Saint's Sacrament - Sins of the Father (46 page)

~***~

Sinclair sat at his dining room table. The soft gurgling of the in-wall fish tank murmured in the background as he scrolled up and down the various computer file attachments and stack of paperwork. Saint was a slippery one; the crumb trail was tricky and cruelly dry. His background check was squeaky clean. Sinclair figured he’d do some vigilante justice, give him a taste of his own medicine. The man had single-handedly ruined his life and seemed to have no intentions of ceasing and desisting. Upon further digging, however, a file about Xenia Aknaten showed up, one which detailed how she contacted a magistrate and judge about a rather sticky situation Saint had found himself in…

Oh
, how Sinclair delighted in reading and rereading the information, getting his thrills off the fact that the self-professed sexual expert had been sexually assaulted and raped via a mind-altering drug by an attorney who had, at one point in time, seemed to have New York City on legal lockdown, by the bylaw balls. Her name was Payton Bishop and she was quite a distance away, but not too far for his desires. Much to Sinclair’s surprise, however, Xenia had taken the conniving woman down, which only fed his suspicions about the girl he once knew…

Xenia is not as sweet and innocent as she
used to be. She was telling the truth about that, for sure. It isn’t just Saint I need to worry about. Good thing I thought ahead.

He
exhaled loudly, leaned back in his chair and ran a hand across the two-day-long stubble on his cheek before snatching his cell phone and calling the woman who he’d been daydreaming about in the past hour.

“Hello?” came a feminine voice, one that made him curious as to what the woman looked like.
He assumed she was beautiful. Saint didn’t seem like the sort of man who would accept anything less.

“Hello, yes, may I speak to attorney Payton Bishop?”

There was a slight pause. “Yes…this is she.”

“Hello
, Ms. Bishop.” Sinclair slowly swiveled in his chair, a wide grin on his face that he couldn’t relinquish as his heart increased its gallop. “You don’t know me, but my name is Sinclair Grayson.”

“That name sounds familiar…”

“Well, I’ve worked with some pretty big names in the entertainment industry in regards to music and video direction and production, but that isn’t the reason for my call.”

“
I see. Well, enlighten me.”

He liked her
already. The woman had zing, pizzazz and obviously a hatred for the man he needed to chomp to bits. He turned back to his computer and Googled her name for images as he continued to speak to her. His curiosity was getting the best of him.

“Well, it’s not the type of thing I’d like to discuss on the phone, but seeing as I reside in L.A., and you are all the way in New York City, it appears we have no choice.”

“I’m pretty busy so I’d appreciate it if you got to the point,” she said curtly. The woman was all business.

Wow. So much like Xenia
. I see Saint has a type…

“Sure, if you insist.
Do you know a man by the name of Dr. Saint Aknaten?”

The silence was
deafening. He ran his hand along the arm of his chair. Oh yes, he’d struck gold.

“I have to go…”

“Oh,” Sinclair stood, now admiring a professional photo of the attorney on his laptop screen. “I wouldn’t hang up just yet, if I were you. You see, Payton, I’m not calling to ask you about what happened that fateful evening you slipped Mr. Aknaten a drug in his drink at his wife’s radio awards show, then proceeded to fuck him right in front of her… no, you see, I’m calling because you and I are on the same team.” He traced the edge of the table with his index finger, as if it were a woman he was about to slip inside of.

“If you are calling to try to extort money from me, then you will be left
unsatisfied,” she said dryly. “I don’t know how you received this information, but—”

“
No, Ms. Bishop. I don’t want any money from you. In fact, you are the one that could reap financial benefits. I understand you were unfairly kicked out of your firm, and had to start all over… I know all too well what that feels like and coincidentally, it is because of the same person.”

She remained quiet
; he assumed she was now engrossed in his possible proposal.

“Unfortunately,
now, you are representing petty thugs, thieves and criminals that sell bootleg DVDs. What a fall from grace.” He smirked. “You’re a public defender thanks to Xenia Aknaten and her husband. But, all of that could change. I have a lot of influence and connections, Payton.” He slipped his hand in his robe pocket. “I can assist you in getting back on your feet and at the same time, help you get a little pay back.”

“I’m not interested
,” she said coldly.

His smile melted like strawberry ice-cream on a ninety-nine degree day
.

“Mr. Gray
son, I’m not sure what you are scheming, planning…but I want no part of it. I’ll let you in on something.” He could almost hear the smile in her voice, and it made him want to plunge his fist through the phone and rip her pompous throat out. “Saint is a
very
dangerous person. I’m not sure where you got my information, or how you found the accusations against me since that information is sealed, but regardless, I have moved on with my life and don’t wish to see Saint Aknaten ever again. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to—”

“Not so fast there
, Ms. Bishop,” Sinclair growled. His nerve endings pulsated as the slippery grasp he dared to maintain threatened to elude him now, and forever more. “You see, if this information gets out, well, you won’t even be allowed to be a garbage collector…let alone a public defender.” He shrugged as he circled his chair like a hungry vulture. “For some reason, Xenia didn’t put the final nail in your coffin, and maybe that is why you’re reacting this way. Maybe, after time passed, you felt remorse, maybe even a sense of gratitude,” he continued on, making his point crystal clear, “that neither she nor Saint went to the police. But as Saint said in his book, “The Black Vagina Vortex”—‘fuck feelings’, and I’d have to agree with that. I’ve had a lot of down time, thanks to that man, and I did some reading. It is best that I get to know my opponent, and you, being a player in all of this, are instrumental.”

He
casually ran his finger along the edge of his laptop as he stared vacantly at it.

“What do you want?”
He heard her swallow and smiled. Finally—the ice princess wasn’t so cold after all.

“I want you to tell me every damned thing you know about th
e man. You and he were a couple at one point in time. Couples share things, intimate things. I did some research, Ms. Bishop. I looked into Saint’s financial records and lo and behold, your name popped up. Didn’t you handle his legal affairs regarding the Internal Revenue Service one time?”

Another brief pause.

“That was years ago and it was legal. He didn’t—”

“Doesn’t matter. You being a former antitrust and trade attorney, surely you knew your way around any financial loopholes to help the poor guy out. I mean, he owed a shitload of money, being a new self-made entrepreneur at the time, so he didn’t h
ave a good handle on everything once that fame and fortune started rolling in. Hell, he was an instant millionaire. An Asian persuasion taking over the nation.” Sinclair laughed garishly. “A rags to riches story, the American dream! And you being his lover, and may I say, strikingly
beautiful
,”—he glanced at her photo again, sliding his tongue across his upper lip—“girlfriend, mmmmm, mmmmm, mmmm!” He laughed. “All that smooth, dark brown skin, girl. Damn. You look like a black Barbie doll! Beauty
and
brains!”

Yeah, that man definitely had fantastic fucking taste!

He heard her breathe loudly, as if she were bored, possibly even disgusted.

“
Whew, well, let me stay on track.” He smiled wide and exhaled. “… With such a wondrous, extensive financial background, it is obvious to me you got our man here out of some hot water…for
free
.

“
Now, all I need from you, my dear, is to get me those records, and you know, finagle them a bit. Turn in a claim for incorrect information. People do it all the time. I’m sure your adjustments were on the up ’nd up, loophole or not, but there is just enough doubt that should they be alerted of a miscalculation, well,”—he shrugged—“they’ll investigate and you’ll have some new evidence to show he tried to defraud the IRS out of not thousands, but millions of dollars. I believe some jail time can go with that. He is the CEO of a bank, after all. That falls perfectly into this plan.”

“Mr. Grayson
.” Payton sighed impatiently. “I’m not convinced it is a bank. I am quite adept at finding out that sort of information. Yes, on paper, it appears to be, but knowing Saint the way I do…
did
…I do not believe that that is what is going on. I can’t prove it; it is just a hunch so I suggest you heed my advice and let this little charade of yours die. Now, if you’ll excuse me I—”

“Oh
, no. I could never do that, Ms. Bishop. It’s time for Saint to be the new Wesley Snipes!” He burst out laughing; his stomach rolled with exuberance. “Your hunch doesn’t mean shit. We can use this to our advantage now so I suggest you get that snooty fox off your fuckin’ back and listen up.” He turned like a dime, rendering the bitch on the other end silent. He could tell what type of woman she was—too smart and full of herself for her own good. She was the type of woman that used flowery language to curse someone out, drank fifty dollar cups of tea and had strange sex fetishes that no one but her maid knew about. Public Defender or not, she was addicted to class, money, status, snubbing others and fucking her benefactors like a pro. He had her pegged.

“And that’s not all,” he continued.
“Let’s get the police involved, too. Let’s get him on some embezzlement charges in that posh bank he works for, regardless of what you think it may actually be. The motherfucker still has to file taxes just like the rest of us.”

“You just don’t get it, do you?”
she said weakly. “It does matter what it is! He is involved in some shit that I couldn’t decipher. It is powerful. It is dangerous. Have you seen the people coming in and out of there, Mr. Grayson?! They are mostly men, and not one of them was black. He’s got something going on! You better…watch…your step.”

“
No, Saint better watch
his
step! I told you I don’t give a shit what it is! It could be a Satanic worship service for all I care! You just do what I tell you to do. You get a hold of the IRS, you get some documents drafted, some real official shit, and you get his ass hammered by the good ol’ government! He fucked with me, so it is time I fuck with him! You got it?! Once you take care of that, our business will be finished…unless you want more, of course.” He laughed.

He could hear the woman breathing heavily on the other end of the phone.

“I…I can’t do that. That’s lying to a federal agency and my license could be revoked and I would also face prison time,” she said in a monotone voice, as if unmoved by his entire spiel.

“
Oh, cut the innocent lamb act, Ms. Bishop! When have you ever cared about lying?! You’re a lawyer, for God’s sake! That’s all you do is lie! As far as your license is concerned, you and I both know you hate your job right now because it is not what you sought out to do.” He pushed his hand in his robe pocket. “Besides, you will be paid so handsomely, it will afford you a brand new life. It’s the American way!”

“It’s not the Payton way
,” she said humorously, causing a slow burn to start in his chest. The woman’s constant resistance was working his nerves. He’d been certain she’d want a bite at the asshole, but instead, she acted like what he’d done to her didn’t matter.

“
You really are something else, you know that?” His eyes narrowed. “You raped a grown man! Shit, what is he? Like six three or four? He easily weighs over two hundred and twenty-five pounds! He is a big beast of a man, with those oddly colored eyes, but you took that motherfucker down…now that
takes
balls! According to this complaint, you threatened him, vowed to fuck up his marriage, and almost succeeded according to the paperwork Xenia submitted to have your ass investigated. Xenia had even filed for divorce; I wonder how he convinced her otherwise? Regardless, your plan backfired, but this plan that I have won’t.”

He heard the woman gulp hard on the other end.

“If you don’t do exactly what I tell you to do, you will be financially ruined your damn self. You committed a crime, Payton, a felony. You got a slap on the wrist. I can change that to being more like a bullet in a heart. It’s your call… Look,”—he laughed lightly. “Take some time to think about it, okay? But not
too
long. Your secret can be revealed to the world at the drop of a hat and you strike me as the prideful type. I don’t think you’d want anyone to know something like this, now would you? I’d hate to have to make a few phone calls that would undoubtedly change your life forever.”

Sinclair disconnected
the call, feeling satisfied. He slid the phone across the desk then made his way into his luxurious bathroom. After sliding off his white robe, he turned the shower on, allowing it to steam up the entire enclosure. Before long, he was under the aquatic influence, in a serene daze filled with the illusions of sweet revenge. Retribution was so close, he could almost taste it…