Chapter Fifteen
Ayden
I kept my mind on the fiery flashes of the night before and not the day ahead of me. Autumn had blown me away in the parking lot behind the diner. The rest of the day was a fog of paperwork and meetings. Then we had gotten home and dinner was quickly forgotten.
We had not even made it up the stairs. Autumn walked in front of me, teasing me with the sway of her hips. When I caught hold of her on the landing, she was ready and met my lips with such fire that I was helpless. She easily dragged us to the floor and moved astride me. Only after, with her smiling and sprawled across me, did I realize my head rested on a step, and we were still on the landing.
I hoped she remembered it too because Alan showed up early and waited patiently in the hallway. I saw Autumn's eyes flick back up to the landing when she greeted him. She marched past me to the kitchen, and I hesitated but followed. It was our usual routine to eat quick breakfasts standing at the kitchen island, but she frowned at me the whole time.
I checked my watch with the slightest tilt of my wrist. She could not suspect that anything was different about today. We were back in our routine despite the spectacular surprise she'd given me on the staircase last night.
"Good luck with the bank. I'll see you at headquarters for the endorsement deal meeting," I said.
"I'll be there with my looming shadow," she said over her shoulder, as Alan followed her out the front door.
Once they were gone, I sent the message on my phone. The town car that had been waiting down the street pulled in through the gates and up to the front steps. I ran down and jumped in before the driver could get out.
I checked my watch again and worried about traffic, but as soon as we arrived at the correctional facility, I wished the drive had taken longer. I was not ready to face the strange sensations that pinged around inside me like flies against glass. Sitting stock still as I eyed the prison did not do any good; my nerves jumped. The driver jumped out and opened my door. I still did not want to move.
"Thanks, I won't be long," I told the driver and repeated the assurance to myself eighteen times between the car and the door. Even entering the prison as a visitor brought on a wave of anxiety.
I was glad that Autumn had helped me sleep so well the night before, otherwise I would have been awake for hours dreading the sounds of the heavy gates. I suppressed a shudder as I stuck on my visitor's badge and followed the guards through a series of locked doors and gates.
The visitation room offered no relief. The institutional gray of the walls turned my stomach as did the contrast of the bright orange jumpsuits the inmates wore. A few fidgeted in chairs as they talked to loved ones and lawyers through the thick shatter-proof glass of the carols. I sat in one near the door and waited.
David made me wait. It was obvious from his smug smile as he finally sat down across from me. He picked up his phone and said, "Sorry to make you sit around in here. Unless you're happy about it. I mean, I bet you get homesick, don't you?"
I glanced around the visitation room. "Nah, I never had visitors, so this is all new to me."
I saw him swallow a few times as he processed what I said. It sounded hard even to my own ears. I knew that edge was my advantage so I attacked.
"I'm sorry I don't have more greetings and messages to give you, but the only friends of yours that have been asking after you are the Mertz brothers," I said.
David's eyes widened and he licked his lips. "They're asking about me? What have you said?"
"That you're in jail, about to be sentenced for embezzling millions of dollars. Oh, and that you're suspected of killing Jace Knight."
"What are they asking about?" David's voice squeaked.
I sat forward. "They want to know why you haven't honored the deal you made. Remember? The deal that was so important you refused Jace's request to resign and then you killed him?"
"The deal's done, King," David sat back and his smug smile returned.
"Not yet, and it’s not going to happen. They are claiming you witnessed the verbal agreement, but we all know it never happened. Jace would never have sold off No Limits or any of his other Vegas night clubs, much less all of them."
David let out a sharp cackle that made me want to reach through the phone cord and strangle him with it. "You told them no? I'm sure that went over well. Guess I won't be seeing you in here because you're never going to live that long."
"What do you mean?" I growled, thinking of the car swerving too close to Autumn.
"Just honor the deal, King. Knight Holdings can take the hit, but, trust me, you cannot. I know you think you're rock hard, but just do the deal and be done with it. Best advice I can give you." David started to hang up the phone.
I punched the glass hard enough to have two guards step towards us. David waved them away and faked a sweet smile as he put the phone to his ear again.
"You made the deal, and you're going to undo it. I'm not signing it and unless you want to burn every bridge you ever built, I suggest you recant your witness statement regarding the verbal agreement," I hissed.
"Even if I did, it would not make a difference. The Mertz brothers will never leave it alone. You're up against a conglomerate with nearly unlimited resources and no morals. The deal will be done the way they want it, no matter what," David said.
"Please, I'm not going to be intimidated by a bunch of thugs that decided to put on business suits. Knight Holdings will not sell No Limits or any of the other Vegas clubs. You're going to talk to Bryon Shelton about recanting your statement, and the Mertz brothers can go straight to hell for all I care."
David shook his head and made a tsking noise into the phone. "You should care because they are not just going to target you. Oh, did I hit a sore spot? Could there be someone out there you care about besides yourself and the memory of your friend?"
"Watch what you say," I growled.
"Hey, all I'm saying is that I'm glad I'm in here. You did me a favor, King. Thanks. Now I can finally sit back and relax, because they can't get to me in here." David leaned back and got comfortable.
I chuckled soundlessly, an evil glint in my eyes. "How about I tell you a little story to relieve the boredom. It gets boring, doesn't it?"
David's smile slipped, but he crossed his leg, one ankle on the opposite knee. "Sure, go ahead."
"I knew a man once that got picked up for stealing corporate secrets. They couldn't prove a lot of the case against him, but what they did have had him looking at ten to twenty years. So, he got smart, cut a deal, and whittled his sentence down to eight, early release for good behavior. He was happy." I leaned forward and settled into the story.
"Now it was a small start-up he'd stolen from. Gotten some plans and reverse engineered a breakthrough piece of equipment. He was really clever with his hands. Not a real long-game kind of thinker, though. The guys running it were a real rags-to-riches bunch of kids from the not-so-nice end of Houston. I don't know how they put up the chips to start the business, but they did, and boy did they bet on the right horse until this man came along and messed it all up."
David faked a yawn. "Pretty good for a bedtime story, King, thanks. I'll sleep like a baby now."
"Not catching on yet? Well, the guys he stole from had lots of friends from every walk of life. Including a lot of men incarcerated in the very same federal prison. Of course, straight connections could not be verified, but everyone read between the lines when the corporate spy only made it two nights in lock up. Third morning he was found dead with a toothbrush jammed in his throat. Funny thing was, he didn't even have a bunkmate," I said.
David's foot slipped off his ankle, but he shook himself off and sat forward. "Not much for fairy tales myself," he said.
I waited a few beats and saw it. David glanced over his shoulder at the guard behind him. The paranoia was taking hold. "Course there are ways to find protection, even in prison. Need any pointers?" I asked.
"I'm not telling you anything else, King. Forget it. You're not getting me to recant that witness statement either. Just sign the deal and get on with your life," David said.
"I'm serious, David. You need to figure out how to make the right friends quick," I said.
His face was sickly pale, but he shook his head again. "Is Autumn doing well? You know she was one of the best people I ever worked with. Please tell her that. Good luck, King."
I sat and watched as David hung up his phone and got up. His eyes darted back and forth as the guard opened the door and he was escorted out. In the pit of my stomach was a strange mix of revulsion for the man that most likely killed my best friend, and pity for the weak and exposed man that was trapped in a world he could not navigate.
It was too long before I forced myself to get up. I was already getting strange looks, so I steeled myself against the sounds of the heavy gates and made it outside without blinking an eye. In the heat of the parking lot, I shook the tension out of my fingers.
I could only think of one way to see past all the posturing and confusion. I needed a better perspective on everything, so I dug out my phone.
"I know you mentioned Rome, but what would you say to a weekend getaway in the continental U. S.?" I asked Autumn as soon as she answered.
"Where do you have in mind?"
I could hear her smile through the phone and just the hint of it was enough to ease the knots in my shoulder muscles. "It's a surprise. Get home and pack. I'll meet you at the house, and you'll know before dinner."