Chapter 39
“ Y ou guys want to go to LA and beat up an asshole with me while Miles and Callie are away?”
Diego and Kai lifted their sunglasses, both of them stretched out on the lounge chairs under the baking sun in the courtyard.
“Who are we beating up and why?” Diego asked. “I mean, I’m pretty sure I know the answer, but I want to be extra sure.”
I dropped the manila envelope on the little table between them. “Callie’s lucky that guy bolted when he did. He’s been up to a lot of shit.”
“What kind of shit?”
“Money laundering, insurance fraud, and a warrant for his arrest in New York State.”
“Oh, shit.” Diego sat up straight.
“There’s hardly anything in his name directly. The PI thinks he was using Callie’s name to hide himself, and he’s already convinced his new wife to open another joint account so he can start doing shit under her name.”
“So he’s already set up to fuck up this woman’s life too?” Kai sighed.
“Exactly. The investigator also found evidence of five different affairs during the timeline that asshole was with Callie, plus another since he got married.”
“Jesus Christ.” Diego perused the documents. “We should probably tell his wife too, shouldn’t we?”
“I had the investigator do up a point form report for her, and he included his contact information for her if she wants additional details.”
“When did you even do all of this?” Kai asked.
“I hired him on the way home from LA. Hardly took any time to dig up all this shit.”
Kai looked at me, his eyes soft. “You know, you might not be ready to bond her, but I like knowing you were so ready to protect her from the start. I think you might be in deeper than you realize.”
“We’re not talking about that,” I huffed. “Focus on the task at hand.”
“All right. How do we manage this without his wife getting caught in the crossfire?”
I could only shrug. She could only avoid so much when she’d married a criminal, however unknowing she might have been when she’d signed the papers. “She impersonated Callie to commit bank fraud, so my sympathy for her only goes so far.”
“Yeah, I guess that’s true,” replied Diego. “She can get a divorce and face her own justice.”
“When do we leave?” Kai asked.
“As soon as you put on shirts. I already have the cooler in the car for driving snacks.”
The two of them bolted upstairs to get dressed, and I was waiting in the driver’s seat when they joined me.
They read over the report while we drove, and we discussed the best way to tackle everything. The plan of attack was to corner Jerry and make sure he stopped bothering Callie, make sure his wife knew exactly who she was married to, and then give the investigator the go-ahead to report all the uncovered crimes to the appropriate law enforcement. Before Callie had left, we had set up call forwarding. Anything Jerry sent her would come to my phone so she could enjoy her time away with Miles. Part of the reason I’d suggested it was morbid curiosity, but it had also firmly solidified that I was ready to kick this man’s ass over the way he spoke to Callie.
I was a bit reckless on the freeway between Vegas and LA, bringing the trip down to three and a half hours so that we arrived a little before noon.
Kai pushed the button for Callie’s old apartment when we arrived. A woman’s voice crackled over the speaker.
“Yes?”
“We’re looking for Jerry McIntosh. Is he available?”
“He’s out,” the voice replied.
“Is this Katrina or her mother we’re speaking to?” I asked.
Silence hung in the air for a few heavy seconds before the voice answered back. “Her mother.”
“Can we please talk to you for a few moments? We have reason to believe Katrina’s not safe with Mr. McIntosh.”
More silence. Then the buzzer on the door sounded and Diego pulled it open before it could lock again. No more came from the voice, so we took that as her acceptance and made our way up to the apartment. She had the door cracked open when we got there, the chain keeping it locked.
“You’re the horrible people who took everything.” She slammed the door.
With a sigh, I knocked. “I’m going to slip a paper under the door, and after you read it, if you still don’t want to talk to us, we’ll leave.”
I slid one of the summary report copies beneath the door and watched as the edge of it disappeared as she picked it up. We waited awkwardly in the hall and then I heard the scrape of metal from the chain being removed and the door opening fully.
“How do you know all this?” she asked.
“I hired a private investigator to see how much damage he had done during his relationship with Callie. It appears his behavior in that regard didn’t end when he got together with your daughter.”
The woman’s face was a mixture of fury and tears. “He’s lucky he’s not here right now. I warned my daughter. I knew something wasn’t right.”
“Are you aware he convinced your daughter to commit bank fraud?” Diego asked.
She paled. “What?”
“The bank has video evidence,” I told her. “If she doesn’t already know that she’s under investigation, she’ll find out very soon.”
She sat down hard on the end of the couch, likely a brand-new one purchased with Callie’s money. “There’s nothing that can be done? Can’t you tell his ex-girlfriend not to press charges?”
The fucking audacity of this woman. “Your daughter committed a federal crime. Even if I thought it was remotely appropriate to ask Callie not to press charges, it wouldn’t matter. Katrina fucked with the bank, and they show no mercy. We just wanted to let her know who she married. If you could tell us where we could find Jerry McIntosh, we’ll be on our way.”
“He’s at the casino by the airport.”
Fucking Christ. “Tell your daughter to empty the joint account while she still can.”
We left her standing there with her mouth open. Rage pulsed through me. I understood her compulsion to protect her daughter, but that woman had fucked over my mate. It might not be as much as Jerry had done himself, but she had been an active participant and the duty of a decent human being ended at letting her know she’d married a complete snake. Now she could lie in her own fucking bed.
Diego got us the address for the casino and we went straight there, finding Jerry losing spectacularly at the blackjack tables. I sat down next to him and it took him a few moments to recognize me.
“Shit. What are you doing here?”
“We came for a little visit,” Kai said behind us and Jerry whipped around, going immediately pale when he realized he was surrounded.
“Let’s go for a walk,” said Diego. “It’s much too nice a day to spend inside.” It was a bald-faced lie, considering it was over ninety outside.
He swallowed hard. “Let me finish this hand?”
We agreed so security wouldn’t get involved on someone walking out in the middle of a bet, and we watched him lose two hundred dollars before he finally got up and followed us. His gaze darted around like a panicked fox when we herded him into the car where he sat between Kai and Diego.
“You’re not going to hurt me, are you?”
“That entirely depends on how well-behaved you are,” I replied. “We need to have a little talk.”
I got us on Highway 1 heading north before I spoke again. Jerry’s stench was sharp and panicked, filling up the car. “Would you like to explain the last text you sent to Callie?”
“I…I don’t recall.”
“Let me refresh your memory, then. You called her a vicious cunt for looking into a missing account you stole from her. You also included some rather colorful language about how much of a cheating slut she was for getting involved with us. The irony on that one was particularly potent.”
The pathetic jackass looked like he was ready to faint.
“Not that it matters,” said Diego, “but we didn’t even meet Callie until you had already abandoned her and married Katrina. I just don’t want you thinking your actions had any justification.”
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have?—”
“You’re damn fucking right you shouldn’t have.” Kai growled. “You say something about my mate like that again and I will personally remove all of your teeth. I didn’t make it to the end of med school so I never took any vow to do no harm. I know plenty of ways to make you suffer if it comes down to it.”
Jerry flinched.
“Maybe we should talk about the arrest warrant they have out for you in New York,” I added.
“How…?”
“Oh, Jerry,” I sighed dramatically. “Did you actually think you were hiding?”
“We know all about your little string of robberies in college, not to mention the money-laundering scam you ran a couple years ago, oh, and insurance fraud for the truck you claimed was stolen but you actually sold?”
“Jesus, what, are you guys stalking me?”
“Feeling vulnerable, Jerry?” Diego asked. “Maybe a bit like how you made Callie feel for years? We haven’t even gotten to the multiple affairs.”
While we navigated LA traffic, Kai and Diego grilled Jerry about his various sins in excruciating detail. I took us all the way to Topanga State Park, nearly an hour away from where we’d started. I parked at a rest stop no one else was at.
“Jesus Christ, you’re not gonna murder me in the woods, are you?”
“No,” I replied calmly, getting out of the driver’s seat and waiting for the others to step out. Jerry glanced nervously between the three of us before exiting as well. “If it wouldn’t mean going to prison and being away from Callie for years, I would break your kneecaps and push you into a ravine. But, since we know so many fun details about you, I do get to do one thing I’ve been wanting to without worrying about you going to the cops.”
My fist flew too quickly for him to react or dodge. Pain shot through my arm, but I knew it wouldn’t be anything compared to what he’d felt when his nose crunched beneath the impact.
“Son of a bitch!” Jerry clutched his bloody face.
“If I see one more call or message from you to Callie, I will make good on my threat about the ravine. Am I clear?”
“Jesus, fuck. Yes, you’re fucking clear.”
“Good. Let’s go.”
Kai and Diego slipped back into the car.
“You’re just leaving me out here?” Jerry shrieked.
“Yep. Kind of like how you left Callie in Vegas with no car and no money. Hope your phone is charged. Maybe you should call your wife and see if she’ll come get you.” I climbed into the driver’s seat and locked the doors while he was busy gaping at us. I rolled down the window nearest him. “I wouldn’t count on that, though. We let her mother know everything you’ve done, so you might want to start walking. You only have so much daylight and plenty of things in those woods might want to take a bite out of you.”
Kai and Diego waved to him out the back window as I tore out of the lot, gravel flying beneath the tires, forcing Jerry to dodge the projectiles.
His echoing FUCK! was one of the most satisfying sounds I’d ever heard.