Chapter Eighteen
Cooper
I ran a hand through my hair as I paced back and forth in the driveway, not wanting Mom or Aunt Sophie to overhear the phone call. I had no idea how Felix had found my number and couldn’t believe after what he had done to me back home that he would even have the nerve to call me up like nothing had happened. He’d had me set up and had I not bailed on the neighborhood when I did, I could have been killed all because he was stupid enough to get tangled up with that gang.
“So, should I call you F-bomb?” I asked casually, allowing the anger in my tone to breathe through the phone. “Because you are far from the Felix I used to know.”
“Hey, Cooper, calm down, man,” Felix replied with a nervous laugh. “I know you’re angry with me.”
“The hell I am, Felix. I’m far from being angry with you,” I said darkly. “I’m pissed at you. You could have told me they were going to try to hit the bar. I thought you were my friend.”
“Dude, I did try to tell you,” he said. “Remember? I told you I wasn’t going to be responsible for what was to come next. If you had just given me the money, everything would have been fine.”
“You and I both know that is a lie,” I responded angrily. “You could have warned me specifically what you meant by that vague threat. That money wasn’t going to just make them up and disappear, never to be seen again, Felix. What the hell have they been doing, brainwashing all of your common sense out? You are in much too deep with this gang and you are way too good for that life, Felix. You need to get out.”
“I don’t want to talk about that right now,” Felix interrupted, exasperation in his voice. “It’s gotten bad. I need help, Coop, money and lots of it. I’m in over my head with this, Coop, and if I don’t get the money, they’re gonna kill me.”
I sighed loudly, hating that I was right. Of course there had to be a no-good reason for him to be calling me. Was that all I was to him now, a money lender and not the friend I used to be? “Felix,” I started.
He cut me off. “No, Coop, you don’t understand. This shit, it’s not like the other stuff. If I don’t get the money, they are going to kill me, you understand? I will be floating in some oversized puddle before night falls.”
The desperation in Felix’s voice sounded legit, and for the first time in our conversation, I was a little concerned. Felix had been like a brother to me once, the one person who understood what I faced every day. Could I just turn my back on him and let his death potentially be on my conscience just because he was stupid enough to get himself into a screwed up mess? No, I couldn’t. Beyond the money, there was a loyalty there and no matter what Felix had turned into, I couldn’t turn my back on him.
If the amount of money he needed happened to be more than I had readily available, then I would have to figure out how much could be wired back home and how quickly that could happen. I wanted this to be over and done with once and for all. I wanted Felix to not ask me for money ever again. After I bailed him out this time, I was through.
“Look,” I finally said. “Give me a few hours to think it over and I’ll call you back. How much are we talking, Felix?”
There was a pause and, for a moment, I thought he had ended the call. Then I heard him talking to someone else. “Yo, he’s asking how much. What should I tell him?”
My anger intensified as I realized that, once again, I was being duped by someone I thought was my friend. This was why I hadn’t wanted to tell Emma! This was why I wanted to just be Cooper Randall, bartender extraordinaire at Keefer’s Bar and Grille near the beach.
“Coop, it’s at least a hundred Gs,” Felix responded, unaware I had just heard his conversation. “Man, if you do this, you will be numero uno in my book. I will owe you big time.”
My tone was steel when I replied. “Felix, you back-stabbing bastard. I heard you just now,” I finally said, clenching my teeth to keep from screaming in his ear. “And you’re not getting any money from me. Nor is that idiot gang you hang out with. I hope to never see any of your faces ever again. But if I do, you’ll wish you had never crossed paths with me.”
“No,” another voice took over the line, deeper than Felix’s high-pitched tone. “You will wish you had never tried to deny me and my gang money, Cooper Randall. We are far closer than you realize and there ain’t shit you can do about it.”
I swallowed and switched the phone to the other ear. “Who is this?”
The voice laughed hollowly in my ear, a sensation creeping through my body that had me immediately concerned. “I’m your worst nightmare. I can take that little life of yours that you’ve made for yourself in Cali and turn it upside down. That woman, she will be pleading for her life at my feet if you don’t play nice.”
Anger boiled within me as I thought about all the women in my life, Emma, my mom, and my aunt. I didn’t know which one he was referring to, but it didn’t matter. None of them were going to be hurt by this idiot thug. “You need to be careful who you threaten,” I said in a low tone, tired of being pushed around.
“Be careful, boy, who you talk back to,” the other guy said, anger laced in his tone. “I’m not far away. My boy, Felix, and me are just right around the corner and if you don’t cough up the money, I won’t be responsible for what happens to that woman of yours; you will. I’d sure hate to add some carvings to her face.” He laughed and I could hear the malice in his voice. “Stay by the phone, Cooper boy. We’ll call you back with further instructions on how to get me my money. Oh, and don’t call the cops. That will just cause things to get messy.” The line clicked dead and I pulled the phone away from my ear, fighting the overwhelming urge to throw the damn thing.
“Damn you, Felix,” I said through gritted teeth, forcing myself to put the phone in my pocket before I did any damage to it. What had I done to make him turn on me like this? If only he had been the Felix I had known from back in the day, I would have gladly set him up for life. But this guy, I didn’t know him at all.
Pushing a hand through my hair roughly, I looked up at the beautiful, sun-soaked sky of California, a place that was supposed to be a refuge for me and my mom. Only, as it turned out, it was tainted by this asshole who wanted money from me to ensure the safety of those that I loved. Well, I wasn’t going to stand by and let him hurt anyone in my family or Emma.
Why had this money made my life a miserable mess? It was supposed to eliminate my problems, not create new ones. I had already been forced out of my home because of the threat of others, I moved to Malibu where I thought we would be able to live a quiet life, only to find out that I wasn’t safe anywhere it seemed. How had they found me? The only person who knew was Jane, and I knew she wouldn’t have given up my place willingly. God, I hoped they hadn’t done anything to her because of me. I had told her where I was so she could send me the bills for the bar back home that she couldn’t email. This money had turned my life upside down in more ways than one, and I was starting to detest the day I walked into that corner store.
With a few somewhat calming breaths, I brought my thoughts back to the present. First order of business would be to alert my mom and my aunt and uncle. I didn’t know who Felix’s ‘friend’ was targeting, but I wanted them all to be aware of their surroundings so they could be better equipped to protect themselves until I could get it all figured out. Then there was Emma. How in the hell was I going to explain this to her without having to explain the entire situation?
Turning toward the house, I strode to the front door, my fists balled at my sides and my pulse racing. I would figure this out.