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The Tessarae Inn |
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The Son Also Rises CHAPTER 20 Todd took a sip of his beer. He hated that he was in this stupid bar again. He knew he should be happy that Padgett was available and came as quickly as he did but there was a nagging fear in him that nothing he could do was going to stop the machinery of fate this time. Ethan always talked about fate as if it had a physical presence in his life and he hated it every time Ethan made some stupid remark about destiny, but something about this situation was unnerving him to the point that nonsensical answers were better than no answers at all. “The principles of blackmail are understood even by the average man but the mechanisms for dealing with it seem to allude all but a select few.” “I guess you are one of those few.” “Why else would you have hired me? All I ask this time is that you let me do it my way. No pussyfooting on your part. Clear?” Todd exhaled. Padgett might be good, even as good as his enormous ego proclaimed, but the man just got on his damn nerves. Always had. “Nothing is clear to me and it doesn’t have to be. I’m the one with the big bucks.” Padgett tipped his cap to him and then began to slide out of the booth seat. “Wait. Where are you going? We’re not finished.” Padgett glared at him then said in a hissing whisper, “I know how this is going to turn out. I’ll tell you what you need to do and you’ll ignore me. Your family will be hurt in someway then you’ll try to come after me and I WILL have to kill your ass. Is that clear enough for you?” Todd ran his finger along the edge of the table. “I only care about my family.” Padgett stared at him for a long time then finally slid back into the booth. “Then you will do what I say and your family will be safe. I will take care of Katherine Dawes Mahoney once and for all. Do we have an agreement?” “Yes.” “This is what I want you to do…” “I told you that there was going to come a time when you were just going to have to trust me, Blair. This is it.” “How much danger are we talking about?” “Enough but I am handling it. The security group I’ve hired is the best in the world….THE world, Blair. I am not taking any chances with my children or my wife.” “Okay.” “Okay? What the hell are you saying?” “I’m saying that I am going to trust you and let you handle it.” “Just like that? I don’t have to wrestle you into sanity about this? Don’t take me for a fool, Blair.” “Never, but come here.” He eyed her suspiciously but he walked to the bed then sat next to her. She put her hand on his then said, “Tell me what’s going on. What you can.” He released his breath. It was time for the truth. “Ireland is coming home to haunt me in more ways than one. Some deals I had to make to get out of there are suddenly demanding renegotiation.” “Is it money?” “It’s blackmail and I’m not paying it because it will only mean we will have to go through this again in another six months and four after that.” Blair drew her knees up to her chest. “What do you think is going to happen if you don’t pay?” “A tense few days but then new ground rules will be clear and I think this shit will go back underground and stay there.” “Any guarantees?” He looked her in the eye and tried to ignore the fear he saw there. “As close to one as is possible.” “What do you want us to do?” “Stay close to home. Walk carefully. Don’t fight the security guys. If they say jump then jump and don’t ask why. Just for a few days, Blair, until I can handle this.” “Done.” He stared at her. Could she really be willing to do this without him having to fight her every step of the way? This shit was about to drive him crazy. For once in his life he could see a clear path. There was no way he was giving into Katherine and he would get rid of her for good if necessary. But the thing he loved about Blair the most—her spirit, feistiness and down right bitchiness could derail his plans. She loved her children and God help him she loved Sean, too. Every instinct in his body told him that there was no way she was going to just let him handle it. He just told her that her children were in danger. She was going to come out swinging. He knew it. “Blair, look there are things I can’t tell you.” “Maybe you should try a little harder to trust me. Tell me what I need to know.” He couldn’t tell her. He couldn’t let even the knowledge touch her. She thought she wanted to know but she really didn’t. Not the truth, at least not the ugly glistening stench of it. A phone rang. It was his cell phone. Probably Katherine. He stood up and walked away from the bed but then stopped and answered it. May as well let Blair hear his side of the conversation. Katherine wanted to know if he was ready to wire her the money. “No. Like I told you before. It is not going to happen. Not now. Not tomorrow. Not in a month. This is over now. There will be no money and I will protect my family at whatever cost.” For a moment Katherine was silent as if stunned. Then she launched into a torrent of threats and demands. He listened until she wound down. “Finished? Fine. I reiterate. No money now. No money later. No money ever. And I will protect my family. Get that through your head and don’t call here again.” She shrieked a final threat but he cut her off then cut off the phone. Blair moved beside him and touched his arm. “That was him? The blackmailer?” He turned and looked at her directly. “Yes. And that was the end of that.” “What happens now?” “It will blow in the next twenty-four hours or it won’t blow at all.” “What about tonight?” “The house is as tight as an armed camp but I want the children to stay in here with us tonight.” “What should I tell Starr? You know she’ll have a thousand questions.” “I’ve already talked to her and Sean both. They understand that this is serious but we are going to be all right.” The look of disbelief on Blair’s face felt like a small stab wound. Okay, maybe in the past he would have lied his head off to her and the children but he had changed, at least a little. They were going to face down this threat as a family. ========= Sean-Ryan stared out of the large glass window to the right of the bar at The One Trick Pony Bar & Grill. He had chosen this place because it was the last sort of place anyone would look for him. The patrons of the bar were a mixed bag. As far as he could tell everyone came here— people of different races, ages, genders, religions, sexual orientations but no one seemed to have much interest in anyone else. People who were alone wanted to be alone and people in groups only seemed interested in those who “brung them,” so to speak. He needed to find Katherine. She hadn’t called in two days. He was worried about her and that worried him. He didn’t have the time or patience to spend focusing on foolishness. The last three weeks had been crazy enough. Whether it was that they had changed or whether it was being in this strange country where no one knew who he was, he had let himself relax into her. She was the first thing he reached for when he woke in the morning and the last thing he thought about as he fell asleep. He convinced himself that was because the sex was so damn good but it was more than that. He’d actually found himself dreaming about a life with her—a small cottage, a dog, neighbors who didn’t live in fear of him and maybe even… He drained his glass as a wave of fear swept across his consciousness. He needed to get back to Ireland and remember who he was. A couple of people at the furthest booth in the back caught his attention because their voices suddenly became loud and escalated. He couldn’t understand what they were saying but it had all of the earmarks of a lover’s quarrel, except both of them were males. Sean-Ryan tightened his lips then forced himself to relax. What people did with who and where was really none of his concern. The world was an ugly complicated place and who was sleeping with who was the least of its worries. A loud piercing yelp filled the bar. Everyone froze for a second but when it turned out to be yet another disturbance from the back booth most people went back to minding their own business. Sean-Ryan though couldn’t seem to stop watching the couple in the booth. One of the men rushed out of the booth and fed coin after coin into the jukebox and made selection after selection. Suddenly the room was filled with some song about survival. “I was afraid. I was petrified. Didn’t know if I could live without your love…. But I will survive. As long as I know how to love I know I will survive…” Whatever. Sean-Ryan focused again on his drink. Where would Katherine go? He knew how her mind worked. It was just a matter of putting the pieces together. But why would he? What good could come of any of this? So they had a few weeks of good times but the cold hard fact was that even if he got her out of this Cameron mess she would just do something else stupid. He couldn’t afford to care one way or the other. Slowly he became aware that another song was playing on the jukebox. It sounded older than the survival song if that was possible but the words seemed to fight their way into his consciousness. He glanced at the bartender. “You know the name of that song?” “Old Motown tune. 1972. I remember it well. I was sitting in a barbershop when it first came on the radio….” “The name?” The bartender sighed then said, “Walk away From Love by David Ruffin. G26, if you’re interested. I play it at least twice a week.” The couple in the back booth left and once the waitress cleaned the table, he moved to the booth. For a time he stared out of the window. It was a good thing that he didn’t know where Katherine was because this recent connection had to end. He’d take care of Cameron but that was it. Time to remember who he was. He let his gaze drift around the bar. No one was paying attention to anything. He walked over to the jukebox and selected G26 then slid back into the booth. After three other songs played he once again heard the lyrics that captured his attention before. It was so stupid how a stray song could sometimes stop you in your tracks and say things that were true to you but you couldn’t put into words. Ruffin’s voice filled the bar: “It’s not that I don’t love you/You know how much I do/It’s not that I’ve found someone to take the place of you.” Sean-Ryan looked down into his drink. “It’s just the fear that fills within in me every time you touch my hand/ And a dread that shakes my body that even I don’t understand/ So I’m leaving/This time I’m playing it smart/ I’m gonna walk away from love/ Before love breaks my heart.” Katherine never understood the price he would have paid for loving her. When he left her after he found out about the baby, he thought it was a clean and total break. And if the truth be told, he was relieved to find a way out. She had so clearly wanted something from him that he could not give her. “You’re clinging to me tighter than you ever have before/I don’t understand it/ But I know it’s gonna take everything I’ve got to keep walking out the door/But those arms you got around me will let me go one day/And I’d rather leave you holding on than pushing me away/This time I’m playing it smart/I’m gonna walk away from love/Before love breaks my heart.” The song ended and Sean-Ryan squelched the urge to play it again. He didn’t need a song to remind him of what happened and why. His cell phone rang. Katherine? He dug into his pocket quickly and pulled out the phone. He flipped it on. “Yeah?” “Sean-Ryan?” It was Flynn, who as usual didn’t even bother to say hello. “Yeah?” “He called and told me he knows she'is alive.” The air in his lungs seemed to rush out in one loud swoop. “Did you tell him that I want it called off?” “He doesn’t care. It’s personal to him now. There was nothing I could do.” “Don’t lie to me, Flynn.” “I won’t lie to you or claim to care if she lives or dies. But I’m also not lying about the rest of it. There is nothing to be done. He will kill her sooner or later.” Sean-Ryan cut off the connection then slammed the phone down on the table. He stared at it. He had no idea where she was and he had no way to reach her.
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The Son Also Rises FAN FICTION SLIDESHOWS
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