Personal Possessions (15 page)

“Other than I’m charging
you holiday pay, I thought you’d like to know, rumor round town is
Richland Manufacturing is downsizing; something about financial
struggles. Layoffs are in the works, but from what I’m hearing it’s
just talk, man. I know your buddy is employed there, and thought
I’d give you a head’s up.”

There was nothing to
handle, all Kip was being paid to do was find Elle, and watch where
Bear was going in his downtime.

“First off - you call him
my buddy again, you’re fired. I’ll look into Richland Manufacturing
and see what’s going on. Anything new on Jackson?”

He didn’t answer right
away so I waited a moment before asking again.

“…
Lawson, you
there?”

I heard a bunch of
rattling and scuffling then I heard his voice “McHale?”

Rolling my eyes, I leaned
back until my chair reclined and slipped my feet up on my desk.
This man was the most unorganized son of a bitch I’ve ever had to
deal with. When I told Judi that I wanted the best, she found the
most competent when it came to tracking someone down and finding
out information. But when it came to checking in, an animal could
convey better information.

He was an older man, thin
and tall, probably about six foot. His hair was dark with gray
streaks in it, and he had a mustache that trailed down the sides of
his mouth that was mostly gray. All he was missing was the goatee.
He always had a cigarette in one hand and a cup of coffee in the
other. I had never seen him in anything other than blue jeans, a
white t-shirt and a black leather jacket.

“Lawson, was there a
purpose to this call. I’m fuckin’ busy and I really don’t have the
time to play rumor mill.”

“Toppers - know
it?”

I’d heard that name
before, I just couldn’t think of where.

“Should I?”

“Well, it seems that’s
where your buddy likes to do his business.”

That’s when it clicked. I
had heard of Toppers, the strip joint that took over the local
trash bar in Richland. I remember going there that night I met with
Lauren and watching out for Bear but he was a no show, I ended up
leaving Atlanta the night after.

When Kip mentioned
business I had to think for a moment.

“
Did ’ya know your buddy
is a man of many opportunities?” He asked in a rugged
voice.

I knew that he was selling
on the side a couple of years ago when Lauren brought it out in the
open but, my god, he was practically an old man. Probably time to
retire from that shit.

“He’s runnin’ whatever he
can get his hands on through your town here, McHale. Coke, heroin,
weed, you name it, he either has it or he’ll get it for ya. That
stripper he’s playin’ hide my stick with, she’s settin’ up the biz,
if you know what I mean,” he paused.

“So, what’s going on is,
she’s workin’ the club, seeing these men brandishing all these
Benji’s, throwin’ them around to these girls like their dollar
bills. They’re drunk, having a good time and with as much as these
pricks are drinkin’ she must look like Marilyn Monroe.”

I can hear Kip’s,
“Mmm-hmmm,” as he agrees with my assessment.

“
This bitch starts talking
big shit, probably promises that if they make a buy, she’ll come by
their rooms later, do a couple hits, party with them. Who the fuck
knows, she has to say something for them to go with her. They all
slip out back into the alley where they make their sale, and all is
good?”

“I think that’s exactly
what’s going on,” Kip replied.

Hell, I didn’t know, I
wasn’t in illegal drug running. I was just kinda guessing at it
all.

At this point there was
one thing and one thing only that consumed my mind.

Elle.

I had to figure out what
the fuck I was going to do. I turned on my computer and began
looking at property down there. Not commercial property, private
property.

“Kip, I’m looking at
property now, if you know a good realtor, let me know.” Fuck! It
looks like I’m moving back down to Richland.

Chapter 8

I was leaning over the
sink, looking in the mirror that was situated on the bland crème
colored wall of the hotel suite’s bathroom. I was in Atlanta. Using
the towel that I had wrapped around me, I rubbed around in circles
to wipe the moisture off the mirror. Staring at myself, I struggled
to find some sort of reasoning behind what I was about to do other
than being the selfish bastard I had become, but I couldn’t seem to
find any.

I knew what I wanted and I
was set in getting it back. He didn’t deserve her and I was going
to be the one to make sure that he comprehended this
fact.

“Big day today, man,” I
spoke to an image that would not reply.

The reflection looked
powerful and intense, this face had provided me with all that I had
become, all that I had achieved in my life. But I questioned if it
would be able to succeed in obtaining the one thing I, wanted most
in this world.

I had a full day planned.
I would be meeting with my new attorney, Loren Stevens today after
a walk-thru
at Richland Manufacturing. I
had to listen to the little pitch that the director of operations
would bore me with, typical of these types of buyouts.

Once Kip and I walked
through the doors of that factory, there would be no turning back,
the wheels to my plans would be set in motion. I, hell and Elle,
for that matter would have to deal with the outcome as it
transpired.

Putting this plan
together, it took a while to figure it out, but as I started laying
the ground work, it became much easier to realize. Richland
Manufacturing had been in restructuring negotiations for years
now.

Those discussions
concentrated on what would be the best way they could hold onto
their company. They wanted to fix the weak spots and increase sales
without decreasing employees. So with Kip’s help, calling in a
couple of favors, he got me the statistics I needed to anticipate
every move they made. When the time was right, I made my move and
joined the party.

They were asking some
lowball number and I knew why. These were country people, the whole
of Richland depended on this company. Fathers, mothers,
grandfathers - they all worked here. They didn’t give a shit about
who had the bigger balls. That was for corporate to worry about.
The laborers were more interested in knowing that tomorrow, when
they get out of bed, they had a place to come to work so that they
could feed their kids.

Shitty way to run a
business, but I had come to learn to use human morality to my
advantage and I would definitely use it on this deal. I wasn’t in
this business for sympathy, I was in it to make money, and I did
make money. A lot of fucking money.

Except this time, I wanted
this company. This deal wasn’t about the money, I had enough money
to go around this county a dozen times. This deal was about
retribution. Bear had no clue who or what he was up against, I’d
had my eye on him for a while now. It started out slow, just
peeking around his life, see what I could find out about. Credit
history. Bills he was late on. Anything that would tell me how
dependable he was. Not much came back and what did was not
good.

Nothing was in Bear’s
name, which told me that the house he was living in belonged to
Elle. Knowing her dad, he more than likely put his name on it as
well so that if anything happened between her and Bear, he wouldn’t
be able to get her home. Maxwell Barker might have been a stubborn
son of a bitch, but he was not stupid. That was one thing that I
admired about that man, he was a planner and the first priority was
Elle.

Now, I was finding out
about Bear’s employment. I was here at this meeting with Kip, who
was acting as my assistant. That way, while I was paying attention
and enthralled in a professional ass-kissing session, Kip would be
going over employee information with one of the HR managers. I
instructed Kip to find out specifics about him. I really didn’t
give a shit how he asked or got the information, I just wanted it.
This was going to be the true test to see if Kip was as good at his
job as he professed to be.

Bear thought I was about
being all big and bad in high school, he hadn’t seen shit. I was
going to see to it that he would know who held the winning hand in
the end. He was going to recognize that not only were we not in
high school anymore, but that I held the power over him. He
couldn’t quit this job, he wasn’t smart enough, nor did he have the
qualifications to get a better job. He could go back to working on
cars, but that wouldn’t be near the money he would be making here
at Richland Manufacturing.

I was going to make sure
that he knew whose company this was. The very company that fed his
family, the family that should’ve been mine. He wouldn’t be
providing for them. I would be. Every time he went to cash his
check, it would be my name he saw. Elle was going to be spending my
money, not his. It was going to eat him up inside to find out that
he worked for me, and I loved every fucking minute of knowing
this.

I have had seventeen years
of planning and dreaming up ways to get revenge on what that mother
fucker took from me and now, it was his turn to lose
everything.

Attempting to clear my
mind, I knew I had a meeting to attend. Unfortunately, I just
couldn’t get the thoughts of Elle out of my head. I went back to
the bedroom of the penthouse suite and began getting dressed. Going
through my suit bag, I picked out my gray Armani suit.

Ever since Kip told me
that Richland was going on the block, I decided that would be the
perfect time to get shit in order. I was well aware of everything I
would lose proceeding forward with this deal. I wasn’t just going
to sell off this company. I planned on keeping it, and running it.
The people of Richland depended on it; more important Elle’s family
depended on it. I was going to move the entirety of Mac-Gentry down
here to Richland, and make it the new headquarters.

Enemies were going to be
made, and I would have to turn my back on several of my business
associates. None of that meant shit to me though. She was
completely worth everything I was giving up.

I had Elle’s information
and was planning on using it to my obtain what I needed which meant
first, it was imperative that I hired a corporate attorney for this
deal. I decided that I was going to go with the firm Elle worked
for. Not only because once I left Burlington, Sarah would be giving
Alex Masters, my attorney for the past ten years a call and would
tell him his services were no longer needed. But because, I’d heard
through the grapevine that Loren Stevens not only knew his way
around a corporate boardroom, but was a ballbuster when need be. I
would need him to put on his game face and play ball with Elle. I
knew her, and she was not going to be happy about the plans that
were getting ready to result from this upcoming meeting.

Tying the black tie around
my neck, I looked in the full length mirror. Everything had to go
spot on today. Even though I had met with hundreds of business men
before, I was extremely anxious for today. Seventeen years’ worth
of emotions pulsed through my body. Seeing Elle for the first time
today or rather, her seeing me for the first time in seventeen
years was bound to bring on a fucked up atmosphere in that small
conference room.

My plan consisted of
spending time with Elle. I needed one on one alone time with her.
She needed to see who I was, not the boy I used to be. She needed
to see the man that I had become, the man that she would bring out
in me. I began to feel that hole in my chest mending as I thought
about her, and my cock grew hard as the thoughts of Elle flashed
through my mind. She was going to realize that she needed me, as
much as I needed her.

I was sick to death of
fighting these feelings. Leaning up against the wall, I undid my
pants. I couldn’t go into these meetings with a raging hard on, so
I slowly shoved my hand down into my boxers. I could feel myself
pulsating as the memories invaded my mind.

Elle. She inhabited every
area in my head. I couldn’t go a minute throughout the day without
having her on my mind. Remembering a past Halloween party, I laid
my head back against the wall and closed my eyes.

Coming in the door of my
childhood home, I knew my mom would be passed out and my dad was
probably off fuckin’ some bitch from the bar, so we would be alone.
We were both buzzing from the jungle juice that was served at the
party. “TJ,” I heard Elle breathe my name. That was my que that she
was ready for me. I pushed her up against the wall. I could smell
her perfume on the nape of her neck, it was mixed with her natural
scent, and her aroma was an aphrodisiac to me. I craved it, I
would’ve begged for it.

“Wrap your legs around me,
Elle,” I whispered in her ear as I guided one of her legs up the
side of my body. She obliged by hopping up and encircling my body
with her long slender legs.

“God, I need to be in you
like I need my next breathe, Elle,” I confessed to her as I touched
my lips to her own. “I’m yours, babe,” she said against my lips. I
could taste the sweetness of her breath on my tongue as she spoke.
I wasn’t going to be able to wait until I got her up to my bed, so
I stopped at the next room we passed; the formal dining
room.