Chapter 2
“Keep me posted on the renovation,”I said to my warehouse manager in Texas. I glanced at my watch, ensuring I had enough time for a quick stop before the wine convention started.
“Will do,” Joshua said and reiterated the plan before ending the call.
A former employee had stolen a large order of my CheckMate wine, which hadn’t been for sale yet. I’d been prepping it for this wine convention this evening. James Chin had burned down part of my warehouse, which now needed extensive renovation. He’d also killed someone and hidden the body under the wooden floor of his office. The dead body wasn’t one of my employees, and the authorities were still working on identifying the man. The rebuilding and wine replacement had cost me time and money. I’d been trying to locate the asshole for months.
He can’t hide forever.
Pushing the frustration aside, I stopped by Pam’s condo to drop off her late birthday present. I had promised to visit her two weeks ago, but my business trips and her vacation plans with her boyfriend, Jarrett Packard, got in the way. Both were retired and living their best lives.
“Thank you. You didn’t have to.” She beamed and kissed me on the cheek. She still had curly red hair, but it was mixed in with layers of silver. More freckles dotted her face.
I loved and appreciated her as though she were my mother. If she hadn’t been around, my life would have been different. I sat beside her on the living room couch and watched as she peeked into the box full of gift cards.
“Goodness, Arrow. I don’t need all of this.”
“You and Jarrett can eat out every day for the next year.” I offered her a big hug.
“He’s at the gym right now. I wish I had the same motivation as he does. Need to get over this stupid cough before I can make myself go. I love fall, but I always get sick.”
“You want a trip to Florida?” I asked. “I can book a flight for you and Jarrett.”
She laughed and patted my cheek. “We just got back from Bermuda. I want to stay put for a while.”
“Okay. Just let me know if you want to go anywhere.”
She placed the gift box down and studied me. “Where are you going looking all dapper?” She brushed her hand down my black tux.
“A wine convention. There’s two bottles for you.” I gestured to the bag on the dining table. “Don’t get drunk now.”
She stared at the bag of wine and sighed. “You’ve made something ugly beautiful. Your mom would’ve been so proud.”
Most people who had an abusive alcoholic father would steer clear of booze, but not me. I’d used my experience and created a successful business from it. I was no alcoholic, but I learned about alcohol and its effect on human psychology.
“I hope so,” I said, checking my phone. “I’ve got to run. Say hello to Jarrett for me.”
“I will.” She embraced me. “I’m proud of the man you’ve become.”
“You helped raise this man.” I smiled as she teared up.
AsI headed to my car, a couple walked by with a little girl who looked to be about six years old. The guy reeked of alcohol.
“I don’t want you visiting your fucking mom,” snarled the guy with the beard.
“She’s not well, Rick. I have to see her,” she said.
A thwack sounded, and I knew what he’d done. The child screamed, and I whirled around to find the woman against the side of the car with a hand to her face.The little girl clung to her mom’s leg, crying.
“You do as I say, you hear me?” he seethed, jabbing a finger at the woman’s forehead.
“Don’t hit my mom!” cried the little girl.
He grunted at the little girl and reached for her.
“No!” The mother held onto her child while he yanked at her arm.
Fury ignited in me like a dormant volcano. It rose and surged out of me. I stalked over, clasped the guy’s arm, and threw two punches into his face.
He fell back and shouted, “What the fuck, man?”
I stood in front of the woman and child. “If you lay another hand on her or anyone else, I’ll fucking kill you.”
“It’s none of your business!” the asshole shouted while his busted lip bled.
“It is everybody’s business when you harass a woman and child in public. Makes me want to know what you do behind closed doors. The police should look into your history.”
“Mind your own business, fucker!” He charged at me.
I let him get a swipe on my shoulder, and I pretended to wince. Then I broke his arm and a couple of fingers and called that self-defense.
I gripped his neck, had a good squeeze, and whispered into his ear, “You stay away from them. If I find out you’re anywhere near them, I will end you. And no one will know where to find you.”
“Who the fuck are you?” he gasped as his face turned pale.
“Your fucking nightmare.”I looked into his eyes. “Stop drinking. Get help.”
Rage thrummed through my blood. Moments like these made me wonder if I was contributing to the deterioration of society. But was the alcohol to blame, or was it the man who had a choice?
Thelittle girl’s cry snapped me out of my rage.
I forced myself to calm and looked at the woman and her daughter. “Both of you okay?”
“No.” She crouched and held her daughter tight.
“Leave him,” I said. “You need a safe place for your daughter.”
“He’s going to kill us.”
“He’s not my daddy,” said the frightened girl.
“No, he won’t go near you.” I crouched to be at eye level with the girl. “What’s your name?”
“Bella,” she said with curious blue eyes.
“Oh my God!” Pam rushed over to the woman and child and looked at me. “I heard a commotion and looked out the window. The police are on their way.”
Apparently, the asshole lived in the same condo complex as Pam, which I owned. What a small world.
I called a member of my legal team to come and assist the mother and daughter and deal with the drunken fucker who was slumped against the wall of the building. Rick was the woman’s boyfriend, and his name wasn’t on the lease, which made it easy for me to prevent him from entering the building.
“I’ve got to go,” I said to Pam. “Let the police watch the security footage. If they need my statement, I’ll be happy to stop by the precinct in the next few days. Or they can call me.”
Pam nodded. “Don’t worry. Go do what you need to do. I’ve got it.”
Anger and frustration warred inside me as I drove toward the La Luna Hotel. I thought my dark past had fallen into the abyss, but seeing the violence and fear on the woman”s and child’s faces proved the past was a ghost that could appear anytime to piss me off.
I tried my best to calm myself before I had to greet the press and all the wine lovers. I wanted to kill that asshole. He was just like my father, whom I should have killed. But he died shortly after getting out of prison. Karma eventually caught up to him.
My mom loved him, and I loved him before he started drinking. I remembered little about those years now because the dark years became more prominent in my memory.
Alcohol was a fucking monster that sucked the life out of people. It transformed people. And here I owned a successful empire of it. Alcohol wasn’t the only thing that could cripple the psyche. Society assigned blame to certain things that weren’t fully responsible for certain illnesses.
Anything in the extreme wasn’t good for anybody. Alcohol could be used as medicine and as a liquid that numbed the mind. A knife in the hand of a chef differed from a knife in the hand of a killer. Alcohol was a thing that couldn’t make its own decision. A rock on the ground wasn’t responsible for someone using it to break a window.
I chose to turn alcohol into a drink and profited from it. I wasn’t the only wine company in the world. But I used the profit to aid those suffering from alcoholism and other diseases. Was I doing the right thing? I wasn’t sure.
The entrance to Remi’s hotel was crowded. I pulled up to the valet, got out of my Maserati, and gave the key to the young man.
Shrugging off the irritation, I steered my mind toward the wine convention. Would CheckMate make it to the next round?