Chapter 35
Chapter Thirty-Five
CAL
I was supposed to go to the ranch, but after Sabrina took the flight back to her house and I was jogging toward my charter, I was struck with a random thought. In my business, there were the things going on around you. These were typically in your face and consumed a lot of energy, but there were also undercurrents. The undercurrents were what I was trained to interpret. They were what packed a punch.
In Peru, the asset had been the target of a loud group of activists who opposed him on everything. They made his life difficult, and being out in public tended to get contentious. They’d resorted to flinging paint and disrupting vacations. That was their agenda in Peru. But the undercurrent was the husband of the woman the asset had an affair with, and of course, the asset had never told us about said affair. The husband had used the activists as a cover when he drew his gun and aimed at the asset. And though I wasn’t a fan of the asset’s personal life and practice, the job offered a much needed change of environment, the sole reason I’d taken the job. And it ended with a bullet hitting me.
At the stairs to the charter, I paused and pulled out my phone. At the moment, a lot was happening on the surface, but there had to be an undercurrent, a hidden agenda. I called Spoon and had him dig into Dalton’s schedule and current business deals. My gut told me to pause my flight, which I did while I waited for Spoon to do his magic.
Twenty minutes later, he had a list of Dalton’s appointments and deals in the works, the biggest being a ribbon cutting on a new hotel in the Vegas area. The land itself was prime, and though construction had started, the Beck Group had not announced the project until earlier that day.
“Who are the investors?” I asked Spoon.
“Still working on that. Also, it looks like he’s doing a deal with a media conglomerate that’s been struggling. I’m guessing this is where he found Smith and got him to do some dirty work for him. The deal should close soon once it’s through the FCC.”
“Why did we not know any of this?” I was frustrated.
“Because this stuff doesn’t get out until the paperwork is filed, which happened yesterday. Listen. I was talking to that reporter in Wolf Creek. She’s sharp. She has been going through the town’s video and looking at the area where someone filmed Sabrina’s altercation. She thinks she found a car and is sending me the images any minute now so I can narrow it down. I tapped into the woman’s email account—what’s her name, Kathy—and she did receive a payout to confront Sabrina and make a scene. I’m putting all that together too. We’re starting to get a step ahead here. Your mom will be able to use this to her advantage in the divorce. And Paul can show the media all this to help with the video’s narrative.”
Who knew how long the divorce would drag out? The worry alone would beat down Mom. But that wasn’t the main point. I needed to put my finger on what was.
“I think Dalton’s getting desperate, to have fires started and my mom served. If we can trace the arson to him, then he’s looking at being charged. That’s very reckless.” And very unlike my father. Everything he did was measured.
“Maybe it’s because what was in the media was your happiness and not you guys falling apart. He thinks you aren’t feeling all the punches?”
Yeah, we’d done a good job coming together. All the hits we’d taken hadn’t shaken us. In fact, we were stronger than ever. I wasn’t going to lie; the hits had hurt. But when you had people to pick you up, love you, and give you therapeutic hugs, the pain just seemed more manageable.
“What time is the ribbon cutting?” I asked.
Five minutes later, I was having the pilot change the flight destination to Vegas. I texted both Sabrina and my mom about my change of plans. I was going to crash my father’s ribbon cutting. How nice of him to have scheduled media coverage. My instincts told me Dalton expected me to rush to Mom or be with Sabrina. He would not expect me to be at his ribbon cutting.
During the flight, I had Paul release a statement about the fire that had destroyed Brynna’s shop, which made her work rare as her shop was out of commission for the foreseeable future. Her prices tripled instantly simple due to the limited supply. I bet Dalton hadn’t considered that.
I had a few hours to kill before the ribbon cutting, so I asked my mom for Dalton’s password and spent the time reading all his email. It really was pathetic that his security was so lax. And how entitled he was—so much so that he was sloppy. There was no smoking gun about the arson but very clear exchanges between him and Smith, the journalist and the person Smith paid to hack the adoption agency, and exchanges outlining the deal between him and my former employee turned tailcoat.
Sabrina and I were able to connect when I landed in Vegas, and she told me what she’d found in the box. She and Nick would be meeting me there.
At the ribbon cutting, I stood behind the gathering crowd. I wasn’t trying to hide my presence but wanted him to seek me out. I wanted him to think he’d bested me, that I was hesitant but here. I was in jeans, a flannel shirt, and my boots. I crossed my arms so my wedding band was clearly prominent.
“Son!” he boomed to tell the gathering investors about my presence, a large smile on his face as he walked toward me.
Dalton was tall, with silver-gray hair and broad shoulders. He looked like a tycoon. But he also looked peaked. An unhealthy pale-yellow tinge tinted his skin. It was only noticeable when the sunlight hit him just right. But I noticed it. Mom was right. He thought he could will himself into being healthy.
Then he caught sight of the ring, and his smile faded into a sneer. He got close and said in a low voice, “You are a fool. I bet you didn’t even have her sign a prenup.”
“Why would I? What do I have that I wouldn’t give her? Or give up for her?”
“You can have all this.” He waved his hand toward the construction site. “I have built an empire, and you’ve thrown it away for a piece of ass.”
His words were meant to rile me, and they did. I wanted to punch his smug face. But I wouldn’t stoop to his level.
“But what is all this without love? Buildings? Land? See, that’s where we’re different. Reputation, power, and money are what you value the most. Not me. For me, it’s family. None of this matters without them.”
“Like you weren’t bothered by my accusations in the press. Your reputation is important to you.”
I raised a brow. “Wow, nice of you to admit you started all this. Sure, attacking my reputation bothered me. But then I just had to trust that those who worked with me would lean on that more than some lies. And that actually turned out to be true. Getting my award canceled at the gala didn’t affect my relationships whatsoever. That’s the point you’re missing, Dalton. You can have all this. But when you’re alone in the hospital from a heart attack”—I tapped his chest—“who will be there with you? No one. At least, no one you aren’t paying to be there.”
Nick walked up and clapped me on the shoulder, giving me his A-lister smile. Time for the second phase of the plan. He gave my dad finger guns as a greeting. His presence was drawing a crowd, including media, including those not employed by my dad.
“You are such a disappointment,” Dalton snarled.
“What bothers you the most? That I won’t join the family business or that I got the girl and you didn’t?”
His eyes narrowed.
“Yeah, I know all about you and Sabrina’s mom.”
“Whatever you heard has likely been exaggerated. We knew each other in college. That’s it.” He turned to walk away, but I followed him.
He went to where his investors were standing, waiting for the ceremony to begin and to get their recognition. He signaled for the mayor to meet him at the ribbon, and his assistant ran up to hand him giant scissors. I stood to the middle, keeping his attention on me.
The mayor gave a speech thanking the Beck Group and its investors for bringing more jobs to the area with the new hotel and entertainment space. As if Vegas needed more of that. But this plan was different, apparently. The hotel would be more like a resort with excursions, a bubble for the rich to get lost in without having to hop from location to location. A lot of money had already gone into the project.
Everyone was beaming and congratulating themselves when Sabrina stepped out of the crowd. “Excuse me.” She had to say it a few times to get everyone’s attention. When she had it, she continued. “I’m sorry. I have a question. What happens if the Beck Group isn’t the rightful owner of this land?”
“That’s impossible. A title search is done before permits are handed out,” the mayor said.
“Except that I am the rightful owner of this land. I filed the paperwork today.” She handed the mayor a card. “This is the name of my lawyer. He can answer any questions you might have. And it’s very suspicious that permits would have been allowed, considering the Beck Group wasn’t the rightful owner. Makes me think shady things are going on in city hall.”
Sabrina stepped up to my dad and handed him what I knew to be a copy of the deed he had gifted her mom all those years ago. “My mother left this to me. She didn’t know its value, but my dad did. He made sure my ownership was all legit, with the proper paperwork in place. All that was left was for me to file with the city, which I did earlier today. My dad was very thorough. He was like that with his taxes too. Which was never the threat you thought it was. You lost, Mr. Beckett. You lost all those years ago with my mother, and you lose now.”
To the investors, she said, “I’m sorry about your financial loss.”
An older woman with gray hair, wearing a pantsuit, stepped out of the crowd and up to Dalton. “Mr. Beckett, consider yourself served.” Then she handed one to each of the investors.
“I’ll see you in court,” Sabrina said.
His response happened so fast that I was one second behind. I didn’t know why I hadn’t seen it coming. Sabrina had single-handedly brought the Beck Group to its knees with her lawsuit, though, she wouldn’t have had to do it had Dalton not been a crook.
He lunged at her. “You’re as stupid as your mother!” he raged as he grabbed her by the front of her shirt.
And my girl—well, she didn’t take shit from people. I’d taught her well, if I do say so myself.
“Take your hands off me, and step back,” she said.
But that just made Dalton pull her closer. “I will destroy you.”
She leaned in and grabbed his shoulders while shifting her weight onto her uninjured foot. She was quick as she delivered a knee to his groin, making him drop like a sack of potatoes. “You’re lucky I didn’t show you my right hook. But I am so tempted.” She pulled back her arm, preparing to take a swing.
I grabbed her around the waist and swung her away. “You got him, killer. Figuratively and literally. He can’t even breathe.”
She wrapped her arms around my neck and stretched up to kiss me. “Thank you for teaching me self-defense. You were right. I did have to put my hands on his shoulder.”
I kissed her back and let her slide down to the ground. “Ready to get out of here?”
“Let’s go home,” she said with a smile.
Nick moved to stand next to us, and with his phone held out in front of him, said to Dalton, “That’s considered assault, brother, putting your hands on a person like that. We all got it on video in case you question the accusation.” He patted Dalton on the head.
“Hey,” Sabrina said, grabbing Nick’s arm. “Come back with us. I think you’d like the ranch and possibly some of the people there.”
I took her hand and let her out of the crowd. “What did you mean when you said that to Nick?”
She tucked in close to me, putting more weight on me as she limped and smiled. “You’ll see.”