Chapter 5
Fin
“Yeah. The dealings were Carroll’s, not Reid’s. Blaine Marsh made a deal with Carroll Hubbard. He would facilitate getting Carroll Hubbard approved by the required number of owners, and Blaine would quietly invest in the purchase.”
“Quietly? Is there record of this transaction?”
“I spoke to my father about it after Reid’s passing.
From what Roger Coke, Dad’s fixer, could learn, theirs was a gentleman’s agreement.
Blaine inflated the value of various McDonald’s franchises on paper.
Funds were transferred from account to account.
There was no evidence of Blaine’s investment, but that didn’t mean he ever let Carroll forget his debt.
The first requirement was to arrange marriage between Blaine’s son and Carroll’s daughter, Darin Marsh and Rachel Hubbard.”
“This story is far-fetched.”
“From what I could figure out,” Clark said, “that relationship between Rachel and Darin happened mostly organically. The fathers introduced the two when they were still young.” Clark shrugged. “I don’t know if Rachel knows that her proposal came with the promise of franchise ownership.”
“But Carroll didn’t leave the franchise to Rachel. He left it all to Reid.”
Clark nodded. “Carroll’s final double cross to Blaine Marsh, who was still alive at the time to feel the blade sink into his chest. Blaine and Carroll had a falling out.
Carroll Hubbard wasn’t screwing his daughter out of her inheritance; he was screwing Blaine Marsh and at the same time, Darin and his children. ”
“Did Reid know about this?” I waited for Clark’s answer, unsure if anything he was saying was true.
He looked down into his bourbon and inhaled.
Looking up, he shrugged. “I guess we’ll never know exactly what Reid knew.
He made a point of keeping the Marshes involved.
Whether that was because he knew the deal his father made, or he felt guilty that Rachel hadn’t been given her fair share, we’ll never know.
“Darin wanted more. He’d been promised more. He and Grant were pushing for the change to the will. Fuck, I heard whispers when I first entered that den of vipers. By the time I exited, the whispers were much louder and bolder.”
I was too stunned to reply.
Was this family history true or the thing of rumors?
“Does Vee know any of what you just told me?”
“I don’t fucking know,” Clark said. “Everything Vee ever said about the Hubbards and Coopers was her version, seen through her rose-colored glasses and double-dipped in glitter.”
I gritted my teeth. Vee was many things, and I’d missed many years of her life, but impractical or overly optimistic didn’t describe her.
“My guess,” Clark said, “was that Reid didn’t want her to know the darker side of her family history.” He arched an eyebrow. “I’m telling you so you can tell her.”
“Tell her what? I heard something about your family. Maybe your grandfather took dark money to buy the Coopers. Oh, and your aunt was the downpayment on the payout before she was screwed out of her inheritance as a payback to your uncle’s father; that’s why only you inherited the Coopers.”
Clark nodded. “She needs to know. I’ve called her over a half dozen times and told her I needed to speak to her. Crickets.”
“She’s been busy.”
He leaned forward, again lowering his voice. “I think she needs to know what she’s up against. When I heard that the authorities declared Reid’s death an accident, my first thought was ‘fuck, those motherfuckers got away with it.’”
“Maybe I’ll tell her to return your phone calls.”
Clark scoffed. “If I told Vee to turn left, she would turn right. If you can make her do…well, fuck…anything, like return my call, I’m both impressed and a bit emasculated.
” He finished off his second drink. “Assume that on some slim chance that my story is accurate. Somehow, they offed Reid. Who’s standing in the way of Darin and Grant getting what they believe should have been theirs? ”
“Vee.”
“I’ve spent the last two years playing nice with Grant.
He thinks we’re cohorts. He doesn’t see himself the way my father does.
What Grant also doesn’t realize is that the thoroughbred business is cutthroat and dirty.
Fuck, maimed stallions and unlived jockeys is only the tip of the iceberg.
We deal in the business of buying and selling.
Fusaichi Pegasus, the 2000 Kentucky Derby winner, sold for $70 million dollars.
Football doesn’t have the monopoly on shady business deals.
“I didn’t watch what was happening in the background of the Coopers with Vee’s glasses or glitter.” He nodded. “The filth and double crosses are there. Watch for it and for fuck’s sake, watch Vee. If she’s not careful, she’ll be the next one to have an accident.”
His last sentence stung.
“She had one,” I said slowly. “She had an accident.”
Clark nodded. “I saw the shiner the night I came to her place.” Again, he lifted an eyebrow. “Are they sure that was an accident?”
“Vee is. There were reporters outside her father’s estate...”
Clark shook his head. “Like I said in my text message, I would feel better if it was me with Vee. I know the depths people will sink into depravity when they want something—think they deserve something. Vee sees a glass half full. She needs to start seeing it half empty.” He looked at the watch on his wrist, one that probably cost more than a small country.
“Tell Vee. As for anyone else, we didn’t meet. I didn’t tell you anything.”
“I don’t do high school games, Clark. Cloak-and-dagger isn’t my thing. I also won’t lie.”
“If only this were high school. It’s a lot deadlier. Ask Reid.” He reached inside his sport coat and removed a money clip. He peeled a one-hundred-dollar bill from it. “I’ve been invited to dinner. I’m keeping up the charade.”
“Charade?”
“Cohorts.”
I quirked a brow. “With…?”
“Grant Marsh and Daphne Hubbard.”
“They invited you?” I asked.
“On second thought, Graham, walk away. At this point I’m not sure if it’s possible to escape once they have their claws in you.”
“Why are you in their claws? What did they do for you?”
“It was the other way around. You know, no good deed goes unpunished.” He stood and adjusted his sports coat. “Convince Vee to walk away with you. It’s her only hope. I’d fucking hate to think of her spending her forever with you, but it’s better than her not having forever.”
Clark took the hundred-dollar bill to the bartender and laid it on the bar. Without another word, he walked away.
Bizarre.
That was the only word I could use to describe what had just happened.
For a few minutes, I sat dazed, everything Preston Clark said racing through my thoughts. The item that kept making its way to the top of my list of concerns was not a thing but a person. Vee. Memories of Bre Stanton being taken away returned. Clark said he thought she was innocent.
None of this made sense.
What was the evidence against Bre?
A new thought came to mind. I heard what Bre said to Vee before she was taken away. She said she was pregnant. Vee confirmed it later last night when we were alone. If there was any chance that Clark’s story was real, Bre’s child would also be an obstacle interfering with Darin and Grant’s goal.
I pulled my phone from my jacket pocket. A smile curled my lips at the sight of Vee’s name on a text message.
“I’VE HAD ENOUGH OF TODAY. I’M HEADED HOME. WHAT DELICIOUS MEAL DO YOU HAVE PLANNED?”
“Dinner reservations,” I whispered.