Chapter Fifteen
Tony felt like he was being jerked around by his private investigator Jeffrey Grayson. He’d hired him from word of mouth. His reputation for getting the dirty laundry for his clients was above reproach.
He wanted his penthouse back and was willing to pay through the nose to get some leverage on Yvette. Their last interaction was slightly unnerving and had him wondering why he’d even married her. He had everything including a mistress on the side and the very penthouse that Yvette had wrenched from his fingers during divorce negotiations. It had all slipped through his fingers except for the mistress with a tongue worthy of the price of admission.
Jeffrey Grayson had been hired a few weeks ago and there’d been nothing but radio silence since. He’d left multiple messages and received one-word answers which only infuriated him further. The money was nothing. It was the result he was after.
His relationship with his mistress had suffered because of his preoccupation with the penthouse. His partners were worried about him and had requested he consider taking a sabbatical. There was a fat chance of that happening with the other associates ready to swoop in like vultures.
“Mr. Grayson, there is somebody here to see you. He hasn’t given his name, but he is rather impatient and makes me nervous to have him standing over me. He won’t sit down and he keeps staring at me.” Jennifer looked at this man, a grizzled and rugged kind of man, and felt a certain stirring between her knees.
“I will be right out.” He straightened his tie and figured this was a new client.
It would do him good to get out of his head and concentrate on something other than his failed marriage.
He had one of the corner offices and was responsible for growing the firm into the juggernaut of statewide lawyers it was today. Divorcing Yvette had hurt his professional career and losing the penthouse had made him a bear to work with.
He stopped for a moment beside the door and looked at his reflection with not one hair out of place. He was going to have to thank his hair stylist for giving him something to make him stand out from the crowd. He could literally go swimming and not mess up his hair. It had become something of an obsession for him over the years.
The pills he had gotten from the doctor were working amazingly well; it was certainly money well spent. The hair products helped to keep his follicles thick and full. He had no interest in following the family legacy of becoming bald before he was fifty.
The window overlooking the city had him contemplating life from time to time when business was at a standstill. It didn’t happen often and whatever time he did have to himself was spent in the company of his buxom, young, blonde mistress. She was an expense, but her talents in other areas more than made up for the money and extravagant gifts.
He opened the door made from solid mahogany to see his secretary nervously filing her nails. He recognized the man immediately and had to keep his composure without alerting his secretary to something out of the ordinary.
“I was wondering when you were going to come in and see me in person. Please come and we can discuss the particulars of why you have come to this firm for your legal representation. I pride myself on getting results quickly.” He was mocking Jeffrey and letting him know his appearance at his office in the middle of the day wasn’t warranted.
He had made a quiet suggestion that their meeting should never be in public. He felt Jeffrey was abusing his power, and making him look like an idiot was only going to cause mistrust for the man. He had done nothing to live up to his lofty expectations.
“I appreciate you seeing me on short notice. The situation has escalated, and I need your legal advice on which direction to go. I hope I didn’t catch you doing something important.” Jeffrey was out of his element, but he didn’t show it.
“I only have a few minutes. It would’ve been nice if you had given me fair warning of your visit.” He swallowed hard wondering if anybody was asking questions around the water cooler about this strange man who had shown up seemingly out of nowhere.
“I was in the area and I felt it was important enough to make a surprise entrance. Your secretary was very kind to keep me company. I think I might have intimidated her a little bit. I will remedy the situation by sending her a fruit basket at my earliest convenience.” Jeffrey didn’t even shave and was sporting a growth of beard that made him look dangerous.
Tony couldn’t bear to look at him in his current state of dress. His shirt was stained, and he thought for a moment one of those stains might be blood. He didn’t want to know, and it was better for him to turn a blind eye. The denim shirt was open with a t-shirt underneath. It probably hadn’t seen a good wash since the Reagan administration.
“I’m certainly not going to talk about your problem out here. I pride myself on my discretion.” Tony wore a white shirt with a red tie to give him the illusion of power in the palm of his hand.
Jeffrey strode into the office with his heavy black combat boots slapping against the newly waxed wood floors. He looked around and suddenly realized he was being paid way too little. It was time to fish in this man’s pockets for more money. He had the damning evidence, but there was no way he was going to show it to him without proper compensation.
“It’s no wonder you wanted to meet at the diner down the street the first time. I would say you have done well for yourself. Did you really think I wasn’t going to find out about where you worked?” Jeffrey decided to stand to keep his control over the situation without allowing Tony to supersede his authority.
“It doesn’t concern you how well I’m doing. We had an agreement and I expect you to follow through. You’ve already gotten half up front and the other half is ready to be wired into your account after I get what I want.” Tony was anxious and felt this adrenaline rush from the possibility of putting his ex-wife in her place.
“I was prepared to give you the evidence you need, but now that I see how you live, it changes everything. There was a bit more drama involved in this assignment. I don’t like surprises. It’s not unreasonable to ask for more money.” He wasn’t afraid to say the words and felt he was justified after being cornered on top of the roof.
“I wasn’t expecting this from you. Everybody I talked to told me you were an honorable man. I can make your life a living hell by spreading the word you can’t be trusted. Be sure you want to walk down this road.” It wasn’t about the money. It was the principle of doing business with unsavory characters like Jeffrey.
“Don’t threaten me. I can easily go digging into your past to find the skeletons in your closet. Everybody has something to hide, and I’m very good at what I do. Let’s call this a bonus for a job well done. I’ll write down a figure on a piece of paper and you can smile politely while digging out your checkbook.” Jeffrey hated the rich, but their money was just as good as anyone else’s.
“I’m willing to entertain the idea of giving you a bonus. It depends on whether or not your information is worth it. Show me what you have, and I’ll decide if the job was done to my satisfaction.” He looked down at his Rolex watch and felt pride in his years of service to build the firm.
The firm was synonymous with winning cases no matter if the client was guilty or not.
“I’m going to give you a peek at the good stuff. It is not getting out of my hands until I get the money you promised me not including the bonus.” He had a file folder with several photographs, one more damning than the next.
He flipped through each one and decided to start small with that sense of anticipation in the air. Jeffrey could see Tony was anxious and likely to use this against him. In his mind, he could see this being a lucrative venture if he were to stretch out the assignment a little longer than necessary.
“Patience is not one of my strongest virtues.” Tony sat down in his leather-backed chair. It was something he had bought to make him feel like a king in his castle.
“I know for certain your ex-wife has been a little busy after she signed the divorce papers. I don’t know why it matters. She’s free to do whatever she wants. She is taking full advantage of getting rid of the dead weight from her life.” He saw the look of shock on Tony’s face and found it necessary to put the photo in front of him to catch him off-guard.
“This is very interesting. I can’t believe this is the same woman I married. She needs to learn her actions have consequences. Two men kissing her will hurt her socially. You’re obviously keeping something from me. Be careful about poking the bear; you never know when a cornered animal might come out swinging.” He could easily make Jeffrey’s business suffer, but was willing to give him one chance to reveal the true purpose of his visit.
“These photos will give you a better idea of what the three of them have been up to.” Jeffrey was thrilled by how Tony was reacting with a stalled expression of stunned shock on his face.
By the time he had spread out the photos in an obscene display of carnal activity, he was certain Tony would have no problem showing his appreciation with a monetary value. This was the best part of his job, where all of his hard work paid off in big dividends.
“I can’t wait to show these to her. I could have these sent by messenger over to her office at great expense, but it would give me more joy to do it in person. She has no idea what this little display is going to cost her. The slut is going to learn never to cross me. Mess with the bull and get the horns.” His mind was whirling, and he was envisioning what Yvette might say when faced with her dirty little secret.
“I believe there’s the matter of my payment. I will sweeten the pot by telling you who the two guys are. It might surprise you. I went a little bit beyond the call of duty. I like to make sure all of my clients are satisfied. I could be persuaded to get you some video evidence. It’s not like they can keep their hands off of one another.” He already had the video, but this was a good way to make Tony greedy enough to keep paying.
He was the cash cow he had been looking to find for quite some time and he was reluctant to let him go without milking at his financial teats for more than his fair share of the pie.
“I’m wiring the other half of your payment along with a suitable bonus. Your reputation is well received. This proof is worth a whole lot more than a thousand words. I can’t walk away from the temptation of having the video to hang over her head. By all means, get the video and make sure the quality is enough to catch them with their pants down. You did mention something about revealing who these two young men are.” He was curious and hoping this information might help him give these two guys a metaphorical black eye.
“I’m surprised you don’t find them familiar. They have been in the press many times. Their family name has a wholesome image. Something like this could ruin them financially and destroy their reputation. Is this information worth a little extra something in my payment?” He took one of Tony’s very expensive company pens off his desk and ripped off a corner of his calendar.
He wrote down ‘$100,000’ on the paper and was certain he was going to get it. The scandal had the makings of bankrupting the brothers financially and emotionally. Jeffrey slid the piece of paper folded at the corners to where Tony could reach it easily.
“I’ll be damned, and this makes it easier to get what I want. I can tell from the photographs that she cares for them. It’s sickening, but there’s no way she will want me to hurt them. I have enough here to make her regret coming after me with that knife.” He grabbed his checkbook and very quickly handed him a hundred-thousand dollars in cold cash.
“I will be in touch about the video in the next couple of days. I expect another hundred-thousand. We both know I’m more than worth it.” He could sit back and wait two days living in a four-star restaurant with hot and cold running maids.
Tony didn’t need to know the video was already in his possession. The weasel deserved to be squeezed a little bit more. He was arrogant and smug. It was fitting to capitalize on his greed. The man really did rub Tony the wrong way.
Tony smiled while looking out the window and pointing to the building in the distance where Yvette was currently working at the New York Times. He turned his fist and raised it into the sky in triumph. The victory was going to leave a bad taste in her mouth. He had her where he wanted her and she had no idea.
His business in the New York office was coming to an end. It seemed like things happened for a reason. He would drop this in her lap and fly out on the next flight to his main office in Chicago.