Twenty-Nine
Oz
Bane and Ransom stepped out of the front door of the house we all shared when I pulled up. I’d called them on my way and asked them to be ready. It was after midnight, but I’d had a hard time leaving Winslet. The fact that I hadn’t grabbed her and slammed my dick into her, then fucked her hot little cunt on the damn coffee table after she licked the cum off my stomach was a goddamn miracle. If there were free passes into heaven, I should get one. But I had managed to leave her sleeping peacefully around nine thirty because I had to take care of some things and I was running out of time.
Ransom opened the door behind me and climbed in as Bane got into the passenger seat.
“What’s up?” Ransom asked at the same time Bane asked, “Who we killing?”
“Damn. I like this shirt. It’s new,” Ransom mused. “Think I can keep blood off of it? How brutal are we talking?”
I backed up so I could turn the Hummer around. “No killing. Your shirt is safe.”
Bane turned his head to look at me. “You got me out of bed, and there isn’t gonna be a body to dispose of?”
I shot him an annoyed look.
“Wait, please don’t tell me this is about Mr. Rogers,” he said with a groan. “Do not have pulled me from Halo for more high school vandalism, like tire slashing.”
“I need details. Who the fuck is Mr. Rogers? Because I’m eighty-five percent sure the real one is dead. And when did you slash someone’s tires?” Ransom sounded amused about the last part.
“If the two of you would shut up long enough for me to talk, I’d explain,” I bit out through clenched teeth.
“Explain,” Bane told me, then yawned.
“I set most everything up before I called you. I just need some backup with finishing touches.”
Bane raised his eyebrows. “Great. That was vague as fuck. We are all briefed and ready.” Sarcasm dripped from his tone.
“Yesterday, someone told the principal at Winslet’s school that she was pregnant—and before you start with all the shit and questions, she isn’t pregnant. But it’s a Christian school, and they can fire her for being unmarried and pregnant.”
“Time-out,” Ransom said. “Remind me who Winslet is.”
“The counterfeiter’s sister he was ordered to abduct two months ago,” Bane told him. “He has since been stalking her.”
How was it they all couldn’t remember who she was? That pissed me off.
Jesus, how do you look at that face and forget it?
“Whoa,” Ransom drawled. “You are a stalker now? You, of all people—the one whose face lights panties on fire with one glance—are stalking a chic? Just smile at her, and she’ll give you the keys to her apartment.”
“He stole her key and made a copy months ago, so he doesn’t need her to give him one,” Bane told him.
“I didn’t tell you that,” I replied, trying to figure out how he knew. I hadn’t admitted it to anyone.
“No, you didn’t, but it’s what I’d do if I were you,” he explained.
“Awesome, you’re both psychopaths,” Ransom said from the back seat.
“Can I finish explaining this?” I asked before this got any more derailed.
“Go,” Bane replied.
“The president of the board, the principal, and some bitch on the board made her cry. She fucking curled up on her sofa and sobbed until I got there.”
“Why are you stalking her if she is calling you when she’s upset? I’m so confused. Do you know what stalking is and why people do it?” Ransom asked, interrupting me again.
“She didn’t call him. He’s got cameras in her house. Stop asking shit and let him finish,” Bane grumbled. He turned to me, and I narrowed my gaze as I looked at him. He shrugged. “What? You do, don’t you? You can open your phone right now and check on her.”
“Yes,” I replied, growing increasingly annoyed that he seemed to know all my secrets.
“I am worried about both of you,” Ransom said.
“Anyway,” I continued, “no one gets to make her cry. And she loves that fucking job, and she’s good at it. She does more than any of the other cunts there. So, I fixed it. I just have a few things left to do, and tomorrow, she will be back teaching the germ-infested children and smiling.”
“There are all kinds of problems ahead, but I will leave that alone since you already know them,” Bane pointed out.
He was right. I did know, but for now, this was what she wanted, and she was going to fucking have it.
“I don’t want to wait on Wilder to do an in-depth search. I had an idea of who it might be, and if nothing else, I suspected she was involved. I got her number from Winslet’s phone, found her address, and went there. Broke into her house while they were sleeping, got her phone, and went through her texts,” I told them, trying to keep this as brief as possible.
“My instincts were right. The lying bitch who started it texts a lot. This morning, she texted the principal, Donald Clairton, if she could meet with him. That she had some very upsetting information on a faculty member he needed to be aware of. After she sent that text, she sent one to the female board member, Judy Warlow, telling her that she’d set it all up and they’d be able to fire Winslet by the afternoon. Seems Judy has a niece who is looking for a job in the area and is an elementary school teacher.
“After getting the numbers I needed to find their addresses, I did some snooping in the master bedroom closet, checked normal hiding places. Found there was a locked room in the house and picked the lock. It was the husband’s office. In there, I found a floorboard under his desk that moved, and he has a shadow family. They live in Jackson, and he has a six-year-old boy with the other woman. He keeps up the apartment they live in and covers all their needs. I unlocked the hidden phone, turned the password protection off, and swapped the bitch’s cell phone she keeps charging by her bed with that one. I also put the key to the apartment, along with the address, on her makeup table. She will be busy tomorrow as her world comes crumbling down around her.
“Judy Warlow will have the IRS at her door in the morning to do an audit, in which they will find she’s stolen over fifty grand from the church building fund and put it into her account. She’s also developed a bad gambling habit, which is against the church’s beliefs, and there will be photos of her at several of the tables and slot machines at Down the River Casino.
“The president of the board, Rec Voy’s, house is where we are headed now. The two of you are there for backup,” I finished and glanced back at Bane, who was shaking his head and grinning.
“How did you find all this shit out in one evening?” Ransom asked, sounding amazed.
When Bane didn’t blurt anything out, I was surprised since he seemed to know all my secrets.
“You not gonna answer that?” I asked him.
He shook his head. “Nope. I got a few questions myself. That’s a lot of fucking shit to dig up in a few hours. Well, I mean, unless you didn’t dig it up, and those are all setups to fuck them over.” He looked at me as it all began to dawn on him.
“No fucking way,” Ransom said, then let out a loud hoot of laughter. “Remind me not to piss you off. Fucking hell, man.”
“It wasn’t all a setup. I got lucky with the husband and his shadow family. That kinda shit would be hard to stage,” I told him. “But the bitch on the board, I had a little help cracking into online bank accounts and moving of money. As for the casino photos, I know a talented artist that is alive because we allow him to be, and he is producing those. If a man can fool the Feds with his hundred-dollar bills, he can handle putting an old bitch in a crummy-ass casino and make it believable.”
“I thought he was in prison.” Ransom sounded confused again.
“Gerard was the brains behind it. He’s in prison. Samson Zephyr wasn’t arrested because Gerard didn’t rat him out. We didn’t kill him, but only because Blaise paid him a visit, and he is indebted to the family for any service we may need from him,” I explained.
“So, what are we doing to this Voy guy?” Bane asked.
“Explaining the importance of the Baptist church not pissing off the Southern Mafia.”
“We’re threatening churches now. Awesome,” Ransom said.
I pulled up outside the gate to Gannon Rice’s house, the former leader of the Mississippi branch before his Parkinson’s got so far gone.
“Why are we at Gannon’s?” Bane asked.
The gates opened, and a figure came walking out.
When the headlights illuminated him, Bane sighed. “I should have seen that coming.”
The door behind Bane opened, and the man formerly known as Father by the local Catholic church climbed inside. He had given up his title and position when he went and fell in love with Gannon’s daughter this past spring.
“Father Jude,” Ransom drawled out on amusement. “Look at you, coming over to the dark side.”
Jude laughed. “Yeah, well, Rec Voy is a sick prick.”
“So, Jude is getting our face-to-face with Voy without having to break down doors and making it messy,” Bane said.
“No, Jude is there to inform Ric Voy that he will out him with proof of his extracurriculars.”
“Which are?” Ransom was getting excited. It was in his voice.
“Ric Voy has an addiction to watching underage girls on illegal sex videos he buys on DVD from a supplier in Mexico.”
“And we know this how?” Bane asked.
“He came to confession twice. He’s a deacon in the Baptist church, but was raised Catholic. Guilt got to him, and he thought he could confess it and stop.”
“What’s our proof other than your word?” Bane asked, covering all the bases, as if I hadn’t already.
“I know where he keeps them. That came out when he was sobbing and rambling on about it.”
“What about the principal?” Another question from Bane.
“Board fires him on our orders. Once we have Rec Voy by the balls, he will become our puppet,” I said.
“Damn.” Bane drawled out the word. “When is the fucking wedding?”
“What wedding?” I asked. I hadn’t mentioned a wedding.
He turned and gave me a pointed look. “This is a lot of destruction you’re about to rain down on numerous people because they made Winslet cry. If this is your reaction to her being hurt, then your ass is owned. You don’t do shit like this for a woman you haven’t handed your soul to.”
I thought about it for a minute. Had I? I was protective of her. I fucking wanted her. I could look at her for hours on end. But there were issues. Obstacles. Really big-ass ones that I wasn’t sure would allow this thing with us to continue once she found out. She wasn’t clingy and needy like other females I’d been around. And I didn’t know how to do a relationship. But the idea of her being with anyone else stirred that demented shit inside me up.
Well, fuck. Maybe I had handed her my soul.
“This wasn’t my initial reaction to them hurting her,” I admitted. “This is tamer.”
“What the hell was your first reaction then?” Ransom asked.
“He was gonna kill ’em all,” Bane replied, not missing a beat.
“Yep,” I agreed.