well, and considering the time of year, it would be packed with tourists. As I headed down the highway, meeting with Jonathan was the furthest thing from my mind. Tessa was all I had been thinking about since the day I saw her in the back of Colin’s car. It made me sick to think of the awful and demeaning things that he had done to her. Even though she hadn’t gone into detail of what he actually did, I was well aware that her life with him wasn’t all chocolate and roses. If Jonathan ever found out what Colin had done to her over the years, or even what he did to her less than a week ago, he would lose all reasoning and kill him.
As I approached the turnoff to The Fish Shack, I had to chuckle to myself, wondering why of all places along the beach, Jonathan picked this spot. It wasn’t the most popular place that I knew of, although it seemed to be doing okay since it first opened some fifteen years ago, according to the establishment sign that hung above the door along with the maximum capacity of 250. I had only been here one other time, and the food was outstanding and a little underpriced as far as I was concerned.
Finding a spot near the entrance, I parked the rental and headed inside. Before opening the door, I looked around the semi-full parking lot and found that Jonathan’s car wasn’t among them. Not giving it another thought, I opened the door and headed inside. The place was just as I remembered. The theme was definitely that of a seafood place, with nets hanging from the ceiling, along with fake fiberglass fish intertwined between the ropes. There were a couple of large fish of various origins mounted on the walls as well. Whoever owned this place was an avid fisherman based on the plaques tacked to wood they were mounted on.
When the hostess walked up to the podium to grab me a menu and direct me to a table, I looked at her and said politely, “I’m waiting for another party. Mind if I look around to see if he has already arrived?”
The attractive young girl, who couldn’t have been older than legal age, smiled and said, “Mr. Evans is already here and waiting for you. If you could please follow me.”
I wasn’t sure if I should be concerned since this meeting was supposed to be unpublished. The fewer people who knew we were meeting the better it was for both of us. Shaking my head, I followed the girl past the dining area where all the seating was and down a small hallway. I wasn’t sure where she was taking me, but this didn’t feel right. It was when she opened a door to what looked like a private dining area that my mind was put at ease. Sitting at the small table was Jonathan. As I took a seat, the young girl handed me the menu and asked casually, “Is there anything that I can get you to drink while you decide on what to order?”
I was completely dumbfounded. Jonathan wasn’t making this meeting any easier by acting like this was nothing more than two friends having lunch together. His calmness was beyond me, especially given the fact that he was the one that Colin wanted dead.
Moving my menu aside, I looked towards the door to make sure the hostess was gone. Focusing my attention back on Jonathan, I said in a low, but very agitated voice. “Are you crazy letting the hostess know who you are? Do you know what kind of danger you could be putting her in?”
“Relax, London. I own this place and Shelby has been working for me since she was fifteen,” he stated mildly.
“Another one of your properties you’re keeping under the radar, I presume,” I replied sarcastically.
“Of course,” he responded, pausing for a minute while he took a drink of his water. “So, what is this about and why do you need to change the plan?”
“If I know Colin, he is going to want to watch your painful death himself. So, in order to make that happen, we need to devise a plan that would allow him to see you die, hypothetically speaking. Do you think you can get in touch with your friend and let him know we are going to need the cadaver a little sooner than we thought?” I asked.
“I can do that with no problem, but I at least need to know what you have planned.”
“In order for this to work, I am going to need a little help from you in gathering what we need to make this work. The biggest being the dead body and a self-driven car,” I asserted.
“Wait…. What? How the hell am I supposed to get my hands on a self-driven car? The technology is still months, maybe even years away.”
“Very true, but with your connections, I am sure you can find a way to get your hands on a test model.”
Jonathan was looking at me as though I was crazy, and he was probably right. This had to have been one of the craziest ideas I ever had. I knew that it was close to impossible and given the short amount of time we had to work with, it was going to be next to a miracle if we could pull it off.