Chapter10
Carter Oakfield cursed under his breath, waving his new personal assistant out of the room when the phone on his desk rang from the direct line. It was late on a Saturday, which meant it could only be one person, and it was the last person Carter wanted to talk to.
“Serenity, I’m done for the day; you can head home.”
The woman smiled and scurried away, and Carter shook his head. If only he were ten years younger.
He waited for the door to close behind her, answering the phone that had continued to ring without the benefit of being attached to a voicemail box. Pat could wait through several rings before the call was answered. Carter was just that pissed.
“I told you never to call me here,” he hissed when he answered the phone, but Pat ignored him.
“I can’t find Jake or the girl.”
“Surprising,” Carter said, his voice dripping with angry sarcasm. “I guess blowing up a car and leaving a trail of bodies in your wake isn’t working out, is it?”
“I was expecting her to go back to her car. She doesn’t know Jake, and she had no reason to stay with him.”
“Except that she witnessed a murder.”
“Her father was a cop, killed in the line of duty. She should have gone to the police and straight to her car. I had no way of knowing that she would-”
“Enough with your excuses. What about Eric Price? How did he end up dead?”
“He was getting out of Berrington’s car. I had no way of knowing that he was there, trying to break into the Corvette. I saw a man fitting Berrington’s description, and I did what I was paid to do. Price shouldn’t have been there.”
“I sent him.”
Pat was shocked into silence.
“Why?”
“Because you didn’t get the job done the first time. I had to cover all my bases to make sure we didn’t have a repeat of the last time you tried to take care of Jake Berrington.”
“What was Eric Price going to do?”
“I didn’t ask. He said he had a plan.”
“So, you sent an amateur to make sure I got the job done.” Pat was furious. “Carter, I’ve been working for you for over a decade. I always get the job done.”
“Jake is a different story, and you’re getting sloppy.”
He could tell that Pat was angry, but Carter wasn’t done.
“Your only job was to take care of Jake and make it look like an accident. It wasn’t difficult.”
“I couldn’t do the same thing I did with his parents. No one would believe that was just a coincidence.”
“I didn’t say you had to go the same route. You were creative with the others.”
“And Jake Berrington is a whole other animal.”
“Are you saying that you’re no match for a washed-up, Special Forces wannabe with a bum knee?”
“I’m saying that regardless, Jake Berrington is not just another citizen.”
“So, you were going to make it look like a mugging gone wrong?” Carter laughed. “Did you think that was going to work?”
“It’s worked before, or don’t you remember?”
“Are you threatening me?”
“Not threatening. But when you’re about to announce that you’re running for political office in the next election, maybe you should consider everything we know about each other and how many times I’ve cleaned up your messes.”
Carter was silent for a long time, but he knew he couldn’t push Pat any further, and he knew who held all the power in their relationship. Pat wasn’t about to let Carter forget his own mistakes, and Carter Oakfield had made plenty of mistakes. He would take care of Pat later. For now, he needed Jake and the girl found, and Pat Barkman was the best contract killer in all of Texas.
“What is your plan?”
“I’m going to try a different approach.”
“Thank God,” Carter sneered.
Pat ignored him and kept talking. Carter was irritated, but he let it go.
“I’m going to call in an anonymous tip about Eric Price and claim I saw a man fitting Jake’s description kidnapping a woman on the street after she witnessed him killing Eric Price.”
“Do you think that will work?”
“His Corvette is practically modified to look like the Batmobile. Everyone in town knows exactly who that car belongs to. His face will be plastered all over Dallas in a few hours.”
“I’ll have my people call in an anonymous reward to sweeten the pot.”
“That’s why I called you first.”
“It’s not perfect, but it might work.”
“It’s better than waiting for the body to be discovered. Monday is the earliest it would be found, and I doubt anyone is going to just stumble upon him. I don’t know why that woman was even walking down that street in the middle of the night.”
“Prostitute?”
“Hairdresser.”
“Does she have a family?”
“She does, but mostly out of town. Looking through her phone calls, she doesn’t talk to them much.”
“Did she see your face?”
“Doubtful.”
“Good.”
“What are you thinking?”
“She doesn’t know enough to justify killing her. Not yet, anyway. We can hold off with her for a few months so things don’t look suspicious. Hell, maybe we’ll get lucky and she’ll leave town. I’m sure she’s shaken up after you blew up her car.”
“If she even knows about it.”
“It’s all over the news, so I’m sure she knows about it.”
“Fair point. I’ll let you know when the job is done.”
“Do you think calling in the tip on Jake is going to work?”
“Of course, it is. Jake Berrington doesn’t trust the police, and he’s armed and wanted for Eric Price’s murder. It’s perfect.”
“You won’t even have to pull the trigger.”
“Exactly.”
“Don’t call this number again,” Carter said. “I’ll hear about Jake Berrington’s death on the news like everyone else. With no next of kin for the land to go to, it will get auctioned off to the highest bidder like the rest of the land. Once I have the Berrington Ranch, I’ll have everything I need.”
“What about my payment?”
“If Jake dies at the hands of the police, you didn’t kill him.”
“The contract is to make it look like an accident or anything but a murder. Death by cop accomplishes that and effectively distracts the public from anything you might be doing. It’s better than what I had planned before.”
“I don’t see how that warrants payment.”
“I guess I could call in an anonymous tip that the future Governor of Texas paid me to kill everyone who stood in his way and make it look like an accident. I’m sure the Detective Ferris would love to know how I made the Berringtons look like they died of carbon monoxide poisoning.”
Pat had him over a barrel, and there was no arguing. It wouldn’t matter; Pat’s fee was a drop in the bucket, and it was well-worth getting Jake Berrington out of his hair.
“I’ll have it wired to your account,” Carter said.
Pat thanked him, and Carter hung up, shaking with barely contained rage. He waited a beat, then picked up the phone. He dialed a number from memory, waiting impatiently for the man on the other end to pick up the phone. When he finally did, Carter didn’t bother introducing himself.
“I have a job for you,” he said without greeting.
“How much?”
“Name your price.”
“Who’s the target?”
“Pat Barkman.”
“The Pat Barkman? The legend?”
“One and the same. Can you do it?”
“Are there any parameters?”
“Just one,” Carter said, a wicked smile spreading across his face. “I want you to make sure that Pat Barkman suffers.”
The man laughed on the other end, cold and heartless just like his idol. Carter had been taking a chance ordering a hit on Pat, but he knew that Ryan Turner was looking for a way to make a name for himself, and this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for a young contract killer like Ryan. Ryan’s response came as no surprise to Carter.
“My pleasure.”