Chapter Forty-Two
Damion
Surely someone has warned my father that his absence at the office creates the impression of being both guilty and foolish, but he still doesn’t show up to work. No doubt, he’s decided a “killer” headline would hurt him more with the board than invisibility. And no doubt he has a plan to attack me and push me out. My father will never surrender.
Mid-morning, I’m forced to face the potential wrath of reporters when an investor, who hates my father, refuses to meet at my office but chooses a coffee shop next to my office. Walker sneaks me out a side door, and I manage to avoid attention. The meeting goes exceptionally well, and the potential for earning for us meets and exceeds expectations. The investor has left when I’m taken off guard as Caleb sits down in front of me.
“I think today is going to be a good day for both of us,” he says, reaching for my untouched coffee and drinking, which is weird but no doubt some sort of power play. Though I’m not sure how drinking from another man’s cup wins.
“What does that mean?”
“Don’t worry. I’m not throwing you to the wolves. Just make sure you don’t do it to me either. That would be a mistake. Keep your mouth shut, and I’ll go retire a long way away and never bother you again. Don’t make me an enemy.”
“And when all eyes turn to me?”
“They won’t. Your father has a lot of enemies.”
He wiggles his eyebrows, then gets up and walks away.
My cellphone rings, and I glance down to find Mary calling. I’ve asked her for a week, and this feels off and somehow oddly timed. “Mary?”
“Your father insisted on meeting me this afternoon. He told me that if I told you, he’d make sure I paid the price for it. I’m trusting you not to let this call be known.”
My father’s plan to destroy me is in play, though I can’t find the angle. “When and where?”
“If I tell you that, you’ll show up. I can’t risk his wrath. I’ll record the conversation. I don’t know what he’s doing. I’m not going to hand him my company, but I fear that man. He’s devious. He must have a way to bribe me into it.”
I fear she’s right. “You have no idea what that can be?”
“None. I mean, the only thing that would hurt me is to hurt my daughter and her husband, and they are businesspeople. They could be at risk in some way that I don’t know. It’s the only thread I can find. I don’t want to bring it up to them and scare them just yet, though.”
“I need a location and time. I’ll have my people discreetly present.”
“No. No, I’m on my own. I’ll try and record the meeting.”
“I’d do that if I were you.”
We disconnect and I dial Blake. “I need to talk. I’m in the coffee shop in the building.”
“I figured as much when I heard about your visitor. I’m about to walk in the door.”
Sure enough, we disconnect, and about thirty seconds later, Blake’s claiming the seat in front of me. “Talk to me.”
I give him the rundown of the exchange with Mary and Caleb, and he is fast to a conclusion. “They feel connected. You need to stay as far away from this as possible. We have eyes on your father. We’ll have one of my guys on hand. Kellan is the best choice. He’s not been seen with you at all. He’ll be able to stay off anyone’s radar. Do we know what time the meeting is?”
“She wouldn’t tell me any of it.”
“That’s okay. We can figure it out. The good news is that Caleb showed his hand. He doesn’t want his name on your lips. I don’t think he means to frame you. I do think he means to kill your father. The right thing is for us to stop that from happening, and that is my intent. It’s what is ethically right. But, that said, Caleb’s too experienced and smart for us to easily thwart him. You need to know that when a man like him decides someone is dead, they end up dead.” He stands up and leaves me with that statement.
I should want him dead. Of course, I should. The man is a killer. He’s also my father, and I’ve never felt so fucking tormented in my life. That man has hurt people—Alana and her father, amongst many others. He will hurt more. He may even kill again. But deep down, controlling him, not killing him, is easier to swallow, even if, perhaps, it’s not the way to make the world a better place.
Caleb intends to kill him.
Blake has already stated that they’ll try to stop that from happening.
The only thing I can do that is one step better is to warn my father when the truth is, Alana will never be safe as long as he’s alive. I’m not warning him. I’m not fucking doing that. He’s a killer and he’s devious enough to turn the tables on Caleb, and probably will.
I push to my feet and decide I need Alana close this afternoon.
***
Working from home is a logical choice and I make fast work of getting the heck out of the office. So much so that thirty minutes after that encounter with Caleb, Smith delivers me to my building. Alana is shocked to see me, but pleased. She has work to do as well, and we order from a healthy place down the road and settle into my office together for a working lunch; her in a big “comfy” chair—her words, not mine—me behind my desk.
She’s so damn happy and at peace that I just can’t bring myself to tell her what’s in the air. That is, until Blake calls me. “Your father’s on the move, by foot, actually. He’s having Mary meet him at a coffee shop only a couple miles from his apartment. Mary’s in an Uber right now.”
“And Caleb?’
Alana’s gaze jerks from her computer to me upon hearing his name. “He’s with your father, acting as bodyguard.”
The irony of that statement is profound. I disconnect with Blake and fill Alana in on what’s happening. “Nothing big is going to happen at a coffee shop,” she says. “I think you can relax on that point. But he’s conniving, and so is Caleb. There are too many snakes in the grass to know where to run. Maybe you should call and talk to all the board members one-on-one this afternoon.”
She’s full of good points.
I start dialing, but in the back of my mind is Caleb saying, “Today is going to be a good day.”